Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts’ Program in Theater & Music Theater
Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka
Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
Run Time
85 minutes; no intermission
Program Note
Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka was published in 2007, yet it feels relevant for us today where so many people are migrating from what they call home due to war, climate crises, political unrest, human rights violations, hunger, and poverty. As a refugee on an odyssey to find his mother, our hero Anon navigates an America where he faces a number of perils and nefarious characters, but also meets welcoming kindred spirits, with their own shared experiences of displacement and hardship. It is through building these warm interactions, that Anon is able to continue his journey forward. He finds his identity and a sense of home through remembering where he comes from and forging a new path forward with determination and resilience while aided by the friends he makes.
Content Advisory
This production includes depictions of violence, war, trauma, sexual harassment, and effects of gore (blood), loud noises, bright and flashing lights, and use of haze.
Special Notes
No audio or video recording permitted. No flash photography permitted. Please silence all electronic devices including cellular phones and watches for the duration of the performance. Please refrain from text messaging during the performance.
Accessibility
Berlind Theatre is an accessible venue with wheelchair and companion seating available. The November 8 performance will be open captioned. An assistive listening system is available and headphones can be requested from ushers. Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information about the Berlind Theatre.
Talkback
A conversation with award-winning Anon(ymous) playwright Naomi Iizuka and Barbara Graziosi, Princeton’s Ewing Professor of Greek Language and Literature and Chair of the Classics Department, will be presented on November 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the Berlind Rehearsal Room at McCarter Theatre Center (off the Berlind lobby). Free and open to the public, no tickets or registration required. View conversation details
Cast
Ritu; Sewing Factory Worker; Refugee: Tima Alshuaibi ’28
Mr. Mackus; Ignacio; Refugee: Avi Chesler ’25*
Barfly: James Han ’26
Ali; Mr. Zyclo; Sewing Factory Worker; Refugee: Destine Harrison-Williams ’26*
Anon: Aabid Ismail ’25
Nemasani; Refugee: Ash Jackson ’26*
Naja; Pascal; Refugee: Oriana Nelson ’25*
Helen/Senator Laius; Belen; Refugee; Nice American Mother/Father: Chloe Ng ’27
Calista; Sewing Factory Worker; Zyclo’s Pet Bird Wing; Nice American Daughter; Barfly; Refugee: Kate Stewart ’25*
Nasreen; Strygal; Sewing Factory Worker; Zyclo’s Pet Bird Wing; Refugee: Kristen Tan ’26*
Serza; Zyclo’s Pet Bird Center; Sewing Factory Worker; Refugee: Chris Twiname
Production Team
Director: Bi Jean Ngo
Set Designer: Yoshi Tanokura
Costume Design: Ariel Wang
Lighting Design: Elena Milliken ’26*
Sound Design: Nathan Leigh
Fight/Intimacy Director: Jacqueline Holloway
Stage Manager: Milan Eldridge
Assistant Director: Matthew Cooperberg ’26*
Set Design Fellow: Matthew Ciccone ’25*
Sound Engineer: Ryan Gonzales ’26
Assistant Stage Manager: James Han ’26
Assistant Stage Manager (rehearsal): Oriana Nelson ’25*
Stitchers: Wyatt Kim, Marissa Edwards, Denise Boyle, Isabel Yip ’25, Charlotte Young ’27
Wardrobe Supervisor: Marissa Edwards
Berlind Electrician: Michelle Poulaille
Berlind Run Crew: Liandra Marcano (Deck), Dylan Harris (Rail)
Follow spot operator/s: Francesca Ferguson ’28
Run Crew: Matthew Cooperberg ’26*
A2: AJ Abdullah
*denotes a student minoring in the Program in Theater & Music Theater
Faculty Advisors
Jane Cox, Lighting prep
Tess James, Lighting in theater
Aaron Landsman, Co-Producer
Note from the Director
Everybody has a story. Each of us comes from a unique place, an amalgamation of generational and lived experiences, geographical locations, inherited and chosen values…a multitude of elements that shape our identities. In this play Anon(ymous), we follow the odyssey of a young person who’s trying to remember where he comes from. In remembering his past, surviving horrific challenges, and in finding a sense of belonging with some friends, our hero transforms from someone who is lost to a person with a clear sense of self and a vision for crafting a new narrative of hope. This is also about the people whose stories often remain untold, the stories of migrants who have fled political or economic instability, war, climate catastrophes, and more, who ask to be seen, to be acknowledged and remembered.
This director comes from two parents who fled their country and came to America on a boat. They faced significant hardships and discrimination, of course. But it was with the compassion, friendship, and support of each other and a community that they could thrive. You can probably guess what drew me to this play. The artists who collaborated on this production endowed it with their own unique histories. Our set designer, Yoshi Tanokura, drawing on his Japanese influences, envisioned a minimalist set with an open floor plan flanked by drop curtains where the core visual elements are the humans that make up this cast. Nathan Leigh, our sound designer, crafted Nemasani’s poignant lullaby, imbued with childhood memories of the wordless melodies of nigginum. It is the heartsong of our play. Ariel Wang, our costume designer who calls two continents home, sought to reflect unique cultures in the fabrics and shapes of her designs, representing the characters, as well as the artists in the room. And through her thoughtfully crafted lighting design, Elena Milliken, a Princeton student impacted by the work of a parent who is an immigration lawyer, has crafted a world that illuminates the plight of those we often choose not to see.
With first-year students (for whom this is their first production), seasoned upperclass students in the theater program at Lewis Center for the Arts, and a community member who hails from the Hellenic Studies program, this ensemble of actors came together each week to rehearse and breathe their own unique lives into each of their characters. We employed non-traditional physical theater methods, vocal resonance work, and memory work in this effort to dynamically activate the characters evoked by this play.This courageous cast gave every unusual proposal from this director an open-minded and open-hearted attempt. They rose to every challenge and continue to grow in their work. The thoughtfulness and care they each take with each other, the way they check in before moments of staged violence or intimacy, the mutual encouragement they offer each other, and the robust laughter they share is a testament to the village they have created through this process. We invite you to join our village as we share our production of Anon(ymous).
Warmly,
Bi Jean Ngo
Land Acknowledgement
An estimated 10 million Native Americans lived in North America before the arrival of European colonizers. Many thousands lived in Lenapehoking, the vast homeland of the Lenni-Lenape, who were the first inhabitants of what is now called eastern Pennsylvania and parts of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.
Princeton stands on part of the ancient homeland and traditional territory of the Lenape people. In 1756, the College of New Jersey erected Nassau Hall with no recorded consultation with the Lenni-Lenape peoples.
Treaties and forced relocation dispersed Lenape-Delaware to Ohio, Kansas, and Oklahoma. We acknowledge the violence of settler colonialism and pay respect to Lenape peoples past, present, and future and their continuing presence in the homeland and throughout the Lenape diaspora.
For more information about ways you can engage with and support the Indigenous community on campus please visit the website of Native American and Indigenous studies (NAI), Natives at Princeton and Princeton Indigenous Advocacy Coalition.
Lewis Center for the Arts
Chair: Judith Hamera
Executive Director: Marion Friedman Young
Director of Program in Theater and Music Theater: Jane Cox
View a list of Program in Theater & Music Theater faculty & guest artists
For a look at all the people working behind the scenes to bring you this event, view a list of LCA staff members.
The programs of the Peter B. Lewis Center for the Arts are made possible through the generous support of many alumni and other donors. View a list of LCA Supporters
