The Center at West Park presents

CREATIVE TEAM

Jenny Bokoch Gillett (Creator / Producer / Actor)
Ashley Thaxton-Stevenson (Director)
Marissa Ontiveros (Actor / Producer)
Anvita Gattani (Actor)
Christian Lacey (Actor)
Eva Kantor (Actor)
Maya Carter (Actor)
Music Performed by Aperture Duo

PRODUCTION TEAM

Morgan Stevenson (Stage Manager)
Katrina Miyuki Roen (Puppet Designer and Builder)
Julie Hill (Sound Design)
Josephine Wang (Lighting Design)
Christine Serdjenian Yearwood and UpStand (Accessibility Consultant)

PROGRAM NOTE

Thank you all for being here to support this play, message, and vision. My journey with TOKOPHOBIA began back in 2017 when I entered into a community Doula training program with Ancient Song Doula Services in Brooklyn. Perhaps it began long before that because part of the reason I wanted to become educated in birth as a Doula was because I personally carried a lot of fear around the idea of the birth experience. I knew I wanted to have a child, but the process made me extremely nervous. My Doula journey did not necessarily bring me peace, but it definitely brought me a great deal of knowledge, and that journey, and learning of the challenges that birthing people face in the US, was what led me to create this theater piece.

This weekend‘s rendition of TOKOPHOBIA combines interviews I completed back in 2017 and 2018, with interviews completed this year in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic has added an additional layer of fear and stress around the birth process, but alongside that, there still remain many stories of joy. Even so, this is of course just a fraction of the stories that birthing people may experience. I hope that you will find inspiration to continue to explore and learn about this process as you watch the show.

This also comes at a pivotal and transitional moment in my own life. I became a mother myself in 2019, and could not be more proud, thankful, or lucky to have my child in my life. In addition, my own mother is fighting a losing battle with endometrial cancer, and although we have not always seen eye to eye, it has been both illuminating and heartbreaking to think of what she did for me as a parent as I experience parenthood myself. Wherever we are in our journey, I know that I am so fortunate to have the experiences I have had with both my mother and my child.

Please continue to learn about the birth process and all of the moments surrounding it. We have a fantastic list of resources, compiled by Upstand, which I hope can be the tip of the iceberg for us all. Thank you again for supporting these stories and reproductive justice.

INFORMATION & RESOURCES

Click on the buttons below to access a glossary of terms, information, and a list of resources related to the production.

CREATIVE & PRODUCTION TEAM BIOS

JENNY BOKOCH GILLETT (she/her) has worked as an actor, puppeteer, playwright, VoiceOver artist, and theater producer for more than 15 years. Her plays have been performed in New York and Los Angeles, with the support of organizations such as Dixon Place, The Center at West Park, and The Omega Women’s Leadership Center. She currently works as the Arts Education Manager at St Nicks Alliance in North Brooklyn, and is a practicing full-spectrum Doula certified through Ancient Song Doula Services.

Jenny has held previous positions: at the Children's Museum of Manhattan where she taught early childhood classes with a focus on music, movement and art; in Los Angeles Unified School District as a Teaching Artist through The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company; at the Tenement Museum, where she led tours with a focus on real untold stories of the immigrant experience; at The Skirball Cultural Center, where she facilitated the Build A Better World program in partnership with local public schools and community organizations; and at the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum where she operated a life-sized Saber Toothed Cat puppet built by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. She holds an MA in Educational Theatre from New York University, and draws from this experience to elevate voices from the community in her theater praxis. Learn more at jennygillett.com, or follow @thewomynnextdoor on Instagram.

This show is for Mom and Lolo (obviously). Thanks to everyone who has supported this project and vision.

ASHLEY RENEE THAXTON-STEVENSON (she/her/hers) is a theater maker and educator, focused on antiracist actor training, collaborative rehearsal practices, and contemporary adaptations of Shakespeare. She holds an MFA in Acting from Brooklyn College and is currently the Senior Manager of Education Programs at the Brooklyn Arts Exchange, an Adjunct Faculty Member with NYU’s Program in Educational Theatre, and a Core Ensemble Member of the Verbatim Performance Lab. To connect and to see her directing, dramaturgy, and acting credits, visit art-s.co.

MARISSA ONTIVEROS is an actor, teaching artist, and arts administrator. Some of her favorite credits include How I Married Myself and Other Misadventures (Columbia), The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Stella Adler), Comedy of Errors (Genesius Theater Co), and Young King (New Victory Theater). She is thrilled to return to collaborating with the Tokophobia creative team after being in several iterations of the project since 2018. She wants to thank all of the brilliant, resilient women in her life for their love and support and give a special shout to her mother for her long labor bringing her into this world. A proud NYU Tisch graduate, find out more about her at https://marissaontiveros.com/

ANVITA GATTANI is a multi-hyphenate artist dedicated to telling intersectional stories of protest and healing. Anvita means "to bridge the gap" and she believes in art as her medium of choice to help bridge the gaps between different groups of people. They are currently pursuing a BFA in Drama at Tisch School of the Arts and recently graduated from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts Gold Rising Program in LA. Recent credits include playing Janna in Memorial on the Tisch mainstage, originating the role of Jordan, in Ranked the Musical, assistant directing the Nine Muses Lab film a prayer for you, and originating a role in the Verbatim Performance Lab's production of Making Gay History: Before Stonewall. While not in school they can be seen running back and forth between rehearsals and sets, drinking copious amounts of coffee, writing music, petting dogs, and talking about how beautiful the sky is.

CHRISTIAN LACEY has been in musical productions such as Footloose, Into the Woods, and Legally Blonde but her favorite was playing Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act. She has also enjoyed immersing herself in stage plays. Her role as Queen Elizabeth, in Richard III, was an unforgettable experience. Having the privilege to learn from industry talents like Sheri Sanders (Rock the Audition) for pop/rock musicals, and Diane Charles (Margie Haber Studio) to hone her tv/film performance skills, Christian is thrilled to be performing again since the world shut down.

Although Christian is looking forward to one day being directed by Forest Whitaker and being cast to work opposite Viola Davis, acting out animated film scenes and singing with her daughter, Quinn, will always be her most cherished memories.

EVA KANTOR holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and currently trains on-camera with Matt Newton Acting Studio and The Freeman Studio.

Her career began in musical theatre playing frenetically delightful roles such as Penny in Hairspray opposite Broadway’s Jay Johnson and Marissa Perry, and the title role in Anne of Green Gables. A natural chameleon, those who know Eva best as a kind, gentle, and nurturing spirit are often surprised by her ability to transform into powerful, magnetic figures on stage and screen. Currently, you can see her work on Hulu, HBO, and Apple TV+.

Eva expanded her toolkit to include voiceover, narrating books for Audible and Brilliance Audio, as well as lending her voice to commercials, scripted podcasts and animated projects. When she isn’t acting, Eva is busy writing her own content (she currently has a short film about motherhood and a musical dramedy pilot she co-wrote with her father in the works), creating music with her husband, Jonathan, and raising her two energetic boys (the best teachers in play anyone could imagine).

MAYA CARTER (they/them/Maya) is a transgender performing artist + cultivator of joy; living and working on the unceded land of the Lenni Lenape and Canarsie People. Maya also facilitates the development of new plays and devised work in various capacities, including: Direction, Dramaturgy, Choreography, and Writing. Much of Maya's generative work is an examination of the queer utopian ideal as it relates to the bodies + hearts of Black queer folk who grew up/out of/through trauma in Faith Communities. An excerpt of their play, How We'll Get Over was commissioned for the Poetic License Festival in early March of 2020. Recent performance projects include: We Are Only Dead If We Are Forgotten with Long Wharf Theatre and It Will Rise Soon Enough at the Lenfest Center For Performing Arts. Maya is honored to journey through this timely + poignant work alongside this sweet + empathetic team.

APERTURE DUO curates fearless programs that explore new sounds, voices, and techniques through the lens of violin and viola chamber music. Lauded for their “precision and interpretation” along with their “distinct sense of unity and independence” (icareifyoulisten.com), Los Angeles-based Aperture Duo was founded in 2015 by violinist Adrianne Pope and violist Linnea Powell. Equally at home performing old and new music, Aperture Duo actively commissions diverse new works to expand the violin and viola duo repertoire.

Aperture Duo has been in residence at California Institute of the Arts, Avaloch Farm Music Institute, Las Positas College, Black House SoCal New Music Workshop, Eureka! Musical Minds of California Graduate Student Conference, and has designed educational concerts with wild Up and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Performance credits include Tuesdays @ Monk Space, the main stage at the Carlsbad Music Festival, Music at Boston Court, L.A. Signal Lab, LA Downtown Art Walk, Brooklyn's Home Audio Concert Series, UC Santa Barbara Summer Music Festival, Window Concert Series at the Craft in America Center, and Hear Now Music Festival.

Aperture Duo is a project of the Fulcrum Arts’ Emerge Fiscal Sponsorship Program. Website: www.apertureduo.com

Special thanks to composers Andrew Tholl and Carolyn Chen

MORGAN STEVENSON is a Theatre Educator, Writer, Director, and Facilitator based in Brooklyn. She has developed and produced various original Documentary Theatre plays about the Black Lives Matter movement. After receiving a Masters in Educational Theatre from NYU, she became a Middle School teacher that produces original identity based Theater and Film works with her students. She uses Theatre Education as a political tool to promote social action and activism among youth and people of color. She would like to thank the entire TOKOPHOBIA cast and crew for making her fall back in love with the production process all over again.

KATRINA MIYUKI ROEN has always had a love for crafting and creative projects. She graduated from NYU’s Educational Theatre program and participated in the study away program in Puerto Rico for puppet/mask studies. Inspired by what she learned from that experience, Katrina crafted an abridged TYA friendly show of The Odyssey using puppets/masks to bring the classic tale to life for her senior thesis. Katrina went on to work for The Lion King tour as a production assistant for the puppet/mask department and is currently working with Very Merry Theatre in Vermont. Katrina is so grateful to have the opportunity to collaborate with Jenny again!

JULIE HILL is a composer and singer songwriter who lives in Brooklyn. She is very grateful to be a part of this project.

JOSEPHINE PU-SHENG WANG is an artist, designer and technologist who plays with light, graphics, sculpture, electronics, and software in performance and installation art.

Josephine has presented work at Fabrica de Arte Cubano and Edinburgh Fringe Festival. SPECTRUM received the LIT Lighting Design Awards: Interactive Lighting Project in 2018 and was exhibited in Waveform curated by CultureHub LA in 2019. In 2021, Josephine received a California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Grant.

Josephine's works use visual mechanisms and interactivity to investigate human minds. They examine personal experiences, challenge societal rules, and reconsider the consequences of civilization. As a lighting designer and creative coder, Josephine works with artists in exhibition, public art, performance and corporate commission projects. Many of those were created by women, BIPOC, or immigrants. Some notable collaborators include Nikita Gale, Chris Ryan Williams, Megan Mosholder, and Scarlett Kim.

Josephine holds a BFA in Lighting Design from CalArts, a BS in Computer Science / Information Engineering from NCU, Taiwan, and is pursuing a MPS in Interactive Telecommunications Program from NYU-Tisch. Josephine lives in Brooklyn and works internationally.

CHRISTINE SERDJENIAN YEARWOOD is the Founder and CEO of UP-STAND. Since 2015, her work has focused on improving accessibility for pregnant people, families, and caregivers. She is a frequent speaker at transit rallies, hearings, panels and forums relating to accessibility matters. She leads workshops and provides consulting and event services to improve accessibility in the workplace, public and private spaces, and in communities. Christine holds an M.E. in Higher Education from Harvard University, a M.S.T. in ESL from Pace University, and a B.A. in Sociology from Brown University. She serves on Healthy Babies (Queens), NYCT's Advisory Committee for Transit Accessibility, LIRR's ADA Task Force, and has been a CIDNY Poll Site Accessibility Monitor for the NYC General Elections. Christine was recently recognized for her work on 2 projects by the Citizens Committee of New York City to improve accessibility in NYC, The Ramp Project NYC and One Stop Family Pop Up. Christine lives in Queens with her husband and three children.

PRODUCTION AND MAJOR SUPPORT Credits

Thank you to Supporters Travis York, Lauren O’Brien, Holly Florian, Margaret Katch, Carissa Karner, Anonymous, Jamie the Midwife, Morgan Stevenson, Vesna and Danijel, Anonymous, Jenny Soo and family, Zoe Silverman and family, Haley Webb, Ilana Gustafson, Jamie Zakoski, Logan Clark, Jennie Kogan, Elise May, Amy Smith, Lovell family, Meropi & Beto, Alejandro Pina, Jan Bokoch aka Mom, Crystal Diaz and family, Giverny Petitmermet, Elizabeth Hall, Rebecca Bokoch, Hayley Sherwood, and Yanique Bourjolly.

TOKOPHOBIA is presented through a residency at The Center at West Park and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

SPECIAL THANKS

Special Thanks to Brooke, Efe, JJ, Julie, Malika, Maya, Amara, Angela, Colleen, Sandra, Shelley, Yvette, Arielle Sosland, and all who contributed their powerful stories and voices to this piece. You are truly an inspiration.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Center at West Park is a not-for-profit community performing arts center based in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

We recognize that this land where we are privileged to be is the unceded territory and ancestral home of the Munsee Lenape. Today, members of the Lenape and many other indigenous sovereign nations continue to live, work, and create in New York City.

For over 30 years in the mid-19th century, this land was home to Seneca Village, the first free Black community in New York City. In 1857, the city used eminent domain to forcibly remove the residents and demolish their homes, schools, and churches to make room for the construction of Central Park.

Since its construction in 1889, this building has been home to countless artists and activists:

In 1978, West Park led the way in openly welcoming LGBTQ+ members as part of the More Light Movement.

From 1980 to 1985, West Park was home to The Shakespeare Center and the renowned Riverside Shakespeare Company.

From 1987 to 1991, God’s Love We Deliver worked out of West Park’s kitchen to serve up to 250 meals per day to people living with AIDS during the height of the crisis.

The West Park Presbyterian Church building was named a New York City Landmark in 2010. In 2016, The Center at West Park was founded by a coalition of community members to preserve and revitalize West Park as a community resource and home for arts and culture.

We are deeply inspired by the legacy of those who have called this land and this building home before us. We hope to honor them in all our work today and in the future.

ABOUT THE CENTER AT WEST PARK

The Center at West Park is a community performing arts center based in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark. We present engaging and boundary-pushing early-career and established artists through our artist residency programs, provide affordable rental space for artists to develop their work, and steward the restoration of our historic home’s landmark exterior. The Center is a secular, 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.

This program is made possible by the generous support of audience members like you. To make a donation to support future residencies, go to centeratwestpark.org/donate.

Staff

Natasha Katerinopoulos, Managing Director
Zachary Tomlinson, Artistic Director
Dane Jerabek, Marketing & Box Office Manager
Richard Pimentel, Fascilities Manager
David Shocket, Consulting Technical Director
Gary Eisenkraft, CPA, Accountant
Mercedes Marrero-Alvarado, Porter
Dion Thompson, Porter

OBJECT MOVEMENT CURATORS

Maiko Kikuchi
Rowan Magee
Marcella Murray
Justin Perkins

FALL 2022 GUEST CURATORS

Christina Franklin
Melanie Greene
Trevor Weston

Board of directors

Marian M. Warden, President
Marsha Flowers, Vice President
Theodore S. Berger, Treasurer
Beryl Abrams, Secretary
Jennifer Rogers Carlock
Don Frantz
Derrick McQueen
Mitchell Schamroth
Susan E. Sullivan