Camp Mannuppia
By John Bavoso
Directed By Sarah Shin
October 19-21, 2023
Brooklyn Art Haus 24 Marcy Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211
In the early aughts, deep in the unspecified woods, there is a summer camp where gender non-traditional, overly theatrical, and borderline agoraphobic teenage boys are taught to become real men... or so their parents think. Under the tutelage of two flamboyant counselors, a band of sissies finds sanctuary from societal expectations and judgment at Camp Mannuppia—that is, until two new campers arrive and turn everything on its head, setting off a chain of disastrous events. Are the campers doomed, or can they come to terms with each other and their own identities in time to make it out of the forest in one piece?
Join National Queer Theater for a special developmental workshop at the new Brooklyn Art Haus.
Camp Mannuppia has been developed previously with TOSOS, Baltimore Playwrights Festival, Pinky Swear Productions, and The Play Reading Network.
 John Bavoso (Playwright) |  Sarah Shin (Director) |  Ariel Estrada (McCloskey) |
|---|---|---|
 Cooper Howell (Peavey) |  David Mattar Merten (Mikey) |  Brandon Richards (Tewks) |
 Jaevon Williams (Darnell) |  Sushma Saha (Jo) |
John Bavoso (Playwright; he/him/his) is a Washington, DC-based playwright, marketer, and aspiring wrangler of unicorns. He mostly writes plays about women and queer people who are awkwardly attempting (and generally failing) to engage with serious subject matter using only dry wit and impeccably timed combative taunts. His 10-minute and full-length plays have been produced and/or developed in 30 states around the country as well as in Canada, Japan, South Korea, India, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, and the UK. For more information, please visit John-Bavoso.com.
Sarah Shin (Director; she/her) is a Brooklyn-based Korean American director/performer/producer. Recent directing credits include Final Contact (Central Square Theater), girl power sex positive joy ride (SheNYC Summer Theatre Festival), A Very Herrera Holiday (New Repertory Theater), The First Pineapple and Other Folktales (Central Square Theater), The Miseducation of Drea and Lon (Company One Theatre), ZAPI Artists' This is the Hour: Under Our Own Pen, Nothing Rhymes with Juneteenth (Free Soil Arts Collective), and Amputees (Boston University). Assistant Credits include Diana Oh's My H8 Letter 2 the Gr8 American Theatre (Assistant Director, Public Theater, Ma-Yi Theatre/AYE DEFY), Endlings (Assistant Director, NYTW), Moby Dick (Choreography Assistant, ART), and an outdoor production of Twelfth Night (Assoc. Director, Catskill Mountain Shakespeare). She is the Co-Founding Artistic Producer of Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston (AATAB). Sarah is also a proud Board Member of StageSource, Advisory Board Member of Boston Playwrights' Theatre, 2020-2021 Asian American Arts Alliance Virtual Residency Cohort Member, and a Steering Committee Member of API Arts Network.
Ariel Estrada* (Camp Director McCloskey; he/him/his/siya). Off-Broadway: A PERSISTENT MEMORY, MBL Productions (Jessi D. Hill, dir.); DOUBLE FALSEHOOD, Letter of Marque (Andrew Borthwick-Leslie, dir.); FAR EAST, Lincoln Center Theater (Daniel Sullivan, dir.); SHOGUN MACBETH, CAMBODIA AGONISTES, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. Selected Off-Off/Regional: MADE IN CHINA (NYT Critics Pick), Wakka Wakka (Gwen Warnock, dir.); TARTUFFE, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble (NYITA Nominee); ALL WE HAVE LEFT, Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Jim Henson Foundation Puppetry Residency; THE IMBIBLE (FringeNYC Encore Award); DISORIENTED, Theater C; HONOR, Prospect Theater Company; MISS SAIGON, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse; 90 NORTH, Kennedy Center, ASCAP/In the Works Program. Film/TV: No Loss Here, Title VII; “Girls5Eva”, “Tell Me A Story”, “Bull,” “Blue Bloods”, “The Americans”. Ariel is the Associate Director of the Theatre Program at Fordham University and the Executive Artistic Director of Leviathan Lab. He serves on the boards of Musical Theatre Factory, Latine Musical Theatre Lab, and the advisory board of Houghton Hall Arts. His leadership has been recognized by artEquity, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Theatre Communications Group. www.arielestrada.com
Sushma Saha (Jo Walker; pronoun inclusive) Broadway: 1776 (Roundabout). Off-Broadway: Interstate (Theatre Row). Off-Off Broadway: 7 Minutes (Waterwell), Girlfriend (The Drama League). Regional: The Wolves (ATL), Little Shop of Horrors (Little Shop of Bools). Currently working on debut EP, “This Isn’t About You”, to be released on all music-streaming platforms. Instagram: @sushmasahahaha
Jaevon Williams* (Darnell Hunt; he/him) Theater credits include The Last Stop on Market Street (Atlantic Theater), pov: u run joe biden’s tiktok (Ars Nova, ANTFEST), Ah, Wilderness (Hartford Stage), Richard II (Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, London), Girl Power Sex Positive Joy Ride (SheNYC). Williams received his B.F.A. in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Brandon Richards (Tewksbury 'Tewks' Rosenberg; he/they) Thrilled to be working with National Queer Theater for the first time! Recent credits: Danny, King of the Basement (Syracuse Stage), and NY PopsUp!: Plays by Kids for Kids (Syracuse Stage/Chautauqua Institution). Brandon is passionate about telling queer stories, stories that focus on survivors of sexual violence, stories that destigmatize mental health, and Latine stories. Syracuse BFA Acting. Instagram: @brandonkrichards
David Mattar Marten* (Mikey Armstrong; they/he): Trinity Rep: U/S Mack/Jimbo, Fairview. Brown/Trinity Rep: Prior, Angels In America: Part 1; Blue, Beirut; The Henriad, The Winter's Tale, and The Skriker. Off-Broadway: Afterglow. Regional: Sons of the Prophet, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, And Then There Were None; Williamstown Theatre Festival Acting Apprentice. Online: Catch him in the popular fiction podcasts Gay Future and Meet Cute on iTunes, and as the lead in the Web Series Queen's English streaming now. Other: They are a proud graduate of Ball State University's BFA Acting program as well as a member of AEA. david-merten.com
Creative Team
Stage Manager: Ashlee Reed
Assistant Director: Rula A. Muñoz
Scenic Designer: Sean Perreira
Costume Designer: Daniele Matthews
Lighting Designer: Maxx Kurzunski
Sound Designer: Germán Martinez
Dramaturg: Begsy Inal
Casting Director: Joseph Hayes
*Courtesy of Actors Equity Association
Equity Approved Showcase