It’s the night before the opening night of Mount Vernon, Ohio’s next community theater production: a barely legal adaptation of OUR TOWN. The production’s “Emily,” Sabrina, is stuck at home, trying to rehearse. A mob sits outside of her house, demanding an answer for the disappearance of Mr. K, a popular science teacher… who burned Sabrina during a class experiment. Sabrina’s “George,” Kimberly, arrives to help Sabrina deal with the threat of danger outside. All hell breaks loose when their former friend and the daughter of the science teacher, Kelly, invites herself over to bury the hatchet… and to figure out where her missing father could be. To make things even worse, the girl that Kelly bullied into the hospital, Willow, is discharged and arrives at Sabrina’s house. As the night goes on, the tension builds between the girls as secrets are revealed: bullying, evidence being destroyed, and poisoned cookies. Seemingly alone after a crazy night, Sabrina, Willow, & Kimberly are thrust into Grover’s Corners and an uncertain future. small town icons is an unflinching look at poverty, bullying, friendship, and the agonizing pursuit of a picture-perfect life. 

Join us for our latest ColLab workshop production: small town icons by SMJ

CAST
Megan Lomax
Grace Guichard
Stephanie Orta-Vázquez
Vanessa Vivas

DIRECTOR
Mackenna Goodrich

CREATIVE CONSULTANT
Rachel Sabo-Hedges

Drinks and cookies will be available for purchase! All proceeds go towards supporting future OTL artists and productions.

MEET THE COMPANY

SMJ (they/them) (Playwright) is a mixed-Latiné, non-binary, and NYC-based playwright, director, and educator originally from Mount Vernon, OH. They are proud to be the Co-Artistic Director of Andy’s Summer Playhouse. They were a 2022-2023 Dramatists Guild Foundation Fellow. As a writer, their work has been seen in various forms with Ars Nova, Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, the New York Comedy Festival, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, New York Stage and Film, Latinx Playwrights Circle, The Orchard Project, Carnegie Mellon University, New York University, and Otterbein University. They are a member of the Dramatists Guild and Ring of Keys.www.smjwrites.com

Mackenna Goodrich (she/they) (Director) loves Big Girl Explosion Fests and plays of and about the body. Selected directing credits: Gross! by Emma Schillage (Ten Toes), The Station by Maggie Cregan (SheNYC), small town icons by SMJ (The Frontera Series/The Tank), Cockroaches by Emma Schillage (The Cell), Straight Icons by SMJ and Anne-Marie Pietersma (Ars Nova/Second City NYC), American Girl Doll Horror Play by Jasmine Sharma (The Brick), An Axemas Story (The Players Theatre/54 Below), WO[MAN] by Alyssa Haddad-Chin (The Brick), Radio Man by Sarah Groustra (SheNYC), Bogeyman by Allison Merkel (The Road Theatre Company). Mackenna is also an associate producer for SciShow and runs The Road Theatre Company’s Under Construction playwriting group. BA: Kenyon College // mackennagoodrich.com 

Megan Lomax (Sabrina) is thrilled to be a part of this collaboration! She was seen on Broadway in the
Tony award winning show Skin of Our Teeth at the Vivian Beaumont. Other theater credits
include: Small Town Icons (The Tank), No Good Things… (A.R.T/New York) Best Seats in the
House (New Perspective Theater), The Great Bluffer (New Perspective Theater), 24 Hour Plays:
Nationals, Rosie Revere, Engineer (TheaterWorks National Tour) Kudzu (AL Shakespeare
Festival). T.V: City on a Hill (Showtime). Instagram: @megan_lomax_

Wepa!!!! Stephanie Orta-Vázquez (she/they) (Kimberly) is a classically trained New York based actor and writer, born and raised in Puerto Rico. Some of their recent acting work includes SERIALS (The Tank), Mx Piggy Makes an OnlyFans (Ars Nova), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Off-Broadway at HERE Arts Center), and several commercials with iconic brands such as Apple, T-Mobile, and the NY Lottery! They’re currently in post and pre-production for three short films because she’s an insomniac with a dream and an unfortunate disregard for her circadian rhythm. Everything Stephanie does is in service to all the Latiné humans before them with dreams of working within the arts, like her abuela, who did not have the means or circumstances to be able to. @stephanie.mov

Vanessa Vivas (she/her) (Willow) is a Venezuelan actress & arts marketer based in NYC and is honored to be a small part of the SMJ multiverse. Her credits include Serials (The Tank), I’m Fine Though (Ars Nova ANT Fest), Cinco/Five (Tour, New York City Children’s Theatre), Kallan Dana’s My New Year’s Resolution (The 24 Hour Plays), jamie b (Shapphest NYC), and Mi Abuela, Queen of Nightmares (Gene Frankel Theater). By day, Vanessa works as the Digital Marketing Assistant at Second Stage Theater. BA: Point Park University. IG: @vivas_lavida

Grace Guichard (she/her) (Kelly) is an actor originally from Walnut Creek, CA. Recent credits include Straight Icons (Ars Nova/The Second City), The Woman in Black (Weston Theater Company),  Silent Sky (SPARC’s Shakespeare in the Vineyard), Much Ado About Nothing (SPARC’s Shakespeare in the Vineyard), Pirates of Penzance (Otterbein Summer Theatre.) Staged Readings/Workshops include: Radio Man (SoHo Playhouse), THE COMMAND CENTER (Laguardia Performing Arts Center), Protect the Protectors (The Tank.) Additionally many independent films you have not seen, including her short “Somebody/Anybody.” Website: www.graceguichard.com Instagram: @gracie.guichard 

Rachel Sabo-Hedges (she/they) (Creative Consultant) is a multi-hyphenate director, developer, and producer raised in Boone, North Carolina. She first connected with Off The Lane through their mentorship program during her senior year at Western Carolina University. After moving to New York, Rachel became the associate director for Tony Award nominee Hunter Foster. Since then, she has continued to associate direct while also directing and developing new work throughout NYC.

Coming from a family of theatre artists and performers, Rachel was immersed in the industry from a young age as a child actor—storytelling runs in her blood. She gravitates toward work that centers hope and love, and she’s often found gathering artists to explore new scripts or uncovering the life stories of strangers. She’s drawn to theatre that is muscular, surprising, and a little bit magical.

Sophie Brubaker (@sophiebrubaker) (Producer) is a bubbly California-raised, NYC-based producer, performer and event host! Sophie graduated from the University of California at Davis with a BA in Theatre and Dance and a BS in Human Development, and there she also began an internship with Off the Lane. Since moving to New York City, she fell in love with creating imaginative, social spins on producing and performing in theatre. She started the ColLab program at Off the Lane in 2022, which specializes in developing interactive and interdisciplinary live performance work. Sophie is also an actor and Troupe Logistics Coordinator for The Murder Mystery Company, and she performs in and hosts interactive shows in NYC regularly. Sophie is ecstatic about growing Off the Lane’s reach in this city by meeting artists where they are at and continuing to develop new, communal work!! www.sophiebrubaker.com

Julia Levine (Stagehand) is a dramaturg and administrator with a B.F.A. in Dramaturgy and a master’s degree in Arts Management from Carnegie Mellon University. Her production work spans dramaturgy, production management, directing, and choreography. Julia’s career focuses on new works development, musical theatre, experimentalism, and uplifting marginalized stories. She is also known for her encyclopedic knowledge of musical theatre history and Disney Channel. She was part of OTL’s most recent mentorship cohort, and would like to thank her amazing mentor Sophie for inviting her to be part of this event!