Ancestra
By Holly Holsinger and Chris Seibert
Directed by Maggie Dunn
All net proceeds will go to The National Network of Abortion Funds
Doors will open 15 minutes before each performance
**Ancestra will have a 10 minute intermission between acts
Written by Holly Holsinger and Chris Seibert with Renee Schilling and Sally Groth.
Inspired by the 1853 National Women's Rights Convention, Ancestra weaves a historical account of the pioneers for women’s rights with the intimate biography of a contemporary journalist (Cora) who writes about reproductive healthcare. When Cora’s methods take an unconventional turn, she is plunged into a crisis through which past and present begin to converge, bringing to the forefront a vision of how far society has come, and how far we have yet to go.
Sabrina Fierro
She/Her
Cora
Sabrina Fierro is a Philly born performer, before attending Pace University as part of their BA acting program (International Performance Ensemble) she was very involved in the performing arts high school she attended. Since college she has been a part of multiple productions at Pace University, where she will study theatre abroad in Spain this upcoming fall and is planning to graduate in 2024. She is so beyond excited to be a part of this loving, collaborative cast and to be able to act in something she feels so deeply passionate about. She would like to thank her family for their love and support and Maggie and Liadin for all their hard-work and support!
Meet the Cast
Rose Stark
She/Her
Nettie
Rose is a recent graduate of Pace University, majoring in BA Acting. She has acted in many theater productions including The Laramie Project, Thunderbodies, and Closer. Rose has also been involved in devising many one-acts, including Happy Valley, Cult Classics, and The Dyatlov Pass Incident. She is so excited to be a part of Ancestra and supporting the cause to let women control their own bodies.
Avery Pate
She/Her
Lucy
Avery Pate is very excited to be playing Lucy in Ancestra. She is about to begin her second year at Pace University pursuing a BA in Acting in the International Performance Ensemble. At Pace, she is in the process of devising a play with a group of her classmates called The Love Pill. Previously, she has appeared in The Miracle Worker as Annie Sullivan, The Crucible as Mary Warren, The Matchmaker as Flora Van Huysen, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Helena. She wants to thank the entire team of Ancestra for their hard work and supporting a good cause.
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Sommer Campbell
VOICES 1/Irene/Lucretia Mott
Sommer Campbell is an actor and theatre artist based in New York. She has trained in collaborative and devised theatre for 3 years in Pace University’s International Performance Ensemble program. She is an actor-singer-mover in that order, and has a great love and passion for musical theatre as well as more experimental pieces. She has been involved in the process of creating many devised works, including Alive Awake Alert at Pace in 2019–2020. She was the creator and part of the original writing team for WIFE: A Mitski Jukebox Musical in 2021, and served as the dramaturg for its live theatre debut directed by Katie Brown last May.
Shannon Pepper
They/She/He
VOICES 4/Crisis Worker/Sarah/Ernestine Rose
Shannon Pepper is so excited to be performing in Ancestra! Shannon is entering her third year at Pace University where she is in the International Performance Ensemble studying a BA in Acting. As a devised actor, Shannon has worked on 29 Memory Lane, (at Pace University) and a variety of other projects. Shannon is an actor, writer, and artist, and continues to work behind the scenes on a variety of projects including most recently WIFE (at Pace University) for which she did hair and makeup design. Shannon is so excited for you to see Ancestra and support the cause!
Sam Miley
She/Her
Voices 7/Lexi/Marian/Abbey Kelley Foster
Movement Captain
Samantha Miley is super excited to be a part of Ancestra. She is from Yorktown Heights, New York, and is a rising junior studying theatre and dance at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Some of Samantha’s favorite previous roles include Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Rizzo (Grease). She wants to thank all of her cast mates for putting on this amazing show and her friends and family for their constant support.
Maggie Dunn
She/Her
Director/Producer
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Maggie Dunn currently studies Directing at Pace University and is a part of the International Performance Ensemble program. Maggie’s selected Directing & Assistant Directing credits include Oklahoma! (The Hanover Theater), Just Another D Word (The Potomac Playmakers), Undying Wishes (The Tank Theater), Mirrors (Teatro Latea), and Fugitive Songs (Pace University). This fall, Maggie will be studying abroad at the Institute of the Arts in Barcelona, Spain. She would like to thank every single person who made this show possible: every actor, every designer, every person backstage, every ticket-holder, every donor, and every single person who believed in this show and reproductive justice. Extra big kisses to Liadin for wearing a hundred different hats, this show would not be possible without you. Enjoy Ancestra!
Brandon Carty
They/He
Costume Designer
Brandon is a junior BA director at Pace University. They would like to give a huge shoutout to the entire team for being such an incredible and inspiring group of young adults. Lastly, they would like to thank everyone in the audience and our donators for their constant support to such an important cause.
Grace Ahlin
She/Her
VOICES 2/Ana/Lydia Jenkins
Grace Ahlin (Ana/Lydia Jenkins/Voices) is so excited to be performing in Ancestra! She has performed in New York and beyond with the Gallery Players of Brooklyn, Zenith Players, Manhattan Repertory Theater, and No Exit Theater Collective among others. Favorite roles include Viola (Twelfth Night), Cassandra (Trojan Women), and Lady Mary Sidney (New York Renaissance Faire). In addition to performing arts, Grace is a Health Policy and Management student at Brandeis University. A huge thank you to the whole cast and crew for their amazing work telling this story!
Alex Fessler
She/Her
VOICES 5/Mrs. Mahan/Jan
Alex Fessler is an angry exhausted woman, who is at least grateful to have an outlet in which to channel her fury. She received her BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts and studied at The Ernst Busch School in Berlin. Her favorite credits include Helena in Midsummer and Nora in A Dolls House. Donate so strong women and people with uteruses can continue to thrive in life and on stage.
Meet the Team
Liadin Stewart
She/They
Assistant Director
Movement Captain
Liadin Stewart is very excited to be assistant directing this production alongside the incredible Maggie Dunn and the entire Ancestra team. Liadin is a student at Pace University in the BA Directing program going into her sophomore year. Previous projects she has worked on in the past year include Assistant Directing “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead” with director Lester Thomas Shane on Pace University’s main stage last fall. Liadin would like to thank her family and friends for their constant support as well as both of her dogs, iris and will, for their emotional support during the process. She wants to let you all know that the gofundme will remain open the rest of the run if you feel so inclined to donate and hopes you enjoy the show!
Colby Ourand
They/Them
Sound Designer
Colby Ourand (they/them) is a recent graduate from the Pace University BA acting program. They recently sound designed for Summertime as a part of Stand Up Productions as well as in the devised piece The Second Bakery Attack featured in the Pace University 2022 Night Of Original Works festival. They want to thank Maggie for putting up with them and making this process so fulfilling as well as the rest of the talented cast and crew. Thank you five!
Jordan Lakins
Dawn/Officer Dynn/Sophronia/Frances Harper
Emily David
She/Her
VOICES 6/Mrs. Burke/Martha Wright/U/S Cora, Nettie, Lucy
Originally from Southern California, Emily is thrilled to perform in her first Brooklyn play! Emily has performed in numerous shows such as The Unholy Horizon, Puffs, and Urinetown. You also might have seen her in short films such as 21st Century Love Story as “Sammy” and The Perfect Person. Emily would like to thank her friends and family for encouraging her throughout her acting journey!
Margaret Garrity
She/Her
Lighting Designer
Margaret Garrity (Lighting Designer): Margaret is a Lighting Designer from Marlboro, New Jersey. She recently graduated with her BFA in Production and Design at Pace University and will be attending Boston University for her MFA in Lighting Design in the fall. Lighting Design credits include: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Pace University), Do You Feel Anger? (Pace University), Blood Sweat, Tears (The Tank), Emergence (Pace University), and Over the Rainbow: The Rock Ballet (Playwrights Horizons/Hudson Guild). She has recently won the award for Best Lighting Design (2019 New York Theatre Festival Summerfest).
Check out her website! margaretgarritydesign.com
Katie Brown
She/Her
Website Designer
Katie is a director and theatre artist based in New York and California. She is an incoming junior BA directing major at Pace University. Katie recently directed and choreographed, "Wife: An Unauthorized Mitski Musical" at Pace. Her other directing credits include: "Do You Feel Anger?” at Pace University and “Just Another D Word” at Potomac Players. Katie is currently an education intern at Barrington Stage Company. She is so incredibly proud of Maggie and all of the work she has done to create this beautiful and powerful show.
Contact Us
Email us with any questions at ancestraplay@gmail.com
Antoinette Brown
The first woman to be an ordained Protestant minister in the United States. A public speaker for abolition and women's suffrage who retired from the public eye after being denied admission to the World's Temperance Convention in 1853. She still continued to write for the “Woman's Journal” for years after that.
More information: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoinette-Brown-Blackwell
Lydia Jenkins
Lydia was not only an ordained Universalist minister but also a homeopathic physician. She preached for 20 years with full fellowship and authority as a minister, one of the first women to be granted these privileges. She passed in her medical practice in a fire and was buried with her husband in upstate New York.
More information: https://uudb.org/articles/lydiaannjenkins.html
Martha Wright
A women's rights activist heavily inspired by the Quaker religion and used these values to form her opinions on gender equality. Martha's older sister Lucretia Mott took Martha in after she lost her husband at 6 months pregnant with her 7th child. This is where Martha would meet Stanton and become more involved in the women's rights movement. Martha helped plan the first woman's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York.
More information: https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/martha-coffin-pelham-wright/
The Women of Ancestra
Lucy Stone
A suffragette and abolitionist a part of the AWSA, she eventually joined forces with Stanton and Anthony to fight for the right to vote. The first Massachusetts woman to obtain a college degree and actually attended Oberlin College! She also rewrote her own marriage vows to reflect her views and did not take her husband's last name.
More information: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lucy-stone
Frances Harper
An abolitionist and women's rights activist who is well known for being the first African American woman to publish a short story in the United States. Also well known for co-founding the National Association of Colored Women's Club. Harper originally a schoolteacher devoted all of her energy to anti-slavery after Maryland passed a law that African Americans if found in the state, would be sold into slavery, this being where she grew up she could now no longer return to her home. She published her book “Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects” after a few years of writing for different newspapers in an effort to spread the word of her cause.
More information: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/frances-ellen-watkins-harper
Frances Gage
An activist and leader in the women's suffrage movement who unlike other women's rights activists focused on supporting women of color and helping them get the representation they deserved in the fight for the vote.
More information: https://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/directory/frances-d-gage/
Lucretia Mott
A feminist and abolitionist who fought through means of oral speeches. Mott and her husband both served on the William Lloyd Garrison Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830s. This is where she would run into Stanton and become involved with the women's rights movement. Often she was criticized for her position as a public speaker because it was rare for women to do this but she continued public speaking for years to come including publishing “Discourse on Women '' well-known documentation of women's suffrage during this time.
More information: https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/lucretia-mott
Ernestine Rose
An atheist, feminist, and abolitionist known for her history of world travel before settling in New York to work as an activist. Rose is known for being one of the only Jewish women involved in the Women's Rights Conventions. She attended many rallies and became a central voice in the fight for equality. Once the civil war began Rose faced more anti-semitism than ever before which was one of the many reasons she then relocated to England to continue to fight for the cause.
More information: https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/rose-ernestine#pid-16662
Abby Kelley Foster
Foster spent over 20 years of her life traveling the country in order to attend rallies and conventions in an effort to expand women's rights and anti-slavery. In 1857, she became the general agent of the American Anti-Slavery Society.
More information: https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/abby-kelley-foster/