THE TASTERS

BY MEGHAN BROWN

Read the Article on Broadway World

WITH A REBEL ARMY POISONING GOVERNMENT LEADERS LEFT AND RIGHT, THE WOMEN KNOWN AS TASTERS HAVE AN IMPORTANT JOB — EATING DELICIOUS, GOURMET MEALS, AND THEN WAITING TO SEE IF THEY DIE. WHEN REBELLIOUS TASTER ELYSE GOES ON HUNGER STRIKE, SHE KICKS OFF A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT WILL CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY… WHILE PUTTING ALL OF THE TASTERS’ LIVES IN JEOPARDY.

Development History:
Developed at Portland Center Stage, Victory Gardens Theater, Crowded Outlet (NYC), and the Comparative Drama Conference. Kilroy's list, O'Neill semifinalist, nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn prize

Cast

  • Tamara Tunie

    Elyse

  • Kaley Ronayne

    Bianca

  • Colby Minifie

    Corrine

  • Babak Tafti

    The General

  • Rad Pereira

    Lt. Sawyer

The Team

  • Ellie Heyman is a director of theater and film. Recent credits: THE GREAT WORK BEGINS, featuring Glenn Close, Paul Dano, Patti LuPone and Brian Tyree Henry (Drama League Award; NYT Best of 2020); SPACE DOGS (MCC); ESCHATON (PGA Award Nomination); (STILL) ASKING FOR IT (The Public Theater); THE TATTOOED LADY (Philadelphia Theater Company); BEARDO (Drama Desk Nomination; Pipeline Theater), THEY, THEMSELF AND SCHMERM w/Becca Blackwell (Under the Radar); BONER KILLER w/ Erin Markey (Under the Radar); THIS w/ Adrienne Truscott (Bessie Nomination for Outstanding Production; NYLA), THE TRAVELING IMAGINARY w/ Julian Koster (Neutral Milk Hotel) rated "Top 5 shows of the year" by NPR; music-fiction podcast THE ORBITING HUMAN CIRCUS (OF THE AIR), rated #1 on Apple Podcasts and downloaded over 5 million times (Night Vale Presents) and cult classic DREAMBOY (Night Vale Presents). Ellie is a graduate of Northwestern University and Boston University. She is a former WP Theater and Drama League Directing Fellow. Ellieheyman.com. Ellie also coaches actors at her studio: ehstudionyc.com.

  • Meghan is an award-winning playwright, librettist/lyricist, and screenwriter based in Pasadena, California. Her theater work has been performed or developed at institutions across the country, including Lincoln Center, Portland Center Stage, Victory Gardens Theater, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Getty Villa. She is a co-writer of the Lionsgate / Buzzfeed Studios comedy-thriller F*** Marry Kill, which will be released fall 2024. Current projects include Ensemble Studio Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation commission BIGFOOT (upcoming NYC reading June 2024 as part of EST’s First Light festival), astronaut murder mystery play A Seam (developed in the Geffen Playhouse Writers’ Room), sex tragicomedy Much Ado riff What Happened While Hero Was Dead, supernatural feminist rage musical These Girls Have Demons, and a spectacle-forward German-language musical about Hedy Lamarr. She is eternally grateful to Ellie, Giuliana, Kaley and the rest of Team Tasters for their boundless support of this piece. Eat up! www.MeghanBrown.net.

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