In a co-production with A Public Fit, Nevada Conservatory Theatre presents Passage March 27 to Apri 5 in the Black Box Theatre. Inspired by E.M. Forster’s A Passage to India, the play unfolds as a fantasia set within a neocolonial landscape where a fragile friendship is placed under extraordinary strain. Tickets are available here.

When a local doctor and an expatriate teacher embark on a seemingly simple excursion to a local attraction, the trip becomes a turning point that disrupts their sense of trust and mutual understanding. What follows is not just a personal rupture, but a revelation of the invisible forces shaping their relationship - history, culture, and the unequal ground on which their bond was built.

Through shifting perspectives and moments of surreal intensity, Christopher Chen’s contemporary play examines how power operates beneath everyday interactions. The work probes who is heard, who is believed, and whose experiences are diminished when conflict arises. Provocative and deeply unsettling, Passage resists tidy conclusions, instead inviting audiences to wrestle with moral ambiguity and the enduring weight of colonial legacies. In this charged terrain, friendship becomes a testing ground for empathy, and the play emerges as a meditation on the cost of connection in a world defined by imbalance.

“We are elated to co-produce this provocative play with A Public Fit, " said NCT executive director and chair of the department of theatre, Kirsten Brandt. "The coming together of professional artists alongside our graduate students and advanced undergraduates is the mission of Nevada Conservatory Theatre. We are delighted to have APF join us on campus in our Black Box Theatre. And we welcome APF’s audience to experience UNLV."

Director Joseph D. Kucan says, “In Christopher Chen’s Passage, the journey isn’t across land or sea, but through the fragile territories of culture;  a journey where belonging is negotiated, memory is contested, and the cost of leaving home runs deep.”

Director Ann-Marie Pereth says, “What excites me about Passage is how it invites the audience to bring their own culture and perspective into the story. The play asks us to consider where we fit within a collective spirit and whether we value individualism or being part of a greater community, especially when that community has been wronged.”

Content Advisory: Passage contains mature themes, including discussions of colonialism, power imbalance, and implied sexual violence, and may be distressing for some audience members.

Bios

Christopher Chen
Christopher Chen is an international award-winning playwright whose works have been produced across the United States and abroad. His play The Headlands received its world premiere at Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3 in winter 2020. His play Passage received its world premiere at the Wilma Theater in 2018, and its NY premiere at Soho Rep in spring 2019. His play Caught (NYT Critics' Pick) received its world premiere at the Interact Theater and NY premiere at The Play Company.

Chen received a 2017 OBIE Award for his work on Caught. Additional honors include: 2021 USA Fellow; 2020 Steinberg Award (co-winner); 2017 Lanford Wilson Award (co-winner); 2015-2016 Sundance Institute/Time Warner Foundation Fellowship for theater; Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, through which he was 2013-2014 playwright-in-residence at The Vineyard Theatre; Barrymore Award for “Outstanding New Play”; PHINDIE Critics Award; Glickman Award; Rella Lossy Playwriting Award; shortlist for the James Tait Black Award.

He is currently under commission at various regional and NY theatres, including the American Conservatory Theater, Audible, Cutting Ball Theater and Portland Center Stage. Chen also has an overall deal at Amazon TV. (https://www.concordtheatricals.com/a/118130/christopher-chen)

Ann-Marie Pereth
Co-founder and Artistic Director of A Public Fit Theatre Company (APF), Pereth is a Las Vegas-based theatre director, choreographer, and teacher. Her credits as a director include: The Pavilion, Indecent, The Piano Lesson, Three Days of Rain, Things I Know to Be True,Heroes of the Fourth Turning, The Elephant Man, SmallMouth Sounds, Incognito, Wit, The Glass Menagerie,Foxfinder, When the Rain Stops Falling, A Summons from the Tinker…, Becky Shaw, The Beauty Queen ofLeenane, A Steady Rain, Red Light Winter, August:Osage County, Belleville, and The Trip to Bountiful for APF; Compleat Female Stage Beauty at The Horn Theater at the College of Southern Nevada; The Diary of Anne Frank at The Smith Center with the Jewish Repertory Theater of Nevada; and Learned Ladies, Rabbit Hole, Miss Julie, 27 Wagons Full Of Cotton, andGlory in the Flower at Nevada Conservatory Theatre.

With her passion for performing, Pereth has been involved with theatre and dance since she was 10 years old, beginning her training with the award-winning Rainbow Company Youth Theatre, a City of Las Vegas-sponsored theatre for young audiences. On several occasions, Pereth has gone back to her roots to work as a guest director and theatre instructor for The Rainbow Company. Some of her children’s theatre credits include Charlotte’s Web, Cheaper by the Dozen and The Odyssey. Pereth received her MFA in directing from UNLV and is currently working there as an adjunct theatre professor. She has acted, danced, directed, and choreographed with many renowned theatres, training programs, and community organizations throughout the country including Disney Musicals in Schools, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, and American Girl in New York City.

Joseph D. Kucan
Joseph D. Kucan, a native Las Vegan, is cofounder and Producing Director of A Public Fit Theatre Company.  He has been involved in the local theatre community for the past 50+ years, first as a founding member of the award-winning Rainbow Company and later serving for ten years as its Educational Director. As the Senior Director of Dramatic Assets for Electronic Arts, Kucan helmed the multi-million dollar computer game franchises Command&Conquer;  Dune: 2000; C&C: Red Alert; Lands of Lore; The Legend of Kyrandia as well as Blade Runner; Pirates: the Legend of the Black Kat; NOX; and Monopoly CD-ROM, the world’s first mass-marketed computer game to be played over the internet. Directing credits include The Minutes; The Pavilion; Indecent; An Oak Tree; Three Days of Rain; Things I Know to Be True; Incognito, The Glass Menagerie; Wit; The Weir; When the Rain Stops Falling; Fool for Love; A Summons from the Tinker…, and Endgame.

Kirsten Brandt 
Prior to joining UNLV, Kirsten Brandt was associate chair and artistic director of the department of film and theatre at San Jose State University. Brandt is an interdisciplinary artist and educator whose practice embraces inquiries into gender, technology, and politics. An award-winning theatrical director, playwright, and producer with over 20 years of experience, her passion lies in igniting the imagination of audiences through visceral storytelling and visual poetry to encourage dialogue and ethical engagement. For seven years, she served as Executive Artistic Director of the Sledgehammer Theatre (San Diego’s leading alternative theater) where she produced 25 productions including 11 World Premieres such as Kirsten Nash’s musical Alice in Modernland and Kelly Stuart’s Furious Blood, five West Coast premieres. and directed 15 productions. Her avant-garde, gritty take on Sweet Charity earned her a coveted Backstage West award for her direction. Brandt served as Associate Artistic Director of San Jose Repertory Theatre where she directed Rabbit Hole, Groundswell, The Big Meal, Legacy of Light, Splitting Infinity, Doctor Faustus, and Next Fall among others. Additionally, she was the casting director, literary manager, and mentor for the Emerging Artists Lab. She has directed for The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Arizona Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Marin Theatre Company, San Diego Repertory, City Lights Theatre, African-American Shakespeare Company, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, The Jewel Theater, North Coast Repertory, Diversionary Theatre, Show & Tale Productions (Canada), Playwrights Project, and Sierra Rep. She has directed readings and workshops for NYU (Strasberg Studio), New Dramatists, San Francisco Playhouse, New Fortune Theater, Mo’olelo Theatre, and ASK Theatre Projects  www.kirstenbrandt.com

Production Team

• Ann-Marie Pereth, Director
• Joseph D. Kucan, Director
• Alex Rector (she/they), Assistant Director
• Moira Kowalski, Associate Production Manager
• Lee Geiger, Lighting Designer
• Jonathan Nickens, Master Electrician
• Arles Estes, Sound Designer
• Momo Sugawara, Scenic Designer
• Daniel Ly, Charge Scenic Artist
• Christian Martinez Marquez, Prop Shop Manager
• Cameron Cox, Props
• Andrew E. Taylor, Props Artisan
• Aya Giardina, Technical Director
• Brandon Stokes, Assistant Technical Director
• Hannah Prochaska, Costume Designer
• Logan Haddad, Assistant Costume Designer
• Katrina Hertfelder (she/her), Wardrobe Trainer
• Will Nethery, Production Stage Manager
• Kipper Redmond, Assistant Stage Manager
• Saundnya Sakhare, Marketing
• Kate Critchfield, Program

Cast

• JoAnn Birt as B
• Autumn Morgan as H
• Andrew Bullard as S/D/J
• Savannah Libatique as M
• Gigi Guizado as G/Mosquito/Gecko
• Annette Verdolino as F
• Sabrina Cofield as Q
• Ryan Ruckman as R

About the UNLV College of Fine Arts

The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.