Show Artwork by Michael Gelen, Inkwell Studios.
Show Information
View Irish Classical Theatre Company’s production of Or, September 12 – 28, 2025.
SETTING: London. A debtors’ prison and a rented parlor in a lodging house. The play is set in the Restoration period, but echoes between the late 1660s, the late 1960s, and the present.
RUN TIME: Approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. No intermission.
CONTENT NOTES: This play contains staged intimacy, strong language, scenes with firearms and description of violent death. Light atmospheric haze and brief herbal tobacco use occur during the performance.
Originally produced in New York City by Women’s Project (Julie Crosby, Producing Artistic Director).
Or, is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service imprint. (www.dramatists.com)
Cast
Aphra Behn
Alexandria Watts †
Charles II, William Scot, Jailer
Ryan Cupello* †
Nell Gwynne, Maria, Lady Davenant
Anna Fernandez
*The Actor appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
† ICTC Debut
Production Team
Directors
Keelie A. Sheridan & Jorge Luna
Production Stage Manager
Lauren Costello Yager
Assistant Stage Manager
Alexia R. Guzmán
Scenic Designer
J. Marc Quattlebaum
Costume Designer
A. Lise Harty
Hair & Makeup Designer
Vanna Deux †
Lighting Designer
Matthew DiVita
Sound Designer
Christopher Guilmet
Props Designer
Jorge Luna
Fight Director
Danielle Rosvally
Intimacy Director
Jessica Hillman-McCord
Dialect & Speech Coach
Megan Callahan
Wardrobe Supervisor & 2nd ASM
Araia Heathcott
Assistant Lighting Designer
Jackie Renaud
Scenic Artist
Anna Krempholtz
Scenic Construction Assistants
Patrick & Cassie Cameron
Ryan Cupello
Elle Dixon
Chris Herr †
Jorge Luna
Maili Novak †
Mallory Tirone †
RJ Voltz
Publicity Photographer
Jorge Luna Photography
† ICTC Debut
OR,
By LIZ DUFFY ADAMS
September 12 – 28, 2025
A night in the life of Aphra Behn; poet, international spy, and England’s first professional female playwright.
A deliciously dizzying (semi)-historical romp.
Sprung from debtors’ prison after a disastrous overseas mission, Aphra is desperate to get out of the spy trade. She has a shot at a production at one of only two London theatre companies, if she can finish her play by morning. But she’s thwarted by interruptions from sudden new love, actress Nell Gwynne; complicated royal love, King Charles II; and very dodgy ex-love, double-agent William Scot – who may be in on a plot to murder the king. Can Aphra save Charles’ life, win William a pardon, resist Nell’s charms, and launch her career, all in one night? Against a background of a long drawn-out war and a counterculture of free love and pastoral lyricism, the 1660s look a lot like the 1960s in this neo-Restoration comedy about “the female Shakespeare.”
Additional Programming:
Open Rehearsal (for Subscribers Only): Wednesday, September 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Community Matinee Preview ($12/Ticket): Thursday, September 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Opening Night Reception: Friday, September 12, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Pay-What-You-Will Performances*:
Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, September 13, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, September 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, September 27, 2025 at 7:30 PM
*Purchase in-person at the Box Office on the day of the performance. Seating subject to availability.
Speaker Series: Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Talk Back Thursdays: Engage with the Creators! After every Thursday performance, stay for a free Talk Back where members of the creative team discuss their roles and answer your questions about their creative journey.
Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Curtain Up! 2025 Celebration: Friday, September 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
The second Friday performance of Or, aligns with Buffalo’s annual Curtain Up! celebration. After the show, step outside to enjoy a free street party in the Theatre District – an exciting evening highlighting the energy and talent of our local theatre community.
Restoration Now: Where 1660s ambition meets 2025 energy.
Publicity Photos by Jorge Luna Photography
Around the Table: OR, in the Making
Rehearsal Photos by Jorge Luna Photography, Keelie Sheridan, & Cassie Cameron
About the Playwright:
Liz Duffy Adams’ play Born With Teeth, recipient of a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and a Steinberg-ATCA New Play Award Finalist, had its world premiere at the Alley Theater in 2022, a production that won Best Play/Production, 2022 Houston Press Awards and that moved to the Guthrie Theatre in 2023, then to Asolo Rep and Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2024. It will make its West End premiere in London in the Fall of 2025.
Her Neo-Restoration comedy Or, premiered Off Broadway at WP Theater and has been produced more than 80 times since, including at the Magic Theater, Seattle Rep, and Roundhouse Theatre. She’s a New Dramatists alumna and has received a Women of Achievement Award, Lillian Hellman Award, New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Weston Playhouse Music-Theater Award, Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship, and the Will Glickman Award for Best New Play (Dog Act, a post-apocalyptic vaudeville). Her Artistic Stamp virtual play in letters, Wild Thyme, was nominated for a 2021 Drama League Award for Outstanding Interactive or Socially-Distanced Theater.
Publications include Or, in Smith & Kraus’ “Best Plays Of 2010;” Dog Act in “Geek Theater,” Underwords Press 2014; Poodle With Guitar And Dark Glasses in Applause’s “Best American Short Plays 2000-2001;” and acting editions by TRW Plays, Playscripts, Inc. and Dramatists Play Service.
Adams has an MFA from Yale School of Drama and a BFA from New York University’s Experimental Theater Wing. She has dual Irish and American citizenship, and lives in New York City on Lenape land, and in Western Massachusetts on unceded Pocumtuc and Nipmuc territory.
Directors’ Note:
About the Cast:
Ryan Cupello* (Charles II, William Scot, Jailer)
Ryan is thrilled to be returning to Buffalo, his second home! Originally from Rochester, he is a graduate of the University at Buffalo’s BFA Music Theatre program. His local credits include Jewish Repertory Theatre’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Peachy) and Buffalo United Artists’ The Temperamentals (Chuck Rowland). He is an actor, director, and producer, and is the Artistic Director of Brazen Light Theater Company in New York City. He would like to thank Keelie, Jorge, Cassie, and the entire ICTC team for bringing him back to Buffalo and dedicates his performance to his parents and Sally Ann. Film: Once Every Day (dir. Richard Foreman); Off-Broadway: The Sickness; National Tour: Fiddler on the Roof, Dirty Dancing; Regional: The Night of the Iguana (American Repertory Theater), Violet (American Repertory Theater), Les Misérables, The Light in the Piazza; International: Christmas at the Ivanovs’ (Moscow Art Theatre). *Member of Actors’ Equity Association. Education: MFA, Harvard University. www.ryancupello.com Instagram: @rfcups
Anna Fernandez (Nell Gwynne, Maria, Lady Davenant)
Anna is thrilled to be back at the Irish Classical Theatre Company for this romp of historic proportions! Anna received her BFA in musical theatre from the University at Buffalo and has had the great fortune of appearing on several stages around the city. Buffalo credits include Private lives (Sybil Chase), Crazy for You (Irene), and Sweet Charity (Helene). Much love to family and friends for their lasting love and support.
Alexandria Watts (Aphra Behn)
Alexandria is overjoyed to be making her ICTC debut! She is a born and bred Buffalonian, storyteller, and educator, working with youth programs through Second Generation Theatre, Theatre of Youth, and Shea’s Performing Arts Center to bolster the imagination and creativity of future artists. When not performing onstage, you can find her on TV’s across Western New York in Valu Home Centers’ advertisements. Favorite regional credits include: Jewish Repertory Theatre’s The Wanderers (Sophie), MusicalFare Theatre’s The Prom (Alyssa Greene), Second Generation Theatre’s Merrily We Roll Along (Mary Flynn), Road Less Traveled Theatre’s Little Women… Now (Jo), and D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre’s The Play That Goes Wrong (Annie). She thanks her family and friends for their constant love and incredible support xoxo. Lastly, she honors ICTC’s late founder and her college acting professor, Vincent O’Neill. Thank you.
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