The Sound Inside

Artistic Director Michael Stevenson & Managing Director Liz Gray Present THE SOUND INSIDE
by Adam Rapp
Directed by Michael Stevenson
January 28-March 1, 2026 PERFORMANCE LENGTH: 1 Hour, 30 Minutes, No Intermission
FEATURING:
Dana Brooke* Jacob Flekier*
Jillian Owens (U/S) Matthew Hanjoong (U/S)

Scenic Designer Cameron Hoyt		Lighting Designer Sarah Winter
Costume Designer DJ Johnson
Sound Designer Ed Lee		Properties Designer Morgan Sommer

	Dramaturg K. Kevyne Baar, PhD

	Stage Manager Jouni Kirjola*

Assistant Stage Manager James Simpson^


SPONSORED BY:

DAN BRUNNER




SEASON WINE SPONSOR:


“The Sound Inside” is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com Original Broadway Production Produced by Jeffrey Richards, Lincoln Center Theater, Rebecca Gold, EvamereEntertainment, Eric Falkenstein, Salman Vienn Al-Rashid, Spencer Ross, FilmNation Entertainment/Faliro House, Jane Bergère, Caiola Productions, Mark S. Golub and David S. Golub, Ken Greiner, Gemini Theatrical Investors, Scott H. Mauro, Jayne Baron Sherman, Czekaj Productions, Wendy Morgan-Hunter, Kristin Foster, Jacob Soroken Porten, and Williamstown Theatre Festival, Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director. The World Premiere of “The Sound Inside” was produced by Williamstown Theatre Festival in July 2018. “The Sound Inside” was originally commissioned by Lincoln Center Theater.

*Member Actors' Equity Association \| ^Capital Stage Apprentice

OUR MISSION

Capital Stage is dedicated to creating transformative, thought-provoking theater experiences that challenge, inspire, and connect.

THINGS TO KNOW

HEALTH & SAFETY:

Visit our COVID-19 Safety Protocols & Procedures Page to stay up to date on our Health & Safety requirements and recommendations.

VIDEO/PHOTOS:

Recording and photography during the performance are prohibited at Capital Stage by copyright law and union regulations.

CELL PHONES:

Patrons are asked to turn any noise making devices off upon entering the theatre.

LATE SEATING & RE-SEATING:

Due to the design of our theatre, we cannot guarantee seating for late arrivals or for patrons who leave the theatre during the performance. As a courtesy to our artists and our audiences, late arrivals will be seated in a suitable location by our staff if possible and at the appropriate intervals.

REFRESHMENTS:

Only concession items purchased in the Wine & Dessert Bar are allowed in the theatre, patio and lobby areas. Yes, you can bring your drinks and snacks into the theatre!

CHILDREN:

Capital Stage is noted for bringing intimate bold productions to our region and we encourage young adults to experience a live performance. Children age sixteen and up are welcome at Capital Stage unless specifically noted in the production’s description.

WHEELCHAIR SEATING:

Seating locations at Capital Stage for patrons using wheelchairs or with limited mobility are located in the first row. Tickets for these seats may be purchased in person or by calling the Box Office at 916-995-5464. Please call ahead to notify the staff if you required these seats.

RESTROOMS:

Restroom facilities are located in the lounge behind the Wine & Dessert Bar.

INFORMATION:

Brochures and information about upcoming Capital Stage productions and events are available in the box office or by visiting capstage.org.

Capital Stage is a member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Capital Stage is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre.

Capital Stage is a member of the National New Play Network, the country’s alliance of leading nonprofit theaters that champion the development, production and continued life of new plays.

Capital Stage is a member of Blue Star Theatres, offering discounts to Military personnel, Military family members, and Veterans.

SDC is the theatrical union that unites, empowers, and protects professional Stage Directors and Choreographers throughout the United States.

The Representative Voice of Designers and Scenic Artists

Cast

Dana Brooke*

Bella

Jacob Flekier*

Christopher

Jillian Owens

U/S Bella

Matthew Hanjoong

U/S Christopher

Creative Team

Adam Rapp

Playwright

Michael Stevenson

Director & Artistic Director

Liz Gray

Managing Director

Tony Gabrielson

Production & Company Manager

Caleb Jones

Technical Director

Jouni Kirjola*

Stage Manager

James Simpson^

Assistant Stage Manager

Cameron Hoyt

Scenic Designer

DJ Johnson

Costume Designer

Sarah Winter

Lighting Designer

Ed Lee

Sound Designer

Morgan Sommer

Properties Designer

Samantha McLean Haas

Scenic Charge Artist

K. Kevyne Baar, PhD

Resident Dramaturg

Special Thanks

Joe Bertolucci, Affordable Heating & Air, Inc.

Dan Brunner

CapRadio

Donna Chipps

Di Arie Vineyard & Winery

Oak Park Brewing Company

CSUS Department of Theatre & Dance

Naomi Wililams

Production Staff

Director & Artistic Director - MICHAEL STEVENSON

Production & Company Manager - TONY GABRIELSON

Stage Manager - JOUNI KIRJOLA*

Assistant Stage Manager - JAMES SIMPSON^

Technical Director - CALEB JONES

Scenic Designer - CAMERON HOYT

Lead Carpenter - CONOR WOODS

Carpenter, Painter - SUNNY MACKEY

Lighting Designer - SARAH WINTER

Lead Electrician - SHAE MERCER

Costume Designer - DJ JOHNSON

Scenic Charge Artist - SAMANTHA McLEAN HAAS

Sound Designer & Engineer - ED LEE

Properties Designer - MORGAN SOMMER

Build Crew - SUNNY MACKEY, CONOR WOODS, CALEB JONES

Painters - SAMANTHA McLEAN HAAS, CALEB JONES, SUNNY MACKEY, CONOR WOODS

Wardrobe/Run Crew - STEPHEN BYRUM^, HAILEY BOWLAND^, LYDIA CRIST^

Resident Dramaturg - K. KEVYNE BAAR, PHD

BIAPOC Liaison - RICHARD FALCON

Infection Control Manager/Admin. & Payroll Assistant - ELIJAH PETERS

Graphic Designer, Marketing Manager, Webmaster - MISTY MCDOWELL

Photographer - CHARR CRAIL

^ Capital Stage Apprentice | * Member Actors' Equity Association

About The Play

by K. Kevyne Baar, PhD

“There’s always a play or an idea kind of percolating in my head, and I knew I wanted to write about a teacher-student relationship. I knew kind of the currents in the play but didn’t know where it was going to go. I never do. I always set a few signposts along the way and either try to defy those expectations for myself or land on them in a surprising way.” – Adam Rapp

In a 2021 interview for his alma mater, Clarke University, Adam Rapp’s then recent work, THE SOUND INSIDE, was described as one that sets out “to explore the relationship between an Ivy League creative writing professor and her talented student. While it may seem easy to assume where the relationship might go, Rapp strives in this and all his work to surprise the audience – and even himself.”

For Rapp, “the play is really about loneliness, how for many of us, we arrive at these moments in our lives when we might realize that we don’t have much of a support system. How isolation can lead to darkness. I hope that anyone who has gone through those seasons in their life and who happens to also be interested in the theatre will find this play.”
We first meet Bella Baird, an isolated creative writing professor at Yale, who begins to mentor a brilliant but enigmatic student named Christopher, the two form an unexpectedly intense bond. As their lives and the stories they tell about themselves become intertwined in unpredictable ways, Bella makes a surprising request of Christopher that neither knows if he can fulfill. “Rapp’s riveting play explores the limits of what one person can ask of another.”

Jesse Green, the New York Times theatre critic wrote, “THE SOUND INSIDE interests us at first bleak sight. It keeps our interest not only on its narrowest terms, as a play about writing, but in its larger implications. What we know about other people, what we know about ourselves, are stories that won’t stay still. As we write our lives, like a good novel, our lives keep out-writing us. It is self-consciously, a yarn, which makes sense because it’s about writers: the kind of people who in weaving stories are often in danger of unraveling themselves.”

Theatre critic for The Observer, David Cote, who had seen the play in a number of its iterations, remembers how much he “had missed the crazy-eyed bravado of [Rapp’s] authorial voice, the romantic enshrinement of the greats: Faulkner, Balzac, Salinger and other worthies namechecked with irony-free gusto.” Cote echoes Rapp’s feelings that, “THE SOUND INSIDE is not your usual, dialogue-driven drama; it’s an elliptical memoir dominated by self-consciously literary narration—pleasurable for its elegant prosody, but also a self-condemnation, marking the distance its characters maintain from life.”

And so we leave this essay with the words of Christopher’s favorite writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky who opined in his seminal work, Crime and Punishment, published in 1866, “We sometimes encounter people, even perfect strangers, who begin to interest us at first sight, somehow suddenly, all at once, before a word is spoken.”

About The Playwright

by K. Kevyne Baar, PhD

“For me what makes great theater is when I feel like there’s an undeniable sense of tension, and one of the great engines for tension is dread...I always believe that if you can make an audience feel like something bad is going to happen, they will lean forward and engage more.” –Adam Rapp

Today one would say that Adam Rapp is nothing if not prolific. He entered college with basketball front of mind, and then just happened upon a writing class that changed everything. His earliest credits were as a Young Adult Novelist winning “Best Book” awards from the very beginning (1995). Five years later he heeded the siren call of theatre as well as continuing work as a novelist, screenwriter, and director.

Rapp’s list of awards is extensive, and his work has been seen all over the United States and the world. His numerous plays include NOCTURNE (2000) presented at the American Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, The Almeida in London, and The Traverse in Edinburgh. It won the Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights. RED LIGHT WINTER (2005) played at Steppenwolf in Chicago where it won a Joseph Jefferson Award for Best New Work. It was presented in New York by Scott Rudin Productions at Barrow Street Theatre. It garnered him an OBIE and was named a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize. Other awards came from the American Library Association, the National Playwrights Conference, the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays (Roger L. Stevens Award), and the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award.

In addition, he received Boston's Elliot Norton Award, The Princess Grace Statue, a Lucille Lortel Playwright's Fellowship, and The Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters for Distinguished Service to the Arts. Finally in 2020, Adam Rapp had a play that opened on Broadway, THE SOUND INSIDE, which you are seeing at this performance. More than one critic would note that it was about time. It was his first Tony Award Nomination. He was nominated again in 2024 for Best Book of a Musical for his work on THE OUTSIDERS.

As a side note to our Capital Stage audience, I was pleased to learn that Rapp is not a fan of seeing his plays, or most plays for that matter, in a large theatre. “The distance renders the scale so small. I love a 99-seat house, a 45-seat house, a 200 seat-house. I think the further away the actors are the more filmic it becomes, and the beauty of the art form is that we can be that close to the weird stuff.” How fortunate are we that we get to see his play performed as he preferred.

In the conclusion of an interview Rapp did for his alma mater, Clarke University, he reminds us that, “Making stuff is really important. Thinking about kids who are 18-22 who don’t quite know what they’re doing, or thinking they want to be something, and they don’t know they could be something else – the thought of creating something for the world is an incredible, miraculous vocation. There is a lot we can do to be inspiring and be inspired by creating stuff.”

Meet the Company

Dana Brooke*

Bella

Dana Brooke is an actor and playwright based in NYC. She has worked opposite Chita Rivera, Mike Birbiglia, Reed Birney, Arthur Laurents; performed at Cherry Lane, 59E59, Theatre Row, New Light Theatre Project (Resident Artist), The Journey Company, Cardinal Group, The Lark, New Circle Theatre Company, George Street Playhouse, New Jersey Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Florida Rep, Playhouse on Park, Edinburgh Fringe, Adelaide Fringe. She is a B Street Theatre Company Member (CONSTELLATIONS, IRONBOUND, VENUS IN FUR, OTHER DESERT CITIES, THE REALISTIC JONESES, OUTSIDE MULLINGAR). Film/TV: “Laura Gets A Cat” (Amazon; Best Actress - Reno Tahoe International Film Festival), “Not Your Year” (Amazon), “Damages” (FX), “Ed” (NBC), “Canterbury's Law” (FOX). www.danabrooke.com

Jacob Flekier*

Christopher

Jacob Flekier is thrilled to return to Capital Stage, where he previously appeared in ADMISSIONS. Originally from Kansas City and now based in Brooklyn, NY, Jacob is a SAG-AFTRA and AEA actor whose regional credits include Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, STAGES St. Louis, Grandstreet Theater, New Jewish Theater, and Arrow Rock Lyceum Theater. Film credits include “Eleanor the Great”, directed by Scarlett Johansson, and “Kibbutz.” Jacob holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the Sargent Conservatory at Webster University and has a deep love for contemporary drama, comedy, and Shakespeare. www.jacobflekier.com; @jacobflekier

Jillian Owens

U/S Bella

Jillian Owens is so excited to be a part of THE SOUND INSIDE. Proud Sacramento native! BFA from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Favorite touring and regional credits: Mel Brooks’ YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (first national tour, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman), THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES starring Larry Gatlin, and CARNIVAL! at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Recent local favorite roles include Lady Macbeth (MACBETH, Big Idea Theater), Beatrice (MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Big Idea Theater) and Maureen in Martin McDonagh’s terrifying BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Big Idea Theater). I can’t thank my wonderful family enough: Christopher, Colin, and my mom Julie for supporting me - I love you all endlessly.

Matthew Hanjoong

U/S Christopher

Matthew is a graduate from CSU Sacramento. He has also studied at UCLA with Tim Robbin’s and The Actors’ Gang, and American River College. Regional credits include A GREAT MIGRATION (B Street Theatre), THE GREAT LEAP and WICKHAMS: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY (Capital Stage), and THE PASSING STORM (Playground SF). Film credits include SACRAMENTO (Beehive Production), PHOBIAS (Vertical Entertainment), and SON-MAT (Place Called Sacramento Film Festival) [Awarded Best Actor]. @matthewhanjoong