Through the Sunken Lands
by Tim J. Lord
The listening period for this radio play will end on July 5, 2021.
Six months ago, a massive flood wiped away most of Arcady, a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River. Only the town’s library remains, and that's where Artemis Sims got trapped as the waters began to rise. Born with cerebral palsy and unable to use her wheelchair to navigate the deep waters, Artemis has turned the library into her sanctuary. There, she spends her days fishing, fighting off the mean old grackles, and trying to find a way to get back to her Aunt Maggie's house. Through tapes she records, follow Artemis and her aunt in the fight to save their dying town. Armed with Maggie’s stories of life on the river, a talking heron’s collected history of the natural world, and the rescued library books, they fight off a duo of developers who want to turn the town into something that it’s not.
Artistic & Production Staff
Tim J. Lord - Playwright
Brian Balcom - Director
Kevin Alexander - Sound Designer
Rachel S. Hamilton - Stage Manager
Acting Company
Jessy Yates - Artemis Sims
Janet Ulrich Brooks - Maggie Sims
Barron B. Bass - Nicodemus
Cody Nickell - CPA 1
Regina Aquino - CPA 2
About the Artists
Regina Aquino (CPA 2) is a proud Filipinx DC area native and mom to two awesome kids. SELECTED DC CREDITS: Theater Alliance: The Events [received Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actress], Brownsville Song (B-side for Trey); Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company: Describe The Night, The Arsonists; Studio Theatre: Vietgone, Red Light Winter, Dog Sees God [Helen Hayes Award nomination], Polaroid Stories; Folger Theatre: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Nell Gwynn [two Helen Hayes Award nominations]; Olney Theatre Center: Tiger Style! BROADWAY: Lincoln Center & Kennedy Center TYA: Where Words Once Were; INTERNATIONAL: Actor’s Actors Inc. Manila: Our Country’s Good; EDUCATION: Duke Ellington School of the Arts, The Studio Acting Conservatory, Manhattanville College. UPCOMING: LOVE/language at REP Stage; We’re Gonna Die at Round House Theatre. For Riana and Mal, always.
Barron Bass (Nicodemus) hails from White Plains, NY, and has a BFA in Acting from Rutgers University (Mason Gross). Since then, he’s gone on to have a greatly varied career on the stage and the mic, voicing commercials, documentaries, various characters in video games, characters in animated series/podcasts, and more. His most notable recent appearances are in Crayola’s Scribble Scrubbies, BBC’s BoyGirlCatDogMouseCheese, Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption II, & ABC’s Richard Pryor documentary, “Pryor Convictions”. When not acting, B. is definitely trying to recite the same Shakespeare monologue. Tell him to stop! In all seriousness, he’s probably working on creating content, trying to define what content is, or making music (as BBass). Most recently, B. began building his production company, B3KET Legendary, with fellow artist/rapper Napoleon Da Legend. B3KET’s mission is to do more with less, facilitate quality collaborations, and provide inspiration to all, with an emphasis on narrative and community.
Janet Ulrich Brooks (Maggie Sims) is a Chicago-based actor and teaching artist. Company member of TimeLine Theatre, credits include Maria Callas in Master Class (Joseph Jefferson Award - Performer in a Principal Role), The Audience, The How & The Why, 33 Variations, A Walk In The Woods, and All My Sons. Other credits include The Children (Steppenwolf), Tiny Beautiful Things, Pipeline, Native Gardens, Failure: A Love Story (Victory Gardens), 2666, Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike, The Seagull (Goodman), Plantation (Lookingglass), and Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Woolly Mammoth, DC). FILM: Divergent, Conviction, One Small Hitch, M.O.M., Fools. T.V.: Fargo (FX), Sense8 (Netflix), Proven Innocent (FoxTV), Chicago Justice/Med/Fire (NBC), and Boss (STARZ). Janet worked years with various organizations integrating arts into school curriculum in Chicago and nationally. She was the first recipient of the Ed See Outstanding Theatre Alumnus Award from University of Central Missouri, and holds an MFA in Acting from Western IL University.
Cody Nickell (CPA 1) is an actor based in the Washington DC area and has worked in theatres all over the country. Recent credits include The Merry Wives of Windsor at The Folger Theatre, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Oslo at Roundhouse Theatre, Fairview at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, and Richard III at Shakespeare Theatre. Cody’s regional credits include shows at Gulfshore Playhouse (Artistic Associate for three seasons) The Arden Theatre, The Wilma Theatre, Playmakers Rep, Portland Center Stage, Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Syracuse Stage, San Jose Rep, Studio Theatre, Two River Theatre, and Barrington Stage, as well as appearances at the Naples Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra. Cody’s career also includes film, television, and voice over work. Cody is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lead Actor and has been nominated for four Helen Hayes Awards. Cody is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama.
Jessy Yates (Artemis Sims) is a divisor, actor, and disability activist currently attending the Acting MFA program at Yale School of Drama. YSD Credits: YELL by Jeremy O Harris; Luna Gale; Mr. Burns; The Shift; and the US premier of Alice by Tom Waits, Robert Wilson, and Kathleen Brennan. Other recent credits include I Was Unbecoming Then (Ars Nova), The Amish Project (Williamstown Theatre Festival), and Hans Christian Andersen (Wirtz Center). TV: Law & Order: SVU (NBC) and Speechless (ABC). As a divisor, her work has been shown at Prelude Festival, BAM, Dixon Place, and the Yale Cabaret. BFA: NYU-Tisch (PHTS).
Tim J. Lord (Playwright) is the recipient of the inaugural Apothetae-Lark Fellowship for a writer with a disability, the 2019 Reg E. Cathey Writing Residency at the Orchard Project, and a 2017-18 Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis. As a native of the Midwest and a member of the disability community, he tells stories of people and communities who are often overlooked on our stages and strives to illuminate ignored and underrepresented perspectives. His play We Declare You a Terrorist received a finishing commission from Round House Theatre and will be produced in their 2021-22 season. Other work has been developed and produced at The Public Theater, The Lark, the Kennedy Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville, New Harmony Project, The Playwrights’ Center, Pillsbury House + Theater, Circle Rep, the Summer Play Festival, The Cutout Theatre, The Vagrancy, Barn Arts Collective, and The Working Theater. He has studied playwriting with Paula Vogel and Chay Yew, and is a graduate of the MFA Playwriting Program at the University of California, San Diego.
Brian Balcom (Director) is a disabled, Asian-American Director based in Chicago who specializes in contemporary, muscular, relationship-driven plays. He enjoys working with playwrights and thinks that entertainment is underrated. He has commissioned and produced five world premieres and has helped develop work at The Playwrights Center, Victory Gardens Theater, and La Jolla Rep. He currently serves as Access Project Coordinator at Victory Gardens where he works to enhance access services for patrons and develop the next generation of disabled stories and artists. Brian has his BFA and MFA in directing, is an associate artist with NNPN, was a Multicultural Fellow at Steppenwolf Theater, and was a recipient of a 3Arts residency at The University of Chicago’s Department of Disability and Human Development.
Kevin Alexander (Sound Designer) is excited to join the Kennedy Center's Theatre for Young Audiences on this production of WTYA Presents. Recent regional credits include Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical and Oliver (New Repertory Theatre); Day of Absence and The Raid (Theater Alliance); A Misanthrope (Avant Bard Theatre); Huckleberry Finn’s Big River (Adventure Theatre MTC); Bright Star (Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma); and Step Afrika’s The Migration: Reflections of Jacob Lawrence (National Tour). Kevin holds a Master of Science in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of Maryland. He is also a member of IATSE Local USA 829.
Rachel S. Hamilton (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be returning to KCTYA in the virtual medium! Previous KC credits include Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical (Family Theater & National Tour), Kid Prince & Pablo, Earthrise, Darius & Twig (National Tour), Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play! (National Tour). DC credits include Oslo, How I Learned What I Learned, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at Round House Theatre; South Pacific, A Christmas Carol (2015-2017), The Producers, Carousel, Godspell, The Little Mermaid, Colossal at Olney Theatre Center; The Wild Party, Urinetown, at Constellation Theatre; I Shall Not Hate at Mosaic Theatre Company; and Chimerica, Silence! The Musical at Studio Theatre. National Tour credits include Rodger & Hammerstein's Cinderella. Rachel is a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association.
Support for Performances for Young Audiences is provided by is provided by A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; and Paul M. Angell Family Foundation.
Generous support is also provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Kennedy Center Education
Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation; Annenberg Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Bank of America; Bender Foundation, Inc.; Carter and Melissa Cafritz Trust; Carnegie Corporation of New York; DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; Estée Lauder; Flocabulary; Harman Family Foundation; The Hearst Foundations; the Herb Alpert Foundation; the Howard and Geraldine Polinger Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The King-White Family Foundation and Dr. J. Douglas White; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation;
Music Theatre International; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; the National Endowment for the Arts; Newman’s Own Foundation; Nordstrom; Park Foundation, Inc.; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Prince Charitable Trusts; Soundtrap; The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; and Volkswagen Group of America. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts.
The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.