Martha

by Sean P. Mette

The Digital Program

Thank you for supporting my art by attending Martha.

Please enjoy learning a little more about the show.

Get to know the Company of Martha

Anna Masla

as Martha, the last passenger pigeon

Anna is so grateful and thrilled to make her Fringe Festival debut with Autumn Kaleidoscope. After completing her Theatre degree at Sinclair College, she came back to her hometown of Cincinnati to begin as a professional competitor in the dramatic arts. Her favorite collegiate and local roles include Nadia in Bare: A Pop Opera, Woman 2 in Songs For A New World, and Claire in Ordinary Days. She would like to thank her best friends for being the greatest team of encouragement toward her performance dreams.

Craig Branch

as George, the last male passenger pigeon

Craig Branch isn’t always a bird; sometimes he’s a human telling mammal stories onstage. Otherwise, Craig is a friend, a reader, a home cook, a badass, a storyteller, an untrained dancer, manservant to Lulu and Charlie, and a Resident Teaching Artist at Playhouse in the Park. Yet despite any frustrations with the above, Craig is built to laugh. Love to Lauren, Momma, Dad, Heath, the Carr clan, and the good we bring to this world.


Brandon Leatherland

as Inca, the last Carolina Parakeet

Brandon Leatherland is making his debut in Cincy Fringe. He graduated from Radford University in 2015. Since then he has been traveling the country working with different performance companies. He most recently finished a two-year tour with Madcap Puppets. Other credits include Spring Awakening, Dial M For Murder, and Forever Plaid.

 

Katie Groneman

as Lady Jane, the last female Carolina Parakeet

Katie Groneman is a Cincinnati actor who was an apprentice at Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati '15-'16. She has appeared on stage in multiple locations around the city. She has appeared in commercials for Macy's, Gold Star Chili, Bob Evan's, Kentucky Lottery and Cradle Cincinnati. This summer she is producing 4:48 Psychosis with Clifton Performance Theatre. She would like to thank her friends, family and the creative team and cast for making this such a great experience.

Natasha Boeckmann

Stage Manager

Natasha Boeckmann (Stage Manager) loves being able to work with this crazy talented flock of birds. When she isn't doing that she can be seen on stage performing throughout the Greater Cincinnati area with some amazing theatre groups including Falcon, Mariemont Players, CMT, and Footlighters. Thanks to all her family and friends for continuing to be the wind beneath her wings.

 

Sean P. Mette

Writer & Director

Sean thanks you for attending today’s performance of Martha. Sean is a Writer, Director, Actor, Puppeteer, Amateur Paleontologist and occasional William Howard Taft impersonator. As an actor, Sean has worked with several theatres in the area including Know Theatre of Cincinnati, The Carnegie, Madcap Puppets and      OTRimprov, where he is a founding member. As Executive Artistic Director of      Autumn Kaleidoscope he has written and directed previous productions (Furlesque and My Darling Dilophosaurus) and wrote and starred in last year’s production of Billy: the Haunting of William Howard Taft.

Autumn Kaleidoscope (Production Company)

Autumn Kaleidoscope creates theatrical performances that aim to be high in quality, well researched, and feature elements of both the familiar and the absurd. Founded by Sean P. Mette to tell the story of a girl wanting to dance in a Burlesque show for furries (“Furlesque”), Autumn Kaleidoscope has been creating art in Cincinnati for six years. Autumn Kaleidoscope’s newest productions often premiere at the Cincinnati Fringe Festival.

Productions History:

  • Furlesque (2016 Cincinnati Fringe Festival)

  • My Darling Dilophosaurus (2017 Cincinnati Fringe Festival)

  • Billy: The Haunting of William Howard Taft (2018 Cincinnati Fringe Festival)

  • Martha (2019 Cincinnati Fringe Festival)

Scenes

Scene I - Denial  (Summer 1904)

Scene II - Anger (Autumn 1904)

Scene III - Bargaining (Spring 1905)

Scene IV - Depression (Summer 1910)

Scene V - Acceptance (August 1914)

 

 

Some Quick Facts about Martha, Passenger Pigeons and Carolina Parakeets

 

  • At one time, there were billions of passenger pigeons.

  • Although, George did not come from the wild as depicted in the show, everything else is mostly factual. They could not produce a viable offspring and George died four years before Martha.

  • With Martha’s passing, it is the first time that we have an exact time and date of the extinction of a species. (September 1st 1914, 1:00pm)

  • When Martha passed she was shipped inside a 500 pound block of ice to the Smithsonian in Washington DC, where she resides today...with George.

  • The enclosure that Martha lived in is still at the Cincinnati Zoo, near its  original location. The stage dimensions of show are almost exactly the same size of her aviary cage.

  • The Carolina Parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) was the only parrot species native to the eastern United States. After Martha’s passing the last two Carolina Parakeets (Incas and Lady Jane) lived in Martha’s aviary cage. Lady Jane passed in 1917 and Incas passed in 1918.

 

Suggested Reading and Locations

  

If you enjoyed watching Martha and would like to learn more about her life and/or passenger pigeons, we suggest the following books and locations that helped with the research and creation of this show.

  • Goodall, Jane with Thane Maynard and Gail Hudson. Hope for animals and their world : how endangered species are being rescued from the brink. Grand Central Publishing, 2009

  • Greenburg, Joel. A Feathered Ribbon Across the Sky: The Passenger Pigeon’s Flight to Extinction. Bloomsbury, 2014.

  • Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying.: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Own Families.

Additionally, you can visit where Martha, George, Inca and Lady Jane lived at The Passenger Pigeon Memorial at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (3400 Vine St, Cincinnati, OH 45220)  

 

A Note from the Producers

“The air was literally filled with Pigeons; the light of noon-day was obscured as by an eclipse… - John James Audubon

As a child, my father would take my brother and me to the Cincinnati Zoo  multiple times a week during the Summer. He worked nights and the zoo    provided the perfect location to both entertain and educate two young boys. Although, not one of our required spots of every visit, quite frequently we would travel to Passenger Pigeon Memorial to look at the stuffed birds and be reminded of the devastating power of man. At the same time, we were instilled with the understanding that it is our responsibility to protect the species of our world. It is a beautiful planet with so many beautiful things in it.

This play started its life about 10 years ago, when I submitted a much earlier version of the script to the Festival. Although, it was not chosen for that      Festival year, I always intended to one day produce the play. After what seems like a rather unusual path (cough, cough...Furlesque), I am thrilled to finally bring Martha’s story to life in the same city that she (and I) call home.

I hope that you enjoy the play. Some people have asked about the message of the play. The message of my play isn't sadness, (although I will understand if some assume that it is) but hope. After everything has been stripped away from us, hope is the one thing that always remains...whether you want it to or not.

           - Sean P. Mette

Autumn Kaleidoscope would like to extend a special thanks to the following:

 

  • The Know Theatre of Cincinnati

  • Liz Carman

  • Bridget Leak and Trey Tatum

  • Dylan Shelton

  • Hannah Gregory

  • Chris Wesselman

  • The Amazing Staff and Scientists of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

  • and, always, Brian and Mary Ann Mette

 

 

 

From Billions to One.