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Second Thought Theatre Announces Upcoming Production of WINK by Jen Silverman
The house cat goes missing and vengeance ensues (of course).
Previews: June 26th & 27th, 2024
Opening Night: June 28th, 2024
Closing Night: July 13th, 2024
Tickets on Sale Now
Content note: This production contains adult subject matter and discussions of violence against animals. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
Dallas: (June 24, 2024) – At the intersection of violent desires, domestic anarchy, and feline
vengeance is Second Thought Theatre’s production of Wink by Jen Silverman. The 2019 dark
comedy follows unhappy housewife Sofie and her bread-winning husband Gregor, who both
seek weekly counseling from an unorthodox therapist, Doctor Frans. Wink is the cat. And
Gregor has just skinned the cat. What chaos does Wink’s disappearance bring to the neatly
ordered reality Sofie, Gregor, and Doctor Frans have constructed?
“Few things in this world make sense to me” offers STT Executive Director Parker Davis Gray,
but four things that make absolute, perfect sense to me? The combination of a Jen Silverman
play, directed by Jenna Burnett, starring Garret Storms as a cat, and all on a Second Thought
stage. That’s a perfect, wacky, holy, theatrical quadrinity if you ask me." STT Artistic Director
Carson McCain shares what makes this play an exciting Second Thought show: “This play
explores our base desires, our violent urges, our need for connection, the parts of us we do and
don’t like. If you’ve ever wanted to be a fly on the wall in someone else’s therapy session, this is
the play for you.”
Returning to Second Thought for her directorial debut is Jenna Burnett (assistant director of
Hilary/Clinton) with Tyler Benjamin Baker assisting. Wink features the work of seasoned
Dallas-Fort Worth talent with Lauren LeBlanc (STT: Libra Season; T3: Lizzie) as Sofie, Omar
Padilla (STT: Our Dead Drug Lord; Teatro Dallas: Cloud Tectonics) as Gregor, John M. Flores
(Shakespeare Dallas: King Lear and The Henriad) as Doctor Frans, and Garret Storms (Stage
West: Witch; STT: Lela & Co) as Wink, the cat.
The production’s creative team includes production stage manager Hailey Green, scenic
designer Justin Locklear, costume designer Karina Sanchez, lighting designer Niels Winter,
sound designer Claudia Jenkins-Martinez, prop design by Carson McCain and Parker Davis
Gray and intimacy by Sasha Maya Ada.
Tickets for WINK are available now. Be sure to grab your seat to a thrilling and insightful night of
local theatre!
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CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
Jen Silverman- they/them (Playwright) is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Plays
include: Spain; Highway Patrol; Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties; The Moors; and Witch.
Silverman’s plays have been produced off-Broadway (Second Stage Theatre, MCC Theater,
The Playwrights Realm), across the US (Steppenwolf, The Goodman, The Humana Festival,
Williamstown Theatre Festival, The Huntington, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Writers Theatre
etc), and internationally in Australia, the UK, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Brazil, Spain, and
elsewhere. The Roommate is upcoming on Broadway at the Booth Theatre this fall. Books
include: the debut novel We Play Ourselves (named one of the best books of the year by
Buzzfeed; a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award), story collection The Island Dwellers (finalist
for a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize), poetry chapbook Bath (selected by Traci Brimhall for
Driftwood Press); and new novel There’s Going to be Trouble from Random House. Their
essays have been published in The New York Times, The Paris Review, Vogue, and elsewhere.
TV and film work includes: Tales of the City on Netflix and Tokyo Vice Season 2 on Max, for
which Silverman is a writer-producer. They have written screenplays for Annapurna Pictures,
Amblin Entertainment, Two and Two Pictures and Film4 Productions as well as the OSCAR®
qualifying short film Troy, which screened at 70 festivals internationally including the 2023
Sundance Film Festival and is featured online in The New Yorker’s Screening Room. Silverman
also wrote the best-selling narrative podcast The Miranda Obsession for Audible starring Rachel
Brosnahan. They are currently adapting Alice Sadie Celine as a feature for Linden Productions.
Silverman is a three-time MacDowell Fellow, a member of New Dramatists, and a Scholar of
Note at the American Library in Paris. Honors include fellowships from the New York Foundation
for the Arts, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the National Endowment for the Arts and the
Guggenheim.
Jenna Burnett – she/her (Director) is a Director, Producer, (sometimes) Actor, and (occasional)
Playwright. This is her first time directing at STT. Directing work includes I Wanna F*cking Tear
You Apart and Church & State at Stage West, Shadow Woman at Bath House Cultural Center,
Girl Dad at Dallas Solo Fest, The Book of Gabe at FIT Festival, and staged readings for Cara
Mía and the New Visions / New Voices Festival. She was also Assistant Director for The Moors
at Theatre Three, Shakey Jake + Alice and The Droll at Undermain, Hillary & Clinton at STT,
and Stagger Lee at Dallas Theater Center. Jenna spends her days as a Producer at Spoke
Media, where she’s worked on such podcasts as Under Cover of Knight, The Grand Scheme:
Snatching Sinatra, It Was Simple: The Betty Broderick Murders, Rock This with Allison
Hagendorf, and Netflix's More Like This: Spotlight on Mank. She is passionate about creating art
in both mediums that simultaneously honors and confronts the complexity of being human. Born
and raised in Texas, she’s currently splitting her time between her artistic home of DFW and her
husband’s native Newfoundland (where she feels she has adapted to the cold remarkably well,
thank you).
Tyler Benjamin Baker – he/him (Assistant Director) is a DFW based Director, Actor, & Writer.
He is delighted to be making his debut with Second Thought Theatre assistant directing this
production of Wink. Selected recent directing credits include Margarine (Theatre Three’s Staged
Reading Series), Utility (SMU), Circle Mirror Transformation (SMU), and Othello (Jean Browne
Theatre). Tyler has worked locally with Theatre Three, Dallas Theater Center, Undermain
Theatre, and Teatro Dallas. He holds an A.A. in Theatre from Tyler Junior College, and a B.F.A.
in Theatre Studies with an emphasis in Directing from SMU. Upon graduating, Tyler was the
recipient of The Garland Wright Award for Directing from the Division of Theatre at SMU.
Tyler would like to extend a sincere thank you to his family and friends, Stan Wojewodski Jr,
Jenna Burnett, and the entire Second Thought Theatre Staff for this wonderful opportunity and
welcome with open arms. Lastly, he would like to thank his fiancée and soon to be wife,
Makenna Cook, for making every day, and everything better.
Hailey Green* – she/her (Stage Manager) has worked in the field of Stage Management since
2015. You may have seen her in the booth or backstage at Casa Manana, the Actors
Conservatory Theatre, The Classics Theatre Project, Stage West, Imprint Theatreworks: First
Impressions Festival, Altered Shakespeare, Prism Movement Theatre, Watertower Theatre,
Ochre House Theatre, Amphibian Stage, Circle Theatre or Shakespeare Dallas. She also
serves in other production capacities including Production Coordinator for the Fort Worth African
American Roots Music Festival, Production Assistant for SheDFW Arts & Production Manager
for the Trinity Pride Festival. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatrical Performance and is a
proud member of Actors Equity Association as well as the Stage Managers Association and is
on Faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington in the Department of Theatre & Dance.
Garret Storms* – he/him (Wink) Acting credits include productions at Stage West Theatre,
WaterTower Theatre, Stages Repertory Theatre, Trinity Shakespeare Festival, Amphibian
Stage, Uptown Players, Second Thought Theatre, Theatre Three, Undermain Theatre,
Shakespeare Dallas, Kitchen Dog Theater, and RADA among others. Directing credits include
Once Upon a Mattress, Cruel Intentions: the '90s Musical, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol, Hir,
Like a Billion Likes, The Nether, Deer, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, International Falls, and
Orlando, all for Stage West, as well as Bright Half Life for WaterTower Theatre, The Naughty
List for Moonrise Initiative, The Moors for Theatre Three, and Bonnets for UTA. He also works
as a voice actor with Crunchyroll. Garret has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State
University.
Omar Padilla – he/him (Gregor) is delighted to be returning with Second Thought Theatre, this
time with the amazing team of Wink. Other credits with the company include: Our Dear Dead
Drug Lord, and Dry Powder. He has also performed on stage for Dallas Theatre Center, Theatre
Three, Teatro Dallas, Cara Mia Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas, The Ochre House, Dallas
Children Theatre, Undermain Theatre, Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, Kitchen Dog Theatre,
Prism Theatre, Shakespeare Everywhere, and Theatre Arlington. When he's not on stage, he
enjoys being a teaching artist for organizations like Junior Players, Broadway Dallas, Outloud,
Nine9 Agency, Cara Mia Theatre, and Prism Theatre Company. Omar is represented by the Kim
Dawson Agency, where his craft extends into commercial, film, and radio work. IG: @omarduke
Lauren LeBlanc* – she/her (Sofie) is a Dallas-based actor, writer, and educator. This is her
second show with STT, but first IRL—you may have seen her in the haunted zoom room that
was 2021’s Libra Season. Locally, she’s performed with Circle Theatre (One Man, Two
Guv'nors; Kodachrome), Casa Mañana (Tuck Everlasting), Imprint Theatreworks (Blood
Brothers), Shakespeare in the Bar (Richard II), and Theatre Three (Lizzie; God of Carnage; I
Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; and The Manufactured Myth of Eveline Flynn). Lauren
studied at Texas State, the University of Louisville, and SUNY-Stony Brook and currently
teaches the Norma Young Advanced Acting Learning Lab at Booker T Washington High School
for the Performing and Visual Arts. She's a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers
and Illustrators and is the Chief Rep for the DFW chapter of PAAL, the Parent-Artist Advocacy
League. For The Team: always, in all the ways. www.laurenkleblanc.com
John M. Flores – he/him (Doctor Frans) recently featured in Shakespeare Dallas’ King Lear
(The Fool), She Stoops to Conquer (Sir Charles), The Henriad (Falstaff), The Tempest (Trinculo)
as well as Henry IV Pts 1 & 2 and A Winter’s Tale (adapter). Recent/Favorite credits include
Faust with The Drama Club,Titus Andronicus with Kitchen Dog Theater,Fortitude with Our
Endeavours Theater Collective, Crystal City 1969 with Cara Mia Theatre and A Christmas Carol
with Dallas Theater Center. John is also an award-winning sound designer/composer/musician
who records/performs with Jim Kuenzer as JIM/JOHN MAKE NOISE
https://soundcloud.com/jimjohnmakenoise who have composed music for Dallas Theater
Center’sFADE, Drama Club Wild Wicked & Wyrd and the 2023 Indy Horror Film THE FINALE
released by Hi Octane Pictures. John has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Texas A&M University and
has also trained with the Moscow Art Theater and American Repertory Theater in Boston.
Justin Locklear – he/him (Scenic Designer) is an artist who specializes in theatrical and
phenomenological performance. Interested in audiences at a human scale, Locklear creates
and collaborates on works which merge traditional forms with experiments in technology,
spectacle, and public space. Locklear is the current Artist-In-Residence at The Ochre House
Theater, an experimental theatre producing a season of new works each year. As a Theatrical
artist, Locklear is an actor, playwright, director, composer, and scenographer. He is also a
Producer and the Conceptual Artist of the award-winning contemporary dance theatre company,
the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group.
Niels Winter – they/them (Lighting Designer) Niels Winter is excited to be returning to Second
Thought Theatre as the Lighting Designer for Wink by Jen Silverman. Their last show with
Second Thought was Our Dear Dead Drug Lord in 2023. They work in the Dallas area as a
Lighting Designer, Chief Lighting Technician (ME), and as an Assistant Technical Director. Some
of their favorite credits include: Scrooge In Rouge with T2, Note To Self with Muscle Memory
Dance Theatre, Stede Bonnet A F*cking Pirate Musical with Theatre Three, and The Tempest
with Shakespeare Dallas. They work their days with Dallas College doing technical production
management.
Karina Sanchez – they/them (Costume Designer) is a DFW native with a BFA in Theatre from
the University of Oklahoma. Recent costume design credits include I Love You, You’re Perfect,
Now Change (Theatre Three), Anne-Tig-Uh-Knee (Second Thought), Crowns of Power: Henry
IV (Junior Players) and World Classic (Bishop Arts Theatre Center). They have also worked as
the Costume Crafts Artisan for Into the Woods (Dallas Theater Center), a stitcher (Shakespeare
Dallas), and a tailor for the Academy of Country Music Awards. Karina would like to thank their
best friend, Claire, for supporting and believing in them, and generally being the most incredible
friend anyone could ask for!
Claudia Jenkins-Martinez – she/her (Sound Designer) is a Sound Designer based in Dallas
Texas. Recent works include: Pirates of Penzance, Theatre Three; Prisontown, Savannah
Repertory Theatre; Native Gardens, Stage Door Theatre; Deathtrap, Theatre Three; A Tell Tale
Heart, Pittsburgh Public Theater; I Wanna F*cking Tear You Apart, Stage West; Steel
Magnolias, Pittsburgh Public Theater; Trouble In Mind, Dallas Theater Center, Hamlet,
Shakespeare Dallas, Stede Bonnet: A F*cking Pirate Musical, Theatre Three. Claudia is excited
to be making her Second Thought Theatre debut! Much love to Austin and Georgia.
@claud_jenkinsmartinez
Sasha Maya Ada – she/her (Intimacy Designer) is a DFW based director-actor, educator, and
Founding Artistic Director of Altar’d Playhouse (SMU ’16, Arts Mission Oak Cliff: Artist in
Residency ’24 & TCG: Alan Schneider Director Award Nominee ‘22). Select recent directing
credits include Cloud Tectonics (Teatro Dallas), Marjorie Prime (Stage West), Little Shop of
Horrors (Lyric Stage), Natural Shocks (Echo Theatre), Aida (Lyric Stage), Cabaret (Arts Mission
Oak Cliff x Lost Boys Presents), Pass Over (Second Thought Theatre), If Pretty Hurts... (Jubilee
Theatre). Upcoming productions: The Secret Keepers (Echo Theatre- World Premiere) and
hang (Second Thought Theatre- Regional Premiere), Altar’d Playhouse’s Premiere performance
of Something Wicked: a reimagined Macbeth, and Primary Trust (Stage West x Dallas Theater
Center). Sasha thanks her friends and family, Anne and B, and her mother Sheila for their
unconditional love and support. @sashamayaada @altardplayhouse
Carson McCain – she/her (Props Designer & STT Artistic Director) is a born-and-bred Texas
director and producer, with a heart for new and local work that serves to connect humans and
foster empathy. She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where she studied acting,
and directing. There, she received a Meadows Exploration Grant to develop and produce the
world premiere of Michelle with Wet Eyeballs by Claire Carson. Second Thought Theatre
audiences will recognize her work as the director of Empathitrax by Ana Nogueira and The
Great God Pan by Amy Herzog. She has also directed at Undermain Theatre (Really by Jackie
Sibblies Drury,) and Stage West (Lungs by Duncan McMillan). She served as associate director
on Dallas Theater Center’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol, on Second Thought
Theatre‘s production of BOOTH by Steven Michael Walters, and as assistant director on
Belleville by Amy Herzog, Kitchen Dog’s Production of I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard. Other
directing credits include Middletown by Will Eno, Delirium by Enda Walsh and Theatre O, and
the world premiere of Ophelia Underwater by Janielle Kastner. To experience more of Carson’s
work, check out her most recent podcast, Untitled Dad Project with Janielle Kastner on
whatever podcast app you use.
Parker Gray – he/him (Props Designer & STT Executive Director) is a Dallas based Actor,
Teaching Artist, and Playwright. Parker’s stage acting credits include work across the metroplex
at Dallas Theater Center, Casa Mañana, Theatre Three, Second Thought Theatre, Amphibian
Stage, Circle Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theater, Stage West, Undermain Theatre, Shakespeare
Dallas, WaterTower Theatre, Fair Assembly, Lyric Stage, and Shakespeare in the Bar. Parker’s
voice can be heard in various shows with Crunchyroll, and can be seen in several films
including the Dallas-made horror film The Finale. He has served as a teaching artist for
Shakespeare Dallas, Bishop Dunne, and Arts Mission Oak Cliff. Parker’s premiere play,
Incarnate, received a reading at Undermain for their Whither Goest Thou America Festival in
2022. His play The Destruction received a reading for Theatre Three’s Monday Night Playwright
series in 2023, and his play How to Lose a Sleep Paralysis Demon in 10 Days was chosen for
the inaugural year of the Digital Development Project in 2023. More of Parker's plays can be
found on New Play Exchange. He holds a BFA in Acting from SMU and is represented by the
Kim Dawson Agency.
*Appearing under a Small Professional Theatres contract courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association, the
Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
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ABOUT SECOND THOUGHT THEATRE:
Second Thought Theatre (STT) provides an intimate and unique theatrical experience by
empowering top local theater artists to take risks, and by showcasing writers who boldly tackle
the difficult and demanding questions of our rapidly changing world.
DETAILS AT A GLANCE
(Wink)
By Jen Silverman
June 26
th – July 13th, 2024 Bryant Hall
Director Jenna Burnett
Assistant Director Tyler Benjamin Baker
Stage Manager Hailey Green*
Technical Director José Torres
Scenic Designer Justin Locklear
Costume Designer Karina Sanchez
Sound Designer Claudia Jenkins-Martinez
Lighting Designer Niels Winter
Intimacy Designer Sasha Maya Ada
Props Designers Carson McCain & Parker Gray
Cast
Wink Garret Storms*
Sofie Lauren LeBlanc*
Gregor Omar Padilla
Dr. Frans John M. Flores
*Appearing under a Small Professional Theatres contract courtesy of Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of
Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Press Night June 28, 2024
RSVP EMAIL Sasha@SecondThoughtTheatre.com
Website www.secondthoughttheatre.com
Wink Performance Schedule
Wednesday 06/26/2024 7:30 PREVIEW NIGHT 1
Thursday 06/27/2024 7:30 PREVIEW NIGHT 2
Friday 06/28/2024 8:00 OPENING NIGHT
Saturday 06/29/2024 8:00
Monday 07/01/2024 7:30 PWYC
Thursday 07/04/2024 7:30
Friday 07/05/2024 8:00
Saturday 07/06/2024 8:00
Monday 07/08/2024 7:30 PWYC
Thursday 07/11/2024 7:30
Friday 07/12/2024 8:00
Saturday 07/13/2024 8:00 CLOSING NIGHT
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