Watch Me Walk
written and performed by Anne Gridley
directed by Eric Ting
choreography by Asli Bulbul
in association with the Under the Radar Festival
January 14 - February 8
Being disabled always includes an element of chance.
Anne has a disease you’ve probably never heard of and it doesn’t have a cure. Her doctor says it shouldn’t define her, but she’s going to define it for you.
Watch Me Walk is a hilarious, biting, and compassionate new play about disability, pity, injustice, and family mythologies that will stay with you long after the curtain–or Anne–falls.
Creative Team
Anne Gridley
Writer and Performer
Anne Gridley is a two time Obie award-winning actor, dramaturg, and artist. As a founding member of Nature Theater of Oklahoma, she has co-created and performed in critically acclaimed works including Life & Times, Poetics: A Ballet Brut, No Dice, Romeo & Juliet, and Burt Turrido. In addition to her work with Nature Theater, Gridley has performed with Pan Pan, Chameckilerner, Jerôme Bel, Caborca, 7 Daughters of Eve, and Big Dance, served as a Dramaturg for the Wooster Group’s production Who’s Your Dada?, taught devised theater at Bard College, and comedy at Northwestern University. Her drawings have been shown at H.A.U. Berlin, and Mass Live Arts. B.A. Bard College; M.F.A. Columbia University.
Eric Ting
Director
Eric Ting is a two-time Obie Award-winning director and one of three Directors of Soho Rep. Credits include world premieres of Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!, We Are Proud to Present a Presentation… (Soho Rep); The Comeuppance (Signature Theater); The Far Country (Atlantic Theater Co); The 1491s’ Between Two Knees (OSF and PAC-NYC); and Parable of the Sower: The Opera (Lincoln Center). Most recently: Galas (Little Island) with Anthony Roth Costanzo. Also: Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, Yale Rep, McCarter, Williamstown, Alliance, Cincinnati Playhouse, Goodman, CTG, ACT, Berkeley Rep. International: Singapore, France, UAE, Holland, Canada, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bali.
Asli Bulbul
Choreographer
Asli Bulbul (she/her) is a NYC based dancer, performer, and choreographer originally from Istanbul. She danced with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Co. for a decade after which she joined Nature Theater of Oklahoma for their epic work, Life and Times. Some of the other highlights of her career include working with Martha Clarke, RoseAnne Spradlin and Annie-B Parson. She is very excited to be part of the creative team for Watch Me Walk and getting to work with Anne Gridley once again.
Noah Lethbridge
Original Songs
Jian Jung
Set Designer
Jian Jung (she/her) is an Obie Award winning set designer from Korea, based in NYC. Recent theater credits include Staff Meal at Playwrights Horizons, The Following Evening at PAC-NYC, The Nosebleed at LCT3, Woolly Mammoth Theater (DC), and New National Theater Tokyo (Japan), Kiss at Wilma Theater (Philadelphia), Ocean Filibuster at A.R.T. (Boston), Bodies They Ritual at Wild Project, The Day You Begin at Kennedy Center (DC), Suicide Forest at Bushwick Starr, and Ludic Proxy at Soho Rep and Japan Society. Opera and musical credits include productions at Wolf Trap Opera (VA), Fisher Center in Bard (NY), Huntington Theater (Boston), Juilliard, and Long Beach Opera (CA). Her productions also have been in Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Korea, and Japan. Jung received an MFA in Theater Design from NYU, and an MFA in Environmental Design from Ewha Women’s University in Korea. She teaches at NYU Tisch Design MFA program and Sarah Lawrence College.
Lux Haac
Costume Designer
Lux Haac (she/her). Broadway: The Thanksgiving Play. Off-Broadway/New York: O.K.! (INTAR Theater); Dirty Laundry (WP Theater); Manahatta, Mobile Unit: The Comedy of Errors (The Public Theater); Between Two Knees, Number Our Days: A Photographic Oratorio (PAC NYC); On That Day in Amsterdam (Primary Stages/59E59); 53% Of (Second Stage Uptown); Songs About Trains (Radical Evolution/Working Theater/New Ohio Theatre). Regional: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! (South Coast Repertory); In Her Bones (CSFAC Theater); Skeleton Canoe (Chicago International Puppet Festival); Dial M for Murder, Espejos: Clean, I and You, Annapurna, Native Gardens (Syracuse Stage); For the People (Guthrie Theater); The Wizard of Oz (Geva Theatre); LEAR (Cal Shakes); Kim’s Convenience (Westport Country Playhouse, TheatreSquared); Yoga Play, Ragtime (PlayMakers Repertory Company); Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Arizona Theatre Company). Lux is a member of All My Relations Collective, Wingspace Theatrical Design, and USA 829. MFA: NYU/Tisch.
Kate McGee
Lighting Designer
Kate McGee (she/her) is a trans lighting designer, new media artist, and deviser of theater works. She recently concluded a years long world tour as Lighting Designer for Esperanza Spalding and off brand gods dance. Recent Off Broadway – Bowl EP (Vineyard Theater), The Beastiary (Ars Nova), I’m Revolting (Atlantic Theater Company), Snatch Adams, and Notes on Killing… (Soho Rep), The Hang (Here Arts). She was a 2022/2023 artist in residence at Soho Rep where she developed the VR piece Girl Mode, since seen at Fabric Arts Workshop and the ASU’s MIX Center. Kate devised and designed several pieces with Peter Mills Weiss and Julia Mounsey that have premiered in Europe and NYC, including while you were partying at Soho Rep.
Tei Blow
Sound and Video Designer
Tei Blow (he/him). Soho Rep: Public Obscenities, Give Me Carmelita Tropicana!. Playwrights Horizons: Practice; Wet Brain; The Trees; Staff Meal. Other recent: Galas (Little Island); Rheology (Bushwick Starr). Awards: Henry Hewes Design Award (2023); Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists (2024); Creative Capital 2016; Bessie Award for Outstanding Sound Design (2015) for I Understand Everything Better (David Neumann / Advanced Beginner Group).
Lisa McGinn
Production Stage Manager
Lisa McGinn (she/her) Recent credits: we come to collect: a flirtation, with capitalism (Jenn Kidwell, The Flea Theatre); Rheology (Misha Chowdhury, Bushwick Starr); A Knock on the Roof (NYTW, Oliver Butler, dir); Geoff Sobelle’s FOOD, HOME and The Object Lesson; On Beckett: An Evening with Bill Irwin (tour); 300 Paintings (Sam Kissijukian, tour); Underground Railroad Game (Jennifer Kidwell, Scott R. Sheppard, Ars Nova, tour); Those with 2 Clocks (Wilma Theatre), Ocean Filibuster and How to Build a Forest (PearlDamour); Detroit Red (ArtsEmerson); Love (Alexander Zeldin, Park Ave Armory) Compass and Sleep (Ripe Time Theatre); Chimera and The Wholehearted (Stein | Holum Projects); This is Reading (Lynn Nottage, Kate Whoriskey); LA Dance Project (European tour); Jacuzzi and The Light Years (The Debate Society); Revolt. She said. Revolt Again and Winners and Losers (Soho Rep); Chekhov at Lake Lucille.
Angie Salazar
Assistant Stage Manager
Thomas Jenkeleit
Props Supervisor
Thomas Jenkeleit (they/he) is a prop & scenic designer from Queens, New York devoted to creating new, reimagined, and thought provoking work. Recent Off-Broadway: The Fires, Give Me Carmelita Tropicana! (Soho Rep.), SUMO (The Public/Ma-Yi), Galas (Little Island), Bull (JACK), QUINCE (Domino Park), LAOWANG (Primary Stages/59E59), Bus Stop (Classic Stage, Transport Group, NAATCO), The Wind & The Rain (Vineyard Theater, En Garde) Franklinland, Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother?, Bodega Princess (EST), A Mother (Baryshnikov Arts), All The World’s a Stage (Keen Company).
Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA
Casting Director
Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA (she/her) Selected casting credits with Soho Rep: The Great Privation, The Fires, Public Obscenites, Fairview, Give Me Carmelita Tropicana, Wolf Play, Notes on Killing, and many others. Current NYC credits include The Emporium (CSC), Jesa (Ma-Yi @ The Public) and The Laramie Project (Audible). Regional work includes Inherit The Wind at Arena Stage, the national tour of Here There Are Blueberries (Tectonic), and the west coast premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play Purpose at La Jolla Playhouse. Select upcoming film projects include the feature film Still Life and The Year of the Monarchs (Alex Dinelaris, Wr./Dir., Lexicon). Recent film includes the 2024 Grand Jury Prize Winner In The Summers, by Writer/Director Alessandra Lacorazza.
Lauren Parrish / Parrish Productions
Production Manager
Lauren Parrish (she/her) is a technical production manager and visual designer for live events and spaces. She spent 15 years touring with dance and theater companies as a production manager and lighting supervisor, such as American Repertory Ballet, Keigwin + Co, Camille A. Brown & Dancers, EnGarde Arts, and the New York Neo-Futurists. During this time, Lauren collaborated on, planned, and adapted dozens of pieces, realizing artists’ visions on stage. Lauren transitioned into venue management in 2016, where she engaged in infrastructure and capital projects that kept venues safe, functional, and aesthetically pleasing, adding improved, streamlined, and current technological systems. In 2024, Lauren founded Parrish Productions to provide fabrication and staffing services from a production manager’s perspective. Lauren is excited for her second show with Soho Rep at Playwrights Horizons.
Jeremy Kadetsky
Associate Video Designer
Jeremy Kadetsky (they/them) is a writer, designer, and tinkerer based in Brooklyn. Recent work includes creating sounds for Stacy Grossfield (Metamorphosis III, Episodes 1–4 at The Collapsable Hole) collaborating with Tei Blow on video and sounds at Soho Rep (Give Me Carmelita Tropicana), and crafting slides and programming video for Sister Sylvester (Constantinopoliad at Onasis Steggi, Internaational Theater Amsterdam, Venice Biennale). Jeremy is currently developing a performance piece (desire lines) with their partner RED through their performance project “doxies,” an excerpt of which was presented at Catch 80 at Life World. Education: Johns Hopkins University (BA), Sarah Lawrence College (MFA). @kadetskyj kadetskyj.com
Lola Basiliere
Associate Sound Designer
Brian Bernhard
Assistant Scenic Designer
Lindsey Eifert
Assistant Costume Designer
Kyra Shaw-Davis
Production Assistant
Kyra Shaw-Davis (she/her) is a Southern multidisciplinary theater maker working at the intersection of acting, playwriting, producing, and beyond. She is drawn to stories that center underrepresented voices and explore the complexities and legacy of Black women. She was a member of the inaugural class of the Uptown Collective’s Renaissance Playwright Residency, Dramatic Question Theatre Playtime, and Workshop Theater Playwright Development Programs. She is a Mellon Funded Producing Fellow at The Tank NYC, and Producing Resident with National Black Theatre. She was the Assistant Stage Manager for we come to collect by Jenn Kidwell at The Flea Theater and couldn’t be more excited to join the Watch Me Walk team! Kyra is passionate about creating space and expanding access for emerging Black artists who are still finding their voice. Her work is grounded in community, care, and the radical act of living unapologetically.
Cast
Alex Gibson
Alex Gibson (he/him). Broadway: Pirates! the Penzance Musical, Spongebob Squarepants, and Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Off-Broadway: Octet (Lortel nomination), The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Fabulation, The Voices in Your Head. Regional: The Old Globe, The Guthrie, Alliance Theater, Berkeley Rep. TV/Film: The Beast in Me, Doom Patrol, Schmigadoon! Other credits include Adele: Live In New York City (NBC) and touring Japan with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra in Disney On Classic.
Anne Gridley
Anne Gridley is a two time Obie award-winning actor, dramaturg, and artist. As a founding member of Nature Theater of Oklahoma, she has co-created and performed in critically acclaimed works including Life & Times, Poetics: A Ballet Brut, No Dice, Romeo & Juliet, and Burt Turrido. In addition to her work with Nature Theater, Gridley has performed with Pan Pan, Chameckilerner, Jerôme Bel, Caborca, 7 Daughters of Eve, and Big Dance, served as a Dramaturg for the Wooster Group’s production Who’s Your Dada?, taught devised theater at Bard College, and comedy at Northwestern University. Her drawings have been shown at H.A.U. Berlin, and Mass Live Arts. B.A. Bard College; M.F.A. Columbia University.
Keith Johnson
Keith Johnson (he/him) is excited to make his Off – Broadway Debut! Credits: Austen’s Pride (Nat’l Tour & Stages St. Louis) Lippa’s Wild Party (Lyric Theatre), Aida (Stages St. Louis), In The Heights (Mill Mountain), Ragtime (MTW), Dreamgirls (Arrow Rock), Bring It On (HSVPA), Ragtime (Stages St. Louis), Cats (San Diego Music Theatre), A Chorusline (Rocky Mountain Rep). Keith attributes his success to the Holy Spirit’s guidance; God’s provision; and the unshakeable support from his family and Ms. McGraw! BBDD Phil 4:8.
Partners
Under the Radar Festival
For over two decades, the Under the Radar Festival has brought bold, risk-taking work to New York City, celebrating groundbreaking theater and performance from around the world and just down the street. Produced in collaboration with dozens of venues at a selection of historic and emerging theaters across New York City, the festival showcases innovative multidisciplinary artists whose work speaks powerfully to the present moment. Under the Radar’s influence sets a cultural standard that resonates through the artistic landscape far further and beyond our January schedule. In coordination with Festival founder and Director Mark Russell, Producers Thomas O. Kriegsmann and Sami Pyne of ArKtype, and with the addition of this year’s highly-esteemed Co-Creative Directors Meropi Peponides and Kaneza Schaal, UTR is positioned to continue to capitalize on the Festival’s rich history and expand on a tradition of trailblazing new direction.
Supporters
Watch Me Walk is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Support for the development of Watch Me Walk was provided by Northwestern University’s School of Communication and the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts.