MAKE BELIEVE by Bess Wohl to Open at Know Theatre This Fall
Bridget Leak directs the regional premiere on the Know Theatre MainStage in Cincinnati.
Know Theatre of Cincinnati will kick off their 29th season with Bess Wohl's haunting Make Believe, a sprawling family epic about four abandoned siblings in the far flung 1980s and, three decades later, their shell shocked adult counterparts, still recovering from a latchkey childhood. Written by the playwright of Know Theatre's 2024 production Camp Siegfried and directed by Know Theatre Producing Artistic Director, Bridget Leak, Make Believe invites the audience into a nostalgia-cramped attic where the things that haunt us are never truly packed away, just resting under layers of dust, waiting for us to pick them up again.
The four Conlee kids arrive home from grade school, hungry and tired, but Mom is nowhere to be found and Dad is away on a business trip. From their attic playroom, the kids scrounge for snacks, play dress up, and try on the roles of “Mom” and “Dad,” all the while the phone downstairs won't stop ringing. Thirty years later, the adult siblings – each at a crossroads in their lives – are reunited by tragedy, discovering details of their childhood that give new context, forcing them to question whether their past will continue to define their future.
“This play is so important,” says director Bridget Leak, “because it's asking if we have a choice in who we become, especially when we have a difficult origin story. In Make Believe we witness a moment in these characters' collective past where their lives change irreparably, and the present where these lost adults are desperately trying to create a world that is in alignment with the inner child they're each trying to nurture. They're choosing to break a painful family cycle, and I think there's a lot of hope in that.” Running September 10 – 26, 2026, on the Know Theatre MainStage.
The cast includes Ryker Sohmer (Chris), Layla Rowley (Kate), Giselle Aagard (Addie), Bennet Kreit (Carl), Lillian Murphy (Emily & Kate/Addie Understudy), James Murphy (Chris/Carl Understudy), Leo Jenkins (Adult Chris), Merritt Beischel (Adult Kate), Tess Talbot (Adult Addie), and Nathan Tubbs (Adult Carl).
Production Team: Bridget Leak (Director), Sam Reno (Scenic Designer), Marly Wooster (Lighting Designer), Noelle Wedig-Johnston (Costume Designer), Trey Tatum (Sound Designer), Rebecca Armstrong (Properties Designer), Ri Moodie (Fight Choreographer), Adler Tomeo (Assistant Director), Jayley Sams (Youth Actor Coordinator), and Drew Homan (Technical Director.) Production Stage Manager is Rebecca Armstrong.
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