Brittany Bradford, Grace McLean and More to Star in Clubbed Thumb's SUMMERWORKS Productions

Clubbed Thumb has revealed initial casting for the 28th SUMMERWORKS festival of new plays. SUMMERWORKS will run May 14 – July 1, 2025, at the wild project and will feature productions of three new plays.
 
This summer’s plays are Business Ideas by Milo Cramer (School Pictures) and directed by Laura Dupper (A Necessary Killing); Not Not Jane’s by Mara Nelson-Greenberg (Do You Feel Anger?) and directed by Joan Sergay (The Galas); and Cold War Choir Practice, a co-production with Page 73, with a script, music + lyrics by Ro Reddick (Throwback Island) and directed by Knud Adams (English). More information about each production is listed below.
 
SUMMERWORKS 2025
 

Business Ideas

By Milo Cramer  
Directed by Laura Dupper
May 14 – May 27, 2025
 
A mother-daughter duo tenuously clinging to middle-class status brainstorm get-rich-quick schemes to pay for college while their exhausted yet somehow lovable barista tries and fails to find more gainful employment. A rags-to-rags comedy about desperation and service work.
 
The cast of Business Ideas will include Brittany Bradford (The Comeuppance) as Patty, Laura Scott Cary (Girls Just Wanna Commit Domestic Terrorism) as Lisa, Annie McNamara (Slave Play) as Georgina, and Mary Wiseman (At the Wedding) as Customers.
 
Business Ideas will feature set design by Emmie Finckel (In the Amazon Warehouse Parking Lot), costume design by Avery Reed (On Set with Theda Bara), lighting design by Emily Clarkson (Drift), and sound design by Caroline Eng (The Bleeding Class). Andie Burns will serve as the Production Stage Manager and Eva Shannon-Dabek will serve as the Assistant Stage Manager.
 

Not Not Jane’s

By Mara Nelson-Greenberg  
Directed by Joan Sergay
June 2 – 13, 2025
 
A young woman gets a grant to start a community center—but at her mom’s house. A play about being at the whim of billionaires, pornos-with-no-sex, and trying to get a piece of the pie.
 
The cast of Not Not Jane’s will include Jordan Bellow (Henry IV) as Malcom, Yonatan Gebeyehu (Bathhouse.pptx) as George, Sue Jean Kim (The Man in Red) as Theresa, Susannah Perkins (Grief Hotel) as Jane, Sam Breslin Wright (The Trees) as Mark, with more to be announced.
 
Not Not Jane’s will feature set design by Corey Umlauf (The Straights), costume design by Mel Ng (Grief Hotel), lighting design by Marika Kent (The 7th Voyage of Egon Tichy), and sound design by Johnny Gasper (Wet Brain, Obie Award). Heather Englander will serve as the Production Stage Manager and Eloia Peterson will serve as the Assistant Stage Manager.
 

Cold War Choir Practice

A Co-Production with Page 73
Script, Music + Lyrics by Ro Reddick 
Directed by Knud Adams
Music Directed by Ellen Winter
June 19 – July 1, 2025
 
A prominent Black conservative brings his mysteriously ill wife home for the holidays, setting long simmering tensions with his estranged family to boil. A fugue of Reaganomics, espionage, roller disco, and cults—underscored by the Syracuse, NY chapter of the Seedlings of Peace Children’s Chorus.  
 
The cast of Cold War Choir Practice will include Stephanie Berry (Staff Meal) as Puddin, Alana Raquel Bowers (Chicken & Biscuits) as Meek, Will Cobbs (Six Characters) as Smooch, Andy Lucien (Bad Kreyòl) as Clay, Mallory Portnoy (The Streetcar Project) as Virgie, with Nina Grollman (To Kill a Mockingbird), Grace McLean (Suffs) and Suzzy Roche (“The Roches”) as the Choir. 
 
The creative team of Cold War Choir Practice will feature music direction by Ellen Winter (“36 Questions”), set design by Afsoon Pajoufar (Five Models in Ruins, 1981), costume design by Brenda Abbandandolo (Good Night, and Good Luck), lighting design by Masha Tsimring (Staff Meal), sound design by Kathy Ruvuna (Have You Met Jane Goodall and Her Mother?) and movement by Baye & Asa (4|2|3).
 
The performance schedule for SUMMERWORKS is as follows: Mondays – Saturdays at 7:30pm. Exceptions: There will be no performance of Business Ideas on Saturday, May 17. There will be additional 3pm performances for the following shows:
·         Business Ideas: Saturday May 24, Monday May 26, and Tuesday May 27.
·         Not Not Jane’s: Saturday June 7, Thursday June 12, and Friday June 13.
·         Cold War Choir Practice: Saturday June 28, Monday June 30 and Tuesday July 1.
 
General admission tickets are priced at $35, reserved seats are priced at $45, and student tickets are priced at $25. Festival passes start $75. Single tickets and festival passes are now on sale.