Cast
Mary Jane – Amy Crossman*
Ruthie – Roxanne Fay
Sherry – Marianne Matthews*
Brianne – Renee Hewitt
Amelia – Clarissa Hernandez
Dr. Toros – Marianne Matthews*
Kat – Clarissa Hernandez
Chaya – Renee Hewitt
Tenkei – Roxanne Fay
Director – Zoya Kachadurian
Sets and Sound – Carmen Borgia
Lights – John Sowle
Costumes – Michelle Rogers
Stage Manager – Hannarose Manning
A profound and heartbreaking new work from playwright Amy Herzog. Captivating, affecting and compassionate, Mary Jane is the story of a single mother caring for the daily needs of her chronically ill two-year old. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Mary Jane (Amy Crossman) relies on unflagging optimism and humor, along with the wisdom of the women around her who have become a kind of makeshift family, to take on the challenges that each new day brings. But will inner strength and newfound friendships be enough to see her through when the walls start closing in?
A deeply moving portrayal of the day-to-day demands of caregiving, and a beautiful tribute to the strength and resilience of the human spirit when fueled by unconditional love. Winner of the Obie and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Best Play.
Bios
Amy Crossman (Mary Jane) is an AEA actor, playwright, and sometimes clown. As an actor, she’s worked with Hudson Valley Shakespeare, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Chenango River Theatre, among other places. Her solo show The Great Divide was first produced by Boomerang Theatre Company at HERE Arts Center in 2023, and again regionally at Bridge Street Theatre and Chenango River Theatre in 2024. She’s studied with a lot of kind and funny people including Judy Gold, Chris Bayes, Karl Bury, and Mark H. Dold. She loves Diet Coke, magic, the New York Yankees, getting a full night’s sleep, bread and therapy. www.amycrossman.com.
Roxanne Fay (Ruthie/Tenkei) is happy and grateful to return to Bridge Street. As an actor, Roxanne was honored with the 2022 Berkie Award (Berkshire Theatre Critics’ Association) for her portrayal of Mary Tyrone in the Bridge Street Theatre production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and she joined the summer 2022 season with the Prague Shakespeare Company (Czech Republic). In Florida, Roxanne was part of the original cast of OZ for freeFall Theatre. Roles there include Dr. Emma Brookner in The Normal Heart and Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Florida productions include The Sound Inside, Apples In Winter, The Beauty Queen Of Leenane, Love Bird, Doubt, The Tempest, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing and HIR. As playwright, Roxanne was named a 2016 Hawthornden Writers’ Fellow (in residence, Hawthornden Castle, Scotland). Her play, Thrice To Mine was created at Hawthornden and premiered in 2019 at Bridge Street Theatre. Roxanne has created work for the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, including her first film, Breton And The Muse: A Midnight In Paris, a focal point of the Dali’s acclaimed exhibition coordinated with Le Centre Pompidou (Paris). Book versions of her works, Thrice to Mine and Upon This Rock: The Magdalene Speaks are available on Amazon.
Clarissa Hernandez (Amelia/Kat) is thrilled to be making their Bridge Street Theatre debut! Clarissa is a Mexican-American actor, improviser and stage combatant. Born in El Paso, TX, they now reside in New York where they studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade, HB Studio, MN Acting Studio, New York Combat for Stage and Screen and ARG Studio. Their favorite roles include Laertes in Hamlet, Simone in the Downtown Brooklyn immersive theater production of Money Heist, and Helena, a first-generation immigrant in Swans, a magical realism independent movie currently in post-production. More information can be found on their Instagram @explainsittall
Renée Hewitt (Brianne/Chaya) is thrilled to return to Bridge Street after playing Mariya in their production of Uncle Vanya. She is an over 30 year stage, film and voiceover actress seen in such leading stage roles as: Sarah Bernhardt/Bernhardt/Hamlet, Helen Bechdel/Fun Home, Ouiser/Steel Magnolias, Aldonza/Man of La Mancha, Kate Mundy/ Dancing at Lughnasa, Rona Lisa Piretti/25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Annie Sullivan/Miracle Worker, Sugar/Tiny Beautiful Things, Slank and Fighting Prawn/Peter and the Starcatcher. Voiceover credits include: Ivy in Soulcalibur II and Epona Rhi in Mechwarrior III. Since moving to New York City 1 ½ years ago she has performed at Gallery Players as Beth in Constancy of Home in the Black Box New Play Festival and in Metamorphoses as Lucina, A and Mother. She was also seen as Gem in Timmy at Columbia University and as Mother in the staged reading of MiniMe at Open Jar Studios which will be fully produced December 2025 at Chain Theater, NYC. Renée currently studies voice and acting with Romana Mallory; studiomallory.com. I’m forever grateful to both Steven and John for the opportunities they have given me. ReneeJHewitt.com
Marianne Matthews (Sherry/Dr. Toros) is a native New Yorker who originally hails from Rosedale, Queens and later Manhasset, Long Island before settling in Manhattan after college. Today, she splits her time between her Manhattan and Hudson Valley homes. Some of Marianne’s proudest New York City performances include roles in the Off-Broadway premiere of Tennessee Williams’ Spring Storm (Theatre at St. Clements), Hamlet (Boomerang Theatre Co.), Towards Zero (Pulse Ensemble Theatre), Murder on the Nile (Pulse), and Shirley Valentine (Sanford Meisner Theatre), a one-woman comedic play. Regional Theatre credits include Muriel in The Fox on the Fairway (White Plains Performing Arts Center) and Ouiser in Steel Magnolias (Millbrook Playhouse). In the Hudson Valley she has appeared in Crazy Mary, Women of Manhattan, and Left. In May 2024, Marianne was featured in the role of scientist/suffragist Hertha Ayrton in a staged reading of The Half-Life of Marie Curie at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in New York. She also appeared in Wellness, Inc., a television pilot, which was an Official Selection of the 2022 SOHO International Film Festival. Marianne earned her MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association.
Zoya Kachadurian (Director) Recently produced and directed a reading at Symphony Space in NYC of Voices from the Silenced by Martha Boesing and Victoria Rue starring Tyne Daly, Sharon Gless, Jane Curtin, Marsha Mason, Amy Irving, Christine Lahti, Rachel Ticotin and Christina Redd. She directed the world premieres of Wasabia by Wendy Herlich at Centenary Stage, and the critically acclaimed Apple Season by EM Lewis At NJ REP.. She also directed a video of her award winning-theatrical production of Georgia and Me, by and with Sarah Ford, and many new works for Manhattan Theatre Source’s Estrogenius Festival, and others for EST’s Octoberfest. In Massachusetts she directed The Ride (an original musical), The 39 Steps, King O’ the Moon, The Graduate, The Miracle Worker, Stones in his Pockets, An Inspector Calls and Stick Fly (Majestic Theatre in West Springfield); The Cocktail Hour (New Century Theatre) and a critically acclaimed Stones in His Pockets (Stoneham and Gloucester). She is a member of the Lincoln Center and EST Directors’ Labs, and LaMama’s International Directors’ Symposium.. She is a proud member of AEA, DGA and SDC. www.Zoyazk.com
* A member of Actors’ Equity, the Union of Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.