THEATER
The Caregiver’s Guide
by Jami Brandli
directed by Rob Goodman
February 19-21, and February 25-27 at 7:30pm
February 22 and 28 at 3:00pm
The Lorraine Boccardo Theater
“Jami Brandli never fails to blow me away with the breadth and depth of her work and The Caregiver’s Guide is another home run. This play beautifully renders the dynamics between the siblings and their dad as they face one of the biggest hardships a family can face – for the second time around. Be prepared to laugh and cry.” — recommendation on New Play Exchange
The Caregiver’s Guide is a poignant comedy about love, family, and the messiness of caring for one another. When a stand-up comedian returns home and reveals he’s inherited the early-onset Alzheimer’s gene from his late mother, his two sisters are forced to face their own fears about the future, their health, and how to care for someone who doesn’t want to be cared for. With humor, heart, and a touch of the supernatural, this play explores how one family leans on laughter, memory, and love to make it through life’s hardest turns. Uplifting, funny, and deeply human, The Caregiver’s Guide promises to move and entertain audiences.
CAST
PLAYWRIGHT
JAMI BRANDLI is the winner of the Jane Chambers Award and Stanley Drama Award. Her plays include The Magician’s Sister, O: A Rhapsody in Divorce, and BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)—named on The Kilroys List and a LA Times Critics’ Choice. Her work has been produced/developed at New Dramatists, New York Theatre Workshop, Kitchen Dog Theater, Center Theatre Group, among others. Additional awards: 2022 Center Theatre Group Writers Group, John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, Humanitas Prize PLAY LA. Finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Drama, the O’Neill and Ojai Playwrights Conference. Short works published with TCG, Dramatic Publishing Company, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus. A proud member of The Playwrights Union, The Dramatists Guild, and The Independent Writers’ Caucus where she’s also developing film and TV projects.
Jami teaches at Lesley University’s low-residency MFA program. Her plays are listed on the New Play Exchange. www.jamibrandli.com
DIRECTOR
Rob Goodman has been a director and producer of professional theater since 1976. He has directed over sixty productions, including twenty-five world premieres, and has worked with many acclaimed playwrights including James DeVita, Kermit Frazier, Stephen Dietz, Kevin Kling, Robert Schenkkan, and Y York directing her play, River Rat and Cat at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York City.. Goodman founded First Stage Milwaukee, a professional TYA (national association of Theatre for Young Audiences) theatre, which is one of the nation’s premiere theaters for young audiences.
Goodman has held many leadership positions throughout his career, including Vice-President of TYA/USA and Board Member of Tessitura Network. Goodman earned a BA from St. Cloud State University and an MFA from the UNC-Chapel Hill. Rob is a decorated Vietnam veteran serving in 1968-69. He is a retired member of Actors Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. He and wife Mary have four children and five grandchildren so far. They retired to southern Utah in 2016.
Rob Says “With the people, the art…the dark sky, Kayenta is the perfect place for us to live and play the rest of our lives.”
The Caregiver’s Guide is generously sponsored by Gentry Music & Arts.