Set in the early ’90s in the remotest of remote Middle America, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them follows 12-year-old Edith, her brother Kenny, and their new friend Benji, as they navigate growing up on an isolated farm with no parental guidance in sight. But when Kenny and Benji’s relationship is met with bigotry and Edith shoots something she really shouldn’t shoot, the formerly indifferent outside world comes barging in, whether they want it to or not. A. Rey Pamamat’s mesmerizing play explores the isolation of adolescence, the hopefulness of first love, and the lengths to which we’ll go to find and protect our family.
This event is open to Berklee students, faculty, and staff with a valid Berklee ID, and invited guests only.
Program InformationDirector's Note
Dear Audience,
Welcome, and thank you so much for attending Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them! This production has been a long time in the making (if you know, you know), and I can’t believe it is finally here! Pinch me!
While Edith is filled with all the growing pains of coming of age, at its root, it’s a love story—showing us how love provides us with the strength, generosity of spirit, and joy that is required for life to be fulfilling. Without the dinner parties and dream sessions about this show, this production would not exist. Without the encouragement and determination of the queer and BIPOC folx in my life for not letting me give up on the dream of directing this show, this production would not exist. Without my wonderful peers who sat together during callbacks, encouraging one another, and reminding me how important this show is, this production would not exist. Every individual who has touched this show in the smallest of ways has made their impact on it and has reminded me of the strength, spirit, and joy that comes with finding community. Thank you for being a part of this love story.
I’m so lucky to be a part of a team where joy and connection have been at the forefront. Getting to share a space where the majority are POC has been everything I have ever wanted, and getting to uplift their voices and share their talents with you all…well, let’s just say I’m extremely excited! As I have grown with this show, from the midst of Covid and the extreme isolation I felt, to now, absolutely bursting with connection and excitement, I have fallen in love with these characters, and I hope you do, too. Connect with them, connect with each other. I hope you leave feeling seen, if only for a moment.
Enjoy!
—Melia Jost
Cast
EDITH – Calico
KENNY – Nicholas Joseph Ochoa
BENJI – Elias Robles
Production Credits
CREATIVE TEAM:
Director – Melia Jost
Assistant Director – Addyson MacKay
Stage Manager – Charlie Zuckerman
Lighting Designer – Karina Tejera
Puppet Masters – Charlie Zuckerman and Bridget Delaney
Puppet Operator – Elizabeth Finlayson
Intimacy Coordinator – Bridget Delaney
Firearm Supervisor – Angie Jepson
CONCERT SERVICES STAFF:
Senior Manager of Concert Services – Luis Herrera
Coordinator, Concert Services – Matthew Carey
Concert Production Manager – Kendall Floyd
Performance Technology Technicians – Sara Pagiaro, Goran Daskalov
Special Thanks
Thank you to Chris and Angie for believing in me enough to direct this beautiful piece even when I didn't think it was possible. Thank you to A. Rey Pamatmat for writing this piece for all the Asian kids out there needing a voice, and to all the folks who have shared their love of this play with me in some way or another. To all those who have worked on this rendition of Edith, I am so beyond grateful! You have made this process so wonderful, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Boston Conservatory thanks audience members for viewing this program information online. This paperless program saved 110 sheets of paper, 12 gallons of water, and 10 pounds of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions.
