Some People Need to Die

a presentation of a new play by Joe Rivera

directed by Jesse Itskowitz

Running Time: 2 Hours

SOME PEOPLE NEED TO DIE (PART ONE) Two forensic cleaners become pawns in the business of death during an overnight disposal of a kodokushi. (May 2020)

THE ART OF DISPOSAL (PART TWO) One woman's dying wish spirals into a charismatic entrepreneur of Natural Organic Reduction. (October 2020)

TRENCHES (PART THREE) A contractor hires day laborers for City Burials during a pandemic. (October 2020)

featuring Joe Rivera, Heather Holmes, and Brian Joél Sanchez

video design by Samuel Golland

lighting design by Christina Tang

music by Joonas Lemetyinen

production stage manager Annaporva Green 

line producer Connor Scully

about the artists

Joe Rivera (Actor / Playwright) is a multi-disciplinary actor from the San Francisco Bay Area, and a graduate of the Terry Knickerbocker Studio. Theatre: DIRT (Sour Milk); The Trouble with Paradise (Columbia); TRAFFIC (Sour Milk); The Happy Garden of Life (New Ohio); A Modest Proposal (Cherry Lane); Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (SF Playhouse); In the Heights (NYU); The Room in Between (ETW). Film: Misha’s Victory, On the Fire’s Sacred Stream I Write Your Name, and Strictly Liminal.

Jesse Itskowitz (Director) is a multi-disciplinary theater artist based in NYC. Recent credits include: Carmen (Opera Theater Rutgers, video design); BIRTHDAY (Sour Milk, food design); Vile Isle (The Tank NYC, video design); DIRT (Sour Milk, video design). In his spare time he manages a concert hall.

Heather Holmes (Actor) is a performer and writer from east TX, currently based in Brooklyn. Projects include: Covenant, NYTW (workshop); Dreamscapes, LPAC Rough Draft Festival & NYTW (workshop); Flight, Dixon Place; A Modest Proposal, Cherry Lane Theater; The Cake, Shaker Bridge Theatre; The Magic Bullet, LubDub Theatre Co./Noor Theatre (workshop); The Promised Land, Amsterdam Over Het Ij Festival (Netherlands); Hemispheric Institute's EmergeNYC; Naked Angels Theater Company's Issues Project Lab. Heather has been co-developing a strange and beautiful performance project about dreams and the way home. Gentle encouragement for all us good people out there... keep dancing like it's bringing the rain, and it will. MFA, The New School for Drama.

Brian Joél Sanchez (Actor) is a New York native and graduate of Purchase College with a BFA in Acting. He was last seen in Apple TV+’s "The Changeling" and short film Tomás is Not a Clown. On stage he was previously seen in The Happy Garden of Life at New Ohio Theatre and The Skin of Our Teeth at Theatre For a New Audience. Next up for him is the short film No Glory Just Guts.

Samuel Golland (Video Designer) is a filmmaker and cinematographer based in NY. Cinematography credits include Runaway Train and SPNTD. Directing credits include The Frenchman and Misha’s Victory.

Joonas Lemetyinen (Composer) is a composer and trombonist based out of NYC. He has an eclectic style of writing that spans multiple genres, and stems from whatever is going on in his head that day. Originally from Finland, he has spent the last 12 years in NYC pursuing his passion of music and film. He is a part of several original bands including, Civilians, Flowmigos, and his solo projects YAWU and MAR$HMANGO. Check him out busking in Washington Square Park when the weather’s nice or performing with his various acts around the city.