Truth and Art, Inc. Presents

Truth Values

Written and Performed by Gioia De Cari

Directed by Joey Brenneman

Designed by Brian Freeland, Andy Evan Cohen, Crystal Arnette, Josiah Parsons

Originally premiered at the New York International Fringe Festival,
winning an Overall Excellence Award for Best Solo Show
Originally directed by Miriam Eusebio
Developed in Matt Hoverman’s Go-Solo Workshop
and The Wynn Handman Studio

Join us for a special one-night performance of the award-winning international hit show Truth Values. Called “hilarious” by WIRED, Truth Values is a true-life tale that also offers a serious, insightful, and ultimately uplifting look at the challenges of being a professional woman in the male-dominated fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Writer/performer and “recovering mathematician” Gioia De Cari creates “refreshing delights of humor, even compassion (EDGE Media) as she charmingly brings to life more than 30 characters “each rendered on an empty stage that hints at the countless stories similar to hers but untold.” (TimeOut New York)

“Energetic, intimate, hilarious.”

—WIRED

“[M.I.T. Biologist Nancy] Hopkins says she did not enjoy the tumult surrounding the…controversy, ‘but if it had the effect of bringing this issue forward and inspiring this … fabulous play . . . I’d say it was worth it, because this is an important play.’”

— The Boston Globe

“If you see only one play this year about reflexive nonbinary relations, make it this one.”
— Los Angeles Times

"The entire play is at heart a reflection on truth – especially truths which many people would rather ignore than recognize.… The play addresses issues of diversity head on, as well as caring and respect for those who are different from ourselves."

— K.C. Cole, Science Writer, Professor, University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism

Truth Values is a true-life tale that offers a serious, insightful, and ultimately uplifting look at the challenges of being a professional woman in the male-dominated fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Writer/performer and “recovering mathematician” Gioia De Cari creates “refreshing delights of humor, even compassion (EDGE Media) as she charmingly brings to life more than 30 characters “each rendered on an empty stage that hints at the countless stories similar to hers but untold.” (TimeOut New York)

The Truth Values Project

We believe art and conversations lead to a better world. The Truth Values Project seeks to create a profoundly supportive environment for women and underrepresented minorities in STEM through our innovative combination of art, science and conversation. We are profoundly grateful to this presentation being made possible by our growing list of generous sponsors and partners, including

• Friends of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques
• The Lycée Français de San Francisco
• Consulat Général de France à San Francisco
• University of San Francisco

More information about our history and mission can be found at truthvalues.org/mission-history.

Speakers

Creative Team

Gioia De Cari (Writer/Performer) is an actress, singer, playwright, and "recovering mathematician" who has made significant contributions in theater and classical music through her exploration of the synergy between science and the arts. Her award-winning play Truth Values has been presented at more than 50 theaters and performing arts centers in the U.S. and Canada, including the Ensemble Studio Theatre in New York, the La Jolla Playhouse Potiker Theatre, and Toronto’s Hart House Theatre, among others. A companion educational program to the play, Truth Values Community, was sponsored by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. An accomplished classical singer as well, Gioia has recorded two albums, Quiet Songs and Eve’s Diary, with her husband, classical guitarist John Olson, as the Olson/DeCari Duo. A particular focus of their work is expansion of the classical repertoire for soprano and guitar; they founded the Science Music Commissioning Project, which seeks to illuminate the human side of science through song. They have toured throughout the United States. Gioia studied acting and playwriting with the late legendary teachers Wynn Handman and Milan Stitt, respectively. After graduating summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, she earned a Master of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Gioia is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA, and The Dramatists Guild of America.

Joey Brenneman (Director) is the artistic director of STAR Theater. Other directing credits include A Burial Place, SLUT, Vestments of the Gods, Two Girls, The Timing of a Day and Abstract Nude. Also a playwright, Joey is currently an artistic resident at Access Theater developing her new play, An Uninterrupted Thought. Joey’s produced plays include Better Left Unsaid, Fast Break, Of Loss and Grace and Off (Heideman Award Finalist). She has also written and directed several films. Her film, Taking a Step Back, was selected by the Urban Visionaries Festival and won the “Best of Specials” award from MNN. Joey also works as an actor in New York and regionally. She has two children and is married to actor Craig Waletzko.

Brian Freeland (Projection / Scenic design) is a designer, director, writer, sound + media artist, and community builder. He has designed for Mind The Art Entertainment, The Public Theatre, The Aurora Fox, The LIDA Project, Countdown to Zero, Curious Theatre Company, Lone Tree Arts Center, Denver Center Theatre Company, HERE Arts Center, TheatreWorks, About Face, and The Catamounts. Mr. Freeland just completed the remounting of Countdown to Zero’s provocative work about the Abu Ghraib detention facility, Uncle Rooster by Tami Canaday as part of The Brick Theatre’s Not Normal Festival. Recent work includes scenic design for Whiskey Pants: The Mayor of Williamsburg with Mind the Art Entertainment (MTAE) at HERE Arts Center, projection and direction for a new performance work based on the 1942 book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge, direction of Jack of Hearts, Master of None for (MTAE) at HERE Arts, sound design for Quiara Alegría Hudes’ trilogy of plays Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue, Water by the Spoonful, and Happiest Song Plays Last at Curious Theatre Company, projection design for Silent Sky at Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company, and projections for Randel Myler’s Muscle Shoals: I’ll Take You There at the Lone Tree Arts Center. As a deviser/writer, recent works include Watershed: Part 1, The Sea is Not Full and Watershed: Part 2, Soiled (meta-media works which explored the environmental crisis through the lens of mythological structure) and a reimagined view of the Ludlow Massacre, Ludlow, 1914 (a dramatic vaudeville). He is a founding member The LIDA Project where he served as artistic director from 1995-2015 and co-founder of Countdown To Zero, a political theatre company. Brian received his education from the University of Colorado at Denver and The American Musical and Dramatic Academy.

Andy Evan Cohen (Sound Design) credits include Off-Broadway: Dear Jane and In Bed With Roy Cohn (Perry St Theatricals), If Only (Cherry Lane), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Master Works), Ay Carmela! (Repertorio Español). Touring: Hamlet, Sense and Sensibility, and Our Trojan War (Aquila Theatre); The American Soldier and A Soldier's Journey Home (Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, 59E59, Edinburgh Fringe, and other venues); The Hungry Hungry Games (Mills Entertainment). Immersive theater work includes SommernachtFraktal and Bluebeard (Werdenberg Castle in Switzerland) and Static Apnea (in a floating shipping container in New Zealand). Off-Off-Broadway work includes many shows for Animus, Boomerang, New Light Theatre Project (including Hal and Bee at 59E59 and A Burial Place at the Dorothy Strelsin Theater), Nylon Fusion, Stable Cable, Strindberg Rep., T. Schreiber, and White Horse Theatre. Film and TV credits include scores for PBS documentaries, the short films The Mall and Show and Tell Tango, and the web series Off Off Kilter. Andy's theatrical work has won awards from the New York Innovative Theater Awards, Planet Connections, The New York International Fringe Festival, and many others. Education: Manhattan School of Music and Oberlin (where he almost was a math major.)