Fear & Wonder
Flux Theatre Ensemble
presents the World Premiere of
Fear & Wonder
by Jason Tseng
directed by Emily Hartford
Performances: June 8-27, 2026
Location: Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre, A.R.T./New York Theatres, 502 West 53rd Street, NY, NY 10019
Forced to share a room at a conservative Christian summer camp, picture-perfect Ryan and cynical rebel Jabez expect nothing but a week of forced prayers. Instead, their late-night debates spark a magnetic, dangerous attraction that threatens everything they know. When the real world crashes in, will the fear of losing it all tear them apart, or will they risk everything to make something wonderful?
Creative Team includes:
Scenic Design – Will Lowry
Costume Design – Izzy Fields
Lighting Design – Kia Rogers
Sound Design – Erin Bednarz
Music Director/Composer – Adam J. Rineer
Spiritual & Community Engagement Coordinator – Brian G. Murphy
Intimacy Direction – Braxton Rae
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Cast for Fear & Wonder
Neil Tyrone Pritchard (RYAN HARRIS, he/him) is a Liberian-American, New York-based Actor/Singer/Teaching Artist . His most recent Acting Credits include: Dia Y Noche (Labyrinth Theater Company) Halfway Bitches Go Straight To Heaven (LAByrinth Theater Company/Atlantic Theater Company),There’s Always The Hudson (Goodman Theatre) The Berlin Electric (Park Ave Armory/Trusty Sidekick) , The Prizefighter of P.S. 217 (New Victory LabWorks), The Mendelssohn Electric (Park Ave Armory/Trusty Sidekick), The Stowaway (Classic Stage Company/Trusty Sidekick), Clover (La Mama), Queen Latina and Her Power Posse (Cherry Lane Theater),AT BUFFALO (NYMF) . He has been a part of workshops and concerts at Sundance TheaterLAB, Manhattan Theater Club, Dorset Theater festival,Joe’s Pub, Bowery Poetry Club,Lincoln Center Theater, and Primary Stages. He is currently on staff at the Park Avenue Armory where he brings Arts Education to public schools throughout the five boroughs. A Proud New York City Public School Kid and A Member of LAByrinth Theater Company, where he serves as Co-Artistic Director.
Brian Tong (JABEZ HUANG, he/him) is thrilled to make his postgraduate debut with Flux Theatre Ensemble. He is an actor, theatermaker, producer, and teaching artist from Flushing, Queens. Recent credits include: Stuy or Die (NYC Tour), The Tempest (Fordham), Touch Grass (Chain Theater), Threepenny Opera (Fordham), Together, Apart (Dir. May Adrales, by Nandita Shenoy, Theaterlab), The Wedding Gift (Fordham), Sagittarius Ponderosa (Fordham). BA: Fordham University. He has collaborated with/performed at NAATCO, Transport Group, Classic Stage, The Tank, Theaterlab, New Perspectives, The Chain, The Barrow Group, Leviathan Lab, Boomerang Theater Company, and Family Life Theatre. He wants to thank his family, May Adrales, Nandita Shenoy, and Chauntee’ Irving. Learn more about him at brianyangtong.com and @brianyangtong.
Cherrye J. Davis, (TRANSITION MINISTER, she/her) is an actor, vocalist, director, playwright, teaching artist. Education: NYU-Tisch UG- Playwrights Horizons. NY Theater: How to Mourn an American, (Rough Draft Fest. 2019), The Loophole (The Public Theater), And She Would Stand Like This (TMTC), And Then I Woke (Downtown Arts), Self-Accusation (LaGuardia Performing Arts Center), Trojan Women (Oppressed in Heels), Hope Speaks (La Mama), Immortal (The Forge), Bintou (TMTC), Hamlet (Classical Theater of Harlem). TV/Film: For Flow (2011 HBO Black Film Fest. Finalist), Scribbles (NYC Indie Film Fest). Original Work: Scavenger (BARS @ The Public Theater), Dreams in Scar Space (Playwrights Horizons Theater School), Tapes (TMTC). A teaching artist in history and spoken word performance, Cherrye has performed at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Bedstuy Alive!, and in schools throughout New York City. She can also be found performing with blues experiment The Nervous, or fronting the live hip hop band Deathrow Tull. Follow her moves at www.CherryeJDavis.com.
Creative Team for Fear & Wonder
Jason Tseng (Playwright, they/them) is a queer, non-binary Chinese-American playwright based in New York City, originally hailing from the suburbs of Washington, D.C. Their plays have been presented and developed by Flux Theatre Ensemble, Judson Arts, Mission to dit(Mars), Theatre COTE, Inkubator Arts, Second Generation, Downtown Urban Arts Festival, and LA Queer New Works Festival. They are a Creative Partner of Flux Theatre Ensemble, a member of The Civilians’s 2019/2020 R&D Group, a member of Mission to dit(Mars)’s Propulsion Lab, and their plays have been honored as Semi-finalists for the New American Voices Playwrights Festiva, Bay Area Playwrights Festivall and the Eugene O’Neil National Playwrights Conference. Jason’s full-length plays include Rizing (World Premier, Flux Theatre Ensemble), Like Father, Same Same, Ghost Money, Fear and Wonder, and The Other Side. Find more at www.jasontseng.co
Emily Hartford (Director, she/her) is a Flux Creative Partner, theatre and media director, intimacy director, creator, artistic leader, and educator. With Flux: Metra: A Climate Revolution with Songs, Our Options Have Changed, Operating Systems, Rizing (director and/or creator); Sea Concerto (actor); Salvage and Jane the Plain (assistant director). Other recent projects include Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood and Concord Floral at Atlantic Acting School; Coriolanus and Dike at Hofstra University; Antigonick and Dragons Love Tacos at Hangar Theatre (director). Emily teaches and serves on the Faculty Leadership Committee of Playwrights Horizons Theatre School-NYU Tisch. Drama League Directing Fellow, Member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, SDC Associate Member. emilyhartford.com
Will Lowry (Scenic Designer, he/him) is a multidisciplinary designer with an MFA in Design from UNC Greensboro. He has been a Flux Creative Partner since 2011. This is his 23rd design with Flux, starting with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM in 2008. He has created over 160 scenic, lighting, costume, and media designs for theaters along the East Coast and beyond, including productions at Dupont Underground (DC), Lantern Theater Company (PA), Mill Mountain Theatre (VA), Warehouse Theatre (SC), Playhouse on Park (CT), Birmingham Children’s Theatre (AL), Spirit of the Dance Productions (SC/UK), Curtain Call Theatre (NY), California Theatre Center (CA), the Sydney Opera House (AUS), as well as with several universities. In NYC, he contributed to multiple Broadway and off-Broadway productions as a studio assistant and graphic designer. He led the creation of the innovative virtual experience GPS at Lehigh University, where he serves as an Associate Professor of Theatre. will-lowry.com
Erin Bednarz (Sound Designer, she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans sound, music, performance, production, and dramaturgy. She is known for creating immersive sonic landscapes that amplify the emotional core of theatrical storytelling. Erin holds the LA Drama Critics Circle, Bay Area Critics Circle, and Gregory Awards for Outstanding Sound Design, and her designs have been seen Off‑Broadway and in numerous regional theaters across the U.S. In addition to her design work, Erin is a committed educator and mentor: she has taught at institutions such as NYU, Cal Poly, Pomona College, Cornish College of the Arts, University of Washington, and is a current lecturer at UC Riverside. Her sound and musical work have been featured in high‑profile press outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Erin is currently enrolled at Point Blank Music School as a We Are Moving The Needle scholar studying Music Production and Sound Design.
Braxton Rae (Intimacy Director, they/them) is an artist whose creative work and scholarship is focused on blackness, queerness, womanism, and marginalized identities. Braxton is a passionate director and intimacy director and loves creating intimate moments that enhance storytelling. Braxton is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at Denison University where they directed the first U.S. production of Rules for Living by Sam Holcroft. Braxton served as the Maker in Residence and Visiting Assistant Professor of Devised Theatre with the University of Florida’s Theatre and Dance Department where they worked on community based artmaking and taught courses in devised theatre, directing, and acting for social change to graduate and undergraduate students. They also recently co-authored a paper that was published by the American Society of Engineering Education on the effects of adding creative practice to engineering students’ coursework. Braxton’s regional theatre debut saw them directing Always Patsy Cline at Great River Shakespeare Theatre Festival.
Kia Rogers (Lighting Designer, she/her) is a New York City based lighting designer for Theatre and Dance.
International credits: Lighting Designer for The Baby Monitor, Belgrade, Serbia for the Belgrade Pride Festival, and the OnStage Festival and Rome, Italy. Associate Lighting Designer for Slutforart/98.6 inGothenburg, Sweden with Muna Tseng.
West coast designs: El Portal’s Monroe Forum Theatre, Los Angeles and Z Space, San Francisco. Dance designs: Flamenco Vivo National tours, Forward Motion, Kinesis Project Dance Theatre, Lighting Designer and mentor for Ethical Culture Fieldston High School Dance Company since 2015. Guest Lighting Designer: Lafayette College, Easton PA, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Wilmington, NC and for the South Carolina Governors School of the Arts, Greenville, SC. Awards: Outstanding Lighting Design for Real, 2019 and Jane The Plain, 2014 by the New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Outstanding Lighting Design for Mr. Toole, 2016 by the Midtown International Theatre Festival.
Nominations: Operating Systems, 2019, Rizing, 2016 and The Gin Baby, 2014 by the New York Innovative Theatre Awards Kia is a member of Rising Phoenix Repertory and a Creative Partner with Flux Theatre Ensemble since 2010.
Izzy Fields (Costume Designer, she/her) Izzy Fields is a costume and set designer working extensively in Theatre, TV and Film. Most recently she assisted/ costume coordinated the first Broadway National Tour of HELLS KITCHEN. In 2025 she designed set and costumes for THE ART TOUR, costumes for A STRANGE LOOP at VOCA Theatre in DC and the revival of HANNAH SENESH for NYTF. In 2024 she designed the set for her friend Jose Rivera’s new show THE HOURS ARE FEMININE at Intar Theatre Company and for most of 2022 through 2024 she was in Charleston, SC costume assisting on THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES S3 and S4 which garnered Emmy Nominations for Best Costume Design two years running. Izzy is an alumnae of NYU Tisch and a proud member of USA 829. www.izzyfieldsdesigns.com.
Montserrat Mendez (associate producer, he/him), a playwright from Rincon, Puerto Rico, won the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival Best Playwriting Award for The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things. Montserrat was part of the 2024 People’s Theatre Project Playwrights Unit, where he wrote the Guantanamo PTSD comedy drama, Sombraluz O La Presencia. He is a core work member of Flux Theatre Ensemble, where he completed this play and the upcoming A Full-Blown Horror Story. His writing explores wit, character, and social equity, reflecting his fascination with storytelling’s power to shape identity and promote a more equitable future. He is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild.
Alisha Spielmann (casting director, she/her) is thrilled to be flexing in as casting for Flux’s production of Fear & Wonder! Primarily an actor, she’s been in over 20 full length productions in NYC (many award nominated and self originated roles) and numerous readings and workshops. Alisha can currently be seen on Amazon starring in the series Producing Juliet by Writers Guild of America award winner Tina Cesa Ward; as well as feature films How Dark They Prey and The Moose Head Over The Mantle; and short films The Sound of Light, Missing You, Into The Burning, Freedom Point, and Type A. She is a Creative Partner with Flux Theatre Ensemble and a Company Member of Retro Productions. Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she received her BA in Music and Theater from St. Olaf College. In her spare time she enjoys running, cooking, and keeping up to date with super cool technology. www.alishaspielmann.com www.alishaspielmann.com
Hannah Sgambellone (production manager, she/her) is a director, producer, and production manager. She is the Junior Producer for Fault Line Theatre and the BOLD Artistic Associate for WP Theater. She was the co-founder and artistic director of The Regular Theatre in Cincinnati, OH, where she produced eight shows and directed five. NYC: Scene Partners (Vineyard), Titus Andronicus (Red Bull), Jesa (Ma Yi). Tour: Romeo & Juliet/The Three Musketeers, Two Trains Running/Comedy of Errors (The Acting Company 2023, 2025). Producer: the beautiful land i seek (Fault Line Theatre/PRTT 2023/2024), The Bad In Each Other (The Tank/Alex Perez 2024). Love to Kyle.
Hannah is the co-production manager with Gary Levinson.
Carly Galbreth (associate production manager, she/her) is a rising senior at Wake Forest University. She is from Knoxville, Tennessee and is overjoyed to be spending her summer in New York City working with Flux Theatre Ensemble. Carly spent the past two summers in New Hampshire at the Peterborough Players, most recently as the Assistant Production Manager and Assistant Master Electrician. Recently at Wake Forest, she was the sound designer for Failure: a Love Story, lighting designer for Orion, and assistant lighting designer for Old Times. She would like to extend a huge thank you to Heather Cohn, Will Lowry, and the rest of the Fear & Wonder production team for inviting her onto this project and giving her space to learn and grow.
Heather Cohn (producer, she/her) is a producer, director, fundraiser, ensemble artist and activist. She co-founded Flux Theatre Ensemble in 2006 and with Flux has produced over 30 full productions, including 18 world premieres, directing a third of them, and helped nurture and guide countless artists in the creation and development of new work. Heather is the Executive Producer with Colt Coeur Theater Company. Prior to joining Colt Coeur, she served as the Executive Director for En Garde Arts, a site-specific Off-Broadway theatre, where she produced several large scale site-specific projects. She has also worked with Epic Theatre Ensemble, New York Theatre Workshop, The Pearl Theatre, Theatre Communications Group, and Disney Theatrical. Heather has served on several not-for-profit boards including the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), where she co-chaired the Task Force for trans inclusion. She also serves on the School Leadership Team (SLT) and a parent leader of the Anti-racism and Belonging Committee at her child’s school. She is a graduate of Vassar College, where she majored in Latin American Studies and spent time living in Cuba and Chile. And most importantly, she’s a proud mom to Mercena.
Fear & Wonder is made possible through support from:
