By Bekah Brunstetter
Wednesday through Friday
March 25–27
7:30 p.m.
Wolf Kuhn Theatre
Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts
Free and open to the public thanks to the Kjell Meling Arts for All Initiative.
Cast
Jane—Emily Pentland
Mary Anne—River Koontz
Billy—Aurther Isris
Game—Adria (Jay) Schmidt
Then Jane—Yancis Jimeriez
Clancy—Ava Cramer
Matt—Aurther Isris
Bernard Oxen—Cecillia Zhoo
Landon Oxen—Ruthie Thompson
Death—Teniyah Brooks-White
River Pois Dancers—Aliyah Long
River Dancer—Cassidy Beauton
The Oregon Trail received its world premiere in September 2015 at Flying V.
Amber Jackson, Director / Jason Schlafstein, Producing Artistic Director
The Oregon Trail was developed during a residency at the Eugene O’Neill
Theater Center’s National Playwrights Conference in 2013.
Preston Whiteway, Executive Director / Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director
Developed at the Lark Play Development Center, New York City
The Oregon Trail is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Director's Note
The Oregon Trail by Bekah Brunstetter is a journey with two generations. Our protagonist, Jane, travels from 1997 through 2008 while her ancestor, Past Jane, endures the Oregon Trail in 1848. Both girls struggle with a deep sorrow and an empathic connection to their worlds. Brunstetter connects themes of intergenerational longing, American myths of reinvention, and control, using the classic computer game as a framework to explore how individuals cope with depression, unfulfilled dreams, and the desire for a fresh start.
Two female directors of two vastly different generations celebrate the resilient spirit of women, both literal and metaphorical, that shape who we are. The Oregon Trail celebrates and confronts the myths of the American pioneer spirit but also inspires a renewed appreciation for the journeys, contrasting virtual control with real-life helplessness.
Co-directing this play with Gen Z and Gen X perspectives leading the journey has been a great joy, experience, and education. As the Gen X perspective, I read the script before knowing it was an actual video game. I was grateful and excited to have Adria (Jay) Schmidt’s Gen Z perspective and her creative intelligence on board. Our intergenerational collaboration has created what we hope you see as an optimistic message of hope for reinvention and connection that is present in all generations.
The collaborative effort of two directors, a full cast, and a wonderful crew made this show a joy to work on. Many choices and opinions we never expected ended up being the ones that made scenes funnier and lines stronger. I had a fantastic time immersing myself not only in the Wild, Wild West but also in 1997 and revisiting my childhood in 2008. There are Easter eggs hidden all throughout the set, props, costumes, and sound design that I am so excited for our audience to find!
We have all experienced that “weight that just comes out of nowhere and sits on you,” and found our own Oregon Trail through various personal paths. Many times, it’s easy to feel lost or as though none of the decisions you make are the correct ones. We hope that through our telling of Bekah Brunstetter’s story, someone in the audience finds that no one is ever truly alone, and though we all seem to be going forward in time a little too fast for our liking, we will find the happy ending of our trails.
—Mary Beth Geppert & Adria (Jay) Schmidt
Cast Bios
Cassidy Beauton (River Dancer) is a first-year student pursuing a degree in art history. They have been involved in theatre for nine years and worked both behind the scenes and onstage in countless productions. The last two shows that they were onstage for were Fiddler on the Roof and Charlotte's Web. In the future, Cassidy hopes to be involved in more productions at Penn State Altoona.
Teniyah Brooks-White (Death) is a first-year student, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She currently lives in New Jersey and came to Penn State Altoona to pursue an aerospace engineering degree. The Oregon Trail is her acting debut, and she is beyond grateful for the opportunity.
Ava Cramer (Abigail) is a first-year student pursuing a degree in criminal justice. This is her second theatre performance at Penn State Altoona. Her first appearance was in Working: A Musical in fall 2025. In the future, Ava hopes to better her skills, to keep having fun, and to continue being involved with this community.
Aurthur Isris (Billy, Matt) is a nursing major from Parlin, New Jersey, and is a first-year student at Penn State Altoona. Arthur has shown hard work and commitment toward passions such as Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. He has spent four years climbing up the ranks and taking part in multiple activities such as drill, APT (Awareness Presentation Team), and aviation. Winning multiple trophies for drill and being the leader of the APT program, Arthur shows his resolve through his mindset. Once he starts something, he does not plan on quitting it. It is his core belief that as a man, once he says he will do something, he must keep his word.
Yancis Jiménez (Then Jane) is a young aspiring actor from New York City. She's been in many productions including Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Clue: Onstage!, 12 Angry Men, and many more. She's been dedicated to theatre since she was 11 years old and is excited to take on this new role as a first-year student at Penn State Altoona. While her passion for the theatre runs deep in her veins, she is studying criminology in the 2+2 program.
River Koontz (Mary Anne) is a first-year student from North Carolina and is pursuing a degree in film with a minor in literature. Though this marks her first production at Penn State Altoona, River has been passionate about theatre her entire life. She looks forward to continuing her involvement in productions throughout her undergraduate years.
Aliyah Long (River Pois Dancer) is a first-year student pursuing a degree in environmental systems engineering. This is her first theatre experience. In the future, Aliyah hopes to be involved in more productions at Penn State Altoona.
Emily Pentland (Jane) is thrilled to be a part of this show. Some of her favorite past roles include Flotsam in The Little Mermaid, Issachar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and as a member of the advanced dance ensemble in Newsies. When not on stage she is a behavioral health technician for Clarvida.
Adria (Jay) Schmidt (Game) is a third-year student from St. Marys, Pennsylvania, majoring in English literature. She participates in many areas of the arts, including visual arts, live performances, and filmmaking. Adria (Jay) has had her written works published and has been the recipient of several awards for her visual arts pieces in both secondary school and college. She previously worked with Penn State Altoona's theatre department in Flights of Fancy, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Revised) (Again), and Working: A Musical.
Ruthie Thompson (Landon Oxen) is a plant biology and forensic molecular biology major from Goldsboro, North Carolina. After attending Penn State Altoona for her first year of college, she transferred to University Park, then studied abroad at Nottingham University in the spring semester of her sophomore year. She is part of the Forensics Club and the UP Haunted House committee. This is her first theatre performance, though she has had a long-standing love and appreciation of the arts.
Production Team Bios
Davey Beyer (puppet mentor) is a local art teacher and the artistic director of Cresson Lake Playhouse. He is also a puppet maker and set designer for several local schools, community theatres, and college theatre programs.
Bekah Brunstetter (playwright) hails from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and currently lives in Los Angeles. As a television writer and producer, she has written for Switched at Birth, American Gods, This is Us, and Maid. She has developed content for Apple TV, Hulu, and FX. As a playwright, her work has been staged and developed by The O’Neill Playwright’s conference, the Atlantic Theater, Portland Center Stage, The Old Globe, the La Jolla Playhouse, Naked Angels, South Coast Repertory, The Echo Theater, and Ojai Playwright’s conference. Her play The Cake has been produced over 80 times worldwide and ran off-Broadway at Manhattan Theater Club. She is currently working on commissions for South Coast Rep, Manhattan Theater Club, Barrington Stage, and Playmaker’s Rep. She is also developing a musical adaptation of The Notebook with Ingrid Michaelson and an original musical with Cinco Paul called AD 16, which recently ran at the Olney Theater Center. She is an alumnus of the CTG Writers Group, Primary Stages writes group, Ars Nova Play Group, The Playwright’s Realm, and the Women’s Project Lab, and the Echo Playwright’s Group. She received her B.A. from UNC Chapel Hill and her M.F.A. in dramatic writing from the New School for Drama.
Maxwell Doherty (technical director) is the technical director of the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts. He is a graduate of the Penn State School of Theatre where he worked on productions such as Brigadoon, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Seawall, Angels in America, To Kill a Mockingbird, Legally Blonde, and many more. He has also worked on shows for Disney’s Hollywood Studios including The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and The Wonderful World of Animation.
Mary Beth Geppert (co-director) is a part-time instructor in theatre at Penn State Altoona. She is thrilled to guide this dedicated crew on their creative trail to Oregon. Developing the human potential through performing arts inspires Mary Beth to keep the arts alive. In 1999, at age 32, she turned her love for performing and directing Shakespeare into a career. Graduating magna cum laude from two Pennsylvania universities gave her the credentials to spend four more years working toward a Ph.D. in Shakespearean pedagogy at Roehampton University in London. While living in England, Mary Beth taught Shakespeare at both Roehampton University and Stratford College and worked as a teaching artist throughout the country. She devised and facilitated Shakespearean workshops for hostels, arts centers, schools, and Shakespearience, an educational project in England. When she returned to the United States, she facilitated summer academies, implemented the Clearfield County V-Day Campaign, produced and directed plays, and took the lead in saving the Clearfield Community Theatre from tax sale in 2014. Upcoming projects at Penn State Altoona include directing an October 2026 modern adaptation of Macbeth and a collaboration to edit and adapt Julius Caesar into a post-apocalyptic, gender-neutral theatre production for March 2027.
Cara Groome (stage manager) is a third-year student majoring in visual art studies and minoring in theatre. Her recent credits include stage managing for Circle Mirror Transformation, The Wake of Jamey Foster, and A Night of One Acts, and set designing for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again] at Penn State Altoona as well as prop design for Macbeth at University College Dublin. She was recently the recipient of the Kenneth M. Kuhn Award for Visual Arts. Cara hopes to be involved in more productions at Penn State Altoona and in the local community and to continue to combine her passions for art and theatre.
Jenelle Lockard (props) began her involvement in theatre in 1995 working with the late Dick Caram on Penn State Altoona's As You Like It, and she has worked both on and backstage at numerous theatres since. She is a board member of Pennsylvania Association of Community Theaters, Eastern State Theater Association, and is a Pennsylvania representative for American Association of Community Theaters. When not in a theatre, Jenelle can be found teaching kinesiology courses at Penn State Altoona, or swimming somewhere in the community.
Kylea Myers (production manager) is the theatre and gallery coordinator at Penn State Altoona. Outside of work she volunteers with multiple local community theatres including Things Unseen Theatre (TUT), Altoona Community Theatre (ACT), and 39 Tigers Productions. For TUT she serves as the box office manager and has served as assistant lighting designer, lighting designer, stage manager, graphic designer, projection designer, and set painter. She has worked on TUT’s productions of 46 Plays for 46 Presidents, 46 Plays for America’s First Ladies, The Woolgatherer, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. At Altoona Community Theatre she currently serves on the Artistic Committee and has served as lead set painter, set decor, and lighting designer. Previous shows she has worked on with ACT include Angel Street (Gaslight), Much Ado About Nothing, Places: A Theatrical Celebration of ACT's 75th Anniversary, and Mousetrap. For 39 Tigers Productions she served as set painter for The Full Monty.
Benjamin Weaver (set designer) is a 2021 graduate of Centenary University and holds a degree in technical theater. His past credits include set designer for 1984, Avenue Q, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Sweat at NEXTStage Rep, Wait Until Dark at Altoona Community Theater, and The Wake of Jamey Foster at Penn State Altoona. He was the scenic charge artist of Shakespeare Abridged [Revised] [Again] and the light designer of Working: A Musical, both performed at Penn State Altoona.
Production Team
Playwright—Bekah Brunstetter
Co-director (Faculty)—Mary Beth Geppert
Co-director (Student)—Adria (Jay) Schmidt
Production Manager—Kylea Myers
Technical Director—Max Doherty
Theatre Technical Assistant—Ben Weaver
Stage Manager, Puppet Master & Set Painter—Cara Groome
Puppet Mentor—Davy Beyer
Costume Designer—Adria (Jay) Schmidt
Costume Crew—Mary Beth Geppert, Cara Groome, Ruthie Thompson
Lighting Designers—Ben Weaver, Adria (Jay) Schmidt
Sound Designer—Max Doherty
Props Crew—Jenelle Lockard
Assistant Stage Manager—Yancis Jimeriez
Stage Management Crew—Aliyah Long, Cecillia Zhoo
Stage Crew—Cassidy Beauton
Upcoming Events in the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts
- April 2, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
VAST Student Gallery Reception - April 16, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
VAST Student Gallery Reception - Apr. 16-17, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
Ivyside Dance Performance - April 30, 2026, 4:00 p.m.
VAST Student Gallery Reception - May 2, 2026, 7:30 p.m.
University Jazz Band Performance
Special Thanks
Erik Raymond Johnson from the School of Theatre at University Park for providing an Intimacy Workshop and choreographing our intimate stage moments.
Acknowledgements
- Dr. Ron Darbeau, chancellor and dean
- Leigh Ann Haefner, vice chancellor, Academic Affairs
- Dr. Nicholas L. Pyeatt, interim division head, Business, Health, Humanities, and Social Sciences
- Jonathan O’Harrow, director, Strategic Communications
- Marissa Carney, media and public relations coordinator, Strategic Communications
- Melissa Wilt, graphic designer, Strategic Communications
- Kylea Myers, theatre and gallery coordinator, Misciagna Family Center
- Courtney Fowler, theatre and gallery assistant, Misciagna Family Center
- Maxwell Doherty, technical director, Misciagna Family Center
- Benjamin Weaver, technical theatre assistant, Misciagna Family Center
Performances are free thanks to the Kjell Meling Arts for All Initiative.
Penn State encourages qualified persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact the box office at the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts by calling 814-949-5452 in advance of your participation or visit.
This publication is available in alternative media on request.