Slow Thunder

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – bAfA TheatreWorks has announced the world premiere of Slow Thunder, written and directed by Suse Sternkopf, at the Theatre 68 Arts Complex in North Hollywood October 19-November 12. 

Welcome to Vieux Carre where, on a soft autumn evening, time stands still, and everything that’s risen — or fallen — converges when her not-quite-ex, Peter, appears uninvited at Jewel’s door. She’s not pleased to see him and, with the arrival of her friends Rob and Bird, the quartet’s chemistry — a volatile cocktail of loss and longing, vulnerability, and desire — jars the precarious balance and counterbalance of love and friendship.

The Team

Set design is by Allen Corben with GT/NYC, lighting design is by Miles Berman, costume consultant is LollyWrigs/Chicago, soundscape and effects are by Janna R. Lopez Räven, and musical supervision is by Lobelia Lawson. Production stage manager is Miles Berman and assistant stage manager is Mallory Corben. Photos and graphics are by ImageWorks. Slow Thunder is produced by Allen Corben for bAfA TheatreWorks.

The Cast

The cast will feature (in alphabetical order) Sue Gisser, Rob Nagle, Ann Noble, and Robert Yacko.  

Sue Gisser has recurred on Shameless, Strangers with Candy, and Solved, and did multiple spots in campaigns for Burlington Coat Factory, Mercury Insurance, and Cedar Fair. Films include The Activist and In the Air. In the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival, she starred in the world premiere of Bloodsuckers and performed with Feel Your Feet, an innovative game-based musical improv company, of which she is a founding member.

Rob Nagle’s theatre credits include Church and State, Of Good Stock, I Love to Eat, and productions at Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Pasadena Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Centerstage, The Old Globe, and Shakespeare Theatre Company. Film credits include Alien Vacation, To Hell and Gone, Bad Samaritan, First Love, Mother’s Day, Fishing Naked, New Year’s Eve, The Soloist, Fun with Dick and Jane, Cellular. Television credits include NCIS: Los Angeles, Batwoman, Mom, Dynasty, NCIS: New Orleans, Little Fires Everywhere, Modern Family, Superior Donuts, The Librarians, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds, Castle, Major Crimes, Harry’s Law, Mad Men, Cold Case, Eli Stone, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Without a Trace, Everwood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Guardian, Dawson’s Creek.

Ann Noble is an award-winning writer, actor, director, acting teacher/coach, arts educator, and a jail chaplain.  She is a member of the Echo and Antaeus companies, Rogue Machine, and Warriors for Peace, and has worked at many theatres across Southern California and throughout Chicago, her hometown.  Her plays have been produced both nationally and internationally, as have both her new media series.  Her directing credits include work with several LA theatres and production companies, as well as for the Museum of Tolerance, LA’s Holocaust Museum, LA’s LGBT Center, the YWCA, and Homeboy Industries. She currently teaches for Moving Arts Theatre and is on the faculty at AMDA.

Robert Yacko is a veteran of Broadway, off-Broadway, and regional theatres across the country. In Los Angeles, stage credits include Sunday in the Park with George, Legacy of Light, Chess, Parade, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Annie at the Hollywood Bowl, among many others. He has shared stages with the likes of Rachel York, Cathy Rigby, Carol Burnett, Leslie Uggams, Christina Pickles, Carl Reiner, and more. He made his Broadway debut in a revival of Fiddler on the Roof starring Herschel Bernardi. Film and TV credits include Raising Helen, The Closer, The Golden Girls, General Hospital, and Picket Fences.

Suse Sternkopf has dozens of directing credits off and off-off Broadway and in Los Angeles. She was the founding director at Next Stage, Fuller Company, and Perry People. She has worked at Circle Rep, Soho Rep, The Glines, Actors Outlet, Shelter West, collaborations, Point of You, and West Coast Ensemble. New York directing credits include Oh Dad, Poor Dad, The Wager, The Would-Be Gentleman, The Good Doctor, The Valentine’s Day Massacre, The Reindeer Monologues, The Creation of the World and Other Business, Out Cry, and the world premieres of Adam Caparell’s Women in Love and Johnny Blaze Leavitt’s BDSM comedy, Hurt So Good.  Los Angeles credits include Such Interesting Lies and Diamonds & Pearls at West Coast Ensemble, 12 Angry Jurors, Anonimous, Better Left Unsaid, and Rabbit Hole.