Iron
By Rona Munro
Directed by Jacole Kitchen
Produced by Phil Johnson
Starring Rosina Reynold & Kate Rose Reynolds
Featuring Richard P. Trujillo & Jada Alston Owens
Title Sponsors Pam Wagner & Hans Tegebo, Jeff & Karen Silberman, Gary & Jean Shekhter
About the Show
The Roustabouts Theatre Co. presents Rona Munro’s IRON, a deeply moving psychological drama first performed at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and extended into a sell-out run at The Royal Court in London.
Convicted for life for a brutal murder, Fay has served 15 years of her sentence without a single visitor when her daughter Josie suddenly turns up to visit. Raised by her grandmother, Josie has no memory of the incident that led to her mother’s imprisonment, and has come to uncover the past – a past Fay wishes to forget.
Transfixing and disturbing in equal measure, IRON focuses on fractured family, criminal justice, and the mother/daughter bond, and will be performed by real-life mother/daughter team Rosina Reynolds and Kate Rose Reynolds.
Iron was commissioned by and first performed at the Traverse Theatre, July 2002
The Critics Have Spoken
“Director Jacole Kitchen keeps the pacing tight and the stage movement fresh. The play is a tour-de-force acting showcase for its two talented co-stars that’s entertaining to watch. Rosina’s performance is one of the best in her long theater career in San Diego.” - Pam Kragen, The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Rosina Reynolds who is magnificent, ranging from aggressive to catatonic, tender to tearful to vicious. Kate Rose Reynolds holds her own wonderfully. It’s an electrifying, incendiary duet. This potent production certainly sends you away with something (else) to think about.” - Pat Launer, Times of San Diego
"The excellence of Iron at The Roustabouts Theatre Co. is found in the alchemy of perfect pairings. The phenomenal script balances suspenseful heartache with dry humor. The X-factor ingredient: Director Jacole Kitchen. Her measured choices – such as jarring transitions to snap the audience from maternal memories to Fay’s reality as an inmate – expertly mix the story’s heart and mettle.” - Kristen Schweizer, Vanguard Culture
“Rosina Reynolds as Fay and Kate Rose Reynolds as Josie shined as they gave us powerfully delivered entertainment.”
- Kathy Carpenter,
East County Magazine
Read the full review >>
"This is highly recommended theater." - Jean Lowerison, San Diego Stage and Screen
"Every so often, a play comes along that will stay with you for many months, maybe years. Iron is one such play. The production features San Diego’s revered Rosina Reynolds and her dynamic daughter Kate Rose Reynolds. Mother and daughter are magnificent. Kitchen’s direction is masterful, holding the actors tight, tense, and real. Kudos to Phil Johnson of The Roustabouts Theatre for staging this suspenseful and gripping production.” - Jenni Prisk, Critic
"Iron famously sharpens iron, but it is just as famously brittle and susceptible to corrosion. All three qualities are on dramatic display in this artful clash of needy souls disguised as a mother and child reunion." - Matthew Lickona, San Diego Reader
“The play is so well delivered, and the cast is so very talented. I promise you won’t walk out of this show at peace! You will be thinking about it for hours…if not days.” - Eva Treiger, San Diego Jewish World
"Riveting! If this were a Netflix series, I’d have binge watched it into the night and wanted more. Stellar and poignant performances as the characters' motivations unfold." - Milo Shapiro, StageAndCinema.com
“An acting tour de force for Rosina Reynolds and her daughter, Kate Rose Reynolds, the Roustabouts Theatre Company’s production of Rona Munro’s Iron pulsates with tension. It’s also potent theater with two actors bringing their 'A' game.” - David Coddon, StageWest
“There’s no mistaking the point of this stark piece that makes you think about family, belonging, connection, separation and uncertainty. This is highly recommended theater.” - Jean Lowerison, San Diego Stage & Screen
“Do yourself a favor and head out to Moxie Theatre and bring your friends to see the well-directed, and exceptionally acted, Iron.” - Carol Davis, Critic
"The characters have a set of layers that have piled up those 20 years and both actresses peal the layers grandly." - Alejandra Enciso-Dardashti, Desde Otro O/From Another Zero
Meet the Cast
Rosina Reynolds
Actor (Fay - Mother)
Regional Theatre:
33 Variations (Theatreworks, Palo Alto)
Love in American Times (San Jose Rep)
Steel Magnolias
(La Mirada Theatre)
Dividing the Estate, Sea of Tranquility, Romeo and Juliet, Missing Footage, Trojan Women,
(Old Globe Theatre)
JQA, Uncanny Valley Cymbeline (San Diego Rep.)
Angels in America, When the Rain Stops Falling, Hayfever, The Vortex, The Glass Menagerie, Noises Off, Arcadia, Little Foxes, Copenhagen
(Cygnet Theatre).
Favorite roles include:
Golda's Balcony (New Village Arts)
Doubt, Mandate Memories, Ghosts, Wit, Amy's View
(The North Coast Repertory Theatre)
Lettuce & Lovage (Lambs Players Theatre) Shirley Valentine, Long Day’s Journey into Night (Renaissance Theatre Company). Other San Diego theatres include Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, Sledgehammer Theatre and Malashock Dance Company. San Diego Critics Circle Awards:
Angels in America (ensemble)
Golda’s Balcony; Wit; Shirley Valentine, The Caretaker
(direction). Rosina has directed over 30 productions in San Diego, most recently
Roosevelt: Charge the Bear; Guntopia; Margin of Error (The Roustabouts Theatre Co.)
Zoo Story (Backyard Renaissance Theatre)
Blithe Spirit (North Coast Rep)
The Hour of Great Mercy (Diversionary Theatre). She is the founding artistic Director of the Chequamegon Children’s Theatre in Northern Wisconsin.
Kate Rose Reynolds
Actor (Josie - Daughter)
Kate is an actor-director, most recently seen on stage in Witchland with Backyard Renaissance. She has previously appeared with The Roustabouts in Margin of Error. Other San Diego credits include: The Humans (San Diego REP); Cardboard Piano (Diversionary); And Neither Have I Wings to Fly, Move Over Mrs Markham, and Communicating Doors (Scripps Ranch Theatre). Elsewhere: Hamlet, Twelfth Night (Perspective Theatre Company, SF); The Academy (Theater for the New City, NYC); and over fifteen productions with Bristol Valley Theatre in upstate New York, including Silent Sky, Mary’s Wedding, and Private Lives. She is a founding member of Loud Fridge Theatre Group, where she co-directed the critically-acclaimed San Diego premiere of Straight. She also stars in the independent horror film Soul to Keep, currently streaming on a variety of platforms. www.katerosereynolds.com.
Richard P. Trujillo
Actor (Guard 1)
Regional select highlights: Macbeth (Macduff),
She Stoops To Conquer (Roger),
For Better Or Worse (Zaragoza Y Pau)
Tuesdays With Morrie
(Mitch), Arizona Theatre Company;
Kiss Of The Spiderwoman (Valentin),
Spic-O-Rama (A Crazy Family)
Boredertown (Multiple Roles),
Henry V (Dauphin)
Augusta (Jimmy),
Sylvia
(Tom/Phyllis/Leslie),
A Christmas Carol (Fred), Actors Theatre;
A Comedy Of Errors (Dromio Of Syracuse),
As You Like It (Touchstone),
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Snout, Demetrius),
Much Ado About Nothing (Don John),
Macbeth
(Macduff), Shakespeare Sedona/ Southwest Shakespeare Company;
The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare, Abridged
(Adam), The Fulton Theatre. Local:
A People’s Cuban Christmas Tale (Scrooge), Onstage Playhouse;
Water And Power (Water),
Manifest Destinitis (Burgos, Friar, Ranger), San Diego Repertory Theatre; For the past 13 years Richard has served as the Artistic Director at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts.
Jada Alston Owens
Actor (Guard 2)
Selected credits:
To The Yellow House (La Jolla Playhouse), Raylynn in
Blood At The Root, Isabella/Dottore in
Commedia (Chautauqua Theatre Company). Wiletta/Millie Understudy in
Trouble in Mind (Old Globe Theatre).
Old Globe Powers New Voices Festival: An Evening with the San Diego Black Artist Collective (Old Globe Reading). UC San Diego Credits:
Farside, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Letters From Cuba, Orestes 2.0. Education: MFA Acting Graduate of UC San Diego. Upcoming:
Curious Incident of The Dog In The Nighttime
(San Diego Rep Theatre). jadaowens.com
Meet the Creative Team
Rona Munro
Playwright
Rona started writing professionally in 1981 and has since written for film, television, stage and radio. She wrote plays for The Play on One as well as the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and was accepted to the BBC's writer's training course. She met Doctor Who script editor Andrew Cartmel there, who was receptive to her desire to write for the series as a long-term fan of it. The result was Doctor Who: Survival: Part One, which would become the final transmitted serial of the original run. She subsequently wrote for Casualty and further television work included Bumping the Odds and Rehab. Her film credits include Ladybird Ladybird, directed by Ken Loach, and Aimee & Jaguar. In 2016, she was announced as the first "classic series" writer to be employed to write for Doctor Who.
Jacole Kitchen
Director
Jacole Kitchen is Director of Arts Engagement and In-House Casting at La Jolla Playhouse. She is also a freelance director, theatre instructor and private acting coach, and serves as Executive Director for San Diego Performing Arts League (SDPAL). Jacole previously served as Casting Director and Artistic Associate for San Diego Repertory Theatre, and as a bicoastal talent agent representing theatre professionals at Kazarian/Measures/Ruskin & Assoc. Directing credits include: Pick Me Last and Light Years Away (La Jolla Playhouse POP Tour), Cardboard Piano (Diversionary Theatre), An Iliad (New Village Arts), September and Her Sisters (Scripps Ranch Theatre – Out on a Limb) and more.
Danielle Dudley
Stage Manager
Danielle holds a BA in Theatre Arts from UCSD. Credits include: La Jolla Playhouse:
Diana-A New Musical (SM Intern). Cygnet:
Water by the Spoonful
(ASM),
The Great Leap (ASM). San Diego Rep:
57 Chevy Film (ASM),
JQA Film (SM),
33 1/3: House of Dreams (PA),
Sweat (ASM),
A Dolls House Part 2
(ASM),
Birthday: A Metaphysical Musical Workshop (SM),
Fun Home (PA),
Vietgone (ASM),
Hand to God (ASM). MOXIE:
The Mineola Twins (SM)
Handbagged (SM),
The Madres (ASM). Danielle has also stage managed many different smaller events in:
Kuumba Festival, The
Jewish Arts Festival, and
LatinX Festival
all at San Diego Repertory Theatre.
Tony Cucuzzella
Set Design
Tony is happy to be working again with the Roustabouts. He is the Technical Director for the Performing Arts Department at Palomar College. He is a veteran of over 300 set designs around San Diego for such theatres as Backyard Renaissance/La Jolla Playhouse, The Welk, Diversionary, San Diego Comic Opera, J-Company and San Diego Junior Theatre.
Michelle Miles
Light Design
Michelle is delighted to make her acquaintance with The Roustabouts Theatre Co.! Past design favorites include San Diego Musical Theatre's Catch Me If You Can, Young Frankenstein, She Loves Me; The Stagehouse Theatre’s Pride & Prejudice; Moxie Theatre’s
Dear Evan Hansen in Concert; San Diego Rep's
KUUMBA Fest, Jewish Arts Festival; Lamb's Players Theatre's
An American Christmas. When she's not tinkering with electronics, scaling the walls and vigorously tapping keys on the light board she can be found somewhere in the wilderness searching for that moment where the world feels big and she feels small. Unending love and respect to her Family, the Longfellow Clan, the Peirsons and her Motley Crew.
Pamela Stompoly-Ericson
Costumer Design
has been a costumer and make-up artist for many years. She was resident costume designer for Lyric Opera San Diego for over two decades and a freelance costume/wig/make-up designer with Starlight, Onstage, Sledgehammer, Scripps Ranch Theatre, PowPAC, OB Playhouse, Moonlight, the Welk Theatre, Lamplighters, Southeast Community Theatre, Junior Theatre, Pickwick Players, North Coast Rep, Point Loma Playhouse, Southwestern College, Patio Playhouse and La Jolla Playhouse. She is also a principal make-up artist with San Diego Opera. Her “day job” is managing her family’s costume shop.
Paul Durso
Sound Design
Paul is a musician, composer, and artist across many mediums. He has performed music and screened films nationwide, exhibited paintings and photography locally, contributed advances to the scientific fields of neuroscience, endocrinology, and evolutionary psychology, and collaborated in theatre as a sound designer and composer throughout San Diego. In his free time, he writes on theme parks, philosophy, urban design, aesthetics, spiritual initiatory systems, film, and literature. His latest album,
Field of Constant Intensity, is out now on Meaning Through Form Records, and his long form poem, "Night Journey", is out soon. Theatre credits include:
Henry V, Eurydice, Sense and Sensibility, On The Train, At The Coffeeshop, In The Car.
meaningthroughform.com
Rai Feltmann
Props Design
Rai graduated from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. She has worked as a Props Artisan, Assistant Props Master, and Props Master at various theaters including: Stages St. Louis, Cleveland Play House, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Cortland Repertory Theater. She is currently the Properties Artisan at La Jolla Playhouse. She would like to thank Jacole for this wonderful opportunity and her family for their continued support.
Phil Johnson
Producer
Phil Johnson, our TRTC Artistic Director, is a proud founding partner of The Roustabouts Theatre Co. As an actor/writer, his solo show, A Jewish Joke (co-written with Marni Freedman) ran locally and regionally throughout the country, as well as Off-Broadway in March 2019. His other shows include Roosevelt: Charge the Bear, Withering Heights, She-Rantulas from Outer Space in 3D!, and The Hound of the Baskervilles. Phil played in Les Misérables on Broadway and on tour; the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard; and the 1st National Co. of Miss Saigon. He is a two-time winner of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting. He regularly performs at local theatres including North Coast Rep, The Old Globe, Diversionary Theatre, Lambs and Cygnet Theatre. Local directing credits include SD Playwrights Project and Scripps Ranch Theatre. He teaches and produces a Solo Show Workshop and Celebration of New Writers readings for writer/performers that are part of The Roustabouts season. philjohnson.net
Ron Christopher Jones
Associate Producer/Flight Choreographer
Ron was born and raised in San Diego. He has been a professional stage and film actor for over 25 years. He is the 2021 Winner of Best Actor at the San Diego 48 Hour Film Project, also 2018 winner of Best Actor and Best Fight Choreographer, and the 2015 winner of Best Supporting Actor, at the San Diego Film Awards. Ron spent 2.5 years as Production Manager for San Diego Musical Theatre, overseeing all creative aspects of shows from design to closing night. Ron is an avid filmmaker, and during the pandemic his production company, RCJones Productions, created and filmed many outdoor concerts and events.