The Interview

written and performed by Rethabile Headbush
co-devised and performed by Thando Mangcu
Thursday, July 24th, 8:00 pm
Friday, July 25th, 8:00 pm
Saturday, July 26th, 3:00 & 8:00 pm

Bureaucracy is exploded in this newly devised piece, set inside the machinery of unemployment. Two prospective job candidates sit in the waiting room of a telecommunications company, readying themselves for the moment that might make everything different: the interview.

Rethabile Headbush, she/her (Noluthando Princess Vavi / #587, Writer) was born in Gqeberha and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. With a passion and background in devised and interdisciplinary theater practice, she graduated from a full-time performance and theatre-making course at the Market Theatre Laboratory (Johannesburg) and has performed in the Naledi-Award-winning (South Africa) Market Theatre productions, Eclipsed: Phifalo ya Ngwedi (2020) and No Easter Sunday for Queers (2019). At the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale (DGSD), she continues her studies towards her MFA in stage management with credits ASMing at Yale’s Repertory Theatre and stage managing in various student new plays and thesis and studio productions. Her love for theatre continues to be fueled by a desire to uplift and facilitate the creative process and she looks forward to performing at this year’s Summer Cabaret.

Thando Mangcu, she/her (Dimakatso Leraba / #723, Dramaturg, Co-Deviser) is a South African dramaturg in the making and graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) before co-writing The Fall, produced by the Baxter Theatre Centre. She has been mentored by Sello Pesa of the Ntsoana Contemporary Dance Theatre during their In House Project. In 2022, she completed a three-month residency program with Pro Helvetia in Geneva, where she created the installation, Ma’am?, at the Grütli Theatre supervised by Nataly Sugneaux Hernandez and Barbara Giongo. Her most recent work at the Cabaret includes performing a staged reading of Beneath Soil (translated and directed by Abraham Rebollo-Trujillo), dramaturgy for The Banya (directed by Aura Magnien, written by Isaac Kozukhin), co-dramaturgy for Din Din (directed by Mikayla Stanley, co-dramaturged with Mia Van Deloo) and Beinecke Plaza (directed by Doaa Ouf, written by Sakena Abedin and co-dramaturged with J.L. Hagmann). 

She is currently an MFA student in the Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism Program at DGSD.

Henita Telo, she/her (The Administrator/Overhead Voice) is a first-generation Liberian-American actress at David Geffen School of Drama, where her credits include Ain’t No Mo’, Macbeth, Yale Rep’s Eden (U/S) and Cactus Queen. She’s thrilled to be working alongside such wonderful and talented collaborators. Her previous theater credits include The Seagull, Ibsen’s The Master Builder, Cymbeline, Twelfth Night, Fucking A, and Carol Churchill’s Vinegar Tom. Off- Broadway credits include The Hendrix Project directed by Roger Guenveur Smith at The Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival (2018). Film and television: Lifetime Movie Network’s The Baby Stealer, CBS’s American Auto, and various regional and national commercials. She obtained her B.F.A. in acting from California Institute of the Arts.

Juliana Morales Carreño, she/her (Director) is a Colombian theater artist in search of spaces of communion through theatrical language. She is co-founder of Anfibia Teatro, a theater company based in Bogotá. She has worked in theater and opera as a director, actor, producer, and playwright. Some of her productions include Kilele by Felipe Vergara at Yale School of Drama (2025); Makanaky by Juan Pablo Herrera Montoya (PELZ), at UNATC “I.L. Caragiale” in Bucharest, Romania (2023); Solo Mia (2020) by Juanpablo Gómez at Teatro la Maldita Vanidad; As One (2022), winner of the Ópera al Parque 2021 Grant, where she was Pedro Salazar’s associate director; Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini and The Seven Deadly Sins by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht for directed by Pat Diamond at the Yale Opera in 2024. Same year in which she translated, adapted and directed Hamlet, princesa de Dinamarca at the Yale School of Drama. She studied History and Literature with an emphasis in theater studies at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá and the M.F.A in Theater Directing at David Geffen School of Drama where she was awarded the Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize in directing.

Andrew Rincón, a Colombian-American playwright, smiles at the camera with a relaxed look. His hair is cut short, and he sports a well-kept, short beard. He is wearing a patterned brown button-up shirt.

Andrew Rincón, he/she/they/any (Line Producer) is a Queer Colombian-American playwright writing plays that reimagines myths, Queers the narrative and fabulates stories for the stage. Their plays have been developed with The Latinx Playwrights Circle, The Austin Latino New Play Festival, The Amoralists Theatre Company, Pork Filled Productions (Seattle), Out Front Productions (Atlanta). Andrew was a member of INKtank Lab for Playwrights of Color (2017) , 2017 Fornés Playwriting Workshop (Chicago). Andrew is the winner of the 2018 Chesley/Bumbalo Grant for writers of Gay and Lesbian Theatre, and New Light Theatre Project’s New Light New Voices Award (2019).  Dramatist Guild Foundation Fellow (19-20), MacDowell Fellow (Winter 2020). Skidmore College’s Visiting Playwright in Residence (21-22). Finalist in LGBTQ Drama for the 36th Lambda Literary Awards 2024.

Select Plays include The Lonely, El Mito, The Leopard Women. Their play I Wanna Fuck like Romeo and Juliet had it’s world premiere in NYC at 59e59 Theatres (Fall 2022) and is published by Concord Theatricals. They are currently developing a trio of plays reimagining biblical myths as Queer characters; The Queer Genesis/Unholy Trinity. They are currently pursuing an MFA in playwriting at Yale School of Drama.

Mara is a white person with shoulder-length reddish-brown hair and thick-framed glasses. She is seen from the waist up wearing a black shirt and cardigan. She is smiling at the camera because it is definitely not freezing cold in the harbour.

Mara Bredovskis, she/her (Technical Director) Most recently from St. John’s Newfoundland, Mara is a rising third year Technical Design and Production student. Before coming to New Haven, Mara worked across Newfoundland and beyond as a Production Manager, Stage Manager, and Technical Director (thankfully, rarely at the same time). Favourite credits include stage managing Between Breaths with Artistic Fraud of Newfoundland, summers with the Rising Tide Theatre, and pointing projectors at walls with Lighthouse Immersive. Favourite “Caves” include the Wreck Room in Grand Bank, and Christine’s in St. John’s.

Emilee Biles (Production Designer) is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and engineer in her third year at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale where she has designed Ain’t No Mo, The Tragedy of Coriolanus, Sort and many shows at Yale Cabaret. Select credits include: Broadway: Cost of Living (Assistant Sound Design); Regional: The Salvagers (Yale Repertory Theatre, Assistant Sound Design), Into The Woods (Dallas Theater Center, Associate Sound Design), The Manic Monologues (WaterTower Theatre), The Play that Goes Wrong (Stage West), The Elephant Man (Theatre 3). Studio: letters to nowhere EP by e.vangeline (Recording Artist & Producer). @emilee.party

Constanza Etchechury López, she/her/ella (Technical Director) is a Mexican theater maker, who began her career as a stagehand with contemporary dance companies and drafting stage machinery. She then served as running crew, carpenter, stagehand, and drafter for the National Company of Theatre. She also worked as Assistant Technical director for many Set Designers in Mexico’s most important theatres and festivals. As a Production Manager, she worked for the National Coordination of Theatre.
She completed undergraduate studies as an Engineer from the National Polytechnic Institute. And she just got a Masters degree in the Technical Design and Production program at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University.

Thomas Nagata, he/they (Resident Stage Manager) is thrilled to be joining the Summer Cabaret this season. Selected previous credits include DGSD: Fucking A, Uncle Vanya, Cactus Queen, Tempt Me, Sort; REGIONAL: EDEN, The Inspector (Yale Rep); The Tempest, it’s not a trip it’s a journey, Quixote Nuevo (Round House Theatre); King Lear (Shakespeare Theatre Company); Ain’t No Mo’, The Nosebleed, Rose: You Are Who You Eat (Woolley Mammoth Theatre Company); In The Heights, Annie, Proof (Olney Theatre Center); All the Way, The Roommate, The Yoga Play (South Coast Repertory). Received their BA from Wheaton College MA.

Claire Young, she/her (Production, Operations, and Facilities Manager) is stoked to be a part of Summer Cab 51. She is an Aquarius, a mother to a 5-year-old cat named Margo, and a big fan of funky earrings. This ex-Floridian was excited to spend the summer in New Haven until she realized it was just as hot here some days. When she’s not building LEGO flowers or out thrift shopping, you’ll find her working to get her MFA in Stage Management here at DGSD. Claire is trying something new this summer in being the PM and is grateful to be surrounded by this supportive group of fungi who put up with her. She’d also like to thank her favorite human, Kai. Enjoy the show, spores! 

Yaya Zhang, she/her (Set Designer) is a set designer and visual storyteller currently pursuing her MFA at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale. Rooted in both fine arts and conceptual design, her work explores the tension between structure and emotion, chaos and order. Originally from China, Yaya brings a trans-cultural perspective to her practice, weaving poetic metaphors into spatial form. Her designs draw inspiration from philosophy, architecture, and movement, crafting environments that hold memory, atmosphere, and transformation. She believes a good design has a piece of the creator’s soul.

Community Collaborator

The Yale Summer Cabaret 51: Petri Dish is excited to uplift our community collaborator for The Interview, the New Haven Free Public Library. Learn more here! The NHFPL has curated a beautiful reading list for The Interview as well as compiled resources for job searching, digital literacy learning, and professional development. See both below!