HARTFORD CONN., TheaterWorks Hartford, under the leadership of Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero and Managing Director Jeff Griffin, completes its 2024–2025 season with YOUR NAME MEANS DREAM from Obie award-winning playwright and Academy Award-nominee José Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries, A Hundred Years of Solitude on Netflix) who also directs. Running June 3 – July 6, 2025, this evocative new play looks at humanity in the digital age. Tickets are now on sale at www.twhartford.org.
Set in the not-too-distant future, Aislin is aging and isolated in her messy New York City walk-up. She pines for a simpler, analog past when her son sends a sensational new caretaker who is not quite human…but she’s getting there.
“I’m so happy to be returning to TheaterWorks Hartford after their long-ago production of my play Cloud Tectonics,” remarked playwright and director José Rivera. “Hartford has been a theatre home for me for a long time and over many productions — and now it’s the perfect home for Your Name Means Dream!”
“We’re thrilled to welcome back Academy Award-nominee José Rivera to TheaterWorks Hartford,” said Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero. “I wanted to close our 39th season with something both distinctive and relevant. While the story centers on an older woman and caregiver, it’s really a powerful exploration on how technology intersects with our humanity – something we’re all navigating through right now. I believe it will truly resonate with audiences and spark meaningful conversations.”
The creative team for Your Name Means Dream includes Misha Kachman (set design), Risa Ando (costume design), Yichen Zhou (lighting design), David Remedios (sound design), Paulina “pau” Tobar (Assistant Director), Rob Ruggiero (producing artistic director), Mike Lenaghan (director of production), and Tom Kosis (production stage manager).
Performances of Your Name Means Dream will take place June 3 – July 6, 2025 at TheaterWorks Hartford’s historic home, located at 233 Pearl Street, Hartford, CT. Critics are welcome starting Saturday, June 7, which also serves as the opening. The running time is 2 hours, one intermission.
The performance schedule is Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2:30pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 2:30pm with additional performances at 1pm on June 18 and 26. No performances on June 19 or July 4, and performances at noon and 4pm on July 5.
Tickets are priced at $25–$70. All tickets can be purchased online at www.twhartford.org or by calling 860.527.7838.
Your Name Means Dream is produced in partnership with Theater J in Washington, DC. These performances are made possible, in part, with support from the Cheryl Chase & Stuart Bear Family Foundation and The John & Kelly Hartman Foundation. Please visit www.twhartford.org for more information.
About José Rivera:José Rivera (Playwright/Director): José Rivera’s plays Marisol (Obie Award), References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Obie Award), Cloud Tectonics, Massacre (Sing to Your Children), Boleros for the Disenchanted, Another Word for Beauty, Sueño, Sonnets for an Old Century, School of the Americas, Brainpeople, Adoration of the Old Woman, The House of Ramon Iglesia, Each Day Dies with Sleep, Lovesong (Imperfect), The Hours are Feminine, Your Name Means Dream, and A Lunar Rhapsody have been produced around the country and translated into a dozen languages. “The Motorcycle Diaries” was nominated for 2005 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar — making him the first Puerto Rican writer so honored. Other honors include a BAFTA, a Writers Guild Award, and a Goya Award (Spain). Other films include “On the Road” (2012 Cannes Film Festival), “Trade” (the first film to premiere at the United Nations), “The 33” and “Letters to Juliet.” Rivera wrote and directed the award-winning short films “The Fall of a Sparrow” and “The Civet,” co- created and produced “Eerie, Indiana” (NBC), and was a consultant and staff writer on “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” (Showtime) 2019. He is currently working on a remake of “La Bamba,” and a film about the Molina baseball family from Puerto Rico. He was the head writer of all 16 episodes of the Netflix series based on One Hundred Years of Solitude, which the London Telegraph called “a spellbinding adaptation of an unfilmable novel.”
About the Cast:Sara Koviak (Stacy): Sara created the role of Stacy in Your Name Means Dream: CATF (World Premiere), NJ Rep, Theater J; workshops: Sundance, Goodman, Rattlestick, NYTW. Other: Rivera’s The Hours Are Feminine (World Premiere Off-Broadway) and Lovesong (Imperfect), Paula Vogel’s Bard at the Gate for McCarter Theater, and T41 for Signature Theatre. Sara was a classical dancer at The Metropolitan Opera (multiple world premieres) with directors Bart Sher, Mary Zimmerman, and Robert LePage; at Lincoln Center in Peter And The Wolf and Cinderella; and with Steven Schwartz as aerial soloist in Goodspeed’s tour of Pippin. TV/Film: The Civet, Reverie (a Dream), The Fall of a Sparrow, Flying, A Possession, The Undoing (HBO). Sara is an accomplished film and theatre choreographer, and dance educator. www.sarakoviak.com
Anne O’Sullivan (Aislin): Anne O’Sullivan is honored to reprise this role written for her by Mr. Rivera, having just finished a very successful run at NJ Rep, and prior to that 2023’s huge success at CATF in W Va, both with her esteemed co-star Sara Koviak. Ms O’Sullivan celebrates over 45 years working as an actor on-B’Way and off and in many regional theatres around the country. Over the last 7 years she has played the late, great Dr. Ruth K Westheimer in Becoming Dr. Ruth by Mark St. Germain in 6 productions around the US. Ms. O’Sullivan is currently working on producing and starring in Mrs. Jones, a play for 6 actors about the legendary labor leader Mother Jones. Film and TV credits include guest starring roles in 6 Law & Orders; Sex & The City; Cosby; ER; Model’s Inc.; Speed; and the upcoming horror film The Home, starring Pete Davidson. Ms. O’Sullivan is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, NY; and a native of Ireland.
About TheaterWorks Hartford:TheaterWorks Hartford, led by Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero and Managing DirectorJeff Griffin, has produced relevant, engaging contemporary theater for almost 40 years at their historic Pearl Street address. Founded in 1985, TWH is committed to the power of storytelling in creating community and has produced over 200 plays and musicals including world premieres of Matthew Lombardo’s High (with Kathleen Turner), Mark St Germain’s Relativity (with Richard Dreyfuss) and William Finn’s Make Me A Song, among others. Visit us at twhartford.org.