Anointed with Gasoline

2011, the middle-of-nowhere, Appalachia...

In order to escape the wrath of her homophobic brother, Jesse Parker joins forces with Elijah Reyes, an outcast and the only other publicly gay girl at her high school, out of necessity. But as the two women get to know each other, their friendship blossoms into a complicated romance. To get out of their small town alive, the women are more than ready to put up a fiery fight. Four years later, Elijah remembers that near-fatal day, and a story of survival, mental illness, and friendship-turned-love emerges, swaddled in fire and fed with flames.

Click here to read the playwright's and director's notes and to learn the historical context for the play!

The Cast

ISOBEL OBRECHT

Elijah (Eli) Reyes

While Isobel was initially confused as she thought she would be playing Holden Caulfield in The Catcher In The Rye, she was much more excited and enthusiastic about the part when she found out she would in fact be playing Eli in Abigail Duclos' Anointed With Gasoline instead.

ALEXIS NIKOLIA BUNCICH

Miriam Maimun

As a born and bred Pennsylvanian, Alexis is thrilled to be acting in Anointed with Gasoline. She'd like to thank the entire team for creating this incredible show, as well as her wonderful roommates for letting her act in the kitchen without question. Catch you guys at Sheetz later!

BELLA FENN

Dr. Wilma Wright

Bella Fenn is a first year at Columbia and is excited to act in her second production at Columbia! She was involved in screen and stage acting in high school and has acted in several short films. She also wrote/directed a TV show about her all-girls high school that was loosely based on The Office. She’s loved getting to be a part of three Nomads productions this year and had a blast working with everyone!

DEANNA CAUDRA

Jesse Parker

Deanna is a senior at Columbia College, majoring in film studies alongside a concentration in East Asian Studies. With a big love for storytelling, she finds herself trying the whole telling-a-story-with-your-face/body. So far, she is having a good time and counts herself to be incredibly lucky to tell a story with this team. When she is not doing that, Deanna can be found staring at assignments with a furrowed brow and using the word "vibing" to explain how she is doing.

OCTAVIO VOURVOULIAS

Nick Parker

I am absolutely thrilled to be in this show! Who knew that playing an entitled, homophobic douchebag could be so much fun! Seriously though, it's a huge privilege to be working with such a talented and dedicated cast and crew. Zoom theater is not easy to say the least, but they did far more than just "make it work." Previous roles of mine (for anyone who cares) include Boris Kolenkhov in Kaufmann & Hart's "You Can't Take it With You," Charley Wykeham in Brandon Thomas' "Charley's Aunt," Tom Buchanan (from "The Great Gatsby"), and most recently, the creepy spaghetti guy in CUP's Radio Island. Hope you enjoy the show!

The Creative Team

ABIGAIL DUCLOS

Playwright

Abigail Duclos (she/her) is a sophomore studying Theatre and English. She is so incredibly grateful for this experience and is still in awe that all of these people wanted to bring a piece of her writing to life. In the past, she has performed with NOMADS, CUP, and the Barnard Theatre Department. In the future, you will be able to see her perform in the upcoming Thesis Festival, read her poetry in Barnard Echoes, and hopefully see more of her plays performed!

KATHY FANG

Director

Kathy is a Theatre major at CC and ridiculously blessed to work on such an amazing show, with such an amazing cast and crew. Her past credits include "Chinglish" (director) and CUP's "Radio Island" (assistant director). She would like to thank the cast for their inspiring passion and dedication, the crew for their creativity in transforming Zoom into theater wonderland, the one and only Abigail DuClos for writing this beautiful script, and all her mentors, past and present, for encouraging her to take this leap of faith. Virtual roses to everyone who made this project an experience of a lifetime!

SYEDA ANJUM

Co-Production Coordinator

Syeda Anjum is a senior at Barnard College, studying film studies and psychology. Previous NOMADS productions she was a part of include “Lily Kepler and the Graveyard Shift” and “Murder Between the Lines.” “Anointed With Gasoline” was the first theatre show she ever produced. Thank you to all the hardworking cast and crew who made this show possible!

MARIO GARCIA

Co-Production Coordinator

Mario is a senior in Columbia College studying Chemistry. His journey with NOMADS includes performing in two WordPlay’s: Volpe’s, “What a Year,” (2017) and McDougall’s, “Imperson All” (2018). He then fulfilled his role in “Imperson All” (2019) as a full-fledged Mainstage. You can find images of him decaying from the sheer power of the entrails of a floating three-eyed deer on the front page of this site.

RUYA TAZEBAY

Stage Manager

Ruya is a first-year at Barnard College and thrilled to be part of this amazing show! This is the second NOMADS production she's participated in, and she's had a wonderful experience watching this show come to life and working with the fantastic cast and crew. In her free time, she likes to go on bike rides and play Overcooked 2 with her friends. An AWG-related fun fact: she color-coded all the weekly rehearsal schedules based on different themes from the show. She hopes you enjoy the show!

ELLIE GEORGE

Technical Director

Ellie George is thankful to the AWG community for being her source of light this semester. She has greatly enjoyed the collaboration, inspiration, and laughter. She would like to thank the entire team as well as her internet connection for their strength.

SYDNEY GERLACH

Dramaturg

Sydney Gerlach is a first-year at Barnard studying Theatre, Education, and Psychology. She is thrilled to be working on her third project with NOMADS having performed in Murder Between the Lines and last semester's WordPlay Festival. Additionally, she performed in CU Players' Radio Island and Shakes Scenes II for KCST. She has been acting for many years and is stoked to continue working with the incredible theatre artists of Barnumbia! She has absolutely loved being dramaturg for this powerful, thought-provoking piece and wants to thank the fabulous, creative, and production teams for making this show happen!

The Production Team

MADELEINE WATKINS

Assistant Director & Resident Theologian

"And Elijah said, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain." (1 Kings 18:41, KJV)
Elijah is a figure of destruction and bereavement, but also one of hope. A prophet of abundance and delivery, it is little wonder Anointed with Gasoline roots itself firmly in this figure. Together, we've created a story of redemption and optimism, love and sanguinity. It's been such a joy to work with all of these amazing artists enjoy the happy ending, revel in the tragedy, and rejoice at this beautiful work! — Peace, MGW

OLIVIA SIELER

Assistant Stage Manager

Olivia had such a great time working with such a talented team! She loved getting to know the cast in the rehearsal process and working with the production team to put on this show. Congrats to everyone!!

ANJALI RAMAKRISHNAN

Assistant Dramaturg

Anjali Ramakrishnan has loved doing dramaturgy for this amazing production. She is a sophomore at Barnard who has no idea what she wants to do with her life aside from being in a Disney animated musical that is not a figment of her imagination.

CHOLE KOK

Publicity Manager

Chloe is the Publicity Manager for Anointed With Gasoline. She loves cats and green tea and is excited for everyone to enjoy the show!

The Design Team

KALINA KO

Co-Lightening Designer

Kalina Ko (BC ’21, she/her) is grateful to end her college theatre experience with this play! Her journey with NOMADS began four years ago as stage manager of Cold Whole Milk and she hasn’t really left NOMADS since. Big big thank yous to the whole C-team and NOMADS family!

ALLI SALWEN

Co-Lightening Designer

does it for the girls and the gays, that’s it.

ABIGAIL SMITH

Co-Set & Props Designer

Abigail is so happy to be finishing her time in Barnumbia theater making some silly puppets and hanging up sheets with NOMADS :) It has been a beautiful 4 years of mostly queer theater and she has loved every semester spent working with her camel family. All her love especially to Kalina, Alli and Erin for loving Jim the Mailman and everything in between <3