Gordon Biedermann has it all. A beautiful home, a thriving hair tonic business, a loving wife, and two arsonists holed up in his attic with several barrels of gasoline.

Max Frisch’s The Arsonists – described by its author as ‘a morality play without a moral’– is an incisive, bleakly funny commentary on the fatal impulse to acquiesce in the face of evil. Written in the aftermath of the 1948 coup in Czechoslovakia, the play is an enduring allegory about the accommodation of insidious social and political forces whose ascendance promises destruction for their enablers. In the modern America in which this staging takes place, the questions it explores – Why do individuals and societies choose conciliation over survival? When is it too late to reject the lure of those who seek our downfall? – are as relevant as ever, and their answers just as elusive.

Cast

Anya Moseke (Barbara Biedermann) is a third year in the college studying Creative Writing and Art History. She has previously been involved in University Threatre through the Dean’s Men’s winter 2024 production of Richard III as Queen Margaret. In her free time, she enjoys running and daydreaming about Lake Michigan, and she looks forward to performing in more UT productions!!

Daniel Erani (Gordon Biedermann)

Elijah Bullie (Eisenring)

Jacob Halabe (Schmitz)

Alex Wilson (Anna) is a 3rd year English Lit major. She’s really unhappy that Jacob keeps asking her to bring him mustard and/or butter and that Danny is dissatisfied by her interior decorating skills – but she has made them be in enough TikToks as penance and is therefore happy to add The Arsonists to her list of UT credits, which include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Helena), Muscle Memory (Kate) and Paper Wasters (Demon 2). She also wears Converse and dresses, although definitely certainly never at the same time.

Lekha Masoudi (Fireman Leader) is a third-year majoring in History with a minor in Biological Sciences. She previously appeared in Richard III (King Edward/Catesby), and Cassandra (Cassandra) at the University of Chicago, and Chorus (Antigone) in Columbia University’s King’s Crown Shakespeare Troupe. From extended metaphors in the poetry of Sylvia Plath to making s’mores, she appreciates the many uses of fire and thinks Fireman Leader secretly does too. When not on stage portraying an unheeded prophetic voice amidst the chaos of bourgeois social breakdown/the Trojan war/familicide, she likes thrifting and old films.

Kassie Rivera (Fireman)

Josiah Rubio (Fireman)

Natalie Floreancig (Fireman)

Alex Flores (Policeman & Doctor of Philosophy)

Production Staff

Griffin Bonnin Jones (Director) is a third year who has done other things (like acting) in other plays (like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard III) at this school. They hope you like the play they directed, but if not, that’s okay too.

Simon Tsuchiya Lenoe (Dramaturg)

Rachel Bolte (Production Manager) is a third year Sociology and Germanic Studies student. This is her second show on the production management side of things with UT (the first being Assistant Production Manager on The Play that Goes Wrong), and she’s grateful to the company of The Arsonists for letting her have fun with spreadsheets while they act, design, direct, or stage manage – in other words, while they do what they do best. Also many thanks and much love to the JERM Haus and Logan Café for the unending support and steady supply of pretzels and chai.

Lee Gutman (Stage Manager) is a second year majoring in Biology (Evology and Evolution) and minoring in TAPS. Previous credits include ASM on Richard III; she also serves as Dean Men’s Secretary. She is super excited to be leading the stage manager team with two amazing assistants, an awesome director and PM, and an on-fire cast!

Alasdair Dodd (Lighting Designer) is a 3rd year EALC and Religious Studies major who is really good at eating different shapes, naming effects, and hitting the “go” button. His previous work includes Falsettos (Lighting Designer), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stage Manager), and Royal Flush (Stage Manager). He’d like to thank the Kingslayers for occasionally letting him borrow the lighting braincell and Sam for being an awesome boothmate and explosion orchestrator. Yay.

Sam Doepker (Sound Designer) is a third year CS major who’s been enjoying making things sound like they’re exploding (or not) in UT productions including The Laramie Project, Falsettos, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Fall 2022 Weekend of Workshops. They’d like to thank Alasdair for keeping them company at the tech table and their cats for being really cute.

Emma Linderman (Co-Scenic Designer)

Pallas Eible Hargro (Co-Scenic Designer) is a 4th year NELC major who is bound and determined to never write a bio for a UT show, which is why someone else has ghostwritten this. Their previous UT credits include Twelfth Night, Muscle Memory, Romeo & Juliet, and Macbeth (in Space).

Yufei Chen (Props Designer) is a third-year CEGU and Comparative Literature major. Yufei has previously worked on Strings Attached (PM), Dead Fun Society (PM), Macbeth in Space (co-SM), Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood (ASM), Laika’s Coffin (ASM), and Twelfth Night (ALD). Yufei would like to thank Jewel-Osco for their wonderful daily supply of rotisserie chicken, the ASMs for handling all the food props with great care, and, last but not least, her assistant Hillary, who made the fake roasted duck look like a real raw goose.

Ky Cruz (Costume Designer)

Liv Moreno (Asst. Production Manager) is so excited to be on the production side of a University Theater show for the first time! Previously with she played Sandra/Florence in The Play That Goes Wrong with UT, and has been in a variety of other shows outside of UT. She is thankful to get to work with Griffin, Rachel, and the rest of the wonderful production team and incredible cast during this process, and is excited for you to see this amazing show!

Nayu Shimo (Asst. Stage Manager) is a 2nd year who is dismayed that crochet is not a major at UChicago. Her previous UT credits include Welcome Back to My Channel, which did not involve so many hard-boiled eggs or rotisserie chickens. She’s currently enjoying a chai and grilled cheese from Logan Café, so she would like to thank them exceedingly for their support.

Maya Miller (Asst. Stage Manager) is a first year ASMing in her first UT show. She’s excited to be starting off with a bang (more like a fire)!

Hillary Cheung (Asst. Props Designer)

Belle Nahoom (Committee Liaison) is a fourth-year TAPS/Data Science double major with a minor in Art History. Her previous theatre credits at the University include The Heirs (ASM), Marian (ASM), The Intruder Workshop (Costume Designer), Scientific Method (Costume Designer), Macbeth in Space (Hair & Makeup), Queen of Spades Workshop (SM & PM), The Laramie Project (SM Collective), the B.A. Thesis, Yivdak (Jared), 12th Night (Hair & Makeup), Be More Chill (Costume Designer), The Wolves (Asst. Costume Designer), Falsettos (Costume Designer), The Play That Goes Wrong (Costume Designer), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Asst. Costume Designer), Arcadia (Asst. Costume Designer), Theatre24 (curator), as well as the upcoming spring production of If/Then (Costume Designer). Additionally, she is artistic director of the Commedia Dell’Arte improv troupe on campus and a member of Medusa A Capella. She would like to thank her phenomenal assistant for all her help!