The Ford/Hill Project

Lee Sunday Evans and Waterwell

West Coast Premiere

Buy tickets

Price: $35 + $2 Convenience Fee**
Genre: Theater
DATE: SEP 17-19
TIME: THU-SAT, 8 PM
RUNTIME: Approx. 65 minutes
COUNTRY: USA

* Discounts available for REDCAT members, students & CalArts faculty and staff

Join the conversation in the REDCAT LOUNGE

About

The Ford/Hill Project transforms the Senate testimony of Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford into a gripping evening of theater. Created by Lee Sunday Evans and Elizabeth Marvel, this Waterwell Production is performed by a cast of luminary LA actors, including Rosemarie DeWitt, Betty Gabriel, Dulé Hill, and Jerry O’Connell. Thirty years apart, Anita Hill and Christine Blasey Ford shared private, painful experiences on a national stage during nomination proceedings for the Supreme Court, speaking with clarity and confidence in the face of questioning and skepticism. With an ensemble of four actors speaking from the verbatim transcripts of these hearings, these two women’s stories resonate across decades, illuminating the emotional weight and historical significance of these pivotal hearings. Heard together now, their testimonies demonstrate the courage it takes to speak truth to power.

Please note: The Ford/Hill Project contains performance includes infrequent strong language and themes/discussions of racial and gender-based violence.

Necessary viewing, not just because of its topic, but because it’s a riveting night of theater

—

TheaterMania

The Ford/Hill Project was developed with support from The Axe-Houghton Foundation, The NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music, and Theater by the City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment in association with The New York Foundation for the Arts.

The project was made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

Current show sponsorship from Anonymous. Past show supporters include: Burnt Umber Productions, Mariska Hargitay, Angelina Fiordellisi, Taylor Kinney, Damon Lindelof, Sharman Altschuler, Lesli Linka Glatter, Pack Willimon, Tim Blake Nelson, Danny Strong, John Turturro, John Benjamin Hickey, Cynthia Nixon, Ethan Coen, Julian Maha, Linda Powell, Elizabeth Marvel, Morena Baccarin, Thomas Sadowski & Amanda Seyfried, Ronald Guttman, Sarah Snook, Peter Friedman, Carrie Preston, Omar Metwally, and Tom Fontana.

The first iteration of the project was developed with early stage 3D support at Mercury Store. It was presented by Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and The Public Theater in October 2024 and as part of Under the Radar Festival by La MaMa in January 2026.

about the artists

Elizabeth Marvel (Co-creator) is an actress who has won four Obie Awards for her Off-Broadway work, notably for the title role in Ivo Van Hove’s 2004 production of Hedda Gabler. Most recently, she starred in the Off-Broadway production of Phillip Roth’s Sabbath’s Theater. Of her numerous Broadway roles, she is best known for her portrayal of Brooke Wyeth in Other Desert Cities, a role, which she originated off-Broadway. Marvel recently starred in the Apple TV+ limited series Presumed Innocent, Love and Death at HBO Max, and the Hulu limited series The Dropout. Her television credits include Peacock’s Mrs. Davis, Hulu’s Helstrom, Showtime’s Homeland, Netflix’s House of Cards. She can most recently be seen in Blitz Bazawule’s adaptation of The Color Purple for Warner Bros. Upcoming, she will be seen alongside Viola Davis in the Amazon Prime Video action-thriller film, G20. Marvel is a graduate of the Juilliard School.

Lee Sunday Evans (Co-creator & Director) is a two-time Obie Award-winning Director and the Artistic Director of Waterwell. She recently directed the world premiere of A Wrinkle in Time by Lauren Yee, with music and lyrics by Heather Christian, at Arena Stage. Notable credits include: Waterwell’s The Ford/Hill Project, which she co-created with Elizabeth Marvel (Woolly Mammoth, The Public Theater); Dance Nation by Clare Barron (Playwrights Horizons, Steppenwolf); Safety Not Guaranteed by Nick Blaemire with music and lyrics by Ryan Miller (BAM); Waterwell’s The Courtroom, created with Arian Moayed which premiered in a courtroom in the 2nd Circuit Thurgood Marshall Courthouse; Caught by Christopher Chen (PlayCo); Detroit Red by Will Power (ArtsEmerson); Sunday by Jack Thorne (Atlantic); In the Green by Grace McLean (LCT3); Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew (Long Wharf, Dallas Theater Center); and Home by Geoff Sobelle (BAM Next Wave). She directed the film adaptation of The Courtroom which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 and has had grassroots screenings around the country. As part of her work at Waterwell, she has partnered with the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Center for Youth Law, Labor Notes, the Dignity Not Detention Coalition, and others to create original projects that make robust contributions to their work on public policy, communications, and organizing.

Waterwell (Lee Sunday Evans, Artistic Director; Sarah Scafidi, Managing Director; Arian Moayed, co-founder and Board Chair) is an Obie Award-winning production company that creates theater, film, and digital media that wrestles with complex civic questions, gathering people for cultural events that provoke, inspire, and build community. The company is dedicated to telling engrossing stories that can reach people across real and perceived divides. Waterwell produces its projects using an evolving set of best practices that are influenced by the principles of community organizing and movement building. This commitment is part of an ongoing investigation into how storytelling can have the most relevance and impact in efforts to create a more just and humane society. Waterwell’s projects manifest in more than one medium but everything the company does is infused with its love of the immediacy of live performance.

Rosemarie DeWitt (Actor) will next be seen starring alongside Andy Garcia in DIAMOND, which will premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. She recently starred alongside Eric Bana in Netflix’s limited series “Untamed” and Season 3 of the “Sex and the City” revival series “And Just Like That…”. DeWitt also shined in the Disney+ film, OUT OF MY MIND, portraying the mother of a young girl with cerebral palsy in a heartwarming and powerful coming of age story. She starred in the Paramount Pictures horror sequel SMILE 2, alongside Naomi Scott and in Season 4 of Amazon Prime Video’s acclaimed series “The Boys”.

Additionally, DeWitt appeared in the Apple TV+ Golden Globe-nominated series “‘Lessons in Chemistry” alongside Brie Larson and the second season of Disney+’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”. She can also be seen starring opposite Toni Collette and Anna Faris in the 2022 black comedy THE ESTATE. The same year, she starred alongside Colin Firth and Toni Collette in HBO’s Emmy and Golden Globe-nominated series “The Staircase”.

DeWitt also featured in the 2021 drama THE SAME STORM, alongside Sandra Oh and Mary-Louise Parker. In 2020, DeWitt starred in the critically acclaimed Hulu series “Little Fires Everywhere” alongside Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon. In 2018, she had lead roles in ARIZONA, SONG OF BACK AND NECK and THE PROFESSOR. Prior to that she starred in the season three premiere episode of the acclaimed British series, “Black Mirror” for director Jodie Foster and in the 2017 indie-thriller SWEET VIRGINIA.

In 2016, DeWitt appeared in Damien Chazelle’s Oscar-winning musical romance LA LA LAND for Lionsgate opposite Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. Other film credits include, Jason Reitman’s MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, Focus Features’ KILL THE MESSENGER opposite Jeremy Renner, Gus Van Sant’s PROMISED LAND opposite Matt Damon, YOUR SISTER’S SISTER, opposite Emily Blunt and Mark Duplass, and Jonathan Demme’s RACHEL GETTING MARRIED.

DeWitt was also seen in the Showtime comedy series, “The United States of Tara” alongside Toni Collette. In addition to her role on “The United States of Tara”, DeWitt also recurred on the critically acclaimed AMC series, “Mad Men”, playing Don Draper’s (Jon Hamm) bohemian mistress in the show’s first season.

Betty Gabriel (Actor) is best known for her performance as ‘Georgina’ in Jordan Peele’s Oscar-nominated film, Get Out. She can now be seen in the Paramount comedy Novocaine opposite Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder, as well as the Neon independent feature It Lives Inside, directed by Bishal Dutta. Betty can most recently be seen in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War, a continuation of the Prime Video series in which she previously appeared alongside John Krasinski, and in the independent feature Prima opposite Jack Huston. Betty starred opposite Zoe Kazan in the Netflix series Clickbait, as well as the Apple TV+ series Defending Jacob and Manhunt. She has recurring arcs on Westworld, Counterpar, and Good Girls Revolt. She also starred in an episode of Jordan Peele’s CBS All Access anthology series The Twilight Zone.

Dulé Hill (Actor) has built an acclaimed career across TV, film and theater. On screen, he is most known for Psych, The West Wing, Suits, ABC’s The Wonder Years, and recently Hulu’s Good American Family. Additional credits include Bel-Air, Ballers, Black Monday, and voiceover work on Disney’s Robogobo and the Audible Original series The Prophecy. On stage, he has starred in acclaimed Broadway productions including Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk, Stick Fly, After Midnight, and most recently NYTW’s Lights Out: Nat ‘King’ Cole. Hill also hosted and executive produced PBS’s docu-series The Express Way with Dulé Hill.

Jerry O’Connell (Actor) is an actor, director and television personality. O’Connell began his acting career at age 11 when he co-starred as Vern Tessio in Stand by Me, spawning a career of roles in critically acclaimed films and televisions series. Born and raised in New York City, Jerry graduated from New York University with a BFA before returning to feature films. He received critical acclaim for his role as quarterback Frank Cushman in Jerry Maguire. His additional film credits include Scream 2; Can’t Hardly Wait; Mission to Mars; Tomcats; Kangaroo Jack; Yours, Mine and Ours; Man About Town (with Ben Affleck); Obsessed (with Beyonce Knowles); Piranha 3-D; the big screen follow-up to the cult hit television series Veronica Mars; The Lookalike; Deep Murder; and The Secret: Dare to Dream. In addition to his film work, O’Connell has been seen on multiple hit television series including: Scream Queens (FOX); Mistresses (ABC); The Big Bang Theory (CBS); Billions (Showtime) Carter (WGN) and currently voices ‘Commander Jack Ransom’ in Star Trek: Lower Decks (Paramount+).