Dave Steakley, Producing Artistic Director 
Jamie Herlich, Managing Director

BY robert Schenkkan
Directed by dave steakley

This play is based on the correspondence between Jean McKenzie and Bob Schenkkan, 1942–1944.

Scenic Designer
Michelle Ney

Costume Designer
Nanette Acosta

Lighting Designer
Sarah Maines**

Sound Designer 
Allen Robertson

AEA Stage Manager
Sarah Hudson* 

Assistant Stage Manager
Gabby Carney

Assistant Scenic Designer
Max Estudillo Cantú

Intimacy and Movement Coordinator
Cassie Abate

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
**Member of United Scenic Artists 829

There will be one 20-minute intermission. Drinks and snacks are welcome in the theater.

*Actors’ Equity Association, founded in 1913, represents more than 49,000 Actors and Stage Managers in the Equity negotiates wages and working conditions, providing a wide range of benefits, including health and pension plans. Equity seeks to foster the art of live theatre as an essential component of our society. actorsequity.org

Photos and videos of the production are prohibited. The videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production and the taking of photographs, with or without flash, or by camera phone, is strictly prohibited. Please turn off all electronic devices—cell phones, pagers, etc.—and refrain from texting and/or tweeting during the performance.

Photos in the theatre lobby: Audience members may take photos in the theatre lobby before and after the show, and during intermission. If you post photos on social media or elsewhere, please credit the production's designers.

Understudies: Madison Laird as Jean Understudy ; Tobie Minor as Bob/Narrator Understudy.

JAMIE GOODWIN* (Narrator) - ZACH:  The Prom, Into the Woods, Sunday in the Park with George, Peter and the Starcatcher,  Ragtime, Next to Normal, The Drowsy Chaperone, Doubt, Present Laughter. Off Broadway: Two Gentlemen of Verona, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night.  Regional:  City of Angels, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. T.V.: Sex and The City, Guiding Light, Another World, All My Children, Law and Order, Law and Order S.V.U.  Film: Serendipity, Let It Be Me, The Perfect You. M.F.A, Meadows School of the Arts (SMU Dallas, TX).

JAKE ROBERSON* (Bob Schenkkan) - Jake is ecstatic to return to Zach in Bob & Jean: A Love Story by the formidable Robert Schenkkan. Jake debuted regionally in Matthew Lopez’s THE INHERITANCE at ZACH (2022). He recently starred in THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE with Theatre SilCo in Colorado. OFF BROADWAY: ECHOES IN THE GARDEN with American Bard Theater Co, SWIPE at TaDa Theater. INTERNATIONAL: ZOUNDS at Edinburgh Fringe. An Atlantic Conservatory grad, he dedicates this to his supportive family. @jrob3

Maggie Anderson* (Jean McKenzie) - ZACH: NOISES OFF (Brooke Ashton) (B. Iden Payne award for outstanding featured actor in a comedy), NATASHA PIERRE AND THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 (Mary Bolkonsky), A CHRISTMAS CAROL. B’WAY NAT’L TOUR: ELF THE MUSICAL (Jovie).) NYC/LA: LYSISTRATA JONES (Lysistrata Jones), PETER PAN (Peter Pan), ANYONE CAN WHISTLE (Faye Apple), BYE BYE BIRDIE (Kim Mcafee), GREASE (Rizzo), INTO THE WOODS (Cinderella). B.F.A in Musical Theater from Pace University. So much love to my sweetheart Austin Brion @magggiebrion

Madison Laird (Jean Understudy) - ZACH Debut.LOCAL: Trash Planet (Jasmine), We’ve Always Lived in the Castle (Constance). ADDITIONAL CREDITS: TV/Film appearances on ABC, ID, and Reelz. Thanks to all my supportive friends!

Tobie Minor (Bob/Narrator Understudy) - ZACH: NOISES OFF (Freddie), INTO THE WOODS (Fight Choreographer), PETER AND THE STARCATCHER (Smee), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Fight Choreographer), and ONE MAN TWO GUVNORS (Alfie). REGIONAL: THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG (Robert, Austin Playhouse), SHERLOCK AND WATSON (Dr. Evans, Austin Playhouse), ROMEO AND JULIET (Mercutio, Austin Shakespeare), and ARDEN OF FEVERSHAM (Mosbie, Hidden Room Theatre). INTERNATIONAL/ADDITIONAL CREDITS: Film fight choreography for ADDICT NAMED HAL (Secretly Famous Productions), THE ROYAL RASCAL (Georgetown Palace), and HAZE (UT Films). A B. Iden Payne Award recipient for Outstanding Fight Choreography and Acting, Tobie is certified Advanced Actor Combatant with the SAFD and an active member of ATME. Tobie is an Associate Professor of Practice at Texas State University, where he teaches acting, movement, and combat, fostering the next generation of theater artists.

Robert Schenkkan (Playwright) - Pulitzer Prize, Tony, WGA, and Humanitas Award winner, three-time Emmy nominated writer. Author of twenty plays including:  All The Way and The Great Society, and The Kentucky Cycle. Films: Hacksaw Ridge, The Quiet American. TV: All the Way, The Pacific, The Andromeda Strain, Crazy Horse, Spartacus. Robert is a board member of the Orchard Project, the Dramatists Guild National Council, the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund, National Theater Conference, and is a New Dramatists Alumnus.

MICHELLE NEY (Scenic Designer) - Michelle Ney is a scenic and costume designer. ZACH: JERSEY BOYS, HEAD OVER HEELS, ROE, MATILDA, SINGING IN THE RAIN, LADY DAY AT THE EMERSON BAR & GRILL, TRIBES, MOTHERS AND SONS, A CHRISTMAS STORY, HARVEY. REGIONAL: THE GLASS MENAGERIE, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, COMEDY OF ERRORS, THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, LA PIETRA DEL PARAGONE, LA BOHEME, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, TARTUFFE, MACBETH, CYMBELINE. Michelle is a Professor of Design at Texas State University.

NANETTE ACOSTA (Costume Designer) - Illinois Shakespeare: MACBETH. Seattle Children’s Theatre: A SINGLE SHARD. Taproot: *BOOK OF WILL, *AN IDEAL HUSBAND, HELLO GIRLS! 5th Avenue: SMOKEY JOE'S CAFE. Seattle Shakespeare: HAMLET. The Village: GREASE. New Criminals: *METHUSALEM directed by John Cusak. Northlight: LATER LIFE. The Court: CANDIDA. Chicago Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet. Shattered Globe: *The Manchurian Candidate. The Spoleto Festival: The Gili Concert. Nanette is currently on faculty at UT Austin. (*Notates : Award received).

Sarah Maines** (Lighting Designer) - ZACH: BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, HEAD OVER HEELS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, ONCE, ANN. REG'L: Pasadena Playhouse: ANN; Stages Rep: WATER BY THE SPOONFUL; Ill. Shakes Fest: ELIZABETH REX, ANTONY & CLEOPATRA, FAILURE: A LOVE STORY, MACBETH. Sea World SA: A DOLPHIN CHRISTMAS. INT'L: Prague Quadrennial: 36Q. ASSOC/ASST LD: JERSEY BOYS, (10 companies); IN THE HEIGHTS (Nat'l Tour), GYPSY (B'way, NYC Cntr), BRIDGE & TUNNEL (Bwy). ADD'L: School Director / Professor: TXST University; USA-829.

Allen Robertson (Music Director) Allen has worked on 30 years of shows at ZACH.

Sarah HUdson* (AEA Stage Manager) - ZACH: A CHRISTMAS CAROL 2024 (ASM), ONE NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (2013), LES MISERABLES (ASM), THE KING & I (ASM). REGIONAL: GOLD MOUNTAIN (ASM) with USF; BONNIE & CLYDE (ASM), WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME (PSM), PUTTING IT TOGETHER (ASM), THE LEHMAN TRILOGY (ASM), at Pioneer Theatre Company; A SHOE STORY (PSM), DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (PSM) at Summer Stock Austin; DISNEY'S THE LITTLE MERMAID (PSM) at Zilker Theatre. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: B.F.A. in Technical Production from Texas State University. Proud Equity member.

gabby carney (Assistant Stage Manager) - ZACH: INTO THE WOODS (PSM), THE PROM (ASM), UNA NOCHE BUENA (PSM), HEAD OVER HEELS (Intern). REGIONAL: ROCK OF AGES (PSM) at San Antonio Broadway Theatre. ADDITIONAL CREDITS: BFA in Technical Theatre from Texas State University. Thank you to my family for supporting my artistic endeavors!

“Well, I always knew about the letters,” recalls Robert Schenkkan. “They were an open secret.” But as a young boy, growing up in Austin alongside three brothers, he was more interested in his father’s old hand grenades than the correspondence his parents exchanged in the early days of their courtship. “Children are so selfish,” he laughs. “We don’t pay any attention to our parents, do we?”

Still, throughout his decades-long career as a playwright—he’s won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award®, and an audience of millions—Schenkkan carted the letters across the country, keeping that chapter of his family history close. When his parents passed away, he began to wonder what unanswered questions might be addressed in those boxes. So he finally opened them.

What he discovered in those aging papers, covered in countless lines of perfect cursive, surprised him. As far as Schenkkan had known, his parents Bob and Jean had enjoyed what he calls “the best marriage I’d ever seen.” He stands by that statement, but the letters revealed that their love didn’t come easy: “It was hard won, as all the best love is.”

The letters offer a largely unfiltered view of Bob and Jean’s relationship during the 15 months they spent apart serving in World War II. Those 15 months saw myriad struggles for them, from horrors of war to pedestrian, yet profound, tolls of heartache. In the pages they passed back and forth across the Pacific, Schenkkan observes, “they’re changing, both of them, and at the same time, they’re trying to keep hold of this beautiful relationship that bloomed just a moment before he left.” This unique epistolary record contains every nearly word they exchanged during that time. It serves as a testament to the tumultuousness, tenderness, and ultimate tenacity of their love—the love that formed the foundation of Schenkkan’s family.

In the brand-new play Bob & Jean: A Love Story, Schenkkan transforms his parents’ words into a startlingly human portrait of young love. Almost all the dialogue spoken by Bob (Jake Roberson) and Jean (Maggie Anderson) comes directly from Schenkkan’s transcripts of their letters. The play also dramatizes his own journey of discovery—he places his perspective in the voice of the narrator (Jamie Goodwin), at once an astonished reader, a brilliant playwright, and a son trying to understand his 22- and 24-year-old parents as a 72-year-old observer. (Schenkkan’s 72nd birthday falls on ZACH Theatre’s first preview of the production.)

His understanding continues to evolve as he works with actors, directors, and designers to bring Bob and Jean to the stage. In early March, Schenkkan spent a week on the ZACH campus, participating in rehearsals with director Dave Steakley. Each day of collaboration produced fresh insights for playwright and performers alike, along with edits to the script, which will remain a living document well into the show’s run. The play won’t be complete until it’s in the hands of the audience. It’s the culmination of years of creative labor: “Writing is a job, and I work hard at it,” Schenkkan says.

But the rigorous routine is all worth it when he’s in the back of the theatre, watching a room of strangers engage with his story. “You listen to the laugh that you know is coming, or the gasp, and you watch the audience lean forward with interest, or lean back with horror—and it was just in your head! It was just in your head!”

Schenkkan knows it’s not obvious why a romance from the 1940s would resonate with audiences in 2025. Nevertheless, he argues, the themes of his newest play couldn’t be more contemporary. “Bob and Jean are experiencing—as are so many Americans at this moment—a profound and wrenching transformation,” he explains. “This is a love story in a time of great upheaval, and darkness, and violence.” Schenkkan believes we are living through a similar time today. His children, he has confessed, have serious questions about whether starting a family under such difficult, uncertain circumstances is ethically justifiable. This play is his answer: “Bob & Jean is the best example of why the choice to love more, the choice to fight harder, the choice to build a better community and a better future is the right choice, especially in the darkest of times.”

Sharing that message fulfills what Schenkkan feels is a civic duty. His dedication to public service comes as no surprise given his parents’ unabashed patriotism. “Bob and Jean didn’t hesitate a second,” he says, fierce reverence in his voice. “Not a second. Pearl Harbor happened and they were out the door.”

What’s more, Bob’s fascination with the wartime audio and video tapes used to educate new naval officers sparked a lifelong commitment to the project of public broadcasting. According to the Austin American-Statesman, he “became a national force in organizing educational TV stations into the PBS network and worked with President Lyndon Johnson on passing the Public Broadcasting Act.” Later, he personally intervened to save the network’s public affairs coverage when a besieged President Nixon threatened to curtail its funding. His work brought him to Austin, where he established what would become KUT and Austin PBS while raising four children alongside his beloved Jean.

As a playwright, Schenkkan infuses his parents’ legacy of service with their mutual love of theatre. In the face of viciously polarized politics and deteriorating democratic norms, he argues, the arts are more important than ever. “You park your grievance, your gripe, your partisanship outside the sacred precinct of the theatre,” he says. “You laugh together, and you weep together, and you have this shared experience that reminds you, ‘Whatever our differences are, we’re in this together.’ The arts help us understand that we are not alone.”

Bob & Jean has the unusual distinction of receiving two simultaneous world premieres, in Austin at ZACH Theatre and in Tucson at Arizona Theatre Company. As Schenkkan continues to write, having already achieved many of the landmark accomplishments for which his peers strive, he’ll try to meet the moment with an open heart, whatever it may bring. “Playwriting lives or dies there—in the heart,” Schenkkan says. “If you’re not opening that up, what’s the point?”

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ZACH Theatre thanks the following donors who have supported ZACH’s 
artistic ambition above and beyond their annual fund support. 

Bettye Nowlin  |  Carolyn and Marc Seriff