In 1929, famous New York stockbroker Bill Wilson crashes with the stock market and becomes a hopeless drunk. Dr. Bob Smith, a surgeon from Ohio, has also been an alcoholic for thirty years, often going into the operating room with a hangover. Through an astonishing series of events, Bill and Bob meet and form a relationship, each helping to keep the other sober. This is the amazing and often humorous story of the two men who pioneered Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as the story of their wives, who founded Al Anon.
Stephen Bergman (who also writes novels under the name Samuel Shem) and Janet Surrey are on the faculties of the Harvard Medical School and the Stone Center at Wellesley College. Together they have created Bill W. and Dr. Bob, a play richly evocative of the Depression era, which tells a magnificent and classic American success story.
Sponsored by:
by Stephen Bergman and Janet Surrey
Directed by Rick Lombardo**
March 5 - 26, 2006
Anita Fuchs, scenic design
Jane Alois Stein, costume design
Daniel Meeker, lighting design
Todd C. Gordon, original music, musical arranger, pianist
Rick Lombardo, sound design
Ted Hewlett, fight choreographer
Erik D. Diaz, properties design
Casting by Stuart Howard, Amy Schecter,
& Paul Hardt
Cheryl D. Olszowka*, production stage manager
CAST (in order of appearance)
Robert Krakovski*, Bill Wilson
Patrick Husted*, Dr. Bob Smith
Marc Carver*, Man
Rachel Harker*, Lois Wilson
Kathleen Doyle*, Anne Smith
Deanna Dunmyer*, Woman
Prologue: St. Louis, 1939 and Akron, 1955
Scene 1: Egypt, Pennsylvania, 1925
Scenes 2 - 24: New York and Akron, December, 1934 - July, 1935
Epilogue: St. Louis, 1939 and Akron, 1955
*member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional
Actors and Stage Managers in the United States
**member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, Inc.
Bill W. and Dr. Bob is presented by special arrangement with AFF/ENT Theatrical, LLC and AFF/ENT Entertainment Productions.
Presentation of this work does not imply affiliation with nor approval or endorsement from Alcoholics Anonymous World Services Inc.