Joe DiPietro’s Conscience play at Taproot Theatre draws uncanny, chilling parallels between McCarthyism and today’s politics. Jonathan Swindle delivers a wonderfully unhinged performance. Brilliantly met by Alyssa Keene’s elegant, pearl-necklace Transatlantic conservative idealism and her well-cast sidekick-w/-a-secret Christopher Clark. The measured verbal cat fights w/ Kelly Karther were delicious. Framed by Mark Lund’s classical DC-meets-Greek architectural facade. Sharply written & urgently relevant. See it before it closes 10/17!
Tickets: https://taproottheatre.org/2026/conscience/
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Taproot Theatre Company: Conscience Program Transcription
Playing in the Jewell Mainstage Theatre
CONSCIENCE
By Joe DiPietro
Director: Karen Lund**
Creative Team
- Scenic & Sound Designer: Mark Lund
- Co-Costume Designers: Melanie Burgess, Ruby Carter
- Lighting Designer: Brian Engel
- Dialect Coach: Marianna de Fazio
- Props Master: Jaiden Clark
- Stage Manager: Mackenzie Breda*
- Assistant Stage Manager: Rosie Arnesen
Additional Creative Team
- Assistant Director: Melanie Godsey
- Intimacy Director: Bretteney Beverly
- Dramaturg: Natalie Westgor
Cast
- Senator Margaret Chase Smith: Alyssa Keene
- Senator Joe McCarthy: Jonathan Swindle
- William Lewis Jr.: Christopher Clark
- Jean Kerr: Kelly Karcher
Understudies
- Sen. Margaret Chase Smith: Betsy Mugavero*
- Sen. Joe McCarthy: Noah Fletcher
- William Lewis Jr.: Joey Sponseller
- Jean Kerr: Rebecca Cort
Setting & Runtime
- Setting: Early 1950s in Washington, D.C.
- Runtime: Conscience is approximately one hour and 45 minutes including a 15-minute intermission.
Production Crew
- Stage Management/Crew Swing: Grace Heller
- Dramaturgy Intern: Sabrina Ruff
Casting
- Casting Director: Bretteney Beverly
Costume Staff
- Dresser: Rosie Arnesen
- Draper: Martha Mitchell
- Stitcher: Scían Hayes
- Wig Specialist: Jaclyn Deshaye
- Wig Designer: Juliette Lewis
Scenic & Lighting Staff
- Master Electrician: Aiyana Stephens
- Scenic Carpenters: Garrett Dill, Jaime Tapia
- Scenic Charge Artist: Mark Lund
- Scenic Artist: Jaiden Clark
- Lighting Programmer: Matthew Ray
- Light Board Operator: Tiana Price
- Sound Board Operator: Ben Symons
- Electricians: Morgan Poirier, Matthew Ray, Madeleine Rush
- Scenic Strike/Load-In: Elisabeth Chapman†, Sean Mcmullen†, Kayla Peterson†
Theatre Leadership & Sponsors
- Producing Artistic Director: Karen Lund
- Associate Artistic Director: Bretteney Beverly
- Production Sponsor: Klein Info Design
- Supported by: ArtsFund, 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax), A&C Office of Arts & Culture Seattle, ArtsWA Washington State Arts Commission, Ellis | Li | McKinstry (elm), Green Trails Maps, Janus Apartments, Piper Village, Trygve & Lyla Anderson
Notes & Union Affiliations
- * Appearing through an agreement between this theatre, Taproot Theatre Company, and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
- ** The Director is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), a national theatrical labor union.
- † All stage work performed by employees represented by I.A.T.S.E., Local No. 15.
- World Premiere: Produced by George Street Playhouse (David Saint, Artistic Director; Kelly Ryman, Managing Director) March 6, 2020.
- Licensing: “Conscience” is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service imprint. (www.dramatists.com)