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UnRavelled

By Jake Broder
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 1PM
Miller Theatre

Additional performance: Friday, October 23, 7:30PM

UnRavelled is a powerful synthesis of theatre, music, science and visual art. This “revolutionary theatrical production” (Metro Silicon Valley) explores the complexities of the human mind through the parallel lives of scientist-turned-painter Anne Adams and composer Maurice Ravel, both affected by frontotemporal dementia. With a cast of 10 actors and musicians, the play follows Adams, a gifted biologist whose life unravels as she abandons her career, consumed by the desire to paint and an obsession with Ravel’s iconic Boléro. As Adams’ cognitive decline accelerates, her art flourishes, revealing a surprising link between neurological disease and creativity. “An exquisite example of epic theatre” (Colorado Boulevard), UnRavelled sheds new light on dementia with empathy and awe.

Creative Team:
Created & Written by Jake Broder
Directed by James Bonas
Produced by Cath Brittan
Outreach Director: Samantha Rose Williams
Composer & Sound Designer: Mark Grey
Co-Director and Movement Director: Cydney Uffindell-Phillips
Set Designer: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting Designer: Masha Tsimring
Video Designer: Adam Larsen
Costume Designer: Molly Irelan
Production Manager: Kerstin Heinrich
Stage Manager: Rose Tablizo*
Casting by Michael Donovan Casting, Michael Donovan CSA, Richard Ferris CSA

Un Ravelled poster NYC
Photo by Stan Evans

Additional performance: Friday, October 23, 7:30PM

UnRavelled is a powerful synthesis of theatre, music, science and visual art. This “revolutionary theatrical production” (Metro Silicon Valley) explores the complexities of the human mind through the parallel lives of scientist-turned-painter Anne Adams and composer Maurice Ravel, both affected by frontotemporal dementia. With a cast of 10 actors and musicians, the play follows Adams, a gifted biologist whose life unravels as she abandons her career, consumed by the desire to paint and an obsession with Ravel’s iconic Boléro. As Adams’ cognitive decline accelerates, her art flourishes, revealing a surprising link between neurological disease and creativity. “An exquisite example of epic theatre” (Colorado Boulevard), UnRavelled sheds new light on dementia with empathy and awe.

Creative Team:
Created & Written by Jake Broder
Directed by James Bonas
Produced by Cath Brittan
Outreach Director: Samantha Rose Williams
Composer & Sound Designer: Mark Grey
Co-Director and Movement Director: Cydney Uffindell-Phillips
Set Designer: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting Designer: Masha Tsimring
Video Designer: Adam Larsen
Costume Designer: Molly Irelan
Production Manager: Kerstin Heinrich
Stage Manager: Rose Tablizo*
Casting by Michael Donovan Casting, Michael Donovan CSA, Richard Ferris CSA

Performers

  • Lucy Davenport Anne Adams
  • Andrew Borba* Robert Adams
  • David Aaron Baker* Dr. Bruce Miller
  • Leo Marks* Maurice Ravel
  • Tracey A. Leigh* Carol/Ida
  • Aron Kallay music director & keyboards
  • Randy Gloss percussion
  • Rachel Iba violin
  • Michelle Elliott Rearick cello
  • Nathaniel Edison flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, oboe, dizi

UnRavelled is made possible by the generous support of the following organizations:

Kissick Family Foundation
Lilly
The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration
Bluefield Project
Dana Foundation
Global Brain Health Institute
For Their Thoughts Foundation
FThree Foundation
Kristin Holloway
Kestrel Neuroscience
UCSF Weil Institute for Neurosciences - Fein Memory and Aging Center

UnRavelled is powered by Producer Hub

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UnRavelled is presented in collaboration with the following departments:
Department of Anthropology
Department of Psychology
Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute
The School of the Arts
Program in Medical Humanities at the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society
Doctoral Program in Theatre and Performance
Doctoral Program in Neurobiology and Behavior
Division of Narrative Medicine, Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics


*Member of Actors & Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

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