National Tour of UnRavelled by Jake Broder Begins with East Coast Premiere
About
The national tour of Jake Broder’s UnRavelled kicks off with the East Coast premiere as part of the Penn Live Arts 2026/27 Season at the Harold Prince Theater, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6219. Performances: *Thursday, October 8 at 7PM, Friday, October 9 at 7:30PM, Saturday, October 10 at 2PM, and Sunday, October 11 at 3PM. Tickets are available at https://pennlivearts.org/event/UnRavelled. For more information, visit https://www.unravelledplay.com//
“This story defies the typical ‘diagnosis-to-death’ dementia narrative, focusing instead on creativity and hope.” — Jake Broder, Creator
A powerful synthesis of theatre, music, science and visual art, UnRavelled 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, this East Coast premiere 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 a new, empathetic light on dementia.
UnRavelled is made possible in part with support provided by the Penn Live Arts Accelerator Program. UnRavelled is presented in partnership with Penn Medicine as part of the International Conference for Frontotemporal Dementias.
UnRavelled has received five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award nominations, the LADCC Award for Streaming Design, and the Beverly Hills Theater Guild Playwriting Award.
Creative Team:
Created and Written by Jake Broder
Directed by James Bonas
Produced by Cath Brittan
Composer & Sound Designer: Mark Grey
Co-Director: Cydney Uffindell-Phillips
Resident Director: Nina Goodheart
Set Designer: Emma Kingsbury
Lighting Designer: Masha Tsimring
Video Designer: Adam Larsen
Costume Designer: Molly Irelan
Outreach Director: Samantha Rose Williams
Production Manager: Kerstin Heinrich
Starring: Lucy Davenport, Andrew Borba, David Aaron Baker, Leo Marks, and Tracey A. Leigh
Musicians: Rachel Iba, violin; Michelle Elliott Rearick, cello; Aron Kallay, keyboards; Nathaniel Edison, winds; and Randy Gloss, percussion
Presented in Partnership with The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration; The Kissick Family Foundation; UCSF Memory and Aging Center; Global Brain Health Institute; Lilly Pharmaceuticals; the Dana Foundation
UnRavelled is powered by Producer Hub.
* Please note, the Thursday, October 8 performance is currently exclusively available to attendees of the International Conference for Frontotemporal Dementias.
Jake Broder spent half his life in the UK and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Lucy, and their children, Ella and Louis. He is a Senior Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute (UCSF and Trinity College Dublin), and was the Hellman Visiting Artist at UCSF in 2019—an experience that resulted in the script for his play UnRavelled, premiering at the Wallis in 2025. www.unravelledplay.com
Jake co-wrote Max & Willy’s Last Laugh with Conor Duffy, which was workshopped at Mosaic Theater and Theater J in Washington, D.C. in 2022 and 2024 and presented in London at the Marylebone Theater in 2025. His play Our American Hamlet premiered at the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and was nominated for Best New Play by the IRNE Awards (Boston). Sense of Decency premiered at North Coast Rep and was nominated for Outstanding New Play by the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.
His musical Miravel won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle (LADCC) award for Best Score, composed by Jake. He also co-wrote and originated the role of Louis in Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, earning Ovation, LADCC, Garland, and LA Weekly Awards for Best Actor and Best Musical. The production ran at the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Oscar-winner Taylor Hackford, and later toured in Chicago and Southern California.
His solo show His Royal Hipness Lord Buckley was performed Off-West End (Soho Theatre), Off-Broadway (59E59), and in Los Angeles.
Jake’s TV writing includes Typewriter Days (Revolution Studios) and Black Hole Sun (Echo Lake). He was also a Fellow at the O’Neill Theatre Center under Artistic Director John McDaniel.
As an actor, Jake recently appeared in The Patient (with Steve Carell), The Morning Show (Apple TV+), and had a recurring role on HBO’s Silicon Valley. His stage credits include Mozart in Amadeus (directed by Sir Peter Hall at the Old Vic, Music Box, and Ahmanson), When Harry Met Sally (Theatre Royal Haymarket, with Alyson Hannigan and Luke Perry), and Ophelia & Juliet in The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged) with the Reduced Shakespeare Company at the Criterion Theatre, London.
He also portrayed Ira Gershwin in Words By: Ira Gershwin (Colony Theatre) and Einstein in Einstein Comes Through (North Coast Rep), both directed by David Ellenstein.
Jake holds a BA from Tufts University and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. More at: www.jakebroder.com
About Penn Live Arts
Penn Live Arts (PLA), headquartered at the Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, is the leading presenter of innovative and transformative performing arts experiences in Philadelphia. A vital resource for the performing arts at the University of Pennsylvania, PLA is an artistic crossroads joining Penn and the greater Philadelphia region through world-class music, dance and theatre on campus and at venues throughout the city, serving an annual audience of over 80,000. Penn Live Arts emphasizes artistic and intellectual excellence in its offerings; prioritizes broad inclusiveness in the artists, audiences and groups it serves; and expands arts access by actively engaging a wide range of audiences and communities from campus, the West Philadelphia neighborhood and the surrounding region. Visit PennLiveArts.org for more information.
