YOUR NAME MEANS DREAM Comes to Theater J
Performances run March 12 through April 6, 2025
By: Stephi Wild Feb. 05, 2025
Beginning on March 12 and running through April 6, 2025 at the Goldman Theater at the Edlavitch DCJCC, Theater J will present the extremely timely, humorous, and important Your Name Means Dream. The play is written and directed by José Rivera who was nominated for an Oscar Award for his screenplay of The Motorcycle Diaries and a contributing writer to the current Netflix adaptation of Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude. Press night will take place at Theater J on Tuesday, March 18 at 7:30pm.
Your Name Means Dream is a profound, intimate tragicomedy with magical realism that asks what it means to be human as we embrace the technology of our future – and it embraces us. Aislin needs constant support in her later years, and her care is placed in the hands of an AI robot-caregiver – designed to look and sound human – named Stacy. The unexpected relationship that blossoms between them sparks questions of what it means to have a soul, what defines humanity, and what happens when those definitions begin to shift.
“I am thrilled that we are bringing José Rivera’s stunning new play to Theater J,” says Theater J Artistic Director Hayley Finn. “José is one of the most important playwrights in our country and Your Name Means Dream, like much of his body of work, examines the salient question: what does it mean to be human? This question has become even more relevant as our technological world is overtaking significant work usually done by people, including caregiving. How we think about our humanity has spiritual implications as well as practical choices that we must make in our day to day lives. Part of Theater J’s mission is to tell stories that raise ethical questions that impact Jewish identity as well as the broader conversation of the human condition. This play does just that with a story pulsing with wit, creativity and characters that will challenge your assumptions.”
The role of “Aislin” in Your Name Means Dream will be played by acclaimed DC actor Naomi Jacobson, who has been called a “Fearless comic actress,” by The Washington Post. Jacobson has been highly praised for decades in myriad roles in such plays as POTUS, Cabaret, Death of a Salesman, The Unmentionables, Kvetch, and Theater J’s own Becoming Dr. Ruth.
Starring alongside Jacobson in the role of “Stacy” will be Sara Koviak, a New York City based actor and dancer. Koviak, who played the role in the play’s debut, is a fixture on the stage in New York and has starred in the DMV production of Lizzy at Signature Theater. In addition, she has played roles in TV (One Life to Live, The Undoing) and several award winning short films.
“This work began about six years ago when AI was barely in the national consciousness and robots were squarely in the realm of science fiction,” says José Rivera. “I was concerned about the growing reality of AI with aging. I wondered what it would be like if all my personal care were relegated to a machine? Writing this play was an attempt to answer many questions - does AI have human feelings, a past, or know the fear of death? If Stacy and her human client Aislin are different in a fundamental way – can we call that difference “the soul”? If Stacy is loved unconditionally, will she grow a soul?
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