New Threads Theatre Company presents
My Name Is

Søren Kierkegaard

A drama about the philosopher’s last years
July 23–26, 2026 · UTC Fine Arts Center
The Jim G. Lewis Studio Theater
Setting
Copenhagen, Denmark (1847–1849)
Runtime
85 minutes, no intermission

At the end of the performance there will be a 5-minute break, followed by an optional audience talkback.

Director’s Note

We live in an age overflowing with information. We can learn almost anything with a few taps on a screen. Yet despite all of our knowledge, many of us still wrestle with life’s deepest questions: Who am I? What do I truly believe? What is worth living for?

More than 175 years ago, Søren Kierkegaard warned that intellectual knowledge alone is not enough. We can understand ideas, beliefs, and values without ever allowing them to shape the way we actually live. Authenticity, he believed, begins when our deepest convictions move from our minds into our everyday choices.

This production asks a simple but challenging question: Are we building our lives upon our deepest values and beliefs, or merely talking about them?

That question extends beyond our personal lives into our communities. What is the proper relationship between faith and government? When should communities of faith work alongside public institutions for the common good? And when are they called to offer a prophetic critique in the name of justice, compassion, and human dignity? If faith is deeply personal but never merely private, how should it shape the way we engage the world around us?

At New Threads Theatre Company, we believe theatre creates a unique space where people with different perspectives can gather, encounter meaningful stories, and engage life’s most important questions together. Our hope is to spark conversations that continue long after the curtain falls.

Thank you for joining us. We hope this story encourages you to reflect on what it means to live authentically, and how your deepest values, spiritual convictions, and understanding of truth are shaping the life you choose to live.

Frank MihelichArtistic Director & DirectorNew Threads Theatre Company

Creative

Timothy Andrew McIntosh

Timothy Andrew McIntosh

Playwright

Timothy Andrew McIntosh is a playwright and actor. His plays Chesterton v. Shaw and Where to Now? were produced each of the last two years by the Circe Institute. He was recently named a finalist for the Neil Simon New Play Contest. He is Creative Director at Westfall Gold, a company that helps humanitarian organizations further their visions. He and his wife live in Atlanta with their two children; neither are named Søren (because they want their children to be happy).

Frank Mihelich

Frank Mihelich

Director

Frank Mihelich has been a professional theatre maker for over 30 years and a theatre educator for nearly fifteen. As the founding Artistic Director of New Threads Theatre Company, Frank is passionate about revitalizing the “Marketplace of Ideas,” creating thought-provoking theatre that sparks meaningful dialogue on society’s most pressing topics. His work fosters community, conversation, and connection, using theatre as a space to bridge divides and inspire change.

Cast

Michael Markham*

Michael Markham*

Søren

Michael Markham is a New York-based actor and award-winning filmmaker, and a graduate of The Juilliard Drama Division. Michael has been seen in Law & Order, Shakespeare in the Park, Off Broadway, and regionally. His favorite roles are Husband and Father, which he sometimes gets to play on stage. michaelmarkhamonline.com

*member of Actors’ Equity

Garret Replogle

Garret Replogle

Kierkegaard

Garret Replogle brings a decade of theatre and film experience across Southern California, South Dakota, and Massachusetts. Writer, actor, director, set designer, and stage manager. B.A. in Theatre from California Baptist University. Garret’s most recent project includes directing and acting in a feature film adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which will hopefully be available to stream later this year.

Albert Thrower

Albert Thrower

Understudy

Albert Thrower is an Atlanta-based actor, artist, and clinical social worker. While he has appeared in several short films over the years, this is his first stage production since high school — maybe it’s a way to finally put those nightmares about not knowing lines on opening night to rest. Outside the theater, he explores experimental photography, filmmaking, animation, and other visual media.

Production Team

Alexis Marsh†

Alexis Marsh†

Production Stage Manager & Assistant Director

Alexis Marsh is the Assistant Professor of Theatre and Chair of Worship and Performing Arts at Bryan College, where she also directs the Hilltop Players. She holds an M.F.A. in Theatre Education from Mississippi University for Women.

Stephen Fister

Stephen Fister

Set Designer

Stephen Fister doesn’t like writing about himself, but he has been working in theatre for most of his adult life, whether as a Scenic Artist/Charge, Technical Director, Production Manager, or Designer. Theatre has been and will hopefully continue to be a constant in his family, and he hopes it will be for your family as well.

Heath Austin

Heath Austin

Lighting Designer

Heath Austin is a freelance lighting designer based in Chattanooga, TN. His recent credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Covenant College; Fly by Night, produced by Blank Page Theatre Company; Our Town and Peter Pan, produced by Chattanooga Christian School; and Guys and Dolls at Heritage Christian School.

Caleb J. Leal

Caleb J. Leal

Sound Designer

Caleb J. Leal is an actor, professor, and sound designer from Southern California. He holds a B.A. in Theatre Arts from California Baptist University and an M.F.A. in Acting from East 15 Acting School (University of Essex, London).

Austin Marsh†

Austin Marsh†

Production Manager & Marketing

Austin Marsh is a secondary English teacher and a theatrical photographer. He’d love it if you’d follow him on Instagram @austinmarshphoto. His first love was the stage, and that’s probably why he married his theatre professor, Alexis.

Martina Ferguson†

Martina Ferguson†

Costumes & Props

Martina Ferguson is a theatre artist and writer who holds a B.S. in Theatre from Bryan College, and she is the Assistant Technical Director at Covenant College. She lives in Hixson, TN, with her husband, Cameron, and their cat, Sherbie.

Blaire Bennett

Blaire Bennett

Production Assistant

Blaire Bennett is a Technical Theatre student at Chattanooga State, where she is completing her Associate’s degree. Her previous Chatt State credits include serving as props manager and shop assistant for As You Like It and Charlotte’s Web, as well as performing in Evil Dead: The Musical.

Conard Belitz

Conard Belitz

Production Assistant

Conard Belitz is a Technical Director, Stage Manager, and Sound Designer currently pursuing a B.A. in Theatre: Design and Technology and a B.A. in Humanities: Playwriting, Dramaturgy, and Literary Analysis from UTC. Recent stage management credits include Hamlet: Prince of Denmark (Conasauga Shakespeare Coalition) and John Proctor is the Villain and Blood Wedding (UTC Theatre Co.), along with sound designer and assistant technical director credits for recent UTC Theatre Co. productions. conardbelitz.com

Grove Simpson

Grove Simpson

Production Assistant

Grove Simpson is a junior at Bryan College, where she is studying theatre and creative writing. She has served in stage management positions for The Importance of Being Earnest and Brilliant Traces, as well as assistant directing The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [Abridged].

†New Threads Company Member

Developmental History

The play you are about to experience has been on a developmental journey for more than a year. Through multiple staged readings, script revisions, and countless hours of rehearsal and conversation, My Name Is Søren Kierkegaard has grown into the production you’ll see tonight.

This weekend’s performances are the first full production; all previous presentations were staged readings. A staged reading is a unique step in the development of a new play. Actors perform with scripts in hand, while other elements are kept intentionally minimal. The focus shifts entirely to the script, allowing playwrights, artists, and audiences to discover what is working and what still needs to grow.

At New Threads Theatre Company, development doesn’t end with the first draft. Each reading informs the next revision, bringing the script one step closer to a fully realized production.

Earlier audiences imagined the world of the play.
Tonight, you get to step inside it.

The Greenhouse Festival

The Greenhouse Festival

June 6, 2025 · Chattanooga

Directed by Greg Garrison, featuring Alexander Walker and Matheson Wynnemer. New Threads, in association with Next Exit Productions, presented the play as one of three full-length plays during a four-day festival of 18 new works here in Chattanooga. The inaugural reading introduced the play’s central relationship, though the conflict between our two characters centered largely on their struggle for control.

Wedgwood Circle

Wedgwood Circle

November 13, 2025 · Franklin

The next staged reading in Franklin, TN welcomed cast members Michael Markham and Garret Replogle, alongside director Frank Mihelich, production stage manager/assistant director Alexis Marsh (who read stage directions), costumes and props mistress Martina Ferguson, and Austin Marsh, who ran technical elements. During this stage of development, the dynamic between the two characters began to shift from one of control to one centered on their relationship with each other.

Illuminate Conference

Illuminate Conference

March 23, 2026 · Collegedale

The same team reunited for two performances of a newly revised draft. During this stage, the relationship between our two characters reached the emotional and philosophical balance that defines the production.

Full Production

July 23–26, 2026 · Chattanooga

What you will experience tonight is the culmination of over a year’s worth of work. With minimal changes to the script from the previous round of development, we have all been striving to perfect this work.

What comes next? That’s up to you, our audience. Your response will help shape where this play goes next. We hope this production is only the beginning, with future performances, festivals, touring opportunities, and, perhaps one day, a New York debut. If tonight’s story moves you, we’d love to hear your thoughts and invite you to partner with us as we continue its journey.

Special Thanks

Steve Ray, Alexandra Miller-Long & the UTC Theatre ProgramJim + Christy GrauleyCollin Messer + Covenant CollegeBrenda SchwabJennifer Wilson + the Chatt State College Theatre ProgramLucas Patterson + the Illuminate ConferenceMelissa Astin + ArtsBuildThe Bryan College Hilltop PlayersNext Exit ProductionsMatheson WynnemerAlexander WalkerGreg GarrisonHolly Morse-EllingtonJason TinneyKashun ParksAustin Marsh PhotographyLuann JenningsBrian McSweenMadeline FournierAvery CheathamDrew DavidsonTallis FinchBill DavisMary McCampbellMatt Busby + Sam Youngs at Theology on TapJohn RehkopfConard BelitzKaren MarkhamColton MihelichAllison Mihelich

All of the above have contributed to the success of this project in so many ways. We couldn’t have made it to today without them!

Sponsors + Donors

Nancy BennetLucas PattersonCheryl McIntoshCarissa CravenAlbert ThrowerStacy SheltonThomas ChapelBenjamin WhetstoneChristi WilliamsJoelle HodgeKeith CoxNatalie CurroScott & Heidi WhiteBob and Susanne GreenLaura KoernerElizabeth HanceBryan and Lisa TaylorStephanie BayrootiBrenda BakerJohn Mark BrannerJohn + Edith RehkopfRon ReedMichael HoganJoshua RodriguezWalter SteebTodd AlbeeElyse BakerNicholas KramerKyle BidlackJan McClureLeah ZimmermanKevin SlayTeri Parker-LewisApril FloriaJohn HodgesJohn ShouseKatie HenryDaniel GerrollNaomi LeeErin FlynnWilliam C. TateNathan Tate

This production would not be possible without the extremely generous financial support from our donors. We literally could not complete this project without them.