“I’ve seen at least 3 dozen plays in 3 years. Make Believe is the best. Great concept, script, impossibly great acting, well researched & detailed set. GenX period but lessons for all.”

“This production was so emotionally raw and beautifully written, produced and acted. The children were wonderful and the adults did so well pulling their personalities through.”

“Make Believe was an incredible show. I didn’t pay anything for my walk-up ticket but I feel that I should have after watching it.”

“This was a beautiful production. It made me very emotional and also had me reflecting on my relationship with my own siblings. A beautiful production from start to finish. Thank you!”

Know Theatre is celebrating 20 Years in the David C. Herriman Center for Performing Arts during the premiere of the 2026/2027 Season. We interviewed Sam Reno, the scenic designer of Make Believe and long-time collaborative artist:

“The word I would use to describe this building in all of its history is “Handcrafted”. I would say that’s the base, the roots of this particular company. Not just trying to bring in exciting scripts, but scripts that wouldn’t otherwise have been given an opportunity to be produced. You know, great playwrights, from different backgrounds… playwrights that we should know.

The first set we did here at 1120 Jackson street was In the Blood by Suzan-Lori Parks. It was a play on The Scarlet Letter, a modern retelling of it. We did that entire set out of just found materials from recycling and trash… and we built it all with bare bones budgets.

Working here was instrumental as part of my development as a young scenic designer, not just to get the exposure to all these playwrights that I might not have otherwise been exposed to, but also because it really taught me about the skeleton of design and the functionality behind design… because we had much smaller budgets, it was a lot of found theatre. The question of: how do I make a successful design out of $300 and… thoughts and prayers!

Everybody at The Know shares one vision: giving unplatformed artists a stage, a voice and a real path forward.

The first play the theatre put on in this building is the epitome of that purpose. In the Blood was written by Suzan-Lori Parks, who went on to become the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The Know has always been here. To see the change in the city and downtown, from what it was to what it is now, shows a real vitality and resilience in the art scene, one that other markets of comparable size would struggle with. It’s here, it’s moving, and it’s generated a huge progress in Cincinnati’s timeline. This building is memorabilia within the geography of this city and people’s career.”

Our Producing Artistic Director, Bridget Leak, met with Jack Crumly to discuss her involvement as the Director for Make Believe by Bess Wohl. During her interview, Jack posed the question, “So that’s a very detailed set. There’s a lot going on in there. How detailed is the script in telling what they want?”

Bridget Leak answered with the following, “Well, the script is just says, “It takes place in a play attic!” And I was like, oh gosh, that’s really complicated… And when I met with our set designer, Sam Reno, who did such a beautiful job, I told her, I’m really struggling because there has to be a door. That’s pretty important. There’s this fort… How are we going to set it all up?

Then we’re at our first meeting. She’s like, “Well, I made you a model.” And I was like, brilliant.

And when I saw the model, I just thought, yes, this is what the set is. But you walk into our space, which is a 90-seat black box theater, and you turn the corner and we have built an attic. The pitch of the roof is there. It is fully detailed, fully realized. And so, Sam Reno, our set designer, essentially went to her childhood basement, grabbed all the things that her mom had saved. I mean, it’s so beautiful.

And these actors are doing such incredible work. And because we have the intimacy of our space, you are really up close. I mean, there’s no bad seat in the house. But you’re up close with these big emotions that are occurring as well, which is just beautiful to watch unfold.”