In the Spring 2013 semester we mounted Casanova by Connie Congdon in the Rand Theater. The play follows the life of Casanova through the memory of various characters. For the production I created an actor's packet that included: · A Timeline of Events – This outlines when the scenes in the play happened, the years and how old Casanova would have been · Chronology of Events – An outline of the French Revolution · Some Landmarks in the Life of Casanova – A timeline that includes major events in Casanova’s life · “The Old French Social Oder” – This outlines the causes, significant events during and the effects of the French Revolution · “The Social Hierarchy” – A brief understanding of what the social elite looked like · “Epilogue” – The translated epilogue from Casanova’s Memoirs (the sections in Italics are comments from the translator/author) · “Music and Society in the Classical Era” · “Life-Styles” – A brief look at popular culture and lifestyles in 18th century France · A Series of Essays – “Hume and Kant: Knowledge of Existence and Existence of Knowledge”; “The Meaning of Feudalism”; “Universals” – These essays outline Enlightenment thought and the thinkers of the time · “From lascivious erudition to the history of mentalities” – This is a series of essays on sexuality in the 18th Century.
I also created a PowerPoint Presentation about the 18th Century, breaking down the social hierarchy and thought through the era. Also in conjunction with the performance I arranged a pre-show talk with the playwright and Professor Harley Erdman, the playwright/adaptor for Suitors, which was presented earlier in the season. The talk was entitled "Gender in Adaptation" and was a discussion between these two writers and scholars regarding the politics and possibilities of gender in adaptation through an in-depth look at their plays Suitors and Casanova.
Attached is the program for the performance, which I designed and created using InDesign. The cover, which was also the poster, was created by a wonderful designer Rob Kimmel.
The program is not to be reproduced in any way in part or whole.
The Alchemist
In the Spring 2013 semester the UMAss Department of Theater and the Massachusetts Center for Interdisciplinary Renaissance Studies joined forces to present a staged reading of the adaptation of Ben Jonson's The Alchemist that I had been working on for the previous year. After several weeks of rehearsal our team of actors successful mounted the reading to a group of theater artists and scholars from the Five College area. Attached is the poster for the performance.
What does it mean to be truly healed? This is the central question behind Violet: The Musical. As Violet embarks on a journey to have her scar wiped away by a televangelist, she also begins a journey of emotional healing. Violet is a musical about choices. Both Flick and Violet must make the decision to either submit to the criticism and mockery of those around them for being different – Flick for being an African American soldier and Violet for being scarred – or to rise above it.
Here is the PowerPoint video presentation that I created for the cast of Violet. The presentation was designed to get the cast into the world of the play and understand the journey that Violet went on from Spruce Pine, NC to Tulsa, OK. It is accompanied by a full actor's packet.
Please DO NOT use any or all of this presentation without receiving permission first. Please contact me if you intend to use it in any way.
Hedda Gabler - Hartford Stage Company
I worked as Assistant Director and Assistant Dramaturg under Director Jennifer Tarver. Hedda Gabler follows the journey of a woman who has been confined by rigid world of late 19th century Norwegian society and desperately wants to get out - but how? Ibsen's play forces the audience to question what it means to truly live and what it means to be authentic. An interesting piece of dramaturgical research that I did was looking up the etymology of the names of the characters. This gave us an insight into what Ibsen was thinking about the true nature of the characters in the play. Here are the etymologies for Hedda Gabler, Miss Julia Tesman and Judge Brack:
HEDDA GABLER Hedda: STRIFE, STRUGGLE; derivative of Hedvig, Wedwig, Germanic Gabler: FORK IN THE ROAD/RIVER; from the German “gabel”
JULIA TESMAN Julia: DESCENDED FROM JOVE; originally Juliana, female form on Julius, Roman origin, Jove – god of sky and thunder, divine witness to oaths, sacred trust on which justice and good government depend Tesman: COMFORT, CONSOLODATION, SERVANT OF; Germanic, compound noun from “tech” and “man”
JUDGE BRACK Brack: HUNTING DOG SPECIFICALLY TAUGHT TO HUNT ONLY BY SCENT; Old French, from “brache” or “brachet”