Much Ado Playbill
This is a 105 minute production with no intermission. There will be scenes of mild sexuality.
The Company
Household
Leonato: Jim O'Brien
Antonia: Jennifer Daly
Hero: Rosemary Richards
Beatrice: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Friar Francis: Claire Huene
Margaret: Maggie Hatfield
Ursula: Beth Somerville
The Army
Don Pedro: George Russing
Dona Joan: Ann Chenoweth-Carr
Claudio: Christohpher McBennett
Benedick: Nicholas Tycho Reed
Messenger: Claire Huene
Conrade: Sierra Smith
Borachio: Bobby Callaway
The Watch
Dogberry: Lara Coutinho-Dean
Verges: Elizabeth Gailbreth
George Seacole: Clare Vestal
Elsebeth: Beth Somerville
Sexton: Claire Huene
Leonato: Jim O'Brien
Antonia: Jennifer Daly
Hero: Rosemary Richards
Beatrice: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Friar Francis: Claire Huene
Margaret: Maggie Hatfield
Ursula: Beth Somerville
The Army
Don Pedro: George Russing
Dona Joan: Ann Chenoweth-Carr
Claudio: Christohpher McBennett
Benedick: Nicholas Tycho Reed
Messenger: Claire Huene
Conrade: Sierra Smith
Borachio: Bobby Callaway
The Watch
Dogberry: Lara Coutinho-Dean
Verges: Elizabeth Gailbreth
George Seacole: Clare Vestal
Elsebeth: Beth Somerville
Sexton: Claire Huene
Production Team
Co-Director: Genise Thorsen
Co-Director: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Assistant Director: Nicholas Tycho Reed
Stage Manager: Christopher Blackwell
Assistant Stage Manager: Leslie Castro
Intimacy Choreographer: Tara Nicole Williams
Costume & Set Designer: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Sound Designer: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Dance Choreographer: Maggie Hatfield
Co-Director: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Assistant Director: Nicholas Tycho Reed
Stage Manager: Christopher Blackwell
Assistant Stage Manager: Leslie Castro
Intimacy Choreographer: Tara Nicole Williams
Costume & Set Designer: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Sound Designer: Rebecca Ashley Jones
Dance Choreographer: Maggie Hatfield
Message from the Director
I had both a very usual and a very unusual introduction to Shakespeare. Like most young people, my first experience with The Bard was reading the plays in my high school English classes. While it is typical in most NC high schools to read Romeo and Juliet as a 9th grader, we did not in my class. My first two Shakespeare plays were Hamlet and Macbeth my Senior year. While I really wanted to love Shakespeare, I didn't really get it at the time. However, in 2007, when I was in college, I had a friend taking a Shakespeare course for her major. She had been assigned to read Much Ado About Nothing, and wanted to watch the film of 1984 BBC production and she asked if I would like to watch it with her. So I went to her apartment, and that's when everything changed for me.
I was entranced by what I saw on that screen. If you know anything about this BBC series, the production quality is...low budget. But the acting was beautiful. Beatrice was played by British actress Cherie Lunghi; she was witty and funny and I adored her. And, most surprisingly, I found that I did not struggle to understand the text. The actors made this beautiful show come to life for me. That was the moment when I realized two things: 1) I really did love Shakespeare and 2) one day I needed to become an actor so I could play Beatrice.
Since 2007, I have seen more productions of Much Ado About Nothing than I can count. I have read essays and studied the text. I have acquired more text versions of the play than it makes since for a single person to own (7 at last count). I directed the show in my head 100 times. I fell deeper in love with Beatrice as I began to see so much of my own passion, wit, and insecurities in her. I found in her a strength that I wanted to have. She became very much a part of my identity.
I decided to begin acting in 2015. Raleigh Little Theater was producing Much Ado About Nothing, and I wanted to try. I took a class at the theater and then went to my first audition. I did not get a role in that production. But I didn't quit acting either. In 2016, I secured my first role as Julia in Shakespeare's Two 'Gentlemen' of Verona with Bare Theatre...and I haven't slowed down since. In the past three years, I've played a wide range of characters but I never stopped dreaming of Much Ado. In January of this year, I made a joke on Facebook that if I ever wanted to play Beatrice, I should just produce my own play and cast myself. I was not serious...I couldn't possibly put on a play! But several friends took it seriously and told me to do it. When Women's Theater Festival asked for proposals for their Fringe festival this summer, I thought, why not? So, when I was backstage between my scenes in Measure for Measure, I began working on my adaptation of Much Ado. By April, I was told that my play had been accepted...and then I panicked.
I had never thought about actually directing a show. I had just barely begun my acting career, how could I possibly make this show actually happen? But I had a vision and an idea and a great community of support. I asked my friend, Genise to co-direct with me and haven't looked back since. This show has been a process full of ups and downs. There have been struggles and long nights, and quite literally blood, sweat, and tears...but we've done it. This show was my vision, but it does not belong to me. It belongs to my 19 person cast and crew. It was a collaborative effort where each person brought in their strengths and feedback and support. I have a dedicated group of people who have made me proud to be part of this process. I dedicate this show to every single one of them and I hope you can see what makes this production special.
Thank you
Rebecca Ashley Jones
I was entranced by what I saw on that screen. If you know anything about this BBC series, the production quality is...low budget. But the acting was beautiful. Beatrice was played by British actress Cherie Lunghi; she was witty and funny and I adored her. And, most surprisingly, I found that I did not struggle to understand the text. The actors made this beautiful show come to life for me. That was the moment when I realized two things: 1) I really did love Shakespeare and 2) one day I needed to become an actor so I could play Beatrice.
Since 2007, I have seen more productions of Much Ado About Nothing than I can count. I have read essays and studied the text. I have acquired more text versions of the play than it makes since for a single person to own (7 at last count). I directed the show in my head 100 times. I fell deeper in love with Beatrice as I began to see so much of my own passion, wit, and insecurities in her. I found in her a strength that I wanted to have. She became very much a part of my identity.
I decided to begin acting in 2015. Raleigh Little Theater was producing Much Ado About Nothing, and I wanted to try. I took a class at the theater and then went to my first audition. I did not get a role in that production. But I didn't quit acting either. In 2016, I secured my first role as Julia in Shakespeare's Two 'Gentlemen' of Verona with Bare Theatre...and I haven't slowed down since. In the past three years, I've played a wide range of characters but I never stopped dreaming of Much Ado. In January of this year, I made a joke on Facebook that if I ever wanted to play Beatrice, I should just produce my own play and cast myself. I was not serious...I couldn't possibly put on a play! But several friends took it seriously and told me to do it. When Women's Theater Festival asked for proposals for their Fringe festival this summer, I thought, why not? So, when I was backstage between my scenes in Measure for Measure, I began working on my adaptation of Much Ado. By April, I was told that my play had been accepted...and then I panicked.
I had never thought about actually directing a show. I had just barely begun my acting career, how could I possibly make this show actually happen? But I had a vision and an idea and a great community of support. I asked my friend, Genise to co-direct with me and haven't looked back since. This show has been a process full of ups and downs. There have been struggles and long nights, and quite literally blood, sweat, and tears...but we've done it. This show was my vision, but it does not belong to me. It belongs to my 19 person cast and crew. It was a collaborative effort where each person brought in their strengths and feedback and support. I have a dedicated group of people who have made me proud to be part of this process. I dedicate this show to every single one of them and I hope you can see what makes this production special.
Thank you
Rebecca Ashley Jones
Much Ado and the Women's Theater Festival
By Rebecca Ashley Jones
Sitting here in the audience, you may wonder why a show written by a man 400 years ago has a place in the Women's Theater Festival. I have always thought that Much Ado About Nothing was Shakespeare's women's play. This show revolves around the women of this world and tells their stories. He did the unthinkable in his time and wrote a female character who was not only strong, but in fact, equal to her male counterpart. Another female character is open about her sexuality and is not condemned for it. This was not something you will find in his contemporaries. In the end, it was the men of the play who were in the wrong. Even before I got my hands on the script, it is already a strong female play.
But I wanted to amp that up even more. In the original production, the number of men in the Dramatis Personae outnumbers the women. I wanted to flip that, so several male characters became female. There were two in particular that were very important to me.
The first is the character Antonio. In the original text, Antonio is the brother of Leonato and uncle of Hero. He doesn't have much to do in the play until Act 4 and 5, but then he becomes an explosive force in the protection of his niece. As I listened to his words, I realized that he wasn't speaking like a loving uncle...he was speaking like a mother. Hero's mother is mysteriously absent from this text. She was not a character and they barely even mention her. It was important for me that Hero has a mother in this play, someone who would confront her father and let him know how foolish he was being. When Antonio became Antonia, there was very little I had to change to make this work in the text.
The second important change was the villain: Don John. We are told that John is an illegitimate brother of Prince Pedro and has tried in the past to usurp his brother's place. We are given very little reason for why John is angry and what his real motivations are. In his own words, he causes the mayhem simply because he is a "plain dealing villain." But then I thought about the world we live in and the disparity that women have to face, particularly in the workforce. What if, I thought, John was not a brother, but a sister? What if she was older, smarter, more talented? What if she wasn't illegitimate? Suddenly, this chaos caused by this character made sense. She had been overlooked because of her sex. Her silly younger brother and his comrades were promoted above her, simply because they were men. That's when John became Joan: a woman who knows she deserves more in the world than she's gotten and turns on it as a result.
Suddenly, this play became less about the misunderstandings and more about the real issues women face as a result of the patriarchal society in which they live. Each woman in this play is trying to find her own power and her own place in this world and we see the consequences of what happens when women are not believed. It becomes the women who have to support each other, to find out the truth of what happened to Hero, and to make everything right. Antonia uses the influence she has over her husband Leonato, Beatrice convinces Benedick to become an ally to the women of the play, Margaret embraces her own sexuality and becomes empowered as a result, and Hero finds an inner strength that she did not know she had in order to forge her own future.
One of the first decisions I made in this show was to shorten the title from Much Ado About Nothing to Much Ado. The conflict in this show isn't "about nothing." It is about the underlying problem in a society where women do not have the power to speak and fight for themselves. In light of the issues we are still facing in this world today in relation to sexuality and women in society, it felt insincere and wrong to keep Shakespeare's original title. Much Ado truly is Shakespeare's women's play and tells a "heavy tale" about what it really means to be a woman: both 400 years ago and today.
But I wanted to amp that up even more. In the original production, the number of men in the Dramatis Personae outnumbers the women. I wanted to flip that, so several male characters became female. There were two in particular that were very important to me.
The first is the character Antonio. In the original text, Antonio is the brother of Leonato and uncle of Hero. He doesn't have much to do in the play until Act 4 and 5, but then he becomes an explosive force in the protection of his niece. As I listened to his words, I realized that he wasn't speaking like a loving uncle...he was speaking like a mother. Hero's mother is mysteriously absent from this text. She was not a character and they barely even mention her. It was important for me that Hero has a mother in this play, someone who would confront her father and let him know how foolish he was being. When Antonio became Antonia, there was very little I had to change to make this work in the text.
The second important change was the villain: Don John. We are told that John is an illegitimate brother of Prince Pedro and has tried in the past to usurp his brother's place. We are given very little reason for why John is angry and what his real motivations are. In his own words, he causes the mayhem simply because he is a "plain dealing villain." But then I thought about the world we live in and the disparity that women have to face, particularly in the workforce. What if, I thought, John was not a brother, but a sister? What if she was older, smarter, more talented? What if she wasn't illegitimate? Suddenly, this chaos caused by this character made sense. She had been overlooked because of her sex. Her silly younger brother and his comrades were promoted above her, simply because they were men. That's when John became Joan: a woman who knows she deserves more in the world than she's gotten and turns on it as a result.
Suddenly, this play became less about the misunderstandings and more about the real issues women face as a result of the patriarchal society in which they live. Each woman in this play is trying to find her own power and her own place in this world and we see the consequences of what happens when women are not believed. It becomes the women who have to support each other, to find out the truth of what happened to Hero, and to make everything right. Antonia uses the influence she has over her husband Leonato, Beatrice convinces Benedick to become an ally to the women of the play, Margaret embraces her own sexuality and becomes empowered as a result, and Hero finds an inner strength that she did not know she had in order to forge her own future.
One of the first decisions I made in this show was to shorten the title from Much Ado About Nothing to Much Ado. The conflict in this show isn't "about nothing." It is about the underlying problem in a society where women do not have the power to speak and fight for themselves. In light of the issues we are still facing in this world today in relation to sexuality and women in society, it felt insincere and wrong to keep Shakespeare's original title. Much Ado truly is Shakespeare's women's play and tells a "heavy tale" about what it really means to be a woman: both 400 years ago and today.
Special Thanks
Sonorous Road Theater and Film Studio, International Minute Press, Meredith College Dance and Theatre Department, Michelle Murray Wells, Kim & Judson Jones, Steven Roten
Setting
Messina, Sicily
A territory of the Kingdom of Aragon
The Home of the Governor Leonato
A territory of the Kingdom of Aragon
The Home of the Governor Leonato
Summary
Leonato is the govenor in the idyllic Italian town of Messina, Sicily. Leonato shares his house with his lovely young daughter, Hero, his playful, clever niece, Beatrice, and his wife, Antonia. As the play begins, Leonato prepares to welcome some friends home from a war. The friends include Don Pedro, the young prince of Aragon (who controls the island of Sicily) who is a close friend of Leonato, and two fellow soldiers: Claudio, a well-respected young nobleman, and Benedick, a clever man who constantly makes witty jokes, often at the expense of his friends. Dona Joan, Don Pedro’s older sister, is part of the crowd as well. Dona Joan has been constantly overlooked in favor of the men of the army and this has made her bitter.
When the soldiers arrive at Leonato’s home, Claudio quickly falls in love with Hero. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice resume the war of witty insults that they have carried on with each other, hinting at a past failed relationship. Claudio and Hero pledge their love to one another and decide to be married. To pass the time in the week before the wedding, the lovers and their friends decide to play a game. They want to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall in love. Their tricks prove successful, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall secretly in love with each other.
But Dona Joan has decided to take revenge on her brother and the young solider who has taken her place. She has her companion Borachio make love to Margaret, Hero’s serving woman, at Hero’s window in the darkness of the night, and she brings Don Pedro and Claudio to watch. Believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful to him, the enraged Claudio humiliates Hero by suddenly accusing her of lechery on the day of their wedding and abandoning her at the altar. Hero’s stricken family members decide to pretend that she died suddenly of shock and grief and to hide her away while they wait for the truth about her innocence to come to light. In the aftermath of the rejection, Benedick and Beatrice finally confess their love to one another. Fortunately, the night watchmen overhear Borachio bragging about his crime. Dogberry and Verges, the heads of the local neighborhood watch, ultimately arrest both Borachio and Conrade, another of Dona Joan’s close companions. Everyone learns that Hero is really innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, grieves for her.
Leonato tells Claudio that, as punishment, he wants Claudio to tell everybody in the city how innocent Hero was. He also wants Claudio to marry Leonato’s “niece”—a girl who, he says, looks much like the dead Hero. Claudio goes to church with the others, preparing to marry the mysterious, masked woman he thinks is Hero’s cousin. When Hero reveals herself as the masked woman, Claudio is overwhelmed with joy. Although Hero forgives Claudio, they decide not to marry at this time to re-earn the trust between them. Benedick then asks Beatrice if she will marry him, and after some arguing they agree. The joyful lovers all have a merry dance before they celebrate their wedding.
When the soldiers arrive at Leonato’s home, Claudio quickly falls in love with Hero. Meanwhile, Benedick and Beatrice resume the war of witty insults that they have carried on with each other, hinting at a past failed relationship. Claudio and Hero pledge their love to one another and decide to be married. To pass the time in the week before the wedding, the lovers and their friends decide to play a game. They want to get Beatrice and Benedick, who are clearly meant for each other, to stop arguing and fall in love. Their tricks prove successful, and Beatrice and Benedick soon fall secretly in love with each other.
But Dona Joan has decided to take revenge on her brother and the young solider who has taken her place. She has her companion Borachio make love to Margaret, Hero’s serving woman, at Hero’s window in the darkness of the night, and she brings Don Pedro and Claudio to watch. Believing that he has seen Hero being unfaithful to him, the enraged Claudio humiliates Hero by suddenly accusing her of lechery on the day of their wedding and abandoning her at the altar. Hero’s stricken family members decide to pretend that she died suddenly of shock and grief and to hide her away while they wait for the truth about her innocence to come to light. In the aftermath of the rejection, Benedick and Beatrice finally confess their love to one another. Fortunately, the night watchmen overhear Borachio bragging about his crime. Dogberry and Verges, the heads of the local neighborhood watch, ultimately arrest both Borachio and Conrade, another of Dona Joan’s close companions. Everyone learns that Hero is really innocent, and Claudio, who believes she is dead, grieves for her.
Leonato tells Claudio that, as punishment, he wants Claudio to tell everybody in the city how innocent Hero was. He also wants Claudio to marry Leonato’s “niece”—a girl who, he says, looks much like the dead Hero. Claudio goes to church with the others, preparing to marry the mysterious, masked woman he thinks is Hero’s cousin. When Hero reveals herself as the masked woman, Claudio is overwhelmed with joy. Although Hero forgives Claudio, they decide not to marry at this time to re-earn the trust between them. Benedick then asks Beatrice if she will marry him, and after some arguing they agree. The joyful lovers all have a merry dance before they celebrate their wedding.
Summary adapted from SparkNotes
Meet the Company
ANN CHENOWETH-CARR (Dona Joan) is stoked to be playing a bad guy! Bad girl? Bad woman? Maybe all of you are the bad guys! Ann has previously worked with Bare Theater doing props for Timon of Athens; she directed her one-act ‘Meanwhiile’ for Sonorous Road’s 2017 Open Doors festival; and was last on stage in Bare’s Henry VI as Gloster. When not dabbling in local theater, she dabbles in writing her thoughts on film and literature on her blog, A Certain Beauty LFC.
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BETH SOMERVILLE (Ursula, 2nd Watchman) is very excited to be working with WTF on one of her favorite Shakespeare plays! Beth is a graduate of Elon University, where she studied acting and stage management. After graduation, she moved home to Portland, ME, where she continued her theater education before returning to North Carolina. NC roles include Vera, She Kills Monsters, Meg March in WTF’s Little Women, and Duke’s Secretary in RLT’s Measure for Measure. Other favorite roles include Ben Affleck, Matt and Ben; Peaches, “The Secretaries; and Peter Quince, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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BOBBY CALLAWAY (Borachio) is a theatre artist from Pennsylvania. Despite being a fairly recent transplant to the Triangle, he has found a welcoming theatre community thus far, who have made his return to the art form a whirlwind of intriguing roles, timeless (and timely) stories, and wonderful people, both onstage and in the audience. After roles in BARE Theatre’s Timon of Athens and Burning Coal’s Oakwood Cemetery series, Bobby is happy to lend his talents to WTF, and is beyond thrilled to work on one of his favorite plays with some truly spectacular talents. When not strutting the boards, Bobby can probably be found at the Alamo Drafthouse, or plotting his next written work. He would like to extend a special thanks to Rebecca for entrusting him with another Shakespearean villain, his parents for their endless patience and support, and the art of storytelling itself, which has united people for eons.
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CHRISTOPHER MCBENNETT (Claudio) is a junior local actor looking to expand his experience as a Shakespearean actor. Educated in theatre at NCSU starting in 2015, he has since begun working at a variety of different theaters in the local community. His interest in the theater encompasses both the artistic and technical aspects of theatrical production, as he has also spent time studying lighting design. He is thankful to Rebecca Jones for bringing him onboard with this excellent project, and he is excited to share a fresh new production of this classic story with the public of Raleigh. Prior credits include The Royal Family with NC State University Theatre, Measure for Measure with Raleigh Little Theatre, and Romeo and Juliet with BARE Theatre.
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CLAIRE HUENE (Friar Francis, Sexton, Messenger) is new to acting but has always loved the theater, and is proud to be a part of this year’s WTF Fringe. This is her second acting role after a small dual role in Measure for Measure at Raleigh Little Theater. She also has backstage theater experience, including most recently as a dresser for Raleigh Little Theater’s production of Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery. Ever elusive in photos of herself, her dog Maggie more than makes up for it with her adorable face.
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CLARE VESTAL (George Seacole) is excited to be participating in WTF! She has been immersed in the performing arts since she was a littlin; some of her theatre ventures include performing in RLT’s Titus Andronicus as Chiron and in the Ensemble of Cinderella. She has also performed at NCSU University Theatre as a soloist in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and a featured dancer in Chicago. Most recently she has appeared as the Narrator from the Tell-Tale Heart in Sonorous Road’s Strange City of Edgar Allan Poe. She loves to sing, and is a member of the Concert Singers of Cary. In my spare time I enjoy dancing with The Dancer’s Workout, and doting over my sweet kitties. Pitter patter to her loved ones for their love and support!
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ELIZABETH GALBRAITH (Verges) is happy to be working with WTF again! It’s hard to believe she moved back to her hometown, Raleigh, after Graduating from Appalachian State University a little over a year ago. Recent credits include Allison/Figment/Juliet/Annalieigh/Francine in Burning Coal’s Kids Write Festival, Athenian Trio 1 in Timon of Athens (Bare Theatre), Spotted Elephant in Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Annie in The Adventures of Peter Rabbit (Theatre Raleigh), Laura in The Goblin Market (WTF), and Diamond Lil for Tweetsie Railroad’s 2017 Season. Thank you Rebecca for giving me the chance to be involved with such an amazing cast!
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GEORGE RUSSING (Don Pedro, Prince of Aragon) is pleased to be a performing in the Women’s Theater Festival. George was last seen in the Oakwood Cemetery Series. He would like to thank his sister, mother, and father for their consistent support. George solidified his passion for acting while attending a summer with Julliard in Geneva, and the UNCSA Drama Intensive. This fall he will leave Raleigh to attend The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. George receives voice training from Dr. Dan Collins. George has appeared on stage in Measure for Measure, Patience, Into the Woods, Jr., Oliver, The Member of the Wedding, Beanstalk! the Musical!, Peter Pan and Wendy: The Tour, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and Bloom.
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JENNIFER DALY (Antonia) started acting at age 10, as Noah in her church production of 100% Chance of Rain. She became Drama club president in high school, and was awarded the "Most Promising Theatre Student". She went on to minor in Theatre Arts at SUNY, New Paltz. Jennifer performed in The Vagina Monologues at NRACT in February, Open Doors at Sonorous Road Theatre in August, and Mama Won’t Fly at StageworksBio. Before that she played Violet Newstead in Granville Little Theatre's production of 9 to 5 the Musical. At the same time, she was busy directing 50 elementary students in Youngsville Elementary School's drama club production of Seussical the Musical, Jr. Before that she was in Henderson Rec Players' production of Fiddler on the Roof where she played Golde. She was also Chelsea in On Golden Pond, Old Sally in Oliver!, Frau Schmidt in The Sound of Music, Frau Gloop in Willy Wonka, and Olive in The Odd Couple (female version). Other notable performances include Hamlet, in I Hate Shakespeare, Miss Maudie in To Kill a Mockingbird, Penny in You Can't Take it with You, Mrs. Mae Peterson in Bye, Bye Birdie, Ousier in Steel Magnolias, Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing, and Sister Robert Anne in Nuncrackers.
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JIM O’BRIEN (Leonato) is delighted to join this terrific cast while bringing Leonato back to life having had the privilege of playing him four years ago at RLT. Recent appearances include Caroline or Change at Justice Theatre Project, Art of Murder with the Towne Players of Garner, Deathtrap with Stage Works in Holly Springs, Measure for Measure at Raleigh Little Theatre, Stuff Happens at Burning Coal, 1776 the Musical at Temple Theatre in Sanford, Oliver! with Justice Theatre Project and Plaza Suite with the Cary Players.
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LARA COUTINHO-DEAN (Dogberry) is thrilled to join the Triangle theater community for the first time in a dream role! After 19 years of performing and teaching 16th century Italian Commedia dell' Arte, the opportunity to play a gender switched Shakespeare clown is a gift! Thank you WTF! Credits include creating three ongoing commedia troupes: i Scandali, i Firenzi, and Commedia All Stars, co-founding the Pennsic Commedia Community, co-writing Compleat Anachronist issue #173 "Bringing Sixteenth Century Commedia To Life", and somewhere over 200 performances. While she loves directing and producing, she is grateful for the opportunity to just revel in the joy of acting! Special thanks to Director Rebecca for her trust and Laura Parker for guidance on how to audition! To learn about commedia, visit www.ifirenzi.com and friend me on Facebook!
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MAGGIE HATFIELD (Margaret/Dance Choreographer) is thrilled to be joining the WTF Fringe for the very first time! A recent member of the Raleigh theatre community, Maggie’s most recent ventures include Pride and Prejudice at Virginia Stage Company, and The Tempest with the Virginia Shakespeare Festival Guild and the Jamestown Settlement. Other credits include her performances at Longwood University, where she received a degree in Theatre: Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Annie in Evil Dead: the Musical, and Hedda Tesman in Hedda Gabler, a performance which received an Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Nomination by the American College Theatre Association.
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NICHOLAS TYCHO REED (Benedick/Assistant Director) was last seen in Timon of Athens with Bare Theatre. He began acting in 2012 and fell in love with acting. He obtained his BA from UNCW, wrote a short film that won est short at the Tryon International Film Festival, and has directed two shows in Wilmington, NC. He came to Raleigh in 2017 and has been blown away by the variety of theatre in the triangle. He is excited to be Benedick for the show, but is even more thrilled to be working with a great cast and crew.
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REBECCA ASHLEY JONES (Beatrice/Co-Director) is thrilled to be back with WTF! A high school teacher by day, she's been seen most recently in Bare Theatre's Timon of Athens (Servillius, Caphis, Timandra) and Raleigh Little Theater’s Measure for Measure (Kate Keepdown). Other credits include Gift of the Magi with Sonorous Road (Flapper), Arsenic and Old Lace with Forest Moon (Dr. Einstein), and Two "Gentlemen" of Verona with Bare Theatre (Julia). This play is a dream come true to her and she is grateful for the opportunity to tell this story. Thanks (and apologies) to everyone who had to hear me ramble about this for years and thanks to her wonderful cast who are making her dream a reality. Praise to the One who makes all of this possible. Rmns 8:28
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ROSEMARY RICHARDS (Hero) is excited to be a part of this amazing show! She graduated from William Peace University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. Some of her favorite roles while attending Peace are The Narrator in Joseph...Dreamcoat, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing. Other credits include Boy in Cape Fear Regional Theatre's Henry V, Isabella in Raleigh Little Theatre's production of Measure for Measure, and, most recently, Jenny in VGCC’s Company. She would like to thank her family and friends for their constant love and support.
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SIERRA NICOLE (Conrade) is excited to be in her third production with WTF! She studied acting in Greensboro College and since has been seen in previous productions which include The Wolves (Sonorous Road); Little Women (Sonorous Road); Wicket Hall Lane (Women’s Theater Festival); and Fiction (Greensboro College). During her spare time, she enjoys creating music and studying film. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with this amazing talented cast!
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Meet the Production Team
CHRISTOPHER BLACKWELL (Stage Manager) is just this guy, you know? A clown both on and off-stage, he studies an eclectic combination of comedic theatre arts and enjoys supporting his friends in our theatrical community. If you don’t catch him elsewhere during the Festival, you’ll also find him reading as William in Imogen Says Nothing. Recent credits include Barnardine in Measure for Measure, Maxwell in Sonorous Road’s House of the Fury, and far too many backstage volunteer roles to list here. Come see him in Little Green Pig’s Heads Will Roll in September!
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LESILE CASTRO (Assistant Stage Manager) is pleased to be joining Women’s Theatre Festival once again! She is a recent graduate of Meredith College and holds a B.A. in Theatre, and will soon be relocating to Washington, D.C. for a professional fellowship with Shakespeare Theatre Company. Previous work with Women’s Theatre Festival: Crumble (Lay Me Down, Justin Timberlake) (Stage Manager), Space Girl (Stage Manager), and The Amazing Cunt and Little Bitch Take Raleigh (Fight Choreographer).
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GENISE THORSEN (Co-Director) is back in the theatre after a long hiatus. She grew up in the theatre and has had a deep love for all things dramatic. Her love of theatre led her to pursue a degree in dramatic productions. Her credits include: The Long Christmas Dinner (director, costume designer, set designer, and lighting designer), Christmas Memories (lighting designer), And Then There Were None (lighting designer), and Wait Until Dark (lighting designer). I am thankful for this opportunity to rekindle my affair with my one true love, the theatre.
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TARA NICOLE WILLIAMS (Intimacy Choreographer) is an actor, educator, and combat artist who has spent the last 10 years training with the Society of American Fight Directors. She is currently pursuing her intimacy training with Intimacy Directors International. Recent choreography credits: The Legend of Georgia McBride (Honest Pint Theatre), Timon of Athens (Bare Theatre), Julius Caesar (William Peace University), Bad Roads (Duke University), Carmen (NC Opera), The Miracle Worker (Seed Art Share), and She Kills Monsters (Meredith College). Learn more about her work at taranicolewilliams.com
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