Oleanna in Rehearsal and Tech

Oleanna by David Mamet has now entered tech/dress rehearsals at Triad Stage.

Lighting designer John Wolf intentionally evokes the look of a boxing ring because of the combative nature of the play.

Julie Allen runs the light board.

Kaylyn Lowe runs the sound board.

Ginny Lee talks to Preston Lane as Lee Spencer looks on.

Ginny Lee as Carol casts one of many dubious glances at her fellow actor playing John.

Lee Spencer as John wrangles with a telephone call. (The sound designer, David Smith, called the telephone a veritable 3rd character.)

A shot from the control booth.

"What do you want of me?"

There are many things in this play that raise tensions...

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Lee Spencer plays John.

Ginny Lee plays Carol.

Preston Lane directs.

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JOHN: ...that's my job don't you know...

CAROL: What is?
JOHN: To provoke you.

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, An Epilogue

The Paper Lantern Theatre Company of Winston-Salem organized a reading (one of over 150 readings done by theater companies all over the country) of

The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later.

The reading was done at the Twin City Stage this past Monday, October 12, 2009.

YES! Weekly also ran a review for the event which you can read here.

The 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming captured the nation's attention. A month after Matthew's death, the members of Tectonic Theater Project traveled to Laramie to record how this event affected the town. From their interviews, they wrote the play The Laramie Project, which has become one of the most performed plays in America in the last decade. The company later made the play into a film for HBO. The epilogue, Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, follows up on the tragic events of 1998 and includes the first interview with Matthew's mother, as well as the first interview with his killer. It also examines the lasting effects of such a crime on this small town in America. Tectonic Theatre has invited over 150 theaters, in all 50 states and across the globe, to participate in this one-night-only event simultaneously on October 12, the anniversary of Matthew's death.

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(All photos by Kevin Davie.)

Amy da Luz, director that night and founding member of Paper Lantern Theatre Company, introduces the play.

Drew Rush center, Business Manager of Triad Stage, and Jeff West right (a sometimes actor of ours) read from the Laramie script.

(All photos by Kevin Davie.)

Our own Preston Lane also read that night as well.

At the end of the reading Molly McGinn played a wonderfully evocative song dedicated to Matthew Shepherd entitled "Scarecrow." Though the song was orginally written by Melissa Etheridge, Molly gave it her natural grit & passion and made it sound even better.

The whole night was affirmation of how telling American stories about can affect communites and the nation. Myths were debunked and voices were heard both with heartening and disheartening clarity concerning how hate crimes tear people apart and bring them together.

Picnic Build & Rehearsals

The load-in and build for Picnic has begun. Here you can see the groundplan and carpenters working.


Source 4's at the ready.


Master Electrician Nick Hussong handling pipe.


This is a pile of sod--which will be laid down between the two houses.

During the same day, someone kindly donated a couple dozen old shoes to our costume shop and our Production Manager, Christy Wright, inspects the goods.

(OMG, shoes...)

And then the costume ladies descend... Kelsey, Sasha, Kate, & Ms. Cassstevens.

Matthew Carlson & Joe Tippett go over their scene with Preston Lane.

Joe Tippett & Matthew Carlson.

On a break from rehearsal, Matthew, Preston and Joe discuss how the 1970s produced the greatest films of American cinema.

Meg Steedle resting on the fence post during a break from rehearsal.

Meg Steedle

Chris Morris, dialect coach, watches rehearsal.

Cheryl Koski resting on the fence post during rehearsal.

Chris Morris sits as Emily Mark and Joby Strachan anticipate their entrances as school teachers.


Meg Steedle, and Cheryl Koski (who play the sisters Madge & Millie) rehearse as Beth Ritson readies for her entrance as their mother, Flo, before most of them go to the picnic.

Picnic Rehearsals Begin

On the first day of rehearsal for William Inge's Picnic, Preston explains a couple important features of the set designed by Howard Jones.

This is the second time in Triad Stage's history that we have produced a William Inge play. (The first being Bus Stop back in the fall of 2004.)

Kelsey Hunt, the costume designer, explains the overall neutral color palatte and the reasoning behind her choice.

Here is a sample of one of her renderings AND to see more you should go to the
"Closer Look" page on our website.


Cheryl Koski (playing Millie) and Beth Ritson (playing her mother, Flo) react to questions about the script during tablework.


Amy Da Luz (playing Rosemary) and Jim Crawford (playing Howard) listen to Preston explain his thoughts on their tenuous relationship.


Phillip Eggers (playing Bomber) and Cheryl Koski (playing Millie) listen to others read during tablework.

Matthew Carlson (playing Alan) and Emily Mark (playing Christine Schoenwalder) listen to others read, as well.

Joe Tippett (playing Hal) and Megh Steedle (playing Madge).

Preston on Inge: "I found in his work an authentic regional voice, a writer who places his work firmly in a specific context but reaches far beyond his small corner of Kansas toward the universal and the true."

Various pieces of Picnic on the rehearsal table including the model, an old playbill from a Picnic revival, the definitive Inge biography by Ralph Voss.

Howard Jones's scene renderings.

Visit our website for more info:

http://www.triadstage.org/

Providence Gap Reading, a picnic & more in Boone

Last week we had a reading for Providence Gap up in Boone for the Appalachian Festival, the new Preston Lane & Laurelyn Dossett collaboration that we will producing on our mainstage in June of 2010.

The playwright and the composer talk to the cast during rehearsal for the reading.

Cinny Stickland reading Levathy Lovell.

Laurelyn Dossett singing "Lady of the Mountain."

Yours truly reading the stage directions.

Laurelyn Dossett on banjo with Christine Morris and Noah Duvarney reading.

Jeff West, Katy Sink, & TJ Austin.

Josh Yoder, TJ Austin, & Lee Spencer reading Nurvel Greene, Chance Presnell, & Jackson Johnson.

Josh Yoder & Ginny Lee.

Patrons persusing the dramaturgical boards in the Valborg lobby before a performance of Oleanna.

App. Heights where we where we resided and where we had a tech picnic.

John Wolf giving some straight talk.

Boone boys who helped us with the production: Grayson, Marshall, & Jason.

Sean Dumm on the Barby!

Carrie Cook & Lee Spencer.

Emily Mails surprised, but still very cool.

Christy Wright & Ginny Lee.

Preston says, "I ain't a-goin' on no gosh darn picnic!

I'm a-goin' to do some office chair calisthenics instead."

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