theatre south carolina presents
Directed by Neal Easterling
Drayton Hall Theatre
November 14-23, 2008
Special Thanks
to the members of
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Richard and Rory Ackerman
Dr. Mary C. Anderson
Sarah Baxter
Dr. Sally Boyd
Hal and Lois Brunton
Mary Ann Byrnes
Roger and Pat Coate
Thorne Compton
Carolyn Conway
David and Sandy Cowen
Missie and Dick Day
Les and Gail Dickert
Mary Ellen Doyle
Ron Dunn
Robert and Judith Felix
Ginny and Phil Grose
John F. Hamilton
John and Lucrecia Herr
William Hogue
Jim Hunter
Carol McGinnis Kay
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Marjorie and Bob Milling
Kevin O’Bryant
Bernard Oniwe
George and Carolyn Reeves
Willard Renner
Dr. Hunter and Nancy Rentz
Jim and Jackie Robey
Professor John Safko
Dr. and Mrs. Jaime L. Sanyer
William C. Schmidt
Kim Sexton
Elizabeth Simmons
Barbara and Wally Strong
Steve Valder
Isabel Vandervelde
Lee Waters
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FROM THE CHAIR
Jim Hunter
Like almost everyone, the current economic downturn
is presenting the Department of Theatre and Dance with
considerable financial challenges. Thankfully, working together, our students, faculty, staff, university administrators,
and the public have laid a solid foundation of sustained
achievement for theatre and dance at Carolina.
Our program is known for our talented, active faculty,
relevant curriculum, increased national and international
achievement, and a motivated, high-caliber student body.
One of the real rewards of teaching in our department is interacting with the
exceptional people attracted to our program, both internally and with our
external partners. As we make the inevitable adjustments to our program
required by the downturn, we know we can count on this foundation to ensure
that the excellent educational experience we provide our students remains
intact, sharply focused on artistic and scholarly work of ever-increasing
quality.
For the past 39 years this department has endeavored to provide South Carolina
with artists and thinkers capable of innovation and skilled expression. Our
students and faculty are passionate about how they explore the world and want
nothing less than to serve as a catalyst for positive change. Make no mistake,
whether you are a community patron, graduate student, undergraduate major,
general Carolina student, faculty, staff, or university administrator - you have
been, and will be continue to be, critical to our success.
Jim Hunter
Chair and Artistic Director
presents
Director Scenic Design
Lighting Design
Costume Design
Sound Design
Production Stage Manager
Neal Easterling
Carl Hamilton
Ian DelDuca
Vanessa Streeter
Walter Clissen
Zach Kennedy
CAST
Japanese Businessman/Nell/
May/Margaret
LaToya Codner
Mrs. Hassett/Becky/Alice/Ivy
Katie Krueger
Boy/Angela/Deb/Mrs. Finch
Val/Ghost
Shirley/Shona/Miss Cade Mavis
Wilson/Frank/Mr. Tewson/Geoffrey
Mallory Morris
Sonya Thompson
Lin Ying
Todd Zimbelman
There will be no intermission. Running time is
approximately 1 1/2 hours.
First American Production of “Fen” by New York Shakespeare Festival,
Produced by Joe Papp. Original Production by Joint Stock Theatre Group, London.
The theatre programs of the USC Department of Theatre and Dance are accredited by the
National Association of Schools of Theatre. The Department is a member of the University/
Resident Theatre Association and is affiliated with the Shakespeare Theatre of Washington, DC
and the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.
FROM THE DIRECTOR
Neal Easterling
Bankruptcy. Mortgage Crisis. Economic Downturn.
Wage Loses. Rising Prices. Job Loses. Foreclosure.
These are phrases and terms that seem to be constantly
repeated in the news these days. We talk about what is
going on economically in this country with an almost
clinical detachment. What it means for the average
person is somewhat more tangible and frightening.
What does a person do when faced with the prospect of
losing the home that they have worked their entire life
to be able to afford? How do they face their children when coming home
from their last day of work? Or having to choose between putting gas in the
car or paying the rent? Or in the worse cases, watching their children eat
while going hungry themselves because they do not earn enough to feed
everyone? Now imagine having to deal with all of that generation after
generation for almost 400 years!
When Caryl Churchill and Les Waters were developing this play, they wanted
to show how this sort of social and economic environment, which had been
happening in East Anglia since the Fens were drained in 1630, affected the
farm workers of the area, most especially the women who made up the brunt
of the work force. These people had been separated from the economic and
political means to change their situation for all of living memory. How does
someone cope in a situation where the world seems to be against them,
where all they have to look forward to the next day is the grueling, repetitive
work they did the day before, and where nothing they do seems to change
the situation? What desperate means will they employ to alleviate their
frustration? To what lengths will they go to escape the hardships, to find
happiness, to feel the vibrancy of being alive, to change something, anything,
in order to know that the world is somehow different because they exist?
What would you do?
Neal Easterling
Third Year MFA
Directing Candidate
Mallory Morris
Boy/Angela/Deb/
Mrs. Finch
CAST
LaToya Codner
Japanese Businessman/
Nell/May/Margaret
Mallory Morris is a
senior at USC and
thrilled to be the only
undergraduate in this challenging
LaToya Codner is in show! She last appeared on stage
her first year of the earlier this semester in the Lab TheUniversity of South atre’s Production of Clowns. Favorite
Carolina MFA Acting credits include: A Cabal of Hypoprogram. She has recently earned crites as the Masked Women/Damis,
her Bachelor of Arts in Theater with a No Exit as Inez, By the Sea as Dana,
concentration in acting from Buffalo all at USC. Mallory is also a memState College in NY. This is the first ber of Armed Chair Productions at
main stage production she has had Trustus Theatre where she has been
the pleasure of working on at USC. active in various roles both on and
Her last production was directed by off stage. Mallory also enjoys stage
two time Tony award nominee An- managing (most recently Noises Off),
dre DeShields, in the musical Hair. serving as president of USC underShe played one of the Supremes and graduate theatre group, Green Room
a tribe member. She is very excit- Productions, and will be directing
ed to continue her creative journey Kid Simple in the Lab Theatre this
through theater at USC.
Spring for her senior thesis. Mallory
spent the summer training in physical approaches to acting with Robyn
Hunt, Steve Pearson and Peter Kyle
Katie Krueger
in Columbia and NYC thanks to a
Mrs. Hassett/Becky/
generous grant from the SC Honors
Alice/Ivy
College. She would like to thank all
of her friends and her family for their
Katie Krueger is a first constant support. Special thanks go
year MFA graduate act- to her mom and dad for always being candidate. She was lieving in me, Neal for this opporborn and raised in San Francisco, CA tunity and reminding me to breathe,
(4th generation) and is an avid base- Robyn Hunt for her guidance and
ball fan. She received her BA in Per- wisdom, Vix for coming to everyforming Arts: Theatre at Saint Mary’s thing, and Alex for all his love. College in Moraga, CA. There she
earned the Louis LeFevre Award for
Outstanding Scholarship in her maSonya Thompson
jor. Past roles include Juliet in Good
Val/Ghost
Night Desdemona, Good Morning
Juliet, Charlotte in Tennessee WilSonya is a first year
liams’ Night of The Iguana, and Nydia
MFA acting candidate
in the all-women cast of Cry Havoc.
originally from the San
She has also dabbled in independent
Francisco Bay Area.
film and voiceover work. Katie is a
Her production credits
proud member of Theatre Bay Area include The Laramie Project, A Mid(www.theatrebayarea.org).
summer Night’s Dream, and Book
of Days, among others. She is lucky
enough to have worked in produc-
tions of several new works as well.
Favorite roles include Lydia in Big
Love, and Becca in Trust. This will
be her first performance at the University of South Carolina. She has
trained with American Conservatory Theatre and foolsFURY in San
Francisco. She received her B.A. in
Theatre from Cornell College, in Mt,
Vernon, Iowa.
Lin Ying
Shirley/Shona/Miss
Cade Mavis
Lin Ying is a first year
acting graduate student from China. Previous roles she played in
productions of Peking University Institute of World Film and Theatre include: Ariel in The Tempest, Medusa
in Medusa’s Tale, Damis in Tartuffe,
Yente in Fiddler of the Roof, Muriel
in Ah, Wilderness!, and Cigolotti
in The King Stag.
Todd Zimbelman
W i l s o n / F r a n k / M r.
Tewson/Geoffrey
Todd has been acting
for the last ten years
and recently decided
to return to school and attain his MFA
degree. He started his training in
New York at Terry Schreiber Studios,
where his passion for performing
was solidified. Later, he left his corporate job to obtain his undergraduate degree in Theatre. Todd achieved
his BA (Summa Cum Laude) from
the University of Nebraska. Todd is
a firm believer that the only way to
get ahead is to take action; without
action there is no reaction.
ARTISTIC COMPANY
Jim Hunter
Artistic Director of
Theatre South Carolina and Department
Chair
Jim’s scene and lighting designs have been
seen at such theatres as Arkansas
Rep, Charlotte Rep, Playhouse on the
Square, Drury Lane Theatre, Theatre
Virginia, the World Stage Exposition
in Toronto, Heritage Rep, LaMama in
NYC, The Flat Rock Playhouse, the
Veggie Tales Live! National Tour, Wall
Street Danceworks and others. Recent
designs include the lighting design
for The Lost Colony this May and the
scene design for Thoroughly Modern
Millie at Phoenix Theatre in Arizona,
for which he was awarded his second
consecutive AriZoni Award for Excellence in Scene Design. Jim is a member of the national designers union,
United Scenic Artists, Local 829 in
scene and lighting design. Recent
national service activities include the
Commission for Accreditation with
the National Association of Schools
of Theatre and as a mentor for the
Association for Theatre in Higher Education’s Leadership Institute. Visit his
website at www.jimhunterdesigns.com.
Neal Easterling
Director
Directing credits include: Cat’s-Paw and
A Christmas Carol, Virginia Stage Company;
The Jewish Wife and
Batter the Doom Drum, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; The
Tempest, The Real Inspector Hound,
Standing on My Knees, Winners, and
Deflores, Theatre South Carolina;
Song of Survival, The Women, and
The Imaginary Invalid, Stagedoor
Manor; and Hamlet, Hampton Roads
Shakespeare Festival. His production of Goodly Creatures with Virginia Stage Company was touted by
The Virginian-Pilot as “…one of the
all-around finest shows to hit Hampton Roads in ages.” Neal is a third
year MFA Directing Candidate at the
University of South Carolina.
Sarah Barker
Movement Coach
Sarah is a nationally
recognized leader in
movement training for
actors and is an internationally known
expert in the Alexander Technique.
Her book, The Alexander Technique,
has been distributed worldwide and
has been translated into French, Japanese, Portuguese, and German. It
has been used as a standard text in
many theatre training programs. She
coaches and choreographs movement professionally for companies including Shakespeare and Company,
St. Louis Repertory and Three Rivers
Shakespeare Festival. She has been
a member of the training and artistic
staff of Shakespeare and Company
(Lenox, MA) since 1986. Nationally
she is a board member for Alexander
Technique International and is pastpresident of the Association of Theatre Movement Educators. She has
also been chair of the Survival Task
Force for the Association of Theatre
in Higher Education Advocacy Committee and board member of the
University/Resident Theatre Association. Sarah Barker has also acted
professionally, principally at the Theatre Project Company, St. Louis, in
roles including Kath in Entertaining
Mr. Sloan, Ophelia in Hamlet , Carol
Cutrere in Orpheus Descending and
Honey in Leny Bruce. Occasionally
she performs for Theatre South Caro-
lina, most recently playing Cynthia
in The Real Inspector Hound.
Walter Clissen
Sound Designer
Walter has 25+ years
of experience in all
aspects of the audio
world. He received
his BFA/MFA from the Higher Institute of Theatre and Culture Spreading in Brussels, Europe. Born in Belgium and working in venues all over
Europe, he moved to Los Angeles,
CA in 1988. His sound designs include work for the L.A.’s Center for
Bilingual Arts, The National Flanders
Opera in Belgium, where he resided
2001-2003, PCPA Theaterfest in Santa Maria and Solvang, CA, and the
Arizona Repertory Theatre in Tucson,
AZ. He taught several audio courses,
workshops and lectures in Europe, at
UCLA, at the Pacific Conservatory of
Performing Arts in Santa Maria, CA,
and at the University of Arizona in
Tucson, AZ. For the last three years
he’s been producing an opera project with Austrian Opera singer Arno
Raunig and just finished a theatre/
opera production by Subsonic Sonar
called Emerald Green Vortex
scheduled for release in 2008.
Ian Del Duca
Lighting Designer
Ian is a 3rd year Lighting design MFA candidate and pleased to be
part of another Theatre
South Carolina Production. In addition to his designs for Theatre South
Carolina’s productions of As You
Like It and Noises Off he has previously been involved with USC’s Lab
Theater, designing lights for Fuddy
Meers, Twelfth Night and On the
Verge. Many thanks to everyone who
has helped to make this production
both possible and pleasant: Jennifer
Nelson, Jim Hunter, Nic Ularu, Lisa
Martin-Stuart, Stephen and Patricia
Del Duca, and Matt.
Sandra Dietel
Assistant Director
Sandra is a graduate
student in the Master
of Arts in Teaching Theatre program at USC.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology
from the University of Florida. Prior
to entering graduate school, Sandra
served for six years as the Assistant
Director of Education at the Hippodrome State Theatre. At USC, Sandra has worked on several productions, appeared in Standing On My
Knees and Fefu and Her Friends, and
created Translations in Ten, an outreach program that brings together
area high school students and USC
theatre students to create original
theatrical work. Sandra would like
to thank Neal for giving her the opportunity to work on this thoughtful
production, and the USC theatre faculty for teaching her well.
Sam Gross
Assistant Technical Director
Sam Gross is a graduate of Indiana University where he earned
an MFA in Theatre
Technology. He specializes in mechanized scenery, computer-controlled
systems, electronics, set construction, and rigging. He has designed
and built motion control systems
for such productions as The Real
Thing, Sweeny Todd, Romeo and Juliet, Sweet Charity, Dracula, and Pal
Joey. He has overseen the construction of USC productions since 2005.
Mr. Gross received his Bachelor of
Science degree from the University
of North Alabama where he also
worked as a sound designer, lighting
designer, sound engineer, carpenter,
and actor. In his position as Assistant
Technical Director, Sam supervises
graduate and undergraduate students in the construction of scenery and props for USC Theatre and
Dance productions.
Carl Hamilton
Set Designer
Carl Hamilton is a 3rd
Year MFA scenic design candidate studying under Nic Ularu at
the University of South
Carolina. His most recent work was
scenic design for A Cabal of Hypocrites at Drayton Hall and The
Cherry Orchard Sequel at La Mama
Theatre in NYC. He assisted Nic
Ularu on The Divine Comedy, choreographed by Miriam Barbosa and
Imminence directed by Paul Zimmet
at La Mama Theatre. His previous
design credits at USC include scenic
designs for The Pillowman and Oh!
What a Lovely War in 2007, as well
as Othello at Western Michigan University, (KCACTF finalist performed
at the Kennedy Center in 2005).
M. Spencer Henderson
Costume Studio Supervisor
M. Spencer Henderson is a graduate of
the University of North
Carolina at Chapel
Hill where he received an MFA in
Costume Shop Management and
Costume Technology. He received
his BA in theatre from Florida State
University. His costuming credits include Playmakers Repertory
Company, The Utah Shakespearean
Festival, and Stages St. Louis. Most
recently he spent the summer at
Glimmerglass Opera as the Costume
Administrator. Spencer supervises
the USC costume shop, assists with
the patternmaking and construction
of costumes, and teaches costume
construction classes.
Zach Kennedy
Production Stage Manager
Zach Kennedy is a junior at USC. Recent
credits: Assistant Stage
Manager on the Off-Broadway Production The Cherry Orchard Sequel,
LaMaMa/ Uniarts Company; ASM
for Marriage of Figaro, Palmetto Opera Company; Production Manager
for Little Tin Gods, University Arts
Council; Production Stage Manager
for Fiddler on the Roof, Workshop
Theatre of South Carolina. At USC:
This Lime Tree Bower (ASM); Twelfth
Night (SM); As You Like It (ASM); Oh
What A Lovely War (Production SM);
Romeo & Juliet and The Tempest
(Production Manager); and A Cabal
of Hypocrites (Production SM). Before USC, Zach was a resident Stage
Manager for In the Wings Production Company. Zach also directed
Scrooooge!!! for Trinity Collegiate
School as a Senior. He is ecstatic to
work with so many great people and
hopes to have the chance to work
with them in the future.
Lisa Martin-Stuart
Costume Design Advisor
Lisa’s
professional
credits include costume designs for regional and national
touring theatres (Hippodrome State
Theatre, Asolo State Theatre, Aquila
Theatre Company of London) and
film (Ulee’s Gold). She continues to
work with Mad Monkey Productions
as wardrobe stylist.
Jeni Miller
Assistant Stage Manager/Fight Captain
Jeni is a junior at USC
and is excited to be
working on Fen this
year. She has previously assistant
stage-managed A Cabal of Hypocrites and stage-managed This Close!
and Molly Whuppie: An Irish Folk
Tale. Jeni has also worked on Mr.
Marmalade and the collaborative
outreach project Translations in Ten:
Breaking Out of the Box. Recent
acting credits for Jeni include Words,
Words, Words (Kafka) and No Exit
(Estelle) in Benson Theatre and an
ensemble member in Molly Whuppie: An Irish Folk Tale. She would
like to thank her professors for all of
their guidance in the last year; and
her family, friends, and especially
Esteban for their continual love and
support.
Andy Mills
Technical Director
Andy has designed
professionally
at
Shakespeare
Theatre’s Young Company
( Wa s h i n g t o n , D C , )
Charlotte
Repertory
Theatre, Carolina Opera, USC Opera, and Trustus. His most recent
work was Dogs, The Musical at Piccolo Spoleto. Andy currently teaches
Intro to Theatre Design and Theatre
Laboratory. He specializes in the
area of properties, finding or building the most obscure of items. Andy
is a Member of USITT.
Guy William Molnar
Text/Vocal Coach
Guy is honored to return to the USC Department of Theatre,
where he received his
MFA in 2001. Here at
USC he was Benedick in Much Ado,
Bernard in Arcadia, and Governor
Philip/Wisehammer in Our Country’s Good, among other roles. Since
then he has acted and/or directed at
the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., the Arizona Theatre Company, Michigan Ensemble Theatre,
Riverside Shakespeare, Interlochen
Center for the Arts, FSU School of
Theatre, and the Utah Shakespearean
Festival, among others; recent roles
have included Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Judge Turpin in Sweeney
Todd, Larkin in Six Degrees of Separation, and Dr. Carrasco in Man of
La Mancha. He is a Designated Linklater Voice Teacher, and has taught
acting, voice, and Shakespeare at
Florida State University, the North
Carolina School of the Arts, Webster
University, and Interlochen. He has
presented workshops on voice and
acting in Shakespeare around the
country. A musician as well as an actor and director, he holds a Master of
Music degree in Piano Performance
in addition to his MFA in acting. He
is a proud member of Actors’ Equity
Association.
Jim O’Connor
Directing Advisor
Jim has directed at numerous regional theatres, such as Repertory Theatre of St. Louis,
the Alley Theatre in Houston, Stage
West in Massachusetts, the Walnut
Street Theatre in Philadelphia, and
the Wisdom Bridge and Northlight
Theatres in Chicago. He has also directed for the Tony Award-winning
Utah Shakespearean Festival on numerous occasions as well as the Great
Lakes Shakespeare Festival. He received
the Cleveland Critics Circle Award and
was nominated for Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award for Directing. He created
and headed the MFA program at Purdue University where he also served as
Chair and Artistic Director for ten years.
He served two terms as the President of
the University/Resident Theatre Association, and has been elected the president-elect of the prestigious National
Theatre Conference.
Jim received the Distinguished Alumni
Award from the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State University in
1999. He Chaired and served as the Artistic Director of Theatre South Carolina
from 1997 until returning to the faculty
full time in 2004. Jim has an intensive
background in the visual arts and brings
this, as well as his focus on theatrical
forms, to bear on his teaching.
Steven Pearson
On Campus Directing
Advisor
Professor Pearson has
acted and directed professionally in the US, Japan,
Canada and Europe. A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University with degrees
in acting and directing, and a 10-year
student of Tadashi Suzuki, Professor
Pearson was head of the Professional
Actor Training Program at the University of Washington from 1992 to 2003,
and previously taught in and headed
the acting program at the University of
California, San Diego. He is an Artistic Director of the Pacific Performance
Project, and recent professional work
includes directing at On the Boards in
Seattle, LaMaMa in New York, in Sibiu,
Romania, in Chicago and Minneapolis;
and acting in Seattle and Kyoto, Japan.
Valerie Pruett
Hair/Wig/Makeup
Design
Valerie is the instructor
and designer for hair and
makeup at Theatre South
Carolina. She started out in professional
theatre as a makeup and hair artist for
such outdoor pageants as Tecumseh!
and Unto These Hills. After paying her
dues with the outdoor circuit Valerie
went on to work and sub-contract with
several regional theaters including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, American
Players’ Theatre, Utah Shakespearean
Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Hippodrome, New American Theatre, Heritage Repertory Theatre and most recently the American Folklore Theatre.
Before returning to USC, Valerie was a
guest instructor and artist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Professional Theatre Training Program and at
Lawrence University in Appleton, WI.
She is a registered artist with the SC
Film Commission and the makeup artist for the Addy Award-winning media
company, Mad Monkey.
Vanessa Streeter
Costume Designer
Vanessa Streeter is a 3rd
year MFA Costume Design
candidate designing her
final show here at USC.
She has previously designed costumes
for the following USC productions: A
Cabal of Hypocrites, Noises Off, Twelfth
Night and On the Verge, as well as hair
and makeup for: Romeo and Juliet and
The Tempest. She had the privilege of
working as hair and makeup staff at the
Santa Fe Opera this past summer and
has designed costumes for the following theatres before arriving at USC: Hot
Summer Nights at the Kennedy, Burning
Coal Theatre Co., Applause! Youth Theatre, and Actor’s Comedy Lab. Thanks to
the cast and crew for making this final
production such a wonderful one!
K. Dale White
Stage Management Advisor
K. Dale is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.
His credits include:
Virginia Scenic, Virginia Opera, NY
Shakespeare Festival, The Berkshire
Theatre Festival, Shakespeare and
Company, Bay Street Theatre Festival, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, Cambridge Theatre
Company, The American Repertory
Theatre, Emerson Stage, Chamber
Theatre Productions, Boston Early
Music Festival, The Lyric Stage, Boston Lyric Opera, Available Light, St.
Louis Symphony, Opera Theatre St.
Louis, Theatre Project Company, the
Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, The
Alley Theatre, STAGES, and the Alaska Repertory Theatre. He has taught
at Emerson College, Old Dominion
University, Simon’s Rock College of
Bard. K. Dale received his BFA from
Webster University, St. Louis, MO.
Danielle Wilson
Assistant Technical Director
Danielle holds a BA in
theater from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and an MFA in
lighting design from the University of
South Carolina. In her present position she supervises graduate lighting
designers, instructs undergraduates,
and manages the daily operations in
the lighting and sound areas. Danielle
also works as a freelance lighting designer. Her designs have been seen on
the stages of Theater South Carolina,
Texas Repertory Theater, Shakespeare
Theater New Jersey, and the North
Carolina Blumenthal’s Spirit Square,
among others. She has also worked
with dance companies including the
USC Dance Company, The Joffrey
Ballet, the Royal Ballet School, and
the Augusta Ballet.
About the playwright
Caryl Churchill is regarded as a leading playwright
both in her home country of England and abroad,
known for her use of non-naturalistic theatrical
devices and an unwavering dedication to the
exploration of issues of sexual/gender politics and
socialist theory. Born in 1938, she studied at Oxford,
where she wrote her first play, 1958’s Downstairs.
She wrote BBC radio plays in the early 1960s, and
in 1972 saw the Royal Court Theatre premiere of her
first professional stage production, Owners. Her collaborations with theatre
groups such as “Joint Stock” and “Monstrous Regiment” in the 1970s and
1980s propelled her work into ever more experimental zones, producing the
influential plays Cloud Nine (1979), Top Girls (1982) and Fen (1983), among
many others. Churchill’s most recent work is Drunk Enough to Say I Love You,
first produced in 2006 and staged at NY’s Public Theatre in early 2008. She is
the recipient of multiple Obie awards and an Olivier Award.
The fens
The Fenland,
also known as “the
fens,” is a low-lying geographic region
comprising approximately 1500 square
miles of eastern England, known
primarily as an agricultural region.
Much of the Fenland originally consisted
england
of fresh or saltwater wetlands which
Boston
were artificially drained, and continue
to be protected from floods by drainage
Cambridge
banks and pumps. Today the economy
of the fens is heavily invested in the
production of crops such as grains,
London
vegetables and some cash crops such
as rapeseed or canola. An estimated
4,000 farms employ roughly 27,000
people in both full and seasonal jobs to produce: 37% of all vegetables
grown in the open, 24% of all potatoes grown in the UK, 17% of the UK’s
sugar beet crop, 38% of all bulbs and flowers grown in the open, and 250
million loaves of bread from the wheat grown.
Source: Wikipedia
Fenwomen
Caryl Churchill’s Fen was inspired by Mary Chamberlain’s 1975 book,
Fenwomen, a largely oral history of life on the fens, featuring interviews
with women of all generations living and working in the village of Gislea.
Below are excerpts of Chamberlain’s description of the village and its
inhabitants:
On fen life in the Victorian era:
...while the men were agitating for a living wage, the women
were continuing their unsung battle to keep a home together
and starvation at bay: as well as, in most cases, working on the
land. Though the harsh conditions for the farm labourer raised
the political consciousness of the men, it coincided with the rise of
industrialisation and a resulting change of attitude towards the
nature and value of work. The demands of the new capitalism
which largely as a result of enclosures destroyed many of the
small farmers in the rural areas, took men’s labour beyond their
control and placed upon it an economic value, at the same time
downgrading the value of a woman’s work. Though the nature of
the country had not changed, the social emphasis placed on it had.
The value of a man’s labour was determined in economic terms, the
value of a woman’s in the way she carried out uncomplainingly her
‘duty.’ However, the poor wage which most labourers could earn
forced their wives to sell their labour too, and continue working in
the fields. In Victorian eyes, this was anathema for it gave women
an independence and freedom unbecoming of their sex .
On contemporary fen life (1970s):
Poverty and isolation are synonymous with the fens. Roads were
few and far between, for despite drainage they could only be built on
the seams of firm clay which meandered through the peat. Indeed,
in [the village of] Gislea it was only in the Second World War that a
network of roads was constructed... Now, new people are entering
the village and the old community is breaking down. But the
decline of transport and work is re-creating the old isolation. Only
this time television creates an illusion of the twentieth century, of
progress, change and communication, anaesthetising the problems
of rural community in decline. But little has changed basically -only details, not fundamentals, particularly for women.
Reproduced from Fenwomen by Mary Chamberlain, © 1975, Routledge Taylor
Francis Group, originally published by Virago Ltd. in association with Quartet
Books Ltd.
2008-2009 Season
High School Musical
June 27 - July 19
Fiddler on the Roof
September 5 - 20
Table Manners
October 31 - November 15
S. Claus & Company
December 11 - 14
Les Liaisons Dangereuses
January 30 - February 14
Caroline, Or Change
March 20 - April 4
Moonlight and Magnolias
1136 Bull Street, Columbia, SC
May 15 - 30
799-6551 • www.workshoptheatre.com
These programs are funded, in part, by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
These programs supported, in part, through corporate and individual donations to the United Arts Fund of the Cultural Council of Richland and Lexington Counties.
THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED
www.trustus.org
BY: DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE - SEPTEMBER 5 - 27, 2008
THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE
BY: MARTIN McDONAGH - OCTOBER 17 - NOVEMBER 8, 2008
EVITA
MUSIC BY: ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, LYRICS BY: TIM RICE
DECEMBER 5 - 14; JANUARY 7 - 17
THE GLASS MENAGERIE
BY: TENNESSEE WILLIAMS - FEBRUARY 6 - 28, 2009
DOUBT
BY: JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY - MARCH 20 - APRIL 11, 2009
ELEPHANT’S GRAVEYARD
BY: GEORGE BRANT - MAY 1 - 23, 2009
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW
BOOK, MUSIC, AND LYRICS BY: RICHARD O’BRIAN
JUNE 19 - JULY 25, 2009
THE SWEET ABYSS
BY: JON TUTTLE - AUGUST 1 - 22, 2009
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Behind the Scenes
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Asst. Technical Director
Asst. Technical Director
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Properties Artisan
Assistant Director
Assistant Stage Manager/Fight Captain
Production Dramaturg
Vocal/Text Coach
Movement Coach
Andy Mills
Sam Gross
Danielle Wilson
K. Dale White
Valerie Pruett
Stephen Kelsey
Sandra Dietel
Jeni Miller
Matt Fuhs
Guy Molnar
Sarah Barker
Lighting Technicians
Scenic Artist
Undergraduatute Scenic Techs
Deck Crew
Trey Hobbes, Amelia Underwood,
Zach Kennedy, James Stocker
Carl Hamilton
Matthew Burcham, Kyle Gilstrap,
Jonathan Wise, Mary Harmon, Ashton Langham, Thomas Rickenbaker, and students of the Theatre Lab Program
Joy Girgis
Malorie Brown
Ian DelDuca
Light Board Operator
Sound Board Operator
Lighting Graduate Assistant
Petrina Baressi, Marques Moore
Assistant Costume Designer
Costume Graduate Assistants
Erin Hamburg
Vanessa Streeter, April Brown,
Erin Hamburg
Costume Undergrad Assistants
Blood/Special Effects
Dressers
Directing Advisor
On Campus Directing Mentor
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Kelly Renko, Steven Kopp, Kayla Watts
Kimberly Poulter, Sean Stephens, Cat Faircloth and students of the Theatre Lab Program
Artistic Director/Chair
Jim Hunter
Financial Manager
Administrative Assistants
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Event Catering
Special Thanks
Steven Kopp
Caroline Dorris, Melissa Goodfellow,
Steven Kopp, Savannah Kruzner,
Gabrielle Peterson
Jim O’Connor
Steven Pearson
M. Spencer Henderson
Ray Jones
Lakesha Campbell, Lee Waters
Kimberly Lane, Will Shuler
Jill Areheart and Dish Dash, LLC
Five Leaves Farm, Matt Haws,
Sandra Dietel, Helms Farm Machinery
Upcoming Events
usc contemporary
dance showcase
December 3 - 5, 2008
Drayton Hall Theatre
Visit our website for more information about these
and other exciting offerings!
www.cas.sc.edu/thea
UP NEXT ON
THE MAIN STAGE
The Skin of Our Teeth
by
Thornton Wilder
Directed by Robert Richmond
February 20 - March 1, 2009
at
Drayton Hall Theatre
Theatre South Carolina
Longstreet Theatre
Columbia, SC 29208
803/777-4288
[email protected]
http://www.cas.sc.edu/thea