Ringing in the New Year with Shakespeare

 

Benjamin Tarleton as Hal, George Labusohr as Falstaff
photo credit Elizabeth Johnson @elizjphotos

Happy New Year and welcome to 2025. We had the pleasure of welcoming in the new year with Elsewhere Shakespeare's one night production of Henry IV (a very condensed version of both 1&2). The production featured two actors who will be treading the boards as part of our production of Lear: Benjamin Tarleton (who will be playing Edgar) and George Labusohr (who will be playing Albany and fight directing). And the photo you see above was taken by Elizabeth Johnson, who will be playing Edmund! 

The production was just the kind of thing we like to see. A small cast of dedicated actors ACTING with each other. Listening, reacting. As you can see, there are no fancy props, costumes or lights. The story has to come from the words and the performances. And the audience is very much in the room with you. Actors sat with the audience, pulled them up, stole props from them, and generally INCLUDED them in the story. Lear will certainly have a bit more in the way of production values behind it, but this is very much the spirit and ethos of what you should expect from a South Stream production of Shakespeare. 

Congratulations to George, Benjamin, and the whole cast for a fun evening. On to the New Year!

Announcing the Cast of King Lear!

Citizens of Earth, South Stream Productions is proud to present it's cast for King Lear!

King Lear - Julie Oliver

Goneril - Maggie Lea

Regan - Barrett

Cordelia/Fool - Chloe Oliver

Gloucester - John Honeycutt

Edgar - Benjamin Tarlton

Edmund - Elizabeth Johnson

Kent - Rebecca Bossen

Cornwall - Olivia Griego

Albany - George Labusohr

Ensemble 1 (Duke of Burgundy, Servant, Gentleman) - Emma Droste

Ensemble 2 (King of France, Oswald, Herald) - Miranda Curtis

Ensemble 3 (Lear's Knight(s), Curran, Old Man, Captain) - Atticus Blum

This is an incredible cast. I'm so honored that this talented group of artists will be working with South Stream on our next show. 

King Lear will open May 2, 2025 and will run through May 18th.

Open Auditions tonight.

 Just posting a map of the venue for where to park and where to go once you're there.

The address is 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Introducing...

Photo Credit Jennifer Sanderson

Ever since we announced King Lear, people have been asking me privately, online and in person - who is going to play King Lear? Well, now you know.

The cast will also feature:
Chloe Oliver - Cordelia/The Fool

John Honeycutt - Gloucester

Barrett - Regan

Does this sound exciting? There's time to audition to be a part of this merry (well not so merry) adventure! We're holding auditions for the rest of the cast, more information here!

I'm incredibly pleased to be working with Julie. Julie was in South Stream's second production (and the first play I directed) Seascape. She has also appeared more recently in this doesn't end well and Twelfth Night. I am honored to be bringing her Lear to the stage this Spring. 

In addition to working with Julie as part of South Stream, she and I have worked together on many projects with other area theatres. And it was because of that, surprisingly, that this production came about (at least in part). While we were back stage as part of the cast of a reading for the Carolina Playwrights Lab, Julie told me a conversation she had had with her daughter Chloe, where they were (probably half jokingly) talking about being in King Lear together, and my name had come up as someone who might produce it. Little did she know - I was actually looking for an idea for a show to produce in the Spring. 

I had talked with The Ridge not too long before. They were very pleased with our production of Twelfth Night, and were interested in our producing there again. I was very pleased with that production as well, but producing requires a LOT of work, and stress, and time, so when I do produce a show- it has to be something I am excited about doing and think is worth the effort (thus the rather intermittent production schedule for South Stream). I never produce a show just to fill a time slot. I agreed on a general time which would fit the schedule of both The Ridge and South Stream, but I did tell them that I didn't have a show yet, and I wasn't sure if I would. 

But this idea! Well I love working with Julie both as an actor and as a person. The idea of her playing Lear - it is a demanding part but she absolutely had that in her, and the idea of her taking on that challenge was exciting to me both as an artist and as an audience member. I'd pay to see that! And the idea of her actual daughter playing Cordelia... well that brought it to a whole new level. Chloe is a fantastic actor in her own right, and the dynamic of the two of them working together was something I wanted to explore. 

There was one thing I was very interested in as a director though. The characters of Cordelia and The Fool are never on stage together, and it is often stated in material about the play that the two roles may have been double cast originally (both The Friendly Shakespeare and the introduction of my copy of the New Cambridge edition of King Lear suggest the possibility). But I had never seen this done in performance. The possibility of the doubling intrigued me. Both Cordelia and The Fool are characters who speak the truth to Lear. What if Cordelia stayed in Lear's mind, taunting him, nagging him, confronting him with his folly; as symptom and cause of his further descent into madness? And then, the storm passes, the Fool vanishes from the play - replaced again by his returning daughter. I knew if I was going to direct Lear, this is something I'd want to attempt. And Chloe is an artist with the deftness of craft and range to be able to pull it off. 

So - that's the story so far. Our cast also includes my co-producer John Honeycutt as Gloucester and long time South Stream veteran Barrett as Regan. 

Does this sound exciting? Come join us!

Auditions for Lear

Dimitri Tavadze, 1970, used under Creative Commons license

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE  - See Below!

South Stream Productions announces open auditions for it's May production of King Lear. 

South Stream Productions typically does not hold open auditions. Our productions and casts are usually small, and we (as a company) know so many actors in the area that we enjoy working with, we typically just hold an invited audition. This is mostly because there are so SO many wonderfully talented people in the area and really I hate disappointing people. Honestly, it's the worst thing about auditions, knowing there are so many great people who all could play the roles differently, but equally well, and having to choose. 

Our next project, however, will be Lear - which is a significantly larger undertaking than we've ever attempted in terms of cast. The cast will not be large per se - probably 12 or 13 - but large for us. Therefore, this time we will be having an open call in addition to our audition process. 

What to prepare: 
A one minute (about) monologue [UPDATE - a monologue in verse is great, but any monologue will be fine. you DO NOT need to have experience with Shakespeare to audition]. 

It doesn't have to be exactly 1 minute, but keep it under 2 if you can. 

How to audition:
We have two options.

Self-tape. We will happily accept self-taped auditions.

Please record yourself performing your monologue. Please shoot in landscape. Do your best to ensure we can hear and see you clearly. 

Please upload your tape to YouTube (or other video platform) and send a link to:

Southstreamproductions@gmail.com

YouTube has an option to make your video non-public. That's probably best. If you choose "Private" be sure to remember to send the password required to access the video.

If you submit a self tape, please also include (either in your email or a separate document) a description of your acting experience and the role(s) for which you would like to be considered. Also please note any important/known conflicts with the production calendar.

In person. We will also have an in-person audition date for those who either are not able to self-tape or who prefer to audition in person. 

In-person auditions will be held Tuesday, November 19th, from 7-10 at The Ridge 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh. Please sign up for a 5 minute audition slot here.

Call Backs:

Call backs will be Friday, November 22 from 7-10, and Sunday November 24 from 4-7. 

(people called back will only need to attend one of these times). 

Call backs will also be at 2011 Ridge Road, Raleigh.

Roles available:

The roles of Lear, Cordelia, Fool, Gloucester, and Regan have been cast. 

Goneril - Eldest of Lear's Daughters

Edgar - Son of Gloucester

Edmund - Son of Gloucester

Kent - a loyal knight to Lear

Cornwall - Husband of Reagan

Albany - Husband of Goneril

2-3 Players - These people will play everybody else in the play (Oswald, Burgundy, France, Old Man, First Servant etc...). One or more of these people may be asked to understudy some of the above.

Understudy/Swing - TBD

The script, of course, uses gendered pronouns. We will not be changing the words of the script or gender of the characters, but that does not mean those are requirements of the actors. 

The script does require Edmund and Goneril share stage intimacy (a kiss) and lots of roles will involve a good deal of physicality, and several require stage combat, so let us know about any limitations and/or experience you may have (in stage combat... we don't need to know your kissing experience).

Additional information:

Performance dates - May 2-4, 9-11, 16-18.

Rehearsal dates - Rehearsals will begin on or around March 3 (not before). Generally Tues-Saturdays, but cast will be called depending on work being done. Expect more calls as we get closer to performance.
Rehearsal/Performance location - All rehearsals and performances will be at The Ridge (same location as the audition)

Pay - I'm not going to lie, it's mostly for the love of the game. South Stream shares it's profits (but not losses) among the cast and crew. Last production I was ecstatic that we were able to pay everyone more than $200. However, with a larger cast, and the same size performance space, I would NOT expect that much. Also, theatre attendance and sales can be unpredictable. I will do my dead level best to control costs and turn a profit for everyone to share, but I would guess we're talking $100 each if things go well, and $0 if things don't. 

Our Next Project - Lear

Actor Cavendish Morton as Lear, Art of Theatrical Stage Makeup 1909

Citizens of Earth - South Stream Productions is proud to announce that it's next full production will be King Lear. 
King Lear will run May 2-4, 9-11, and 16-18, 2025. All performances will be at The Ridge (the same place we performed 12th Night).

Audition details coming soon. 

Twelfth Night's Come and Gone

 

Whew! What an adventure! 

Wow, well our production of Twelfth Night was a huge success. It far exceeded my expectations. I loved this show, I loved this cast, I loved this crew, and I loved our audiences. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to everyone who supported this production in any of the many, many ways folks did.

I literally can't thank everyone enough, but I'm going to try down below, but there are a few things I want to say before I do. 

Why we did the show:

There are two main reasons that South Stream decided to do this show. The first is our collaboration with The Ridge. Trey Davis as the head of Ridge Road Baptist Church has really looked to energize the space and his community by partnering with and promoting arts organizations. That's a big part of The Ridge, an effort to expand the use their campus to include performing art. As anyone knows SPACE is the big challenge of performing artists. Rehearsal space, performance space, space, space space at an affordable price. The Ridge's accommodation in providing us rehearsal and performance space in a budget we could afford was a big part in making the show possible at all.

The second reason is our director Hayley Philippart. I had an idea for a 7 person Twelfth Night for years. Almost a decade probably. I plotted out the doubles and how it could be done. I knew I wanted that silly manic energy that doubling would bring, and the idea of not hiding things - playing into the limitations rather than trying to hide them. But I also wanted to be in it, and I'm not crazy enough to think I could direct it too, so the idea sat on the shelf. Until I met Hayley. Hayley directed the production of Emma for STS, and she was great. She was whip smart, a joy to work with, and definitely, definitely someone who embraced the silly. I knew she would be someone that just "got it" for this project, and when the space became available, I went right to Hayley. I don't want to give people the impression that this was all my idea. The general outline, the doubling, yes, but Hayley took it and ran with it as only she could. The show in it's final form was as much or more her vision, and I'm super happy about that. I just mean to say that I would not have done the show at all if I didn't know her. She's just SO good and smart and if you can you should work with her.

Why I'm proud of the show:

Look, a million reasons, honestly. But there's two things I really wanted to mention because they stand out for me. First - I'm really proud because we did a Shakespeare comedy that was actually funny. Look, I LOVE Shakespeare. I will go to see most productions of it in the area. And I get the jokes. I've read the footnotes. I know what people are saying (or supposed to be saying) for the most part. And it's been my experience that productions of Shakespeare comedies are rarely funny. Entertaining, amusing, clever, yes. But rarely laugh-out-loud ridiculously funny. It was mine and Hayley's (and the production's) goal right from the outset - make it funny. And damn if I don't think we succeeded. It wasn't "SHAKESPEARE" up on a pedestal - it was slapstick and irreverent and goofy and fun! And I'm really proud of that. 

The other thing I'm really proud of - honestly the thing I'm most proud of I think - was the pay-what-you-want ticketing. A lot of theatres have talked about accessibility. And that's nice, but I really feel we put our money where our mouth was by making all our tickets pay what you want. Theatre is getting increasingly expensive. Broadway tickets have passed $200 and climbing, and even local theatre is rarely less than $25. Sure you can go on a special price night (some theatres have single pay-what-you-want performances even) or you can usher, but the fact that we were able to open our doors and just say: "Come." That's really special, and I am incredibly proud of that. We had several groups of students (highschool? college? I don't know, I saw them from the stage) come - paying maybe $5 each, maybe nothing, and they were GREAT! They had a blast, and they loved the show. And they made the show better for everyone with their energy and laughter. We also had some unhoused people attend. Awesome! I honestly believe that theatre should be for everyone. I don't want to do theatre just for those that can afford a $50 ticket, or even a $20 ticket. It was an experiment for sure. One that I was trepidatious about at first, but I am so SO glad we did it. 

Ok - on to the thank you's - and I'm going to forget someone or more than one someone so I'm definitely sorry but also I reserve the right to edit this later and add people:

Our cast - Barrett, Miranda, Akili, Olivia, Julie and Natalie - wow. I am continually humbled by the quality of artists who are willing to take a chance on working with me. I know and they know that I will do everything I can to honor their work and produce a good quality show, but it's still a huge amount of time and effort for an uncertain financial result. It's a lot of trust. Thank you for your trust and artistry and love. 

Emma Droste - our dresser and swing - holy cow you saved the show. Emma came on board during Tech week, watched all the runs, and was content to sew buttons and fix costume issues until the last weekend, when she was called on to fill in for Barrett as Olivia/Sea Captain/First Officer - and did it with aplomb. Literally saved our last weekend of shows. 

Jennifer and John for front of house. Wow, thank you. We had hot cocoa! We had snacks! You had the pleasant difficulty of handling a lot of large crowds! 

Our creative team - our costumer Sally, our props master Devra, our graphic designer Jennifer (again!), our lighting designer and Stage Manager Alyssa, and our ASM Emma Ives - you all worked so hard and produced such amazing work. 

And of course, all this was lead, shaped, and brought to fruition by our director and fearless leader Hayley. I can't say how fun it is to work with you. Thank you for everything you brought to this work. I hope you are as incredibly proud of the show as I am.

Finally - thank you to every person who helped with load in, and load out, and ushering and just the folks who came and laughed and had a good time with us. I'm so, so grateful to each of you. 

Now for some rest.