T U C S O N A R I Z O N A![rogue, (rôg), n. [<16th-c. thieves' slang <L.rogare, to ask]](Assets/Roguescrolltextheader.gif){kind=small}
Recipient of the
2012 American Theatre Wing
National Theatre Company Award
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T U C S O N A R I Z O N A |
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Joseph McGrath and the cast of Richard III
David Morden as the Duke of Buckingham and Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Cynthia Jeffery as Queen Elizabeth
Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Elijah Renteria as Edward, Prince of Wales Photos by Tim Fuller
Video“Power, Wealth, Ambition:” It Must Be Shakespeare
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Cynthia Meier (Director) is the Managing and Associate Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre and holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of Arizona. She is co-founder of Bloodhut Productions, a company performing original monologues and comedy improvisation, which toured throughout the western United States. At The Rogue Theatre, Cynthia has adapted and directed James Joyce’s The Dead and Metamorphosis and directed Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale, Shipwrecked!, New-Found-Land, Old Times, The Tempest, Nāga Mandala, The Four of Us, Othello, Animal Farm, Orlando, Happy Days, The Good Woman of Setzuan, The Fever and The Cherry Orchard. She also directed The Seagull (featuring Ken Ruta) for Tucson Art Theatre, and she directed Talia Shire in Sister Mendelssohn and Edward Herrmann in Beloved Brahms for Chamber Music Plus Southwest. Cynthia has been nominated for six Mac Awards for Best Actress from the Arizona Daily Star. In 2008, she received the Mac Award for Best Actress for her performance of Stevie in Edward Albee’s The Goat at The Rogue Theatre. Most recently, Cynthia played the title role in The Rogue’s production of Mother Courage and Her Children. |
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Director’s Notes
It seems only natural that The Rogue Theatre should produce Richard III, since the character of Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is one of Shakespeare’s most roguish inventions. Richard III is an outgrowth of 16th century morality plays, with Richard representing the character of Vice. He is pure evil, without apparent motivation, and he takes us into his confidence so that we experience (and perhaps even cheer on) his villainous deeds. We especially see this evil character in sharp relief to the rising hero in Act V, Richmond. Richard is dark and violent, motivating his army with images of fear, while Richmond is jocund, caring, and devout. The ultimate battle in the play is between good and evil, and at last when the “dog is dead,” England can achieve lasting peace.
This battle of good and evil extends into the supernatural realm. Queen Margaret curses Richard and, indeed, the entire kingdom in the first Act, and the rest of the play is the fulfillment of those curses. The supernatural element is fully present in our production, as we believe Shakespeare intended, and we see more than an earth-bound battle of mere politics, power, and ambition. The play has echoes, I think, of the battle in heaven of the forces of good and evil. It is as if Shakespeare shook himself loose from the bonds of history and crafted a grand morality play with the essential historical facts.
Recent discoveries don't change the essential facts that Shakespeare presents. No, Richard wasn't quite so deformed, although the skeleton suggests that he had a curved spine. Richmond was not a soldier at all, but his duel with Richard can be forgiven as theatrical symbolism. Clarence and Anne are both presented by Shakespeare somewhat outside the historical facts. Historically, Richard's behavior, though not saintly, can be understood as the way royal business was done in the period. The environment was rather kill-or-be-killed. Shakespeare agrees with history in that his Richard is autocratic and not particularly skillful politically. He is impulsive and mercurial, which gets him far, and ultimately does him in. I find the play breathtaking in how Shakespeare has taken so many of the facts of history, and crafted this sweeping struggle of good and evil from it. Those who viewed this play, early in Shakespeare's career, must have been astonished at this combination of dramatic and poetic genius.
Additional Note: Our production begins with a short scene from Act 5 scene 7 of Henry VI, Part 3, where King Edward IV (Richard’s eldest brother) takes the throne. Thus begins Richard’s “winter of discontent…”
—Cynthia Meier, Director of Richard III
director@theroguetheatre.org
Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Marissa Garcia as Lady Anne Neville
Photo by Tim Fuller
Historical Context
by David Morden
The events of Shakespeare’s RICHARD III begin in the aftermath of The War of the Roses, in which opposing factions of the Plantagenet dynasty fought for thirty years to establish the supremacy of their choice of monarch of England. The seeds of The War of the Roses were planted after the death of Edward III, king of England from 1327 until 1377. Edward had five sons:
(in order of age)
- Edward the Black Prince,
- Lionel, Duke of Clarence,
- John of Gaunt,
- Edmund of Langley and
- Thomas of Woodstock.
When Edward died, his eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, had already predeceased him, so the crown passed to his grandson, Richard. Richard II was crowned in 1377, but was an unpopular monarch (at least among the nobility) and in 1399, he was deposed by Henry Bolingbroke, son of Edward III’s third son (John of Gaunt). Henry IV reigned until his death in 1413 and his crown passed to his son, Henry V. Henry V reigned until his death at the age of 35 in 1422 and passed the crown to his son, Henry VI. Here the problems begin; Henry VI was named monarch at the tender age of nine months old. He was considered an ineffectual king and his life was marked by bouts of instability and possible insanity. Henry VI was married in 1445 to Margaret of Anjou, niece of the king of France, who grew to be a powerful figure and major player in The War of the Roses.
Richard, Duke of York—grandson of Edmund of Langley—led the uprising against the crown, uniting his faction under the symbol of the White Rose. Henry VI’s House of Lancaster fought under the banner of the Red Rose. In 1460, both Richard and his son Edward, Earl of Rutland, were killed in battle—Shakespeare writes a scene in Henry VI, Part II, in which Margaret wipes Richard’s brow with a handkerchief seeped in the blood of his son, Rutland (who was a teenager at the time of his death) before she humiliates and kills him. The York faction gained the upper hand in the war and in 1461, Richard’s eldest son was crowned Edward IV. Edward lost the support of many in his faction (including his brother, George, Duke of Clarence) when he married Elizabeth Woodville, a widow whom many considered of insufficiently noble blood to be England’s queen. This caused the Lancasters, and Henry VI, to regain the crown for a short period, but the Yorks eventually triumphed at the Battle of Tewksbury and both Henry VI and his son, Edward, Prince of Wales, were killed, cementing Edward IV’s claim to the throne. It should be noted that Edward, Prince of Wales, was married to Anne Neville, who shows up in the second scene of Richard III.
As the play begins, Edward IV is safely on the throne—though there is lingering animosity between Edward’s brothers (George, Duke of Clarence and Richard, Duke of Gloucester) and Elizabeth, the queen, and her family (her brother, the Earl of Rivers and sons by her first marriage, John Grey and Thomas Grey, the Marquess of Dorset). Henry VI’s former queen, Margaret, although banished from England,continues to wander the castle and quickly causes unrest in the court. Edward IV’s eldest son, Prince Edward, is living at Ludlow castle and his younger son (the Duke of York) and daughter (Elizabeth) are living with the royal family at court.
Characters in boldface appear in Richard III.
Family Tree
Synopsis
by Dr. Peter Medine, Department of English, University of Arizona
The play opens spectacularly with the appearance of Richard of Gloucester, who in a riveting soliloquy expresses his dissatisfaction with the current time of peace and reveals his burning ambition to be king. Relying on native wit and brilliance as an actor and political manipulator, Richard begins his campaign. He convinces the Lady Anne to marry him—though she knows that he murdered her husband. He has his older brother, Clarence, executed, and after King Edward dies, Richard becomes lord protector of England—the figure in charge of the surviving princes who are in their minority.
Next Richard kills the noblemen who are loyal to the princes. With their mother the queen and the princes now unprotected, Richard has his political allies, particularly his right-hand man, Lord Buckingham, negotiate to have him crowned king, and in a climactic scene in Act 4 he ascends the throne as Richard III. He then imprisons the young princes in the Tower and sends hired murderers to kill them.
Soon Richard’s reign of terror has alienated both commoners and noblemen—even the power-hungry Buckingham. Rumors begin to circulate about a challenger to the throne who is gathering forces in France, and noblemen defect in droves. The challenger is the Earl of Richmond, a descendant of the Lancaster family, and England is ready to welcome him. The historic battle at the play's conclusion pitches the Yorkist Richard against the Lancastrian Henry.
The night before the battle, the ghosts of Richard's victims visit the adversaries in their sleep, blessing and wishing well to Richmond, cursing and wishing ill to Richard. At the battle Richard fights desperately, if not heroically, but is ultimately slain. Richmond's victory and betrothal to the Princess Elizabeth end the civil war and power struggle that had plagued England for generations and make way for the crowning of Henry Richmond as Henry VII.
Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester
Photo by Tim Fuller
Cynthia Jeffery as Queen Elizabeth, Kathryn Kellner Brown as Queen Margaret and Susan Arnold as the Duchess of York
Photos by Tim Fuller
Cast |
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| King Edward IV: King of England | Roger Owen | |
| Richard, Duke of Gloucester: brother to Edward IV | Joseph McGrath* | |
George, Duke of Clarence: brother to Edward IV |
David Greenwood | |
| Duchess of York: Edward, Richard and George’s mother | Susan Arnold* | |
| Queen Elizabeth: Queen to King Edward IV | Cynthia Jeffery | |
| Edward, Prince of Wales: Edward IV and Elizabeth’s eldest son | Elijah Renteria | |
| Duke of York: Edward IV and Elizabeth’s younger son | James Cockerell | |
| Elizabeth of York: Edward IV and Elizabeth’s daughter | Dylan Page | |
Earl Rivers: Elizabeth’s brother |
Christopher Johnson | |
| Queen Margaret: widow of King Henry VI | Kathryn Kellner Brown | |
| Lady Anne Neville: widow of Edward of Westminster | Marissa Garcia | |
| Duke of Buckingham | David Morden* | |
Sir William Catesby |
Lee Rayment | |
Sir Richard Ratcliffe |
Matt Walley | |
Lord Hastings: Lord Chamberlain under Edward IV |
Ryan Parker Knox | |
Sir Robert Brackenbury: Lieutenant of the Tower |
Steve McKee | |
Lord Mayor of London |
Craig Howard | |
Sir James Tyrrell |
Matt Walley | |
First Murderer |
Matt Walley | |
Second Murderer |
Lee Rayment | |
| Earl of Richmond: Henry VI’s nephew | Matt Bowdren | |
Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby: Richmond’s stepfather |
Steve McKee | |
Earl of Oxford |
David Greenwood | |
Sir James Blunt |
Ryan Parker Knox | |
Duke of Norfolk |
Craig Howard | |
Sir William Brandon |
Christopher Johnson | |
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States, appearing under a Special Appearance Contract |
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Susan Arnold
(Duchess of York) has worked extensively in the performing arts as an
actor, director, writer and producer. She has appeared previously with The Rogue Theatre as Cleopatra in Immortal Longings, as Claire
in The Maids, and as
Circe in Endymion. Other local credits include Polina in The
Seagull with Tucson Art Theatre, FS in Anger Box with
Green Thursday Project, and April in Hot l Baltimore with
Nathalia Stage Ensemble. Additional roles include Vita Sackville
West in the world premiere of White Garden, Gertrude in
Hamlet, Maria Callas in Master Class, Molly in
Molly Sweeney, Maria in Twelfth Night, Lady Macbeth
in Macbeth, Patsy Cline in A Closer Walk with Patsy
Cline and Mo in The Kathy and Mo Show. Susan is a
member of Actor’s Equity Association and Screen Actor’s
Guild and is the recipient of several theatre excellence awards
for acting and directing. She currently serves as Artistic Director
for C.A.S.T., Clean and Sober Theatre, a prevention and education
program of Compass Behavioral Health Care. |
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Matt Bowdren (Earl of Richmond) holds an M.F.A in Performance from The University of Georgia and a B.F.A from the University of Arizona. At The Rogue, Matt has appeared in Metamorphosis, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, As I Lay Dying, Major Barbara, The Real Inspector Hound, New-Found-Land, The Four of Us, Six Characters in Search of an Author, and The Goat. Other Arizona credits include The Pillowman (The Now Theatre) Romeo and Juliet (Southwest Shakespeare), and Titus Andronicus (Arizona Repertory Theatre). In Georgia, Matt has been seen in The Shape of Things, Betrayal, Endgame, and The Comedy of Errors. In New York City, Matt performed in Somewhere In Between with Collaborative Stages, and Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Hudson Shakespeare Company. |
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James Cockrell (Duke of York) is specializing in Shakespeare’s-young-princes-that-die roles at The Rogue, having played Mamillius in 2012’s The Winter’s Tale. He is a freshman at Catalina Foothills High School where he has recently been seen onstage in Anything Goes and Big. In 2011 James played John Henry in Arizona Onstage Productions’ Member of the Wedding and was nominated for a Mac Award for Best Actor. He has sung the role of Harry in the UA School of Music’s production of Britten’s opera Albert Herring and was frequently in productions of UA’s Arizona Repertory Theater where he played Winthrop in The Music Man, Tommy (Age 5) in The Who’s Tommy, and in The Miracle Worker and Carousel. James made his stage debut with the Arizona Opera in Madama Butterfly at the age of 3½. He keeps active with the Tucson Diving Team at the UA Aquatic Center and sings in two choirs at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church. For five summers James attended the Interlochen Arts Camp in northern Michigan, where in addition to singing, acting, dancing and playing the violin, he enjoyed riding his bike, swimming, fishing and cookouts. |
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Marissa Garcia (Lady Anne Neville) performed with The Rogue Theatre as Grete Samsa in Metamorphosis, Yvette in Mother Courage and Her Children, a Townsperson and a musician in The Night Heron, Guanyin in Journey to the West, in the ensemble and as a musician in As I Lay Dying, as Barbara Undershaft in Major Barbara and as Dorcas in The Winter’s Tale. She is a Tucson native and received her BFA in Acting/Directing from the University of Arizona. Since graduating, Marissa has performed and directed with companies throughout Arizona, Colorado and California. She was seen on Los Angeles stages in premieres of Bernardo Solano’s Lost and Evangeline Ordaz’s Visitors’ Guide to Arivaca, a show she was also involved in here with Borderlands Theater. Other credits include: Ana in Living Out (2005 Mac Award Nominee–Best Actress), Julia in School of the Americas (Borderlands Theater), Thomasina in Arcadia, Cordelia in King Lear (Arizona Repertory Theatre), and Evelyn in Close Ties (Catalina Players). |
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David Greenwood (George, Duke of Clarence; Earl of Oxford) was a member of the cast of The Rogue Theatre’s first production, The Balcony, and has recently appeared in Metamorphosis, Mother Courage and Her Children, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, The Decameron, The Real Inspector Hound, Major Barbara, As I Lay Dying and The Winter’s Tale. He has appeared locally in Shining City and The Birthday Party at Beowulf Alley Theatre and The One-Armed Man, The Disposal and The Glass Menagerie at Tucson Art Theatre. |
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Craig Howard (Duke of Norfolk; Lord Mayor of London) is originally from Colorado where he started his professional acting career at the age of eight playing Winthrop in The Music Man. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri / Kansas City Conservatory of Music where he earned his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Since moving to Tucson in 1998, he has worked as a stunt man, a mascot, and a mason (among other things) as well as appearing in productions for Arizona Theater Company, The Gaslight Theater, and Beowulf Alley Theater. Craig has appeared previously with The Rogue Theatre as the Commander in Mother Courage and Her Children. |
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Cynthia Jeffery (Queen Elizabeth) is an ASU graduate with a degree in Theatre Arts. Cynthia has lived in Hawaii for 15 years where she owned and operated “Wide Eyed Theatre,” an after-school program, and co-produced three videos on Teen Crime Prevention with her husband, Tobin. She has worked as a DJ for “K-Hawaii’s Rock N’ Roll” and earned four Tiki Awards for Best Actress in such shows as A Streetcar Named Desire (Blanche), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth), Crimes of the Heart (Meg) and Beyond Therapy (Prudence). In Tucson, she received Mac Award nominations for her performances in Relatively Speaking, No Exit, and Death and The Maiden, and won recognition for her role as Amanda in LTW’s The Glass Menagerie. Favorite roles include Flora (Humble Boy) Nettie (The Subject was Roses), Mag (The Beauty Queen of Leenane),and Ruth (Collected Stories). Film credits include The Lost River, The Greening of Eritrea, Spin, Animal Planet’s I Shouldn't be Alive and Finley Wade. This is Cynthia’s second production with The Rogue, her first being The New Electric Ballroom. She currently works for KOLD News 13 as a Sales and Traffic Assistant and voiceover talent. |
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Christopher Johnson (Earl Rivers; Sir William Brandon) has previously appeared at The Rogue in Mother Courage and Her Children, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, The Winter’s Tale and As I Lay Dying. He has performed elsewhere with The Bastard (Theatre), Winding Road Theater Ensemble, Etcetera at Live Theatre Workshop, Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre, Invisible Theatre and Sparrow & Cicada Theatre. Other notable acting credits include Hedwig And The Angry Inch, Touch, Psycho Beach Party, All My Sons, The Rocky Horror Show, Thom Pain (based on nothing), Lemon Sky, The Eating Disorder Talent Show, Bug and Titus Andronicus. | |
Kathryn Kellner Brown (Queen Margaret) performed with The Rogue Theatre last season as Paulina in A Winter’s Tale and Mrs. Baines in Major Barbara. Her professional acting career has included work in the areas of television, film, industrial film and training, voiceover, and musical theatre, as well as regional theatre and off- Broadway. Kathryn has a BFA from the University of Arizona and continuing studies with the Royal National Theatre Studio, London. She is a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild. |
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Ryan Parker Knox (Sir James Blunt; Lord Hastings) is a South Dakota native and University of SD graduate. Ryan moved to Tucson in October of 2011 after living for just over a decade in Minneapolis/St. Paul where he worked on over 70 productions for over a dozen companies. Ryan has appeared in The Rogue Theatre productions of Metamorphosis as the Clerk, Gentleman and Charwoman, Mother Courage and Her Children as The Sergeant, The Night Heron as Neddy, and Journey to the West as Sha Monk. Some of his favorite past roles include Jerry in The Full Monty, and the title roles in Picasso at the Lapin Agile and The Who’s Tommy, all for Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, MN, as well as Henry in Henry V, Phillip in Orphans, and Bradley in Buried Child. “RPK” (or just Ryan) is extremely thrilled to be a Rogue Acting Company Member and hopes you enjoy his work this season. Special thank yous to his supportive family and friends all over the Midwest (OOTM), and his 4 littlest fans, Olivia, Dylan, Audrey, and Parker...his beloved nieces and nephews. |
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Joseph
McGrath (Richard, Duke of Gloucester) is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama and is the Artistic Director for The Rogue Theatre for which he has directed and performed in many plays. Joe was most recently seen at The Rogue Theatre as Griffin in The Night Heron, the Jade Emperor in Journey to the West, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale, Patsy in The New Electric Ballroom, in the ensemble of Shipwrecked! and as Andrew Undershaft in Major Barbara. In 2009 Joe won the Arizona Daily Star Mac Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Tobias in A Delicate Balance. He has toured with John Houseman’s Acting Company, performed with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, and he is a frequent performer with Ballet Tucson appearing in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Cinderella, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Dracula and The Nutcracker. He has also performed with Arizona Theatre Company, Arizona Opera, Tucson Art Theatre, and Arizona OnStage. Joe owns, with his wife Regina Gagliano, Sonora
Theatre Works, which produces theatrical scenery and draperies.
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Steve McKee (Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby; Sir Robert Brackenbury) appeared with The Rogue Theatre as part of the ensemble in Mother Courage and Her Children earlier this season and as Camillo in The Winter’s Tale. He was also featured in Passionately, Piazzolla!, Chamber Music Plus’ collaboration with Ballet Tucson as part of the Inaugural Tucson Desert Song Festival earlier this year. Steve has worked with many local theatre companies and been featured in independent and student films. Favorite roles include Harpagon in The Miser, Halder in Good, Terrence in Breaking Legs, A.C. in Beowulf Alley Theatre's Death of Zukasky and Panch in Arizona OnStage Productions' 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Ensemble work includes Sweeney Todd and The Full Monty with Arizona Onstage Productions. Steve has also appeared locally with Live Theatre Workshop and Borderlands Theatre. | |
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David Morden (Duke of Buckingham) has appeared with The Rogue Theatre as The Chaplain in Mother Courage and Her Children, the Dragon King in Journey to the West, Polixenes in The Winter’s Tale, Louis de Rougemont in Shipwrecked!, Rinieri in The Decameron, Stephano in The Tempest, Brabantio and Montano in Othello, Editor Webb in Our Town, in the ensembles of Animal Farm and Orlando, as Madame Pace in Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Pope in Red Noses, Yephikhov in The Cherry Orchard, The Man in the Silver Dress in the preshow to The Maids and Glaucus in Endymion. He has acted locally with Arizona Opera (The Pirates of Penzance, The Threepenny Opera), Arizona Onstage Productions (Assassins), Actors Theatre (The Bible: The Complete Word of God (Abridged)) and Green Thursday Theatre Project (Anger Box, Rain), of which he was a co-founder. David has also directed The Rogue’s productions of Major Barbara, Ghosts, A Delicate Balance, The Goat (2008 Arizona Daily Star Mac Award), Six Characters in Search of an Author and Krapp’s Last Tape, Not I and Act Without Words. This season, David directed Inspecting Carol for Arizona Repertory Theatre and directed three one-act adaptations of Medea for the Studio Series at the University of Arizona, where he is an instructor in the School of Theatre, Film and Television. |
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Roger Owen (King Edward IV) has been acting off and on since 1965. This is his fifth appearance at The Rogue, having performed roles in The Good Woman of Setzuan, Red Noses, The Real Inspector Hound, and playing Gaev in The Cherry Orchard. Favorite roles include Macbeth, Oberon, and Toby Belch (in Invisible Theatre’s Shakespeare Under the Stars series in the mid-1970s), Jerry in Albee’s Zoo Story, and Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire at Greene Street Theatre in Key West, with Tennessee Williams attending rehearsals and performances. Recent roles include Doug in Lanford Wilson’s Lemon Sky at Live Theatre Workshop, Charlie in Albee’s Seascape, George Pye in Humble Boy at Beowulf Alley Theatre, President Warren G. Harding in Camping With Henry & Tom at Invisible Theatre, and Beverly Weston in August Osage County with Winding Road Theatre. |
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Dylan Page (Elizabeth of York) is currently a Studio Art and Anthropology student at the University of Arizona. She has performed with The Rogue Theatre as Kattrin in Mother Courage and Her Children, Mopsa in The Winter’s Tale, Dewey Dell in As I Lay Dying, Jenny Hill in Major Barbara and Felicity Cunningham in The Real Inspector Hound. Her other recent credits include Flaminia in Commedia dell’Arte Day with the Illegitimate Theatre Ensemble, Janice in Member of the Wedding (Arizona Onstage Productions), and Evelyn in The Shape of Things (Arizona Repertory Theatre). |
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Lee Rayment (Sir William Catesby; Second Murderer) is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado. When not performing he can be found swinging on the trapeze at the Zuzi Theatre or saving Corporate America from utter destruction. He has performed in several shows at The Rogue: Mother Courage and Her Children (Regimental Clerk), Journey to the West (Moksa), The Winter’s Tale (Archidamus), As I Lay Dying (ensemble), and in Major Barbara (Stephen Undershaft). He has also assistant directed The Night Heron and The New Electric Ballroom. In Tucson he has appeared as Katurian in The Pillowman for The Now Theatre (for which he received the 2011 Mac Award for Best Actor from the Arizona Daily Star). At the University of Northern Colorado he performed in Amadeus (Salieri), The Servant of Two Masters (Pantalone), and Urinetown (Mr. Caldwell). |
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Elijah Renteria (Edward, Prince of Wales) is a junior at Catalina Foothills High School. In addition to taking the Advanced Theatre Arts class he sings in two premier choirs, including a jazz/madrigal ensemble. Elijah’s experience with Shakespeare includes his performance in an original adaptation of The Comedy of Errors and as Banquo in Macbeth. Elijah has recently had several lead roles at the high school as Moonface Martin in Anything Goes and as John in Dark of the Moon. He also studied Commedia De’ll Arte with Theatre 3 and helped devise as well as perform in Etcetera’s Improviso! This is Elijah’s first show with The Rogue. |
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Matt Walley (Sir Richard Ratcliffe; Sir James Tyrrell; First Murderer) has performed with The Rogue Theatre as Yama in Journey to the West, the Clown in The Winter’s Tale, a musician in Shipwrecked!, Cash Bundren in As I Lay Dying and Bill Walker in Major Barbara. He graduated from Dell’Arte International in 2009 with an MFA in Physical Ensemble Theatre. Since then he has performed with The Pinnacle Peak Pistoleros and their Wild West Stunt Shows, as well as with Stories that Soar! Matt has been seen at Live Theatre Workshop here in Tucson and has acted in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. He is teaching acting this year at The University of Arizona. |
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Odaiko Sonora: Nicole Levesque, Rome Hamner and Karen Lee Falkenstrom
Musicians |
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Members of Odaiko Sonora: |
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Music Director’s Notes
While it may seem unusual at first, using Japanese taiko (“drum”) is not such a stretch from the world of Richard III. They were used as battlefield instruments to coordinate military movements and intimidate the enemy; as a mainstay in the long history of court music (gagaku); as the powerful voice of gods and kami in temple and shrine rituals; and as signals for daily activities in villages, sometimes warning of approaching storms or approaching strangers. All of these functions find a place in the composed soundscape for this production. Oh, and ghosts too.
Modern Taiko, with its choreographed ensemble (often with many musicians) using taiko of various shapes and sizes, percussion instruments, and often flute, is a more recent exploration of the timbres and textures of these magnificent, ancient drums. Its ever-increasing popularity is due to the vision and commitment of groups such as Odaiko Sonora, a group that Tucson is deeply honored to have as members of its artistic community.
It has been an immense pleasure to work with Karen, Rome, and Nicole of Odaiko Sonora on this project. Their musicianship, sensitivity, skills, creativity, and humor made the choice of having Japanese taiko drums in a Shakespeare play seem like the most natural thing in the world. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with this exceptional group on creating and composing the brutal and ominous world of Richard III.—Paul Amiel, Music Director
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Paul
Amiel (Music Director) is a multi-instrumentalist, ethnomusician and composer focusing on Medieval, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, Middle Eastern, and ancient music. He founded and performs with the Summer Thunder Chinese Music Ensemble, the traditional Japanese music duo Muso, and various Turkish/ Middle Eastern/Mediterranean ensembles such as Seyyah and Zambuka. Paul has performed on gothic harp, kaval, saz, ney, banjo, shakuhachi, and accordéon for groups such as Musica Sonora and the Arizona Early Music Society, and is a member of Tucson's Theatre 3. Paul, an Artistic Associate of the Rogue, was Music Director for Kafka’s Monkey and Metamorphosis, The Night Heron, Journey to the West, As I Lay Dying and The Winter’s Tale, as well as a performer in many Rogue productions, including The Decameron, The Tempest, Our Town, Othello, Immortal Longings, Orlando, Endymion, The Dead and on the recent Rogue Album CD. |
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Odaiko Sonora is Tucson’s award-winning taiko, or Japanese ensemble drumming group. Odaiko Sonora has brought firsthand experiences of the big drums to Southern Arizona audiences since 2002. With over 70 programs annually, ranging from performances, team building workshops and school residencies, Odaiko Sonora reaches about 55,000 people each year. Nearly 10,000 of those are K–12 students. The group’s educational offerings earned them Teaching Artist status with both the Southern Arizona Arts in Academics and Opening Minds Through the Arts programs. In 2006, the group purchased Rhythm Industry Performance Factory, a 5,000 sq ft studio dedicated to loud, large performing arts. The building provides vital, permanent studio space for numerous other performing and teaching arts groups, as well as providing a base for collaboration and shared resources. Rome Hamner, Karen Lee Falkenstrom and Nicole Levesque make up the performing ensemble. Learn more about Odaiko Sonora at http://www.tucsontaiko.org/ |
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Rome Hamner (Odaiko Sonora Founder/Co-director, Performing member) isn’t sure how she wound up making a living as a professional taiko drummer/noise maker/teaching artist, but is deeply grateful for it. She is humbled to have been nominated for this year’s Arts Educator Tucson-Pima Arts and Business Award (Lumie). |
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Karen Lee Falkenstrom (Odaiko Sonora Founder/Co-director, Performing member) is a longtime arts administrator/advocate and teaching artist. She has practiced taiko for 12 of her 24 years in Tucson, before which she was a poet. |
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Nicole Levesque (Odaiko Sonora Performing member) holds a B.S. in Dance from the University of Georgia. She has practiced taiko for the past 7 years, before which she was a company member and teaching artist for Orts Theater of Dance. |
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Matt Walley as Sir Richard Ratcliffe, Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester
and Craig Howard as the Duke of Norfolk
Photo by Tim Fuller
Designers |
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| Costume Design | Cynthia Meier | |
| Lighting Design | Clint Bryson | |
| Scenic Design | Joseph McGrath | |
| Fight Choreography | Brent Gibbs | |
Production Staff |
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| Assistant Director | Matt Bowdren | |
| Stage Manager | Leah Taylor | |
| Text Coaches | Mary Z. Maher & David Morden |
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| Costume Construction | Karen DeLay & Cynthia Meier |
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| Scenic Construction | Joseph McGrath, Christopher Johnson, Ryan Parker Knox, Lee Rayment, David Greenwood & Matt Bowdren |
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| House Manager | Susan Collinet | |
| Box Office Manager | Thomas Wentzel | |
| Box Office Assistants | Susan Koenig, David Morden, Evren Sonmez & Rebekah Thimlar |
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| Poster, Program & Website | Thomas Wentzel | |
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Clint Bryson (Lighting Designer) has designed lights for nearly every Rogue Theatre production. Other lighting design credits include As Bees in Honey Drown and Golf Game for Borderlands, Woman in Black for Beowulf Alley, and The Seagull for Tucson Art Theatre. Clint is currently the Shop Foreman, Production Technical Director and Marketing Director for Catalina Foothills Theatre Department where he designs and coordinates the construction of all scenery. He is also a member of Rhino Staging Services, and a regular participant in Arizona Theatre Company’s Summer on Stage program where he designs and builds the scenery as well as teaches production classes. |
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Leah Taylor (Stage Manager) was Stage Manager for The Rogue Theatre’s Major Barbara, As I Lay Dying, Shipwrecked! An Entertainment, The New Electric Ballroom, The Winter’s Tale, Journey to the West, The Night Heron, Mother Courage and Her Children, and Kafka’s Monkey and Metamorphosis, and Assistant to the Stage Manager for The Decameron. She was Stage Manager for The Now Theatre’s The Pillowman, The Bald Soprano and Overruled. Other work includes shows with Winding Road Theatre Ensemble and Sacred Chicken Productions. Leah graduated from the University of Arizona in May 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics and Anthropology. |
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Susan Collinet (House Manager) earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of Arizona in 2008. Decades before returning to college as a non-traditional student, Susan spent twenty years in amateur theater, mostly on the East coast, as well as in Brussels, Belgium in the American Theater of Brussels, and the Theatre de Chenois in Waterloo. She has worked in such positions as a volunteer bi-lingual guide in the Children’s Museum of Brussels, the Bursar of a Naturopathic Medical school in Tempe, Arizona, an entrepreneur with two “Susan’s of Scottsdale” hotel gift shops in Scottsdale, Arizona, and as the volunteer assistant Director of Development of the Arizona Aids Project in Phoenix. Susan continues to work on collections of poetry and non-fiction. Her writing has won awards from Sandscript Magazine, the John Hearst Poetry Contest, the Salem College for Women’s Center for Writing, and was published in a Norton Anthology of Student’s Writing. In addition to being House Manager, Susan acts as Volunteer Coordinator for the Rogue. |
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Our Thanks |
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Tim
Fuller |
Tucson Weekly |
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Chuck Graham |
Herb Stratford |
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Shawn Burke |
Arizona Daily Star |
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Our Advertisers |
Jesse Greenberg |
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University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film, and Television |
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Mark McLemore and Arizona Illustrated |
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John C. Scott & KVOI |
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Joseph McGrath as Richard, Duke of Gloucester and Matt Bowdren as the Earl of Richmond
Photo by Tim Fuller
Location: The Rogue Theatre at The Historic Y, 300 East University
Boulevard
Free off-street parking! Click here
Performance run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one ten-minute intermission, and not including music preshow or post-show discussion.
Thursday, April 25, 2013, 7:30 pm DISCOUNT PREVIEW
Friday, April 26, 2013, 7:30 pm OPENING
NIGHT SOLD OUT
Saturday, April 27, 2013, 7:30pm
Sunday, April 28, 2013, 2:00 pm matinee SOLD OUT
Thursday, May 2, 2013, 7:30 pm DISCOUNT THURSDAY
Friday, May 3, 2013, 7:30 pm
Saturday, May 4, 2013, 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 5, 2013, 2:00 pm matinee SOLD OUT
Thursday, May 9, 2013, 7:30 pm DISCOUNT THURSDAY SOLD OUT
Friday, May 10, 2013, 7:30 pm SOLD OUT
Saturday, May 11, 2013, 2:00 pm matinee
Saturday, May 11, 2013, 7:30 pm
Sunday, May 12, 2013, 2:00 pm matinee
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