Staged Reading: A Man for All Seasons
By Robert Bolt
Directed by Gabriel Ross
Monday, November 4th. 8PM
Pay-What-You-Will
Old Finnish Hall, 1819 10th Street, Berkeley (NOT the Finnish Hall on Chestnut, the other, older, grander one on 10th Street). (Directions) The venue is not Wheelchair Accessible.
This tragic historical drama offers a brilliant portrait of Sir Thomas More in his last years as Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of Henry VIII. When Henry fails to obtain papal approval for a divorce from Catherine of Aragon to marry Anne Boleyn, he mandates his subjects to sign an "Act of Supremacy" making him both spiritual and temporal leader of England. Sir Thomas cannot in good conscience comply. Cromwell, Cardinal Wolsey, his family, and the King himself are all unable to convince More otherwise, as he maintains his integrity and belief in silence. Ultimately accused of high treason, this very silence leads the man to his execution, and later his canonization in 1935. (Click for Program PDF)
Robert Oxton Bolt, CBE (1924 - 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and A Man for All Seasons, the latter two of which won him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Gabriel A. Ross last appeared with AE as Guildenstern in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead". Some recent performances include: George in "All My Sons" (Role Players Ensemble), Torrey/Boris in "Translations" (The Rhino), Flute/Thisby in "Midsummer Night's Dream" (African American Shakespeare), Clyde in "The Speakeasy1", Brightbee/Yvonne/Donny in "Book of Liz" (CMTC) and Isaac in "Isaac's Eye" (CMTC). He has an MFA in Classical Acting from George Washington University
Cast
Lysistrata - Li Leng Au
Chorus 1 - Lisa Wang
Chorus 2 - Kirstin Louie
Old Woman 1/Fisherwoman - Vicki Victoria
Old Woman 2 - GiGi A Tasse
Calonice - Joyce Domanico-Huh
Lampito - Jacqueline Wolfe
Myrrhine - Helen Kim
Dipsas/Old Woman 3 - Jeanne Pimentel
Ismena/Belphragia - Kenya Akbar
Geezer 1 - Peter Weiss
Geezer 2/Spartan Envoy - Baki Tezcan
Geezer 3/Spartan Delegate – Simon Patton
Magistrate - Illan Halpern
Cinesias – Vicki Siegel
Staff
Director.................................................Kayla M. Kaufman
Producer..................................................Jerome Solberg
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Mercedes and Jesus of the Old Finnish Hall. Jim Kleinman of San Francisco Playground, and The Actors Ensemble board of directors. Performed by arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.Text by Ellen McLaughlin with additional material by the company, by permission from the playwright.
About the Playwright
Ellen McLaughlin is an award-winning American playwright and actress. Her plays include Septimus and Clarissa, Ajax in Iraq, Days and Nights Within, A Narrow Bed, Infinity's House, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, Tongue of a Bird, The Trojan Women, Helen, The Persians, Oedipus, and The Oresteia. McLaughlin is also an actress, having worked on and Off Broadway as well as extensively in regional theater. She is most well known for having originated the part of the Angel in Tony Kushner's Angels in America. She graduated from Yale University in 1980, summa cum laude. She has been teaching at Barnard College since 1995. https://www.ellenmmclaughlin.com/
