Staged Readings of New Works
Written by Kelly DoyleDirected by Mark Sutch
“Agnes the Giant” is a dark comedy about a girl who grows up believing she is a giant and must live her life stuck in a (tiny) house. She has hopes and dreams for her life and her future, such as dancing with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall, playing banjo, and becoming a concert pianist. She also hopes for a nice boyfriend. In a series of songs, videos, photography, podcasts, dance demonstrations, and journal entries, Agnes chronicles her imagined life, and asks when she is finally able to escape her prison, her life in the real world.
ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Kelly Doyle, a Raleigh-based playwright, holds a degree in playwriting from Brown University in Providence, RI. She has had one play produced on Burning Coal’s mainstage, BLUE, in February, 2011. Burning Coal has also presented staged readings of her plays HOLE (2009) and DIRT (2010).
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Mark Sutch directed HAIR and the world premiere of Kelly Doyle's BLUE at Burning Coal, where he is a company member. From 2000-2005, he served as Artistic Associate at Rhode Island's Trinity Repertory Company, where he directed A CHRISTMAS CAROL, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, and MACBETH. He teaches theatre at Davidson College, and is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
December 29, 2011
7:00pm
Burning Coal Theatre Company and Kris Koechling present a staged reading of Sam & Laura, a play by Ron Powers, based on a true story in the life of Mark Twain. Kristopher H. Koechling will direct a cast led by Raleighs Lynda Clark.
The reading will take place at 7:30 pm on November 30th at the historic Pittman Auditorium on the campus of St. Marys School, 900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh. The reading will be webcast live nationally and filmed for later broadcast. The performance/webcast begins at 7:30 PM, and tickets will be available at the door. Tickets are $15.00 general admission and $10.00 for students. Any profit from ticket sales will be donated to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri.
2010 marks the 175th anniversary of Twains birth, the 100th anniversary of his death, and the 125th anniversary of the publication of his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As part of a national celebration of all things Twain, Burning Coal Theater Company of Raleigh, in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Powers, will present the final celebratory performance of Powers new play Sam and Laura on November 30.
The reading will take place at 7:30 pm on November 30th at the historic Pittman Auditorium on the campus of St. Marys School, 900 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh. The reading will be webcast live nationally and filmed for later broadcast. The performance/webcast begins at 7:30 PM, and tickets will be available at the door. Tickets are $15.00 general admission and $10.00 for students. Any profit from ticket sales will be donated to the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum in Hannibal, Missouri.
2010 marks the 175th anniversary of Twains birth, the 100th anniversary of his death, and the 125th anniversary of the publication of his masterpiece, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As part of a national celebration of all things Twain, Burning Coal Theater Company of Raleigh, in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Powers, will present the final celebratory performance of Powers new play Sam and Laura on November 30.
November 30, 2010
7:30pm
7:30pm
Burning Coal will present a staged reading of Chris Cragin’s new play, The River Nun, directed by Tea Alagic, on Monday, October 4, 2010 at 7 pm. The reading will be held at Burning Coal Theatre at the Murphey School, 224 Polk Street, Raleigh, NC. Admission is FREE with suggested $5 donation at the door. Further details can be obtained by calling 919-834-4001.
ABOUT THE RIVER NUN
While the entire village attends a masquerade, Lysa, a Niger Delta fisherwoman, sits alone in her boat, determined to catch a fish. But the loud rumble of the gas flaring and the toxic fumes from the oil-polluted water have left the water barren. Enraged and reckless, Lysa abruptly ends the music and dancing by donning the mask of her dead father and, in disguise, cursing the villagers for celebrating while the oil company continues to devastate their livelihood. She returns home to find two women prepared to join her in standing against the oil giant once and for all.
ABOUT CHRIS CRAGIN
Chris Cragin earned her MFA in Stage Directing from Baylor University, where she found her true artistic passion, playwriting. Since, she has written seven full length plays including: The River Nun (Public Theater EWG Spotlight reading), A War in a Manger (commissioned by Art Within Theatre in Atlanta), Emily (Firebone Theatre, NYC in 2009, Acacia Theatre, Milwaukee 2008, and workshopped at Pacific Theatre Vancouver, 2007), Deadheading Roses (Firebone Theatre, Acacia Theatre, and published by Original Works Publishing), Debutantes Anonymous (workshopped at The Lamb's Theatre NYC), Love and Money (Nuyorican Poets Cafe), and Lady of the Dunes. She is currently writing the book to a musical, Son of a Khrusty (NDNW Drama League Fellowship Awardee). She and her husband, Steve Day, provide the artistic and managerial direction for their company, Firebone Theatre (www.firebonetheatre.com). Chris currently serves as the lead scriptwriter and story editor for Vertical Learning Curve. (www.vlcglobal.com). Chris is also an actress and director. She appeared at Burning Coal in The Steward of Christendom in 1999.
ABOUT TEA ALAGIC
Tea is an internationally acclaimed theater artist with experience working in Croatian, Czech, and English. She holds a BFA in acting from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama where she received the Julian Milton Kaufman Prize in Directing.
The New York Times has called Tea a “director with great zeal.”
Her Off-Broadway directing work includes Aliens With Extraordinary Skills by Saviana Stanescu (Woman’s Project, NYC), The Brothers Size by Tarell McCraney (Under the Radar Festival, and the world premier at The Public Theater in NYC, The Studio Theater in Washington DC, and The Abbey Theater in Dublin), and Binibon, by Jack Womack with music by Elliot Sharp (The Kitchen, NYC).
Tea’s regional credits include Zero Hour, which Tea wrote and directed in a personal exploration of the impact of the Balkan war (Yale University Theater, CT), Speaking Our Mind by eight young playwrights (part of the Carlotta Festival at Yale’s New Theater, CT), The Donny Hathaway Story by Kenneth Robinson (Yale Cabaret, CT), Marcus Brutus by Tea Alagic, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Chiang Kai Chek by Charles Mee (Yale Cabaret, CT). She directed Woyzek by George Buchner, Self–Accusation by Peter Handke, Preparadise Sorry Now by Rainer Werner Fassbiner, and Baal by Bertold Brecht while she was Associate Artistic Director of the Ensemble Company for the Performing Arts (ECPA.)
Her directing work at New York City universities includes: Laughing Pictures: A Hollywood Odyssey by Matthew Maguire and Daniel Levy (Fordham University, NYC), St. Joan by Bernard Shaw, (Main Stage, NYU), and The Babbel Project (written as well as directed; NYU, Experimental Theatre Workshop).
International directing work includes The Marriage of Maria Braun by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (ZKM, Croatia), Events with Life’s Leftovers by Alberto Villarreal Diaz (Mexico City, Dramafest), and The Filament Cycle written and directed (BAC London, Potsdam Festival, 4+4 Festival in Movement, Prague, Philadelphia Fringe Festival).
Tea, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, lives in NYC.
ABOUT THE RIVER NUN
While the entire village attends a masquerade, Lysa, a Niger Delta fisherwoman, sits alone in her boat, determined to catch a fish. But the loud rumble of the gas flaring and the toxic fumes from the oil-polluted water have left the water barren. Enraged and reckless, Lysa abruptly ends the music and dancing by donning the mask of her dead father and, in disguise, cursing the villagers for celebrating while the oil company continues to devastate their livelihood. She returns home to find two women prepared to join her in standing against the oil giant once and for all.
ABOUT CHRIS CRAGIN
Chris Cragin earned her MFA in Stage Directing from Baylor University, where she found her true artistic passion, playwriting. Since, she has written seven full length plays including: The River Nun (Public Theater EWG Spotlight reading), A War in a Manger (commissioned by Art Within Theatre in Atlanta), Emily (Firebone Theatre, NYC in 2009, Acacia Theatre, Milwaukee 2008, and workshopped at Pacific Theatre Vancouver, 2007), Deadheading Roses (Firebone Theatre, Acacia Theatre, and published by Original Works Publishing), Debutantes Anonymous (workshopped at The Lamb's Theatre NYC), Love and Money (Nuyorican Poets Cafe), and Lady of the Dunes. She is currently writing the book to a musical, Son of a Khrusty (NDNW Drama League Fellowship Awardee). She and her husband, Steve Day, provide the artistic and managerial direction for their company, Firebone Theatre (www.firebonetheatre.com). Chris currently serves as the lead scriptwriter and story editor for Vertical Learning Curve. (www.vlcglobal.com). Chris is also an actress and director. She appeared at Burning Coal in The Steward of Christendom in 1999.
ABOUT TEA ALAGIC
Tea is an internationally acclaimed theater artist with experience working in Croatian, Czech, and English. She holds a BFA in acting from Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, and an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama where she received the Julian Milton Kaufman Prize in Directing.
The New York Times has called Tea a “director with great zeal.”
Her Off-Broadway directing work includes Aliens With Extraordinary Skills by Saviana Stanescu (Woman’s Project, NYC), The Brothers Size by Tarell McCraney (Under the Radar Festival, and the world premier at The Public Theater in NYC, The Studio Theater in Washington DC, and The Abbey Theater in Dublin), and Binibon, by Jack Womack with music by Elliot Sharp (The Kitchen, NYC).
Tea’s regional credits include Zero Hour, which Tea wrote and directed in a personal exploration of the impact of the Balkan war (Yale University Theater, CT), Speaking Our Mind by eight young playwrights (part of the Carlotta Festival at Yale’s New Theater, CT), The Donny Hathaway Story by Kenneth Robinson (Yale Cabaret, CT), Marcus Brutus by Tea Alagic, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Chiang Kai Chek by Charles Mee (Yale Cabaret, CT). She directed Woyzek by George Buchner, Self–Accusation by Peter Handke, Preparadise Sorry Now by Rainer Werner Fassbiner, and Baal by Bertold Brecht while she was Associate Artistic Director of the Ensemble Company for the Performing Arts (ECPA.)
Her directing work at New York City universities includes: Laughing Pictures: A Hollywood Odyssey by Matthew Maguire and Daniel Levy (Fordham University, NYC), St. Joan by Bernard Shaw, (Main Stage, NYU), and The Babbel Project (written as well as directed; NYU, Experimental Theatre Workshop).
International directing work includes The Marriage of Maria Braun by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (ZKM, Croatia), Events with Life’s Leftovers by Alberto Villarreal Diaz (Mexico City, Dramafest), and The Filament Cycle written and directed (BAC London, Potsdam Festival, 4+4 Festival in Movement, Prague, Philadelphia Fringe Festival).
Tea, a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina, lives in NYC.
October 4, 2010
7pm
7pm
