Edward II ~4

~tOOIl!
THEATRE
Presents
Edward II
By
Christopher Marlowe
Adapted by Richard Baird
with
Amber Bonasso, Jim "Doc" Coates, Alexandra Grossi,
Ross Hellwig*, Steven Jensen, Evan Kendig,
Ronnie Larsen, Noah Longton, Max Macke,
Jeff Anthony Miller, Dangerfield G. Moore, John Polak,
Steve Smith, John Tessmer and Reed Willard
Lighting Design
Scenic Design
Michelle Caron+
Matt Scott+
Costume Design
Howard Schmitt
Sound Design &
Original Music
Kevin Anthenill
Fight Choreography
Jeff Anthony
Miller
Prop Design
David Medina+
Fight Captain
Dramaturg
Amber Bonasso
Gideon Rappaport
Stage Manager
Chris Powell
Directed by
Richard Baird
+Diversionary Theatre Associate Artitist
* Member, Actors' Equity Association
Financial support for both Diversionary Theatre is provided in part
by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.
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CAST
King Edward II
Roger Mortimer
Queen Isabella
Piers de Gaveston
Berkeley/Abbott of Neath
Young Spenser/Priest/Soldier
Old Spenser/Archbishop ofCatebury/Lightborn
Lady Margaret de Clare/Soldier/Herald
ThomasofLancaster/RiceAp HowelL
Prince Edward/James
Baldock/Bishop of Coventry/Gurney
Edmund, DukeofKent, the King's half-brother
Warwick/Matrevis
Pembroke/Leicester
Mower/Champion
Ross Hellwig*
John Polak
Alexandra Grossi
Dangerfield G. Moore
Steven Jensen
Noah Longton
Jim "Doc" Coates
Amber Bonasso
John Tessmer
Steve Smith
Ronnie Larsen
Max Macke
Jeff Anthony Miller
Reed Willard
Evan Kendig
Edward II is performed in two acts.
There will be one, 15-minute intermission.
Please be aware that smoke and fog effects
are used during the production.
The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of
photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited.
Please turn off all electronic decives, such as cell phones, pagers and
watches.
* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors
and Stage Managers in the United States,
appearing under a Special Appearance Contract.
Special Thanks
Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, Jeneva Moore. Swords and weaponry provided by The Baird Family, Jeff Anthony Miller, Russell Copley
and the Eagle Rock Drama Department.
CAST BIOS
CAST BIOS
~
-=-
. be making her San Diego stage debut with Diversionary Theatre .
. Some of her recent favorite rolls include Ann in All My Sons, and
. ..~J
..AI
~
AMBER
Kate
in The
BONASSO
Taming and
of(Lady
the
Margaret/Soldier
Having had
1):
extensive
Amber
istraining
thrilled in
to
classical
weaponry
all Shrew.
things
stunt/fight
related
at the
Academy of Theatrical Combat, she is excited to be fighting in this
production and to assist Jeff Miller as Fight Captain. She would like
to thank Richard for giving her the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful cast.
JIM "DOC" COATES (Archbishop of Canterbury/Spencer Sr./
Lightborn/Monk) enjoys plays and playing. He treasures this debut
opportunity at Diversionary Theatre and to work again with Richard
Baird. Favorite roles include: "John 0' Gaunt" in Richard /I for Poor
Players, and variously elsewhere: "Puck," "Sir Andrew Aguecheek,"
"Old Adam," "Egeon," "The Porter," and "Gremio." Jim's professional
website is www.actsup.com.
~ transplant where she worked with such company's as Red Bull
I~ ~
.1 Theatre, Theatre For The New City and Castle Shakespeare
~
., Repertory. She received her BA in Theatre Performance from West~."
ALEXANDRA GROSSI (Queen Isabella): is a recent New York
\ _ "ern
Michigan University and studied classical theatre at the British
American Drama Academy in London, England. She lives in L.A.
pursuing Film and TV but it feels damn good to be on stage in the
west coast! She is proud to work with such an influential company as Diversionary. Special thanks to Greg, Yaya and Papa without whom this would not have
been possible .
..
debut. Other San Diego credits: King
Ei
0' the Moon
The Comedy
of
The
Wmter'sDon
Tale,
As You
LIke& ItCleopatra,
(The Old
Rep);
Vincent
in Errors,
Brixton,
Macb.eth,
Juan,
Anton!,
Globe).
Elsewhere:
Cat on
a Hot Tin
Roof
(Vienna's
English TheaROSS HELLWIG (Edward II) is making his Diversionary Theatre
tre). RFK: The Journey to Justice (LA Theatre Works). Kingsmen
Shakespeare Company, The Antaeus Company, Rubicon Theatre,
South Coast Rep, The Fountain Theatre, A Noise Within. Pittsburgh Public
Theatre, Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre, Pennsylvania Shakespeare
Festival, Mill Mountain Theatre. TELEVISION: Numb3rs, Law & Order: SVU,
Guiding Light. EDUCATION: MFA, The Old Globe; BFA ,University of Arizona.
Some recent plays: The Gondoliers at Lyric Opera SO, The Im-
m
~
.
the Diversionary stage once again and with such talented ensem-
,~•.•.
ble. His most recent performance was The Break-Up Break-Down
with Circle Circle dot dot with which he is a company member.
Some
San (Mower/Champion):
Diego credits includeEvan
James
in ThetoLieutenant
~ •. , •.
EVAN other
KENDIG
is happy
be back onof
Inishmore (Ion Theatre) Matt in Dog Sees God (Innermission Productions) He is very thankful for all of support from all of his friends
and family for their support and inspiration.
..t.,. ..
f]
this opportunity. In October and November Ronnie will be in San
': Francisco acting in two of his own plays, Making Porn and Two
.•
Dead Clowns both of which he hopes to bring to San Diego. www.
...... Ronnie
incredibly (Baldock/Bishop
grateful to Richard
Baird and Diversionary for
RONNIEis LARSEN
of Coventry/Gurney/Soldier
2):
.. RonnieLarsen.com
G
A
~
-
jI;fo
~ ..
Dooley, Sextet, and The New Century. La Jolla Playhouse: Read-
plete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), To Kill A Mocking
of Trespassers
(Other):
Lily's Purple
Purse,
The Comingbird.
Noah is a proud
graduate
of the Plastic
University
of Northern
NOAH
LONGTON
(Young
Spencer/Ensemble):
Diversionary:
" Colorado, where he received his B.A. in Theatre.
D
has been acting locally for 20 years. Most recently he was seen
.
Humphrey Bogart in Play It Again Sam, Danforth in I'm Not RapJew MovieCredits
(6TH include;
@ Penn)
port
(SRT),
in Adamproduction
Baum & the
....
' -;..
....•....as
the
Devil Gar
in (Edmund/Duke
Moxie's
of Eurydice.
MAX
MACKE
of Kent):
native San
Dieganinwho
f,
.'
Falstaff
in Henry
IV pt. 1 & Merry
Wives isofa Windsor,
Claudius
Hamlet, Ross in Macbeth, Toby Belch in 12TH Night, Friar Lawrence in Romeo & Juliet, Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet (Poor Players). He would
like to thank his parents and his amazing wife Amanda for love and support.
o.
(North Coast
~ ..:-,.
• ' ....
~~..~ A.-,
~.
.
portance
at Poor Players,
of BeingJulius
Earnest
Caesar
at Coronado
at New Village
Playhouse,
Arts, King
The Lear
Tempest
at
Vanguard,JENSEN
Macbeth (Berkeley/Abbot
at Southwestern ofCollege,
many staged
STEVEN
Neath): and
Diversionary
debut.
readings at local theaters.
• ... \.
be making his debut at Diversionary. San Diego credits include 8
Shakespeare productions as well as credits at New Village Arts:
'.:
Death of a Salesman, Golden Boy; Moonlight: Magic Fire, A Man
, for all Seasons. San Diego Rep in the world premiere of OxyJEFF ANTHONY MILLER (Warwick/Maltrevis/Monk): is thrilled to
gen; Sledgehammer: Ghost Sonata, NCRT: Arcadia, The Fritz:
Gangster #1, Mandell-Weiss Forum: The Interview and several
East Coast productions. Jeff studied acting at Circle in the Square, NYC; the
British American Drama Academy and at Trinity Rep (MFA 1998).
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iI
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS
CAST BIOS
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San Diego area and is happy to be involved with Diversionary. He
was previously seen as Enrico in the Coronado Playhouse produc-
tion of A Roman Holiday. He has extensive credits in stage and film.
He received his Bachelor's in drama from the University of PittsDANGERFIELD
MOORE
(Gaveston):in and
Dangerfield
is new
to the
burgh.
He hopes G.
to add
to productions
around San
Diego,
and pursue an MFA in Theater.
Facing East (Diversionary); Ronnie in Parasite Drag and Michal in
Chek
in Chiang (ion
Kai theatre);
Chek andOrestes
Prosecuting
Attorney
Patriot Act
The Pi/lowman
in Orestes
(TheinTheater
inc.);
(Sledgehammer).
JOHN POLAK (Roger Mortimer): San Diego credits include: Alex in
STEVE SMITH (Prince Edward/James/Monk): holds a BA in theatre
from the Florida State University. In his last gig, Steve played a gay
rabbi. This time out he's a fourteen year old boy. Other fun challenges have included Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, Pablo Picasso
in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern ... , Macduff in Macbeth, James Leeds in Children of a
Lesser God, and Hamlet in Hamlet.
his Diversionary debut. After 6 seasons with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, John returned to San Diego 10 years ago. Other
.
~
'J'
Regional credits include: Idaho Rep, Laguna Playhouse, Monomoy
an, John
is thrilled (Lancaster/Rice
to be in his first Ap
Marlowe play,
while also making
~ .....••
JOHN
TESSMER
A Shakespeare
veterTheatre,
and Western
Stage. SelectedHowell):
Local: Intrepid
Shakespeare
Co., Mo'olelo, North Coast Rep, Poor Players, SO Shakespeare
Society, and Sixth @Penn/Compass Theatre. Education & Training: Yale (B.A.),
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (M.F.A.). Namaste!
~.1
..••••
;'
1 •-~.
. ing at Diversionary again after being in the world premiere of Dooley
:::"', this past spring. Select local credits: The Lieutenant of Inishmore
~ REED
WILLARD
(Pembroke/Leicester):
Reed is thrilled
to The
be work(ion Theatre);
Romeo
& Juliet (Intrepid Shakespeare
Co.);
Rocky
Horror Show (Onstage Playhouse); Funny Little Thing (Lyceum
Theatre); Psychopathia Sexualis (Compass Theatre); I'm Not Rappaport (Scripps Ranch Theatre); Engaged (Talent to aMuse). His film credits can
be found on IMDb. Reed is having a blast working with such a talented director,
cast and crew.
"0'.
Learn to be Latina
Up next at Diversionary:
An entertainingly
offensive
romantic comedy
(with dance breaks)
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE (Author)
as poet
and
playwright
was at the forefront of the 16th Century dramatic renaissance,
a
man to whom Shakespeare
and others owe a huge debt of gratitude. He also led a full and intriguing life outside the theatre. Entangled in the outer reaches of the Elizabethan
espionage
web,
Marlowe's
life is alleged
to have ended
prematurely
in 1593
when, at just 29, he was reportedly stabbed to death in Deptford.
RICHARD BAIRD (Director) was last seen at Diversionary in 2005 in
Tony Kushner's Bright Room Called Day (Herr Gottfried Swetts) a co
production with Backyard Productions.
In 2001 he founded the San
Diego based troupe Poor Players, a company dedicated to the works of
William Shakespeare.
For Poor Players he has directed and appeared
in over 20 productions
including Macbeth (KPBS Best Actor Award)
and Measure for Measure (San Diego Critics Circle Award). He served
as Associate Artistic Director for Southwest Shakespeare
Company in
the 2008-09 season where he directed As You Like It and The Winter's
Tale. As an actor, Richard has performed for the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival, Chicago Shakespeare,
Shakespeare
Santa Cruz, Kingsmen
Shakespeare, North Coast Repertory Theatre and many others. He can
be seen next in San Diego as Richard in North Coast Repertory's production of Lion in Winter. Richard is a proud member of Actor's Equity. He
would like to dedicate this production to his dear friend, Marc Overton .
KEVIN ANTHENILL
(Sound Design & Original Music): Kevin comfor San Diego Repertory Theater's
Boom, and In
the Next Room. He recently sound designed for San Diego Asian
American Repertory Theater on their productions of BFE, and Flower Drum Song at the La Jolla Playhouse, as well as USD's production of A Winters Tale at The Old Globe Theater. He has worked
posed
the score
with The Old Globe's education department
sound designing their
Summer
Shakespeare
Intensive
twice, and assistant
sound designed
The
Old Globe's
Summer
Shakespeare
Festival.
He
Holds
a B.A. in Theater
Design
from
San
Diego
State
University.
MICHELLE CARON (Lighting
Designer):
Michelle is pleased to rewhere her designs include Poster Boys,
Dooley, Fair Use, Santa Claus is Coming Out, and Anita Bryant Died
for Your Sins. Her recent local work includes The Gondoliers (Lyric Opera), Malashock/RAWand Surface Tension with Malashock Dance, and
Our Town, It's a Wonderful Life '09 and '10 and The Norman Conquests
turn to Diversionary
Theatre,
(Cygnet Theatre). Michelle
San Diego State University.
holds a MFA in Theatrical
Design from
See her work at carondesignworks.com.
CREATIVETEAM-B10S
DAVID J. MEDINA (Properties Design): is proud to be an Associate
Artist at Diversionary: Poster Boys, Speech & Debate, The Marriage
Bed, Twist, The Little Dog Laughed, Facing East, Scrooge In Rouge,
Corpus Christi, The Daddy Machine. Other Diversionary credits include: When Pigs Fly (Asst. Scenic), Busy World Is Hushed (Asst.
Scenic) Blue Bonnet Court (set construction); ion Theatre: Cripple
of Inishman (prop Asst.) Bang productions: Sideman; USD: Cabaret, The Saints Plays. David has worked for the Old Globe Theatre on over 20 shows as a Properties Buyer, Craftsperson & Artisan.
JEFF ANTHONY MILLER (Stage Combat Choreographer): Jeff returns
to Diversionary having previously staged fights in Beautiful Thing and
Brave Smiles. He has also choreographed fights in Of Mice and Men,
View from a Bridge (Renaissance Theatre), Romeo & Juliet (Octad
One with Richard Baird), Hamlet (Marquis Theatre), Mad Boy Chronicles (Trinity Rep Conservatory) among many others and has appeared
as a fighter in about a dozen productions including San Diego Opera's
production of O~hello.. He was a member of the University of Illinois
NCAA fencing team ( ranked 10th nationally) and has trained in stage
combat with the New York City Fight ensemble and at the Trinity Repertory Conservatory where he attained his MFA in acting. Special thanks
to Amber stepping into help as fight captain and all the fabulous fighters
in this cast.
CHRIS POWELL (Stage Manager): Chris is excited to be working with
Richard Baird at Diversionary. Prior Diversionary shows are the critically acclaimed productions of YANK! The Musical, Dooley, The
Busy World is Hushed, Torch Song Trilogy, Corpus Christi, NewCentury and Robin Tyler's Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom.
Other local credits include the award winning productions of The IT
Girl!, Cinderella (Coronado Playhouse), Dames at Sea (Lamplighters) and most recently Pickwick Player's mentoring project Snoopy!!!
The Musical, where Chris made his local acting, singing and dancing debut as Pigpen! Special thanks to TF and BH for my "career".
GIDEON RAPPAPORT (Dramaturg/Text Advisor): Gideon is a dramaturge who teaches English, Shakespeare, and humanities at La Jolla
Country Day School, where he also teaches evening courses open
to the public. He has also served as dramaturge for the North Coast
Repertory Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the California Shakespeare Festival, the Old Globe Theatre, the British-American Youth Festival Theatre, The Intrepid Shakespeare Company,
The Bishop's School, and La Jolla Country Day School. He has a
Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University.
CREATIVE TEAM BIOS
HOWARD SCHMITT (Costume Designer): Trained at the Oregon
Shakespeare Festival and has worked on productions of 25 of the
plays in the Shakespearean canon. He has designed for eleventh season at Kingsmen Shakespeare. In Los Angeles, he received a Dramalogue Award for costume design for Brian Friel's Translations at
the Celtic Arts Center. Internationally, he designed two seasons on the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Bermuda premiere of Sondheim's
A Little Night Music. He graduated from Northwestern University
and ha's been teaching in the costume program at USC since 1984.
MATT SCOTT (Scenic Design): Diversionary: [title of show], Fair Use.
Dooley, Poster Boys. ion theatre: (Actor and/or Design) Lieutenant
of Inishmore, Wonder Wounded Heroes, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Song
of Extinction, Back of the Throat, Hurly Burly (Craig Noel, Ensemble), U.S. Drag, Speed-The-Plow, Frozen, Request Programme, La
Gaviotta, The Pillowman, Punks, The Glass Menagerie, The Grapes
of Wrath, Marat/Sade. Other Designs: Richard 1/) Intrepid Shakespeare); Christmas is Comin' Uptown, Waiting for the Parade (Common Ground). Other: Storm Windows and A World Apart (Writer/ Actor) AASD Festival of Short Plays, Best of Fest; Dog Act and Kimberly
Akimbo (MOXIE), Uncle Vanya and A Midsummer Night's Dream
(New Village Arts); Dial M for Murder (Lambs Players), and his Patte'
award winning performances in Oedipus Tyrannus (6th@Penn) and
Moxie's The Treatment.
PRODUCTION STAFF
Producer
Fight Captain
Dramaturg/Text Advisor
Wardrobe
Lighting Assistant
Scenic Construction
Photographer
Bret Young
Amber Bonasso
Gideon Rappaport
Manny Bejarano
Jeffrey Arneson
Matt Scott, Bret Young
Ken Jacques
Diversionary Theatre is a member of Theatre Communications
Group (TCG),
the national organization for the American Theatre, and
National Alliance for Musical Theatre