KING LEAR
By William Shakespeare
by Michole Biancosino
THURSDAY, FRIDAY, SATURDAY
NOVEMBER 14–16, 2024 | 7:30 pm
Wright Theatre, 96 Chateau Road, Middlebury, VT 05753
Directed
TRIBUTE TO JEAN SEELER
The Theatre Department is honored to dedicate the 2024–25 season to the memory of Jean Seeler Gifford, longtime friend and avid supporter to the program. Her generosity is embodied in the theatre that bears her name, the Seeler Studio Theatre, and she will always be remembered for the interest and pleasure she took in getting to know our students and watching them grow, on stage and off, through their time with us. Jean was our most devoted audience member, seeing every show at least twice; she was a lively and informed participant in post-show talkbacks, and a highly visible character on campus who would stop students on the pathways to chat about their performances. We miss her, but her spirit lives on. We have placed a plaque on the seat Jean always occupied in Wright Theatre, where she herself performed and served as a stage manager during her time as a student at Middlebury. That seat will be kept open for her through this memorial season.
Middlebury College Department of Theatre presents
King Lear
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Michole Biancosino
Scenic and Lighting Designer Mark Evancho
Costume Designer Summer Lee Jack
Fight Choreography Joe Isenberg
Original Music Clint Bierman and Michole Biancosino
Sound Design Amit Prakash and Allison Rimmer
Stage Manager Alex Garcia
Assistant Stage Managers Graydon Hanson, Elsa Marrian, Norah Santoni de Castro
Properties Norah Santoni de Castro, Jim Dougherty
CAST
King Lear Alex Draper
Goneril Hannah Alberti
Reagan Elsa Marrian
Cordelia Patrice Cahill
Kent Rach Peck
Gloucester Owen McCarthy
Edmund Thomas Long
Edgar Owen Foberg
Cornwall Danny Smith
Albany Virginia Frau
Oswald Norah Santoni de Castro
Fool Zoe Predmore
Burgundy Harry Acrish
France Jordan Henry
Doctor Karina Lea
Soldiers, Knights, Gentlemen Catie Duggan, Karen Ito, Jaime Schwartz
Musician Clint Bierman
Running time
Act 1: 60-minutes, Act 2: 75-minutes
There will be one 10-minute intermission
Content Warning: Depictions and references to violence and self-harm. Patrons are requested to turn off cell phones prior to the performance. Photography and the use of audio and video equipment are strictly prohibited.
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
King Lear forges a path through pain, violence, love, and loss, through two fracturing family lines, with reverberations that bring down an entire kingdom. Both the personal and the political are mined by Shakespeare to get to the bottom of our human condition. Lear shouts to the heavens during the height of the storm, “Blow winds and crack your cheeks. Rage, Blow,” as if daring the forces of heaven and earth to try to take him down. He stands against the storm, raging right back at it. But he is only human, even if he is a king.
There is no way to easily interpret this play. Indeed it’s meaning—or lack thereof—has provoked heated debate throughout the past 400+ years. Perhaps it’s more useful to evoke the images that stay with us hours, days, or even years after watching this epic tragedy:
The all-powerful king diminished over the space of a few hours. The elderly parent who doesn’t recognize their own hands. The raging father, who so quickly turns on the loving child. The banished son, anonymously leading his helpless father out of dangers he can’t see on his own. The abused daughter, coming home to save her father’s life. Piles of bodies on a bare stage, the lifeless figures of a family destroyed representing the collapse of the state.
The process of putting on this production has been, perhaps surprisingly, quite joyful. We have worked to make this story our own, often reverently adhering to the text and sometimes being quite bold in making changes. From the start, the goal was to create a production that allowed student actors to learn the skills required to work on a classical play with heightened language, while allowing space for playfulness, experimentation and interrogation of the material. As you watch this production you might notice the script has been significantly cut (down from around a four hour running time), songs have been added (two in each act), and many design choices have been made that culminate in this performance tonight. Every new production of an old play is an adaptation. In the process of exploring this production we are stretching ourselves as actors and artists to rise to the immense challenge of acquiring the skills needed to fully embody the original play, while simultaneously making choices that are in conversation with that text, a conversation that spans from 1606 to 2024. We are delighted to share our semester’s process with you, and hope that it evokes further exploration and interest in King Lear.
—Michole Biancosino
THE COMPANY
Hannah Alberti ’26 she/her (Goneril) is a theatre and physics double major from Fredericksburg, Virginia. You may have seen her in the chorus of Greek Tragedy, Tom in A Woman Left Lonely, or Miranda in Found Dog Ribbon Dance. She’s a student representative for the theatre department and runs publicity for the Hepburn Zoo. When she’s not on stage, she is talking about stars.
Clint Bierman (Musician) is a multi instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, band leader, podcast host (the Age Old Question) and yard game inventor (Shweebee). Clint runs a rock camp for kids (Rock-It Science). He likes to stay busy with his hands in many different pots. He was musical director of American Idiot at Middlebury, directed by Michole, a few years ago and had so much fun and couldn’t wait to get back to the theatre department. What a treat.
Patrice Cahill ’25.5 she/her (Cordelia) is a neuroscience and theatre double major from Bergen County, New Jersey. Her previous Middlebury acting credits include Polaroid Stories (Skinhead Girl) and MCMT’s Legally Blonde (Elle Woods). She trained at NYU Tisch before transferring to Middlebury and has performed at several NYC venues including 54 Below, Carnegie Hall, and Symphony Space. Outside of the theatre, Patrice enjoys singing with the Middlebury Mamajamas acapella group, tap dancing, and log
rolling/swimming in the natatorium! She would like to thank her friends, family, and professors for always supporting and believing in her. She is so happy to be a part of this show and is extremely grateful to the cast and crew for making this such a fun and wonderful experience!
Alex Draper he/him (Lear) is a professor of theatre and the coartistic director of the Dogteam Theatre Project. He teaches classes in performance, history, and literature, and has directed productions of Polaroid Stories, Hamlet, Middletown, Clickshare, Cinders, Twelfth Night, Saint Crispin’s Day, Eurydice, U.S. Drag, and Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls. His professional career as an actor includes the New York premieres of A Map of Virtue, Terrorism, Get What You Need, Rose’s Dilemma, Endpapers, S aint Crispin’s Day, and The Pitchfork Disney. Film and TV: The Witch in the Window, Hairbrained, Yellowbrickroad, Joshua, Hysterical Blindness, Simply Irresistible, The Photographer, Kalapani, Hard Shell, Chicago Med, Taken, The Good Wife, John Adams, Sex and the City, Suddenly Susan, Ed, and all three Law and Orders. Alex received a BA in theatre and English from Middlebury, and an MFA from the Yale School of Drama.
Catie Duggan ’25, she/her (Knight/ Soldier) from Darien, Connecticut, is an economics major with a minor in theatre. King Lear is her on-stage debut, but she is additionally a member of the Middlebury women’s
lacrosse team. During her time playing for the Panthers, they have won three NCAA national championship titles and have an overall record of 68-1. She is ecstatic to be part of this fantastic production and hopes this won’t be her last time acting.
Owen Foberg ’27.5 he/him (Edgar) is a physics major who is performing in his first production here at Middlebury. He is very excited for the opportunity to start his Middlebury acting career off with such an exciting play, and is incredibly thankful for the opportunity.
Virginia Frau ’27 she/her (Albany) is a literary studies major with a double minor in Italian and Math. She’s from Littleton, Colorado, and discovered her love for acting in a high school Halloween production of Hookman by Lauren Yee. She adores live theatre as a vehicle for connection and vulnerability and hopes to continue acting with Middlebury’s theater department.
Alex Garcia ’26 they/them (Stage Manager) is a theatre major, Portuguese and linguistics double minor from Chicago. Professional credits include Dogteam Theatre Project (associate master electrician). Middlebury college credits include Storm Still (light designer), Rhinoceros (ASM), And Baby Makes Seven (ASM), Destroying Angels (SM), Polaroid Stories (SM), Worst Mother in the World (SM) and King Lear (SM). They also work as one of several production assistants
for the theatre department and as the technical director for the Hepburn Zoo. Outside of the department, they can be found watching movies, scrolling through newly recommended Spotify songs, or crocheting in the corner of every room they’re in.
Graydon Hanson ’25 he/him (Assistant Stage Manager/ Dramaturg) is, regrettably, a film major from, even more regrettably, New York City. This is, even even more regrettably, his first Middlebury theatre production, but he’s very excited to be a part of the show. He hopes you will not see him moving the walls on stage or administering the storm drop.
Jordan Henry ’26 she/her (France and Old Woman) is a theatre and German joint major and film minor from Long Island, New York. Jordan’s theatre journey at Middlebury began with a J-term improv workshop. Since then she has fully immersed herself into the theatre department. This led her to ASM for the spring 2023 production of Somewhere. Jordan’s acting journey at Middlebury includes Polaroid Stories (Eurydice), and Orlando (chorus). Jordan will also be playing Athena in Norah Santoni’s independent study Athena later this fall. Jordan hopes you enjoy the show!
Joe Isenberg he/him (Fight Choreography) Fight direction: The Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, GlimmerGlass Festival, Bard SummerScape,
The New York City Opera, Arena Stage, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Studio Theatre, Signature Theatre, Children’s Theatre Company, Adirondack Theater Festival, Theater J, Humana Festival, Florida Stage, InterAct Theatre, Teaching: ShowScore.com, 52nd St. Project, Union College, Middlebury College, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Howard University, Georgetown University, Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Awards: 2013 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Choreography, the Kennedy Center Kenan Fellowship, 2010 Society of American Fight Directors Swashbuckler of the Year.
Karen Ito ’27 she/her (Gentleman, Messenger, Servant), is a neuroscience and gender studies major from Tokyo, Japan. She is grateful to make her debut at Middlebury in King Lear, marking her very first theater performance in her life. When not on stage, you can find her around campus observing squirrels or at Snowbowl during the winter months.
Karina Lea ’27 any pronouns (Doctor, Soldier) is an art history/ Japanese double major with a focus in creative writing. Hailing from Wyoming, she did theatre all throughout high school, but King Lear is her first performance at Middlebury. She loves to watch plays almost as much as she loves to write them, and hopes to carry theatre with her for her entire life.
Thomas Long ’25 he/him (Edmund) has acted in Mr. Burns: A PostElectric Play, Tick Tick . . . Boom!, and Legally Blonde at Middlebury. He enjoys games, words, dancing, and pretending to be people that he actually isn’t at tables and on stages. He would feel most at home set atop a merry-go-round and spun forever. He is a history major.
Owen McCarthy ’25 they/he (Gloucester) is a biology major and theatre minor from Massachusetts. Their acting credits at Middlebury include Which Way is Up, Mr. Burns, The Nightman Cometh, and Dad Rock Owen is an avid member of the quadball team and is definitely not 15,036,575 ants. In their free time, Owen enjoys showing up at other people’s outdoor meals uninvited and carrying individual grains of sand for hours on end.
Elsa Marrian ’25 she/her (Regan and Assistant Stage Manager) is a theatre major with a directing focus from Nairobi, Kenya. Elsa’s directing credits include her 500-level work on Charlotte Jones’ Airswimming and her directing II work on Sure Thing! Though directing is her focus, she loves acting and her Middlebury College acting credits include Somewhere (Kin), Polaroid Stories (Philomel), and Orlando (Queen Elizabeth). Outside of Middlebury, Elsa has acted in several high school productions and with Kenya’s National Youth Theatre. Elsa is thrilled to be working on this production and hopes you enjoy the show!
Rach Peck ’25 she/they (Kent) is an English and FMMC major from Cambridge, England. A senior, this is her first time in a faculty production since the First Show in 2022. In her free time you can find her playing frisbee or at Little Seed. She hopes you enjoy the show!
Zoë Predmore ‘27.5 they/them (Fool) with an undecided major. Though this is their first faculty show at Middlebury, they directed Legally Blonde: The Musical last spring for MCMT. They are thrilled to be a part of King Lear and look forward to the many productions to come.
Norah Santoni de Castro ’26 she/ her (Oswald and Assistant Stage Manager) is a joint theatre and political science major with a minor in French, from the Dominican Republic. She grew up acting, but her credits at Middlebury are Greek Tragedy, Orlando, and Welcome to the Party. She also worked as one of the assistant stage managers for this production. Later this semester
you can catch her directorial debut with Athena at the Hepburn Zoo! Norah loves the department and looks forward to future projects, in all different capacities. She’s grateful for the opportunity to work on this wonderful show and had so much fun!
Jamie Schwartz ’27 any pronouns (Servant, Gentleman) is so happy to be back on the Middlebury stage! You may have seen them last spring as the red-headed Russian Sasha in Sarah Ruhl’s Orlando. Outside of the theatre, she can often be found singing with the Middlebury Mamajamas. Jamie is so excited to be part of this incredible production!
Danny Smith ’27 he/him (Cornwall) is a computer science major from Woodstock, Vermont. He has been acting since fifth grade and is considering a theatre minor. After working tech for multiple shows last year, this is his acting debut at Middlebury. He is super excited to act (and sing) for this show!
SHOW STAFF
Director Michole Biancosino
Scene and Lighting Design Mark Evancho
Costume Design Summer Lee Jack
Sound Design Amit Prakash and Allison Rimmer
Fight Director Joe Isenberg
Original Music Clint Bierman and Michole Biancosino
Musician Clint Bierman
Technical Director Jim Dougherty
Properties Jim Dougherty
Stage Manager Alex Garcia
Assistant Stage Managers Graydon Hanson, Elsa Marrian, Norah Santoni de Castro
Stagehand Brooke O’Toole
Master Electrician Tony Bader
Assistant Costume Design Juli Valle
Costume Shop Director Robin Foster Cole
Associate Costume Shop Dir. Katie Knauber
Musical Arrangements Kirin Prakash Biancosino
Dramaturgy Graydon Hanson
Light Board Operator Evan Berger
Sound Board Operator Wills Erda
Costume Construction and Wardrobe Camryn Brielmann, Dieedra Welch, Ella Charnizon, Elsa Marrian, Gabriela Valencia-Rubio, Ginger Hanlon, Juli Valle, Julia Breckenridge, Kendall Schilling, Nancy Rivera, Norah Santoni de Castro, Sophie Laroccque, Amanda Martins
Makeup/Hair Styling Katie Knauber
Technical Production Crew Christine Zhang, Barry Yang, August Siegel, Kendall Schilling, Xiaole Niu, Maya Murtuza-Lanier, Maia McNeill, Isabel Manzano, Caelyn Macky, Ryan Greguski, Johnny Gaston, Alex Garcia, Wills Erda, Gerritt Blauvelt, Evan Berger, Megan Balparda, Jonathan Mount, Sabrina Schwarz, Madeline Schwarz, Angel Gurung, Nolan Plummer, Owen McCarthy, Kansas Chase, Sam Bryan, Dallas
Enemark, Kiley Bertos, Ben Pauchet, Brooke O’Toole, Marc Chu
THEATRE DEPARTMENT STAFF
Professors Alex Draper: Acting, Directing, History and Literature
Mark Evancho: Scene and Lighting Design
Cláudio Medeiros: Acting, Directing, History and Literature (Department Chair)
Associate Professors Michole Biancosino: Acting, Directing, History, and Literature
Dana Yeaton: Playwriting
Assistant Professor Olga Sanchez Saltveit: Acting, Directing, Literature
Visiting Assistant Professors Ashley Nichole Baptiste: Acting
Summer Lee Jack: Costume Design
Production Manager Jim Dougherty
Costume Shop Director Robin Foster Cole
Associate Costume Director Katie Knauber
Master Electrician Tony Bader
Theatre Administration Mirjam Brett
Theatre Office Assistant Urian Vasquez
LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The production was rehearsed and performed on land which has served as a site of meeting and exchange among the Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial. The Western Abenaki are the traditional caretakers of these Vermont lands and waters, which they call Ndakinna. We give thanks for the opportunity to share in the bounty of this place and to protect it.
SPECIAL THANKS
For the insightful lectures and conversations with the cast: Professor James Berg and Professor Daniel Brayton.
For the sound expertise and good company: Allison Rimmer
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE ARTS AT MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE!
The Theatre Program wishes to thank Drue Cortell Gensler ’57, Mr. and Mrs. Edward Barlow, Marie and Edward Matthews, Christian and Gerry-Jo Cranmer, John J. Morrissey ’72, and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Freeman, Jr. for their generous support of our program’s work.
The Theatre Department would also like to thank Jean Seeler ’60, in whose honor the Seeler Studio Theatre is named, for her support of and belief in the work of this department.