Empty Chair rung in the New Year with a production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in Washington, D.C. Directed by King Lear (2009) director Katie Logan, Much Ado was mounted in a single week, bringing together company veterans and a host of new faces to explore the renaissance theatre practice of a lightning fast rehearsal process. The ensemble created a one-weekend only adventure into the foolery and fun of Shakespeare’s biting romantic comedy.

Poster design by Kelley Van Dilla

CAST
Benedick: Danny Cackley
Claudio: Jake Green
Don Pedro/Watch: Matt Minnicino
Leonato: Jonathan Lambert
Antonio/Sexton: Michael Leibring
Beatrice: Lee Havlicek
Hero/ Verges: Madalena Provo
Margaret/ Watch: MaryLynne Smith
Ursula/Watch: Yisa Fermin
Don John:Matthew Marcus
Borachio: Henry Ring
Friar Francis/ Conrade: Sarah Marx
Dogberry: Brian LaPerche
Ensemble: Caroline Brent
 
CREW
Director: Katie Logan
Assistant Director: Elizabeth Nearing
Assistant Director: Julia Sears
Stage Manger: Allison Miller
Assistant Stage Manger Rebecca Speas
Assistant Stage Manger: Alison Goldberg
Lighting Designer: Quill Nebeker
Costume Coordinator: MaryLynne Smith
House Manger: Caroline Brent

Scenes By William Shakespeare
Directed By Elizabeth Nearing

“Tired with All these, for restful death I cry,
As, to behold desert a beggar born,
And needy nothing trimm'd in jollity,
And purest faith unhappily forswarn,
And guilded honour shamefully misplaced,
And maiden virtue rudely strumpeted,
And right perfection wrongfully disgraced,
And strength by limping sway disabled,
And art made tongue-tied by authority,
And folly doctor-like controlling skill,
And simple truth miscall'd simplicity,
And captive good attending captain ill:
Tired with all these, from these would I be gone,
Save that, to die, I leave my love alone"

Miscalled Simplicity, a showcase of Shakespearean scenes performed in Arlington, Virginia, brought together an ensemble of actors for a few days in May to rehearse a smorgasbord of snippets from the Bard’s plays celebrating the strength of women in the canon. The showcase was a part of the Virginia Minds Wide Open Festival and raised donations for Susan G. Komen For the Cure© as a part of the Empty Chair Benefit Series.

Poster design by Lee Havlicek

CAST
Patrick Barrett
Rebecca Etzine
Lee Havilcek
Matthew Minnicino
Samantha Sheahan
Mark Tucker
 
CREW
Director: Elizabeth Nearing
Project Coordinator: Caroline Brent
Publicity Director: Natasha Solomon

Richard II

By William Shakespeare
Directed By Natasha Solomon

“We are amazed; and thus long have we stood
To watch the fearful bending of thy knee,
Because we thought ourself thy lawful king:
And if we be, how dare thy joints forget
To pay their awful duty to our presence?”

Richard II, directed by Empty Chair veteran and Director of Communications and Marketing Natasha Solomon, investigated the intensity, humor, majesty, and truth in Shakespeare’s historical fable about the fall of a monarch. With Richard II, Empty Chair made its first foray into traveling theatre with a special one-time-only performance in Loudoun County’s Franklin Park Arts Center.

   
Richard II actors (from left) Caroline Brent, George Dippold, Jeremy Tuohy, Kaleb Bruza, Shunan Chu. Photos by Julia Sears

CAST
King Richard II: George Dippold
Harry Bolingbroke: Jeremy Tuohy          
Duke of York, Duke of Gloucester: Michaele Van Ness
John of Gaunt, Welsh Captain, Surrey: Quill Nebeker
Duchess of York, Duchess of Gloucester, Queen: Caroline Brent
Duchess of York, Duchess of Gloucester, Queen: Lee Havlicek
Duchess of York, Duchess of Gloucester, Queen: Mariah Webb
Duke of Aumerle, Herald, First Man: Jake Green
Earl of Northumberland, Marshal, Murderer: Shunan Chu
Thomas Mowbray, Lord Ross, Bishop of Carlisle, Keeper: Danny Cackley
Bushy, Second Herald, Sir Stephen Scroop, Lord Fitzwater: Elena Robertson
Bagot, Harry Percy, Willoughby, Sir Piers Exton: Kaleb Bruza
Green, Gardener, Earl of Salisbury, Groom: Matt Minnicino
          
CREW
Director: Natasha Solomon
Assistant Director: Amalia Oswald
Assistant Director: Shunan Chu
Directing Apprentice: Cassandra Kendall
Stage Manager: Rebecca Speas
Rehearsal Stage Manager: Allison Miller
Costume Designer: MaryLynne Smith
Set Designer: Kevin Hasser
Lighting Design: Madison Lane
Lighting Assistant: Daniel Dobroseilski
Props Master: Olivia Myers
Dramaturg: Tilney Brune
Fight Choreographer: Julia Sears
House Manger: Joan Cummins

A Midsummer Night's Dream

By William Shakespeare
Directed By Elizabeth Nearing

“The lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact.”

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, under the direction of Artistic Director Elizabeth Nearing, embraced the joy and magic of Shakespeare. A small, multi-talented, cast reveled in the frenetic pace of a play rife with slapstick, true love, and a larger-than-life supernatural world made real by puppeteer Daniel Dobrosielski. The season’s run of Midsummer included a special showcase performance at the Goodwin House Assisted Living Center in Alexandria, Virginia.

    
A Midsummer Night's Dream actors (from left) Matthew Minnicino, Amalia Oswald, Mark Tucker, Matthew Provence, Jake Green, Danny Cackley, Mariah Webb, Matthew Minnicino. Photos by Megan Spatz.

CAST
Duke Theseus, Titania: Julia Sears
Duchess Hippolyta, Oberon: Kaleb Bruza
Egeus, Puck: Amalia Oswald
Hermia, Snug, Moth: Caroline Brent
Lysander, Snout, Peasblosom: Danny Cackley
Helena, Starveling, Mustardseed: Mariah Webb
Demetrius, Flute, Cobweb: Jake Green
Bottom: Matthew Provance
Quince, Fairy: Mark Tucker
Philostrate, Fairy, Puppeteer: Matthew Minnicino
 
CREW
Director: Elizabeth Nearing
Assistant Director: Joan Cummins
Stage Manger Allison Miller
Set/ Lighting/ Puppet Designer: Daniel Dobroseilski
Costume Designer: Megan Spatz
Props Master: Olivia Myers
Dramaturg: Jack Read
Fight Choreographer: Julia Sears
Board Operators: Madison Lane
House Manger: Joan Cummins