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Oleanna

Oleanna

A Power Play
by David Mamet
directed by Preston Lane

October 18 – November 8, 2009

Every story has two sides.
When an unconventional professor tries to help a struggling female student who is failing his class, the end result is far beyond what either originally expected in this shocking case of “he said, she said.” What begins as a simple meeting behind closed doors leads to misinterpretations, accusations and a high-stakes struggle for power. This controversial play by David Mamet (creator of The Unit and author of Glengarry Glen Ross) promises to defy expectations and challenge opinions. Who is right; who is wrong? Who is to say in this examination of power, privilege and political correctness?

Running time: 75 minutes (with no intermission)

“Director Preston Lane wrings every drop of tension out of two people trying to plumb each other's psychological depths. Half the fun...is hearing the gasps and observing audience members unable to curtail their whispers as their eyes are riveted on the play.”
–Lynn Jessup, Classical Voice of North Carolina
Click here to read the full review

“The shocking climax is almost expected, but still leaves the audience breathless.“
–Keith Barber, YES! Weekly
Click here to read the full review

Production Sponsors
Brown Investment Properties
Bernard Robinson & Company, LLP

Please note: This production contains adult language and themes.

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Carol
Ginny Myers Lee*
John
Lee Spencer*

Creative Team

Director
Preston Lane
Scenic Designer
Randall J. McMullen
Costume Designer
Kelsey Hunt
Lighting Designer
John Wolf
Composer & Sound Designer
David E. Smith
Dramaturg
Drew Barker
Casting Director
Cindi Rush Casting
Stage Manager
Emily J. Mails*

Biographies

Cast

Ginny Myers Lee Ginny Myers Lee* (Carol) Triad Stage: Brother Wolf. New York: Cymbeline, Misalliance, Love’s Labour’s Lost (New York Classical Theatre); Stars In A Dark Sky (Red Fern Theatre Co.); The Night Carter Was Bad (Kids With Guns); Love of a Pig (The Cardinal Group). Regional: Oleanna (An Appalachian Summer Festival); The Triumph of Love (The Clarence Brown Theatre); The Taming of the Shrew (Capital Repertory Theatre); The Shape of Things, The Voice of the Prairie, Crimes of the Heart (Summer Repertory Theatre); Ruth (Blue Shift Theatre Ensemble). Ginny received her MFA in Acting from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is a founding member of Man-In-The-Moon Theatre Project.
Lee Spencer Lee Spencer* (John) Triad Stage: Dracula, The Little Foxes. Regional: Oleanna (An Appalachian Summer Festival); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, True West, The Boys Next Door (Broach Theatre). Los Angeles: Originated roles in Colin McKay’s Children of Shame and Nagasaki Dust. Film/TV: Recurring roles on One Tree Hill and The Young and the Restless; guest star roles on Drop Dead Diva, Without a Trace, Cold Case, Enterprise, The District, among others; supporting role in the upcoming feature Blood Done Sign My Name. Education: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, NYC.

Creative Team

Preston Lane Preston Lane (Director) is in his 9th season at Triad Stage where he has directed 31 productions. Preston is the recipient of the 2008 Betty Cone Medal of the Arts and is in his third year as the Artistic Partner for Theatre for An Appalachian Summer Festival. He was formerly Artistic Associate at the Dallas Theater Center, where his productions included the US premiere of Inexpressible Island (Dallas Observer Best of Dallas Awards: Best Director, Best Production) and The Night of the Iguana (Dallas Morning News:2002 Top Ten Theatre List). Other productions include work Off-Broadway, numerous regional theaters and the National Black Theatre Festival. 
  Randall J. McMullen (Scenic Designer) Triad Stage: Old Wicked Songs. Regional/Local: Oleanna (An Appalachian Summer Festival); Colorado Shakespeare Festival (eight seasons), North Carolina Shakespeare Festival (nine seasons), Missouri Repertory Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre. Other: Member of United Scenic Artists 829, Professor of Theater at UNC-Greensboro, Guest Artist at University of Missouri School of Fine Arts, University of Wyoming, Auburn University, University of Alabama and American University (Cairo, Egypt). Recipient of the Kennedy Center/ACTF national design fellowship for “Outstanding Accomplishment as a Teaching Artist” (2002).
  Kelsey Hunt (Costume Designer) is Resident Costume Designer and Costume Shop Manager at Triad Stage. Past productions include: Oleanna; Picnic; Tartuffe; Ghosts; Black Pearl Sings!; Beautiful Star; Bell, Book and Candle; The Night of the Iguana; Bloody Blackbeard; Mrs. Warren’s Profession; Sleuth; The Little Foxes; Tobacco Road; Noises Off; The Old Settler; The Diary of Anne Frank; The Matchmaker; Brother Wolf; On Golden Pond; A Streetcar Named Desire (honorable mention, best production design, Independent Weekly); Das Barbecü; A Moon for the Misbegotten and Bus Stop. Kelsey has worked with UNCG Theater, New York’s Glimmerglass Opera House, Firebrand Theory Theater Company, The Lortel Theater and Lisa Zinni (associate designer for Broadway’s Rent).
  John Wolf (Lighting Designer) Triad Stage: 26 productions including the world premieres of Bloody Blackbeard, Brother Wolf, Debunked and Beautiful Star. Regional: North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Mill Mountain Theatre. University Theatre: UNCG, University of Florida, University of Tennessee, University of Nebraska Opera, plus designs at Lion Theatre, Center Stage, Trinity Theatre, Symphony Space and Lincoln Center in New York. John is a Professor of Theatre at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Education: MFA, University of Alabama; The Julliard School of Music.
  David E. Smith (Composer & Sound Designer) is director of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts theatre sound design program. David spent eight years with the Royal National Theatre in London, England. Triad Stage: Oleanna, Picnic,Tartuffe, Ghosts, The Night of the Iguana, Bloody Blackbeard, The Little Foxes, Tobacco Road, Beautiful Star, The Diary of Anne Frank, A Streetcar Named Desire and Dracula. Regional: Arena Stage, North Shore Music Theatre, Trinity Repertory Theatre, Alliance Theatre. Local: Little Theatre of Winston-Salem. 
  Drew Barker (Dramaturg) is Triad Stage’s Artistic Associate and Resident Dramaturg, and a former Theater and Advanced Placement English teacher. Regional: Assistant to the Director of five shows at Triad Stage, Assistant Director of Oleanna at An Appalachian Summer Festival. Education: UNCG, BFA Theater Education & English, Study Abroad at the University of Hull, and Undergraduate Research Assistantship in Greensboro Theater History.
  Cindi Rush (Casting Director) New York: The Time of Mendel’s Trouble, Peaceman, Jacques Brel, Six Dance Lessons In Six Weeks, The Thing About Men, Showtune, I Sing, Urinetown, Say Goodnight Gracie. Regional: Triad Stage, Act II Playhouse, Arena Stage, Goodman, Cape Cod Theatre Project, NOHO Arts Center (including “Pest Control”, “Dorian” and “Ghost and Mrs. Muir”), Actors Theatre of Louisville Humanafest. Film: Offspring, Made For Each Other, Home Movie, Jack Ketchum’s: The Girl Next Door, Headspace, Funny Valentine, Master Class. Other: Hats (Denver, New Orleans, Chicago). Casting Society of America Member, Casting Consultant for National Alliance For Musical Theatre, Casting Consultant for NYU Graduate Program for Musical Theatre Writing.
  Emily J. Mails* (Stage Manager) Triad Stage: Blackbeard, Mad at Miles, The Santaland Diaries, Dracula (2008) and “MASTER HAROLD”…and the boys. Regional: Oleanna (An Appalachian Summer Festival); A Thousand Cranes (North Carolina Shakespeare Festival); Rigoletto (Greensboro Opera); Crime and Punishment, Merry Wives of Windsor, Into the Woods (Orlando Shakespeare Festival). Education: BFA in Technical Production, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

*Member of Actors Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.

 

 

 

 
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