I'm excited to be returning to the Quintessence Theatre Group on the north side of Philadelphia this spring. They have invited me back as part of their ensemble for their upcoming Spring Rep. I'll appear, first, in George Bernard Shaw's SAINT JOAN (beginning March 16th), and then will perform the title role in Christopher Marlowe's DOCTOR FAUSTUS (beginning on March 30th). Both shows will then run in rep through the end of April.
I am thrilled to be back again at QTG, but confess that FAUSTUS presents a daunting task. The character and the language are both incredibly layered and complex, but more than that, Marlowe is a particular favorite of artistic director, Alexander Burns. (It's a fact that his Instagram handle is actaully @marlowephl, but you didn't hear that from me.) The ensemble will be helping him bring Marlowe to the Quintessence stage for the first time. I'm honored to have been asked along for that ride.
SAINT JOAN will be directed by Rebecca Wright. Everyone was still buzzing about her recently completed production of THE METAMORPHOSIS when I first arrived at QTG for THE THREE MUSKETEERS a year ago. I'm really looking forward to being in the room with her. The rest of the rep's ensemble will include folks either very familiar or completely new to me: John Basiulis, Andrew Betz, Alan Brincks, Tom Carman, Josh Carpenter, Sean Close, Ife Foy, Anita Holland, and Leigha Kato.
AND, it's true, I let out the metaphorical equivelent of a serious SQUEEEEEEEEE, when I discovered that not only has Brian Sidney Bembridge been enlisted to design lights for both shows, but Nikki Delhomme will also create costumes for SAINT JOAN. Both are incredible talents that I had the pleasure of working with on several different occasions in Chicago some years back. It's always a pleasant surprise to be reminded how small the theatre community real can be.
It's already less than a month until first rehearsals. I've got a lot of memorizing to do before then...