The web presence of Nicholas Ryan Helms.
Last week’s Medieval Medley was a delight! We packed out Gorgas 205 with an audience of nearly eighty. I can’t decide whether my favorite moment was Steve Burch spouting ‘LATIN!’ or Mark Cobb making out with pots and pans. If you missed the event (or would like to relive it), check out the media below: the program, production photos, and audio from the event. (Listen with care: the audio quality is not the best.)
Today I have audio for you from our two most recent performances: January’s Measure for Measure, directed by Mark Hulse, and February’s Henry IV part 2, directed by Richard LeComte.
Measure for Measure
Henry IV part 2
If you missed our October 2017 performances of John Milton’s Samson Agonistes, fret not! We have photographs for you, the adapted text we used, and full audio. Enjoy!
Audio from Oct 9, 2017, in 301 Morgan Hall, Tuscaloosa
Audio from Oct 13, 2017, at the Doubletree Hotel, Birmingham
The text: Samson Agonistes, adaptation, Oct 2017
If you missed our staged reading on Sep 21, fear not! You can find the audio from the event here:
Apologies for the background noise at the start. It dies down once the performance begins.
On Thursday, Sep 21 at 7:30pm, at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center, Improbable Fictions will present a staged reading of Titia Andronica, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Adapted and directed by Erin Hildebrand and Courtney Parker.
Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies at the University of Alabama (english.ua.edu/grad/strode).
For more information about Improbable Fictions, please visit improbablefictions.org.
Cast
TITIA ANDRONICA – MK Foster
MARCUS ANDRONICUS – Will Ramsay
LAVINIA – Emma Leisentritt
LUCIUS – Tyler Sasser
MUTIUS – Joseph Welty
MARTIUS – Deborah Parker
QUINTUS – Lily Davenport
YOUNG LUCIUS – Joseph Welty
SATURNINUS – Charlie Bell
TAMORA – Elizabeth Theriot
DEMETRIUS – Matt Smith
CHIRON – Theodore Nollert
PUBLIUS – Deborah Parker
BASSIANUS – Geoffrey Emerson
AEMILIUS – Deborah Parker
MESSENGER – Lily Davenport
COUNTRY FELLOW – Geoffrey Emerson
GOTH – Joseph Welty
If you missed last Thursday’s performance of Calderon de la Barca’s Life is a Dream, fret not! Here you’ll find the program, the script, and an audio recording of the event.
Enjoy!
LIFE IS A DREAM edited by Deborah Parker
“Are all glories like dreams-the true ones taken to be false, and the false ones, to be true? There’s so little difference between one and the other that we cannot be sure if what we’re seeing and enjoying is simple fact or an illusion! Can it be the copy is so like the original that no one knows which is which?”
Dramatis Personae
BASILIO, King of Poland ……. Mark Hughes Cobb
SEGISMUNDO, Prince ……………….. Joseph Welty
ASTOLFO, Duke of Muscovy …… Bert McClelland
CLOTALDO, An old man ………………. Steve Burch
CLARIN, A clownish servant ………..Joseph Arrigo
ESTRELLA, Princess …………………….. Morgan Hall
ROSAVRA, A lady ……………………. Elizabeth Thiel
Soldiers/Servants ……………………………. Mark Hulse
Richard LeComte
Calvin McLeod
Riley Rawson
Madeline Tatro
En Español ………………………………… Madeline Tatro
Translated by Edwin Honig
Adapted and Directed by Deborah Parker
If you missed September’s Bechdellian Shakespeare, fret not! Here you can find audio and photos of the event, courtesy of Megan McCarter.
If you missed tonight’s staged reading of Doctor Faustus, you can find the audio here. The reading starts at about 4:03.
Improbable Fictions presents a staged reading of Shakespeare’s As You Like It on Thursday, December 4th, 7:30pm, at the Dinah Washington Black Box Theatre. The reading is directed by Deborah Parker, assistant directed by Jacob Crawford, and the cast includes students and faculty from UA and members of the Tuscaloosa community. If you missed our show, you can find an audio recording here:
IF presents As You Like It, 12.4.2015
Cast (in order of appearance):
Orlando …………………………………………………………….. Bert McLelland
Adam …………………………………………………………………… Glen Johnson
Oliver …………………………………………………………………… Nic Helms
Charles, the wrestler………………………………………………… Matt Smith
Rosalind …………………………………………………………. Dakota Park-Ozee
Celia …………………………………………………………… Alexandra Ferretti
Touchstone ……………………………………………………… David Ainsworth
LeBeau ……………………………………………………….. Emily Pitts Donahoe
Duke Frederick ………………………………………………….. Deborah Parker
First Lord………………………………………………………… Alison Wheatley
Duke Senior……………………………………………………… Richard LeComte
1st Lord…………………………………………………………… Gabrielle Perkins
Corin…………………………………………………………………. Renwick Jones
Silvius……………………………………………………………… Jacob Crawford
Amiens…………………………………………………………………… Matt Smith
Jacques…………………………………………………………………. Steve Burch
Audrey…………………………………………………………….. Alison Wheatley
Oliver Martext……………………………………………………… Glen Johnson
Phebe……………………………………………………………… Gabrielle Perkins
William………………………………………………………. Emily Pitts Donahoe
Jacques de Boys……………………………………………. Emily Pitts Donahoe
Sponsored by the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies.
Here you can find a partial recording of October 1st’s staged reading of Richard III, as well as the Richard III, cut. The recording starts with pre-show music, and the performance proper starts at minute 29. Unfortunately, due to the size of the original audio file and the size of the memory card I was using, the recording only goes to act 4 of the show.
And here, the cast list and Jacob Crawford’s program notes for the show:
Cast
Richard, Duke of Gloucester (David Ainsworth)
George, Duke of Clarence, his brother (Richard LeComte)
King Edward IV, his brother (Austin Whitver)
Queen Elizabeth, Edward’s wife (Gabrielle Perkins)
Prince Edward (Bert McLel)
Young Prince (Jennifer Sudduth)
Duchess of York, mother of the brothers (Deborah Parker)
Lady Anne, widow of Prince Edward (Dakota Park-Ozee)
Lord Buckingham (Charles Prosser)
Lord Brackenbury (Renwick Jones)
Lord Catesby (Wes Youngson)
Lord Hastings (Emily Pitts Donahoe)
Lord Rivers (Allison Wheatley)
Lord Stanley (Charles Barkley)
Lord Tyrrel (Alex Ferretti)
Earl of Richmond, King Henry VII (Mark Hughes Cobb)
Crew
Nic Helms (Director)
Jacob Crawford (Assistant Director)
Laurie Arizumi (Music)
Improbable Fictions presents
Richard III
A play by William Shakespeare
Sponsored by the Hudson Strode Program of Renaissance Studies
Brief Overview
Richard III is the fourth and final play in the Henry VI tetralogy. It is one of Shakespeare’s first plays, written between 1592 and 1593, and it is one of his longest plays—second only to the quarto edition of Hamlet. (Fear not, my friends! Our version is abridged!) Although it is grouped among the histories in Shakespeare’s First Folio, it is labeled a tragedy in the Quarto edition. That said, it is a witty, darkly entertaining play that offers a bleak view of kingship and the price of power. Its biting commentary on greed, corruption, and authority is still relevant—especially in light of recent events in the Middle East.
History
Richard III was the King of England between 1483 and 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His death at Bosworth Field marked the end of the War of the Roses and represents the end of the Middle Ages. To this day, Richard III remains one of the most unpopular kings in English history. Although he suffered severe scoliosis, most stories and plays about him, including Shakespeare’s play, exaggerate his monstrous afflictions. (Today, we continue this tradition through our casting of David Ainsworth.)
The spring semester is winding down, and it’s time for me to recap IF’s recent work. February’s reading of The Merchant of Venice, directed by Deborah Parker, was a complete success: great performances, great adaptation, great audience. February’s snowpocalypse and subsequent school cancelations forced us to move the show back by two weeks, however, and also forced us to push back the performance date for Steve Burch’s A Tiger’s Heart, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s first tetralogy. IF ran several cold read workshops to assist with the adaptation process, but there just wasn’t enough time in this snow-laden semester to bring the material to a satisfying performance. We decided to postpone A Tiger’s Heart to a future semester, TBA. Blame the snow!
Many of IF’s regular readers are graduating this semester. Congrats especially to Joey Gamble, Adella Smith, and Amber Smith, who have worked with IF for the past four years. Needless to say, these seniors were swamped this April, so we tried a new format for our staged reading of Comedy of Errors: no rehearsals, complete improvisation. The script was cut, cast, and distributed before the show, but wasn’t put on its feet until the night of April 18th. It proved to be an excellent experiment by my lights, especially for a comedy concerned with error. The audience’s laughter seemed to come not only from Shakespeare’s humor but also from the enthusiasm of the actors as they tackled the material, making mistakes but sticking doggedly to the play in the process. It’s not an approach that would work for every play, but it’s something we may return to occasionally. You can hear the results here:
Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, adapted by Nic Helms
And now, announcements! The fall 2014 season is still very much in flux. Right now I have my heart set on two shows: Shakespeare’s Richard III and Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. More to come when I know things for certain.
Here are two Rude Mechanicals shows you can definitely put on your calendars: Julius Caesar, directed by Steve Burch, May 28-31 in Mars Spring Park; Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Mark Cobb, June 25-28 in Mars Spring Park.
As always, if you’re interested in being involved in IF or the Rude Mechs, reach out to us via blog, Facebook, or email and we’ll be sure to get you involved.
Sprockets and Springes 
