Our Regular Season
The CIrcle

Toss. Peep. Buy. Tear. Burn.
A devised theatrical happening, based on our season of treason.
September 7th & 9th, 2013
7 p.m.
(rain date: September 8th)
Meet at the entrance of Grafton Library
Free Admission (Donations accepted).
Please wear comfortable shoes. If you are unable to climb stairs, please contact us in advance for handicapped accessibility information.
The Devised Show starts off our company year by building ensemble through collaborative work. Our five regular productions serve as inspiration and source material for our Devised Show. The goal of the devised production is to build a strong ensemble through daily training, the exploration of source work connected to each play, and the creation of original compositions. The material generated for the Devised Show is meant to heighten the company’s relationship to the characters, plots, and themes in the five regular productions. We started from scratch on Monday, August 2nd. We perform the original piece on Saturday, September 7th.
A devised theatrical happening, based on our season of treason.
September 7th & 9th, 2013
7 p.m.
(rain date: September 8th)
Meet at the entrance of Grafton Library
Free Admission (Donations accepted).
Please wear comfortable shoes. If you are unable to climb stairs, please contact us in advance for handicapped accessibility information.
The Devised Show starts off our company year by building ensemble through collaborative work. Our five regular productions serve as inspiration and source material for our Devised Show. The goal of the devised production is to build a strong ensemble through daily training, the exploration of source work connected to each play, and the creation of original compositions. The material generated for the Devised Show is meant to heighten the company’s relationship to the characters, plots, and themes in the five regular productions. We started from scratch on Monday, August 2nd. We perform the original piece on Saturday, September 7th.
Macbeth

Magic. Ambition. Treason. Blood. Madness.
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
directed by Riley Steiner
Oct. 5-13, 2013
Saturday @ 8pm
Sunday @ 2pm & 8pm
theS.P.A.C.E. @ 107
107 E. Beverley Street
Staunton, VA 24401
www.thenewSPACE.org
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
A 60-minute production, the Education Show is designed to tour to local schools throughout the year. In selecting a play, the company had to stick to Shakespeare’s accepted canon, looking for a work that would be attractive to teachers and their schools. The company will also be creating workshops to accompany the production. The goal of the Education Show is to keep the Company connected to the mainstay of the Shakespeare industry -- the education establishment -- while making certain that all company members develop their pedagogical skills and their ability to speak in front of audiences and perform in spaces of all kinds. The production also aims to demonstrate to students how accessible Shakespeare can be.
Macbeth
by William Shakespeare
directed by Riley Steiner
Oct. 5-13, 2013
Saturday @ 8pm
Sunday @ 2pm & 8pm
theS.P.A.C.E. @ 107
107 E. Beverley Street
Staunton, VA 24401
www.thenewSPACE.org
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
A 60-minute production, the Education Show is designed to tour to local schools throughout the year. In selecting a play, the company had to stick to Shakespeare’s accepted canon, looking for a work that would be attractive to teachers and their schools. The company will also be creating workshops to accompany the production. The goal of the Education Show is to keep the Company connected to the mainstay of the Shakespeare industry -- the education establishment -- while making certain that all company members develop their pedagogical skills and their ability to speak in front of audiences and perform in spaces of all kinds. The production also aims to demonstrate to students how accessible Shakespeare can be.
The Insatiate Countess / Richard II

Beauty. Lust. Pleasure. Love. Treason.
The Insatiate Countess
by John Marston, et al.
directed by Kelly Elliott
Friday, December 6 @ 8pm (theS.P.A.C.E.)
Saturday, December 7 @ 2pm (theS.P.A.C.E.)
Monday, December 9 @ 8pm (Blackfriars Playhouse)
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
The Insatiate Countess
by John Marston, et al.
directed by Kelly Elliott
Friday, December 6 @ 8pm (theS.P.A.C.E.)
Saturday, December 7 @ 2pm (theS.P.A.C.E.)
Monday, December 9 @ 8pm (Blackfriars Playhouse)
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students

Duty. Ceremony. Banishment. Treason. Death.
Richard II
by William Shakespeare
directed by Charlene V. Smith
Thursday, December 5th @ 8pm
Saturday, December 7th @ 8pm
Sunday, December 8th @ 2pm -- cancelled due to snow.
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
theS.P.A.C.E. @ 107
107 E. Beverley Street
Staunton, VA 24401
www.thenewSPACE.org
Richard II
by William Shakespeare
directed by Charlene V. Smith
Thursday, December 5th @ 8pm
Saturday, December 7th @ 8pm
Sunday, December 8th @ 2pm -- cancelled due to snow.
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
theS.P.A.C.E. @ 107
107 E. Beverley Street
Staunton, VA 24401
www.thenewSPACE.org
For the Extreme Casting Shows, the Company divides in two; this year, we have two five-actor casts lead by a director. Extreme casting productions are designed to be performed in small spaces, on a small budget, and in touring venues. By producing large cast early modern plays with only five actors, Extreme Casting Shows blend conventional textual diligence with creative storytelling. In these intimate, high-energy productions, actors remain on stage for the entire performance, often representing multiple characters in a single scene. Extreme casting shows place a focus on clear storytelling, actor physicality and vocal choices, and director and designer problem-solving and creativity.
Dr. Faustus

Knowledge. Ambition. Temptation. Treason. Damnation.
Dr. Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe
Monday, January 27 @ 8pm
Tuesday, January 28 @ 8pm
Wednesday, January 29 @ 8pm
Blackfriars Playhouse
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
After selling her soul to the Devil, Faustus spends 24 years with Mephistophilis acting as her servant until the time comes to pay up. In a rare and daring twist Rogue Shakespeare re-genders the roles of Faustus and her protégé Wagner to women in order to explore the desire for power and wealth from a woman’s point of view.
During the first performance (January 27th), the cast will not improvise dialogue, but will perform the play as written in their cue scripts. This performance is a chance to get a baseline of the play without added or altered dialogue. During the second performance (January 28th), some actors will expand their lines in the way that Dr. Tiffany Stern believes clown actors in the early modern period did. During the third performance (January 29th), certain clown scenes will be completely improvised, using both modern techniques and those early modern techniques suggested by Dr. Robert Hornback. There will be a talkback after the second and third performances too get feedback from the audience on these two improvisation styles.
Inspired by the work of Tiffany Stern and the ASC’s Actors' Renaissance Season, the company’s Renaissance Show seeks to recreate early modern rehearsal conditions. The actors will learn their lines from cue scripts, rather than from a complete script. Finally, the company will work under an abbreviated rehearsal process without a director at the helm. Each performer is responsible for preparing her or his own part and gathering his or her own props and costumes. The Renaissance Show allows us to put scholarship into practice, examining the conditions of the early modern theatre. The production also builds on our work as collaborators and helps us grow as an ensemble.
Dr. Faustus
by Christopher Marlowe
Monday, January 27 @ 8pm
Tuesday, January 28 @ 8pm
Wednesday, January 29 @ 8pm
Blackfriars Playhouse
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
After selling her soul to the Devil, Faustus spends 24 years with Mephistophilis acting as her servant until the time comes to pay up. In a rare and daring twist Rogue Shakespeare re-genders the roles of Faustus and her protégé Wagner to women in order to explore the desire for power and wealth from a woman’s point of view.
During the first performance (January 27th), the cast will not improvise dialogue, but will perform the play as written in their cue scripts. This performance is a chance to get a baseline of the play without added or altered dialogue. During the second performance (January 28th), some actors will expand their lines in the way that Dr. Tiffany Stern believes clown actors in the early modern period did. During the third performance (January 29th), certain clown scenes will be completely improvised, using both modern techniques and those early modern techniques suggested by Dr. Robert Hornback. There will be a talkback after the second and third performances too get feedback from the audience on these two improvisation styles.
Inspired by the work of Tiffany Stern and the ASC’s Actors' Renaissance Season, the company’s Renaissance Show seeks to recreate early modern rehearsal conditions. The actors will learn their lines from cue scripts, rather than from a complete script. Finally, the company will work under an abbreviated rehearsal process without a director at the helm. Each performer is responsible for preparing her or his own part and gathering his or her own props and costumes. The Renaissance Show allows us to put scholarship into practice, examining the conditions of the early modern theatre. The production also builds on our work as collaborators and helps us grow as an ensemble.
Fuente Ovejuna

Power. Treason. Resistance. Torture. Freedom.
Fuente Ovejuna
by Lope de Vega
translated by G.J. Racz
directed by Beth Burns
March 30 & 31 and April 7
8:00 pm
Blackfriars Playhouse, Staunton, VA
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
The Blackfriars Show is specifically designed to play in Staunton's recreation of the Blackfriars Playhouse. It is the company’s capstone production, and this year is being guest directed by Beth Burns of Hidden Room Theatre.
Fuente Ovejuna
by Lope de Vega
translated by G.J. Racz
directed by Beth Burns
March 30 & 31 and April 7
8:00 pm
Blackfriars Playhouse, Staunton, VA
Suggested Donation: $10 adults / $5 students
The Blackfriars Show is specifically designed to play in Staunton's recreation of the Blackfriars Playhouse. It is the company’s capstone production, and this year is being guest directed by Beth Burns of Hidden Room Theatre.
Our Staged Reading Series
Rogue Shakespeare recognizes that Shakespeare and other early modern plays don’t exist in a vacuum. There are other works, textual, visual, or aural, that work in conversation with the five plays we are producing. As part of our Staged Reading Series, we have selected the following plays which facilitate a thematic or stylistic conversation with our regular season.
MEDEA
Monday, September 23 2013, 8:00pm | Blackfriars Playhouse
by Euripides
translated by Gilbert Murray
directed by Celi Oliveto
Featuring Mary Baldwin College’s Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Fellow Dr. Triveni Mathur as Medea
with Cyndi Kimmel, Stephan Pietrowski, Joshua Brown, Linnea Barklund, Sarah Blackwell, Jessica Schiermeister, Clair Holsinger, and Gabi Sutton.
Free and open to the public.
by Euripides
translated by Gilbert Murray
directed by Celi Oliveto
Featuring Mary Baldwin College’s Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Fellow Dr. Triveni Mathur as Medea
with Cyndi Kimmel, Stephan Pietrowski, Joshua Brown, Linnea Barklund, Sarah Blackwell, Jessica Schiermeister, Clair Holsinger, and Gabi Sutton.
Free and open to the public.
No Wit / Help Like a Woman's
Monday, November 18 2013, 8:00pm | Blackfriars Playhouse
by Thomas Middleton
directed by Julia Nelson
with Charlene V. Smith, Dane Leasure, Celi Oliveto, Marshall Garrett, Nora Manca, Melissa Huggins, Rebecca Hodder, Stephan Pietrowski, and Joshua Brown.
Free and open to the public, benefitting the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Please bring a non-perishable food item, paper product, or personal care item to donate to the food bank.
by Thomas Middleton
directed by Julia Nelson
with Charlene V. Smith, Dane Leasure, Celi Oliveto, Marshall Garrett, Nora Manca, Melissa Huggins, Rebecca Hodder, Stephan Pietrowski, and Joshua Brown.
Free and open to the public, benefitting the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. Please bring a non-perishable food item, paper product, or personal care item to donate to the food bank.
The Devil's Charter
Monday, January 13 2014, 8:00pm | Blackfriars Playhouse
by Barnabe Barnes
directed by Mary Beth Geppert
Featuring S&P Faculty Doreen Bechtol, Dr. Matthew Davies, and Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen
Free and open to the public.
by Barnabe Barnes
directed by Mary Beth Geppert
Featuring S&P Faculty Doreen Bechtol, Dr. Matthew Davies, and Dr. Ralph Alan Cohen
Free and open to the public.
King Lear
Sunday, March 16 2014, 7:30 pm | Blackfriars Playhouse -- postponed due to snow
Adapted by Nahum Tate
directed by Julia Nelson
An aging king still divides his kingdom in three parts, and a bastard son still plots against his legitimate brother, but in this Restoration-era adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, a love story between youngest daughter Cordelia and much-maligned Edgar takes center focus. This optimistic reboot of Shakespeare’s tragedy met with enormous success and remained the standard version of the play until well into the 19th century.
In partnership with the American Shakespeare Center, as part of their 2013/2014 Slightly Skewed Shakespeare Series.
Free and open to the public.
Adapted by Nahum Tate
directed by Julia Nelson
An aging king still divides his kingdom in three parts, and a bastard son still plots against his legitimate brother, but in this Restoration-era adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, a love story between youngest daughter Cordelia and much-maligned Edgar takes center focus. This optimistic reboot of Shakespeare’s tragedy met with enormous success and remained the standard version of the play until well into the 19th century.
In partnership with the American Shakespeare Center, as part of their 2013/2014 Slightly Skewed Shakespeare Series.
Free and open to the public.
The TroJan Women
by Euripides
directed by Rebecca Hodder
April 3rd, 2014
8pm
Masonic Building
5th Floor
Blue Room
13 W. Beverley Street
Free and open to the public.
directed by Rebecca Hodder
April 3rd, 2014
8pm
Masonic Building
5th Floor
Blue Room
13 W. Beverley Street
Free and open to the public.