Through the Years Timeline:

First Opening Night: May 8th, 1997

Season 26 (2022-2023)

A Great Big Woolly Mammoth Thawing from the Ice


A Great Big Woolly Mammoth Thawing from the Ice by Tatty Hennessy

Dir. Lucy Jane Atkinson

Dates: Sept 29 – Oct 16, 2022

Location: Murphey School

2022

Silent Sky


Silent Sky by Laura Gunderson

Dir. Rebecca Holderness

Dates: December 3-18, 2022

Location: Murphey School

2022

Mlima's Tale


Mlima's  Tale by Lynn Nottage

Dir. Ana Radulescu

Dates: January 26 - February 12, 2023

Location: Murphey School

2023

The Cherry Orchard


The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

Dir. Randolph Curtis Rand

Dates: April 6-23, 2023

Location: Murphey School

2023

The Great Big Woolly Mammoth Thawing from the Ice

The Great Big Woolly Mammoth Thawing from the Ice by Tatty Hennessy 

Dir. Lucy Jane Atkinson 

Dates: September 29-October 26, 2022

Location: Murphey School

Artistic Director’s Notes: 

The second quarter century. Daunting to consider. And yet, the first blew by like a breeze, here one
minute, then gone. I remember so clearly the meeting Simmie and I had in John Mcllwee’s office at
NCSU, and our tentative ask: “Could we possibly use your studio space? We’re starting a theatre.” And John’s immediate reply: “Sure!”. Not what I was expecting, but then Raleigh and this community has been a never ending supply of ‘unexpecteds’ over the years. And with that positive and cheerful reply, we
stepped into a new world (for us), and began the work that would lead us to today.

One of the reasons I wanted to start this second quarter-century with this wooly mammoth is this: it is a new play. Twenty-five years ago, the idea of doing that in Raleigh would have been all but unthinkable.
Most plays on tap were from the cannon, either genuine oldies or modern plays that had cleared the
gauntlet of a ‘Broadway Production’ and thus infiltrated the minds of the general public sufficiently to ensure some interest. Today, things are different. Now it is possible for an intimate theatre like ours to commission a playwright from 5 time zones away, get a hearty ‘Sure!”
from that playwright, and then get it on the boards. New Works has always been the life’s blood of the theatre. Think Shakespeare in England, Mo liere in France, Fugard in South Africa, Chekhov in Russia.
Unlike many other art forms, where the form takes precedent, the theatre is really only as good as this
morning’s headlines. Sure, the characters, the setting, even the theme of a play might be ‘old fashioned’, but in the theatre, what really matters is “what does it mean to us, now?” And of course the people for
whom that meaning must be derived is you, the audience. Well, guess what? You aren’t the same
audience! You’ve up and changed. And so, too, then must the meaning of plays change. In every art form, but most particularly in storytelling, the meaning of a word, a gesture, a casting choice, can change as the wind shifts direction. To continue to serve our changing community, it is important that we continue to do
what we have done: look at the cannon for new meaning, but also add to that cannon.

We’ve done new plays before. We’ve commissioned plays before. But to launch such an auspicious season with this new work is beyond thrilling to me. It makes clear a few things. The blood is flowing, the body
is healthy and doing what it needs to do. We’re alive! Please, if you like this show, or if you believe in the idea of new plays being presented in Raleigh, NC, tell your friends. Without your support, the company and its work has no relevance. But with you, who knows what new worlds might be possible?

Jerome Davis

Crew

Director: Lucy Jane Atkinson

Stage Manager: Jeremy Vance

ASM: Cynthia Mandese

ASM: Carry Vaughan          

Technical Director: Joel Soren

Master Electrician: Barry Jaked

Lighting Designer:  Kevin Frazier     

Set Designer: Erin Morales

Props Designer:  Joel Soren

Costume Designer: Jane Stein

Sound Designer: Christy Rose

AD: Abigail Colburn

AD: Ana Radulescu

 
 

Cast:

Ben Apple — Chris

Gene Cordon– Jim

AC Donohue — Leah

Matt Hager –Justin 

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

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Burning Coal Theatre 

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224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played September 29-October 16, 2022

Silent Sky

Silent Sky by Laura Gunderson

Dir. Rebecca Holderness

Dates: December 1-18, 2022

Location: Murphey School 

Crew: 

Stage Manager: Jeremy Vance

ASM: Rebecca Hedges

Master Electrician: Barry Jaked 

Lighting Designer: Stephen R. White 

Set Design: Ao Li 

Costume Designer: Lauren Bevams 

Sound Design: Juan Isler

Sound Assistant: David Marshall

Board Op: Elizabeth Galbraith

Cast

Katie Werlin 

Nash Tetterton 

Staci Sabarsky 

Laurel Ullman 

Rebecca Bossen

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

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Burning Coal Theatre 

 (919) 834-4001 

  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played December 1-18, 2022: Silent Sky

Mlima's Tale

Mlima’s Tale by Lynn Nottage

Dir. Ana Radulescu

Dates: January 26-February 12, 2023

Location: Murphey School

Crew: 

Stage Manager: Cynita Lew

Choreographer: Movement Coordinator: Willie Hinton 

Dramaturg: Jordan Lichtenheld 

Master Electrician: Barry Jaked 

Scenic Designer: Xinyuan “Lee” Li 

Lighting Designer: Chris Popowich 

Sound Designer: Emma  Hasselbach 

Costume Designer: Calypso Michelet 

Props/Technical Director: Joel Soren 

Painter: Meredith Riggen 

Cast:

Preston Campbell 

Khalil LeSaldo

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

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Burning Coal Theatre 

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  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played January 26-February 12, 2023

The Cherry Orchard

The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

Dir. Randolph Curtis Rand

Dates: April 6-23, 2023

Location: Murphey School

Artistic Director’s Notes: 

Some playwrights hammer away at “big ideas” and end up with very small plays. Plays that seem to grow flaccid like a French fry left on the plate too long. The shape is still there, the coloring,
but it just isn’t appealing anymore.  Other play­wrights, like Anton Chekhov, focus on the minutiae of everyday life and somehow find that they have written plays for all people, for all times. The Cherry Orchard might be his best example of that rare skill. In this play, we meet a
well off community, a group so comfortable in their position, that they almost literally become
blind to their own impending doom. Chekhov thought this was a comedy. So do I.
In present day America, we have discovered that there is a class of people, not unlike the Czars of old Russia, that own everything, that control the flow of infor­mation, that are buddy-buddy
with those entrusted with making us safer,  and that instantly change the law to allow their indiscretions and criminalize those who resist them. In short, they got it all! For them, the logical question would be: Now how do we hold on to it? In Czarist Russia, the answer was to bury your head in the sand and hope that what happened yesterday will happen tomor­row. But are we much different here, today? As I look around for clues, I’m in­clined to believe the answer is “no”. The ruling class in America seems to believe that tightening their grip on those who would object to their rule is the quick and easy solution. That impulse has grown worse in my lifetime, and particularly so in the past decade. In days of old, five minutes ago, it was possible to lose
grace­ fully, if you were a public figure. Not so much, anymore. If they win, hosannahs abound.
If they lose, let the blame game begin as they reach for a broadcasting or print media paycheck and control of the public discourse that way. But fear not. There’s an old saying: Journalism is the first draft of history. Art is the final draft.
Or, to put it more directly: Chekhov has got your 
Here, then, is the final draft on a declining society. On a creeping authoritarian­ ism that knew and knows that its spiritual rot was and is finally starting to show.
Enjoy The Cherry Orchard. And enjoy the laughs while you can!

Jerome Davis

Crew

Stage Manager: Adam Budlong
Assistant Director:  Carry Vaughan-Sprouse
ASM: Cynthia Mandese
Set Design: Matthew Pezzulich
Lighting Designer: Chris Popowich
Props Designer: Randy Carter
Technical Director: Joel Soren
Master Electrician:  Barry Jaked

Ranevsky: Lynda Clark

Anya: Elise Kimple

Varya: Maxine Eloi

Leonid Gayev: Mark Filiaci

Yermolai Lopakin:  Juan Isler

Pyotr Trofimov:  Matthew Hager

Pishchik:  Gene Cordon

Charlotta: Abigail Colborn

Dunyasha: Jordan Lichtenheld

Firs: Stephen Jones

Yasha: Erin Amlicke

Semyon Yepikhodov:  John Jimerson

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

Please Contact Us to Share!

Burning Coal Theatre 

 (919) 834-4001 

  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played April 6-23, 2023: The Cherry Orchard

Season 27: (2023-2024)

ARCADIA


Arcadia by Tom Stoppard

Dir. Jerome Davis

Dates: October 12-29, 2023

Location: Murphey School

2023

Moonlight


Moonlight by Harold Pinter

Dir. Greg Hersov

Dates: November 30-December 17, 2023

Location: Murphey School  

2023

Hymn


Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti

Dir. Marcus D. Harvey

Dates: January 25 – February 11, 2024

Location: Murphey School

2024

A Little Night Music


A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler

Dir. Jerome Davis 

Dates: April 4-21, 2024

Location: Murphey School

2024

ARCADIA

ARCADIA by Tom Stoppard

Dir. Jerome Davis

Dates: October 12-29, 2023

Location: Murphey School

Crew:

Stage Manager: George Waller

Technical Director: Barry Jaked

Lighting Designer: Chris Popowich

Scenery Design:  Stephen White

Costumer: Beth Gargan

Props Design: Randy Carter

Music: David Marschall

Sound Engineer: Juan Isler

Dialects Coach:  Kirby Wahl

Asst Dir/Understudy: Lissa Pope

ASMs: Kelly Buynitzky, Kat Cupp, Addison Florio, Courtney Pisano

Intimacy Coach: Veronica Dress

Scenic Artist: Meredith Riggan

Cast:

Jacob Berger

Thom Christiansen

Jeffrey Dillard

Ian Finley

Matara Hitchcock

Byron Jennings

Maggie Lea

Emily Rieder

Daniel Ryder

Susanna Skaggs

Chance Thompson

Chandler Vance

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

Please Contact Us to Share!

Burning Coal Theatre 

 (919) 834-4001 

  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played October 12-29, 2023 : ARCADIA

Moonlight

Moonlight  by Harold Pinter

Dir. Greg Hersov

Dates: November 30-December 17, 2023

Location: Murphey School

Crew: 

Stage Manager: Ryan Vasconcellos 

Scenic Designer: Tom Burch 

Lighting Designer: Matthew Adelson 

Assistant Stage Manager: Bri Flynn 

Props: AC Donohue

Costume Designer: Linda Clark 

Sound Designer: Christy Rose

Cast:

Ben Apple

Tamara Farias

Mark Filiaci

John Jimerson

Randolph Curtis Rand*

Susanna Skaggs

Jenn Suchanec

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

Please Contact Us to Share!

Burning Coal Theatre 

 (919) 834-4001 

  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played November 30-December 17, 2023: Moonlight

Hymn

Hymn by Lolita Chakrabarti

Dir. Marcus D. Harvey

Dates: January 25-February 11, 2024

Location: Murphey School

Crew: 

Stage Manager: Juliana Fresca 

Set Designer: Marie Laster 

Lighting Designer: Valentina Moya 

Costume Designer: Deb Royals

Costume Assistant: Jennifer Ijeoma 

Properties: Briana Farrar

Sound Designer: Juan Isler

ASMs: Courtney Pisano, Sydney Kain 

Board OP: Addison Florio 

Technical Director & Master Electrician: Barry Jaked

Cast:

Juan Isler 

Byron Jennings

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

Please Contact Us to Share!

Burning Coal Theatre 

 (919) 834-4001 

  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played January 25-February 11, 2024: Hymn

A Little Night Music

A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler

Dir. Jerome Davis

Dates: April 4-21, 2024

Location: Murphey School

Crew: 

Stage Manager: Sarah Gendron 

Assistant Stage Manager: Carry Vaughn 

Scenic Designer: Xiang Li 

Lighting Designer: Matthew Adelson 

Props Designer: Randy Carter 

Costume Designer: Stacey Herrison 

Sound Designer: Juan Isler 

Cast:

Natalie Blackman

Alli Mae Carnes

Margaret Ellen Christensen

Alec Donaldson

Ian Finley

Will Godby

Kai Halford

Christine Hunter

Juan Isler

Byron Jennings

Kelley Keats

Devin Lackey

Nunna Noe

Derek Robinson

Natalie Turgeon

Melanie Simmons

Sarah Winter

Have a fond or interesting memory of this play you’d like to share with us? We’d love to hear it! 

Please Contact Us to Share!

Burning Coal Theatre 

 (919) 834-4001 

  info@burningcoal.org   

224 Polk St., Raleigh NC 27604

Played April 4-21, 2024: A Little Night Music

Thank you. Your being here and your support makes it possible to bring live, inclusive, innovative theatre to Downtown Raleigh, NC, and beyond.

Burning Coal Theatre Company  is funded in part by the City of Raleigh based on recommendations of the Raleigh Arts Commission. Burning Coal Theatre Company is supported by the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County.

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