PlayLab Workshops 2000

TWILIGHT AT MONTICELLO

By J.D. Sutton

Theatre unmasked!  Step behind the scenes and take part in the concocting of three new plays.  The Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival presents the PlayLab Workshop series, beginning 7 pm Wednesday April 19 with J.D. Sutton's "Twilight at Monticello." Treated as a work-in-progress, "Monticello" will be presented again at 2 pm on Saturday April 22 and Sunday April 23.  All workshops will take place at the Festivalšs theatre at Orlando-Loch Haven Park, 812 E. Rollins St.  

Presented as a visit with Jefferson in the "twilight" of his life, Sutton's one-man play is a reflective and insightful foray into the mind of one of Americašs great men.  Most of the words in the script are Jefferson's own, although the playwright has sculpted and fashioned them into a lively-paced discussion of topics ranging from slavery to dentistry.  The play's unique structure includes a question and answer period which is a true exercise in improvisation, as Sutton conducts a "talkback" in his 18th-century alter-ego.

J.D. Sutton, playwright and actor, is well-known to Orlando-area audiences, for his roles on the Festival's stage in "Richard III" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor."  He has worked throughout Florida on a variety of television projects, and is the lead street entertainer at downtown Orlando's Church Street Station complex.

Director Michael Carleton's recent work at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival includes directing "Gross Indecency," "Macbeth," and "Henry V," as well as "Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus," a new script which had its world premiere in 1998, and garnered the "Best Play" award from the Lillie Stoates panel.  His work has also been seen at theatres around the country, including Cape May Stage in New Jersey, Creative Voices and Critical Stage in New York, Stage Left in Chicago, and the Theatre Garage in Dallas.

The PlayLab workshop series follows a very successful Readings series, which took place this past Fall and Winter.  As an intermediate step between a reading and a full production, the Workshop series enables playwrights to refine and polish their scripts, in collaboration with the Festival's directors and actors.  Eric Hissom, the Festival's Director of New Play Development, envisions the Workshop series as a laboratory where the volatile ingredients of new play, professional artists, and willing audience all mix together for the first time.  By scheduling three workshops for each new work, Hissom hopes to thoroughly nurture the plays, with an eye towards scheduling them for future Festival seasons on the Mainstage.

Tickets are available for the "Twilight at Monticello" workshops, as well as the remaining two in the series.  Please call (407) 893 4600 extension 1 for reservations.  Admission prices are $7 for each workshop, or $15 for all three.  For further schedule information, please call (407) 893-4600 ext 242, or check the website at www.shakespearefest.org.

Written and performed by J.D. Sutton

Directed by Michael Carleton
Stage Manager: Robert Turk
Costume created by Amy Sutton

Director's Notes
Welcome to our whirlwind!  PlayLab has given us the unique opportunity of sharing the process of developing a new play with you, and we're excited about having you here, not just for the finished, polished production, but in the crucial, formative stages, where Form is discovered and Art is made.  What you will see tonight is the result of several years of a playwright's research and work, and an exciting, intense week and a half of re-writes, experiments, and ideas.  Wešve made new discoveries every day, pared away the clutter, and hopefully come up with an experience that will someday be a fully produced, dynamic piece of theatre.

We all know something of Thomas Jefferson - writer of the Declaration of Independence, Third President of the United States, that guy on the Nickel in your pocket.  Some of us might remember him staring off to the left on the short-lived two dollar bill.  But what do we really know of the man?  Several films and documentaries in recent years have tried to illuminate various aspects of his life, DNA testing has confirmed others.  Yet still, the man who first struck upon the words, "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights..." remains a mystery, an icon on a pedestal in a rotunda far above us.  Or is he?  He was also a father whose children died young, shy in company, amazed and astounded by the rapidly changing world around him.  He was closer to us than a five story face on Mount Rushmore suggests.  If we can get away from the hype and legend, maybe we can see him as a possible example instead of an unattainable ideal.

With this play, we hope to shed some light on what might be the essential message of Jefferson's life - We were promised the right to pursue Happiness... but we have to catch it by ourselves.

Who's Who

J.D. Sutton, playwright and actor, was born in Philadelphia and trained in the Graduate Acting Program at Temple University.  Mr. Sutton has enjoyed a professional theatre career ranging from regional theatre to cabaret and dinner theatre productions, and roles ranging from Sidney Bruhl in "Deathtrap" to Victor in "Private Lives." His favorite roles include Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha" and the title role in "Sherlock Holmes."

Currently living in Orlando with Amy, his wife of twenty years, he has
appeared there with the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival as Hastings in "Richard III" and Justice Shallow in "The Merry Wives of Windsor."  He has also worked throughout Florida on a variety of television projects.  Mr. Sutton is a character entertainer at downtown Orlando's Church Street Station entertainment complex, where he also conducts new employee orientations and historic tours of the facility.

Director Michael Carleton's recent work at the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival includes directing "Gross Indecency," "Macbeth," and "Henry V," as well as "Frankenstein, the Modern Prometheus," a new script which had its world premiere in 1998, and garnered the "Best Play" award from the Lillie Stoates panel.  His work has also been seen at theatres around the country, including Cape May Stage in New Jersey, Creative Voices and Critical Stage in New York, Stage Left in Chicago, and the theatre Garage in Dallas.

Stage Manager Rob Turk is the Festival's Stage Management Apprentice this season.  He is currently pursuing his BFA in Stage Management at UCF, where he worked on "Little Shop of Horrors," "The Importance of Being Earnest," and "Amadeus."  In addition to his duties behind the scenes in the Festival's two Spring productions, Rob can also be spotted as an elegant waltzer in "Love's Labour's Lost."

                                                                 Last Updated: 05/06/2007                    Copyright Orlando Shakespeare Theater