FLOWER SHOP - Six Short Plays by Six Deaf Playwrights
Play 1 - TOXIC FLOWER by Willy Conley
Director: Philip Wismer
Stage Manager: Shaylene Cochran
Projection Designer: Valerie Walkup
Costume Designer: Brandon Alves
Actor: Sydney Padgett
SYNOPSIS: A Deaf supervisor of a garden department in a big box home improvement store gives an orientation to newly hired Deaf employees. As a safety measure, she instructs them on identifying poisonous flowers and plants that are for sale in the store. The new hires learn what is really toxic in the store.
*Trigger warnings: bullying around body type/ableism and mild profanity.
Willy Conley, a retired professor and former chairperson of theatre at Gallaudet, is an award-winning director/playwright. Notable productions have been at the Kennedy Center, Imagination Stage, Center Stage, Boston Center for the Arts, Amaryllis Theatre, National Theatre of the Deaf, Boston Playwrights Theatre, Olney Theatre, Deaf Spotlight, KSU Trumbull Theatre, NTID Performing Arts, Deaf Way II, New York Deaf Theatre, and off-off-Broadway. His most recent books are Plays of Our Own and Photographic Memories. Other books: Visual Gestural Communication, The World of White Water, Listening Through the Bone, The Deaf Heart, Vignettes of the Deaf Character, and Other Plays.
Play 2 - CAMELLIA FOR CAMILLE by Heba Toulan
Director: Dazlyn Lopez
Stage Manager: Mei Stanley
Projection Designer: Erick Cuellar Ramos
Costume Designers: Celso Martinez & Ashley Kennedy
Actors: Kyra Dinkins, Timothy Knisley, Taylor Victor, Francois Decaux
SYNOPSIS: Marc ventures into the floral shop in an attempt to mend things with his estranged sister and encounters a detour: a psychic. Find out if he was able to achieve what he set out to do.
*Trigger warning: flashing lights.
Heba Toulan, born in Cairo, hails from the Washington, D.C. area. Her credits include The Laramie Project, Olivia for Twelfth Night, Hecate for Macbeth at the Woodlands Arts in the Park and Shakespeare in the Shade, DeafBroadway's Rocky Horror Picture Show, COMPANY, and Les Misérables. She recently starred in SENSES, Compromised Experiment, and The Window Washer. An accomplished model, Heba has modeled for over 10 brands, and walked for a number of designers. She can be found behind a book or fostering/rescuing the Great Pyrenees. Her website is www.hebatoulan.com.
Play 3 - FLOWER DANCE by Howie Seago
Director: Kyra Dinkins
Stage Manager: Dazlyn Lopez
Projection Designer: Diego Muniz
Costume Designer: Rose Hersh
Actors: Steven Guerrier, Sydney Padgett
SYNOPSIS: A middle-aged floral shop owner makes an unexpected and otherworldly connection with a homeless man.
*Trigger warnings: death and house-less-ness.
Howie Seago's career includes acting, writing, directing, producing, and teaching for over 50 years. His film credits include BEYOND SILENCE (Osar nom.), and WONDERSTRUCK. HIS TV credits include STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, HUNTER, THE EQUALIZER. Onstage, he worked with notable directors such as Peter Sellars, David Byrne, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bart Sher, and The National Theatre of the Deaf. Most recently, Howie performed in 14 plays, nine of them Shakespeare, over seven years at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He wishes to thank his wife, Lori, for her love, faith, and steadfast support for all these years.
Play 4 - BEAUTIFUL BOY by Rob Roth
Director: Ryler Gill
Stage Manager: Philip Wismer
Projection Designer: Diego Muniz
Costume Designers: Courtney Bronson & Steven Guerrier
Actors: Timothy Knisley, Celso Martinez, Elghin Hebrado
SYNOPSIS: A long-time shop owner on Castro Street decides to get his financial books in order. Anthony has been prosperous but harbors tremendous guilt over his success when so many of his friends died in the AIDS crisis over 30 years ago. He hires an accountant and embarks on a journey of acceptance and healing.
*Trigger warnings: illness and death/dying.
Rob Roth has performed in a variety of roles in Deaf theatre since 1971. He produced plays in Los Angeles and Seattle, including Equus. Rob acted in a grand total of one play - as Eric, the heir to a pickle fortune in Pure as the Driven Snow. His work as a playwright includes Boy Scout and Beautiful Boy at Seattle's Deaf Spotlight and Pushing Buttons as a short play at Deaf Austin Theatre and as a one-act play at NTID's MAP Deaf Theatre Festival. Currently, he is working on a two-act play. Rob is thrilled to be at Gallaudet for this production!
Play 5 - FIFTY FLOWERS by Cherry Pie Latorre
Director: Celso Martinez
Stage Manager: François Decaux
Projection Designer: Valerie Walkup
Costume Designers: Shaylene Cochran & Jordan Tennison
Actors: Jeremy Pitts, Mei Stanley, Kyra Dinkins
SYNOPSIS: When an elderly florist sells flowers to a new customer, he finds out that they have a connection they didn't know they shared.
*Trigger warning: war trauma.
Cherry Pie Latorre was born in Manila, Philippines, and grew up in a big community of both ethnic and religious diversity. She graduated from the Technological University of the Philippines. She is blessed to have a wonderful husband and two children. She was an art teacher and is now a full-time mother. She continues to learn about acting, photography, and playwriting. She is currently under All About You Talent.
Play 6 - PLANT A KISS by Liam Coleman
Director: Shaylene Cochran
Stage Manager: Phoenix Cook
Projection Designer: Erick Cuellar Ramos
Costume Designer: Timothy Knisley
Actors: Atlas Rideout, Taylor Victor, Sydney Padgett
SYNOPSIS: As a solution to a quarter-life crisis, Lex opens a plant shop in the heart of Seattle, hoping to grow something more than flowers. While they seem to be running from their past, their very first customer that day is looking to confront the future head-on.
*Trigger warning: mild profanity.
Liam Coleman (they/them) is a Queer DeafBlind artist who grew up in Utah. Liam graduated with a BS from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2019 with concentrations in Deaf Culture Studies and Visual Arts, a minor in both Anthropology & Sociology, and an immersion in Social Inequalities. They are passionate about creative expression and disability representation. Since 2020, Liam has worked as a Creative Producer at Morpheyes Studio in Rochester, NY. Outside of work, Liam continues to play with different forms of 2D and 3D art, you can find them performing in ASL at the occasional festival.
CREATIVE TEAM:
Juanita Cebe^ - Theatre Coordinator & Box Office
Tirzah Farley~ - Promo Design for Social Media
MoMo Holt * - Mentor for Directors, Stage Managers, and Intimacy Choreography
Norah Matthews^ - Master Electrician and Mentor for Crew
Michelle McAuliffe* - Mentor for Projection Design
Ashley Pigliavento^ - Choreographer
Keith Saine^ - Technical Director and Mentor for Crew
Justin Schmitz - Sound Designer
Ethan Sinnott* - Scenic Designer and Mentor for Promo Design
Annie Wiegand* - Lighting Designer and Mentor for Costume Design
* Faculty
^ Staff
~ Student
NOTE: This FLOWER SHOP is a student-driven production.
Most of the students are taking specific courses:
THE 281: Theater Production Practicum under Professor Ethan Sinnott & Keith Saine & Norah Matthews
THE 282: Theater Performance Practicum under Professor MoMo Holt & Professor Ashley Pigliavento
THE 464: Costume Design Lab under Professor Annie Wiegand
GSR 300/THE 281: Projection Design under Professor Michelle McAuliffe
PERFORMANCES:
Wednesday November 1, 2023 - 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (Preview)
Thursday November 2, 2023 - 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm (Opening Night)
Friday November 3, 2023 - 7:00 to 8:30 pm
Saturday November 4, 2023 - 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (Matinee)
Saturday November 4, 2023 - 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Sunday November 5, 2023 - 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm (Matinee)
PERFORMANCE LOCATION:
Elstad Auditorium Main Stage (enter through Elstad Annex - which is connected to and directly behind Elstad Auditorium), 800 Florida Avenue NE, Washington, DC 20002 [Metro – RED line – NoMa-Gallaudet]. Free, on-campus parking is available.
NOTE: captions will be integrated into the set design - NO spoken English accompaniment.
TICKETS (gallaudet.ticketleap.com):
Adults (including Gallaudet faculty/staff/alumni and senior citizens) - $10 online (with a credit card), $15 at the Box Office Window (CASH ONLY; no credit cards) gallaudet.ticketleap.com
FULL-TIME Gallaudet Students - who have paid the fall 2023 semester unit fee receive one (1) free ticket with their ID. Please complete the Google Form. DO NOT buy a Gallaudet student ticket using the online credit card system (TICKETLEAP) unless you are sure that you do not qualify for the one (1) free ticket with ID.
Gallaudet Students - who have NOT paid the fall 2023 semester unit fee, PART-TIME Gallaudet Students (i.e., students taking ASL or PST classes), Non-Gallaudet Students (students attending any other school), and full-time Gallaudet students who have paid the fall 2023 semester unit fee and already received their "one free ticket with ID" but want to see the show a second time - $8 online (with a credit card - use the Part-time Gallaudet Student/Non-Gallaudet Student-with School ID category), $10 at the Box Office Window (CASH ONLY; no credit cards) gallaudet.ticketleap.com
GROUPS of 10 people or more - send a message through TICKETLEAP or email [email protected]
Please consider making a donation to the Theatre and Dance Program at Gallaudet University. Your support will help us to produce exceptional quality shows using highly qualified designers and the latest technologies.
Ways to Donate:
Theatre Arts Donation Fund Page
Theatre Arts Text to Give - Text Gally to 41444
Thermometer with a scrolling list of donors (works best with CHROME or FIREFOX)