SPF 14: Lear in Tulsa
Lewis, an aging White, progressive artistic director of a theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma has hired a Black Englishwoman to direct him in his swan song production of “King Lear.” When she casts a White actress to play Cordelia (Shakespeare’s Cinderella), when Cordelia’s vile sisters are People of Color, Lewis panics at the racist implications. And if she re-casts the role, what will Tulsa’s White supremacists do when that news gets out?
Steven Leigh Morris is a playwright, journalist and novelist. His plays have been published by Samuel French in New York, and also in south east Europe (Macedonia), and presented in New York (off-Broadway), Los Angeles (Playwrights’ Arena and Pacific Resident Theatre), and developed at Center Theatre Group, Rogue Machine and The Actors’ Gang. His latest play, “White People,” was commissioned by Qendra Multimedia in Prishtina, Kosovo. His debut novel, “Fowl Play” won the Gold Prize of the Indie Book Awards. As a journalist, Morris has written for the New York Times, LA Times, American Theatre Magazine, The Stage ((London), DRAMA Magazine (London), and he was theater editor for over a decade at the LA Weekly. He has served as both jurist and chair of the Drama Prize jury of the Pulitzer Prizes. Morris founded and continues to edit LA’s digital theater discussion forum, Stage Raw.
The recipient of the first Career Achievement Award from Stage Raw, Rivera recenlty directed the following world premieres: APARTMENT LIVING by Boni B. Alvarez, A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER by Inda Craig-Galván, SOUTHERNMOST by Mary Lyon Kamitaki, BABY EYES by Donald Jolly, LITTLE WOMEN by Velina Hasu Houston, BILLY BOY by Nick Salamone, BLOODLETTING by Boni B. Alvarez (also at Kirk Douglas Theatre), @THESPEEDOFJAKE by Jennifer Maisel and many more. He is the founding artistic director of Playwrights’ Arena.
Other awards: NY Fringe Award and LA Weekly Award.
“Lear in Tulsa”
Lewis – Frank Collison*
Dembe – Diane Renee*
Aisha – Mildred Landford
Priscilla – Zoe Papia
Angel – Victoria Martinez*
Doug – Brian Graves*
*Road Company Member