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The African Company Presents Richard III show poster

The African Company Presents Richard III at Great River Shakespeare Festival

Dates: (6/19/2022 - 7/30/2022 )

Theatre:

Great River Shakespeare Festival


450 Johnson Street
Winona, 55987

Phone: (507)-474-7900

Tickets: $25-$49

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  3. The African Company Presents Richard III


In 1821, forty years before Lincoln ended slavery, the first Black theatrical group in the country, the African Company of New York, is presenting Richard III to which both Black and White audiences are flocking. Meanwhile, uptown theatre impresario, Stephen Price, has hired a famous English actor to perform the very same play at Price's theatre. Fearing he'll be unable to deliver the promised crowds, Price sets about shutting down the competition. Festival favorite Corey Allen (GRSFs King Lear, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Midsummer) returns to direct this true and uniquely American story.

Cast and Creative team for The African Company Presents Richard III at Great River Shakespeare Festival

Cast

Adeyinka Adebola

Jimmy
Adeyinka Adebola is an Actor, Director, Musician and Teaching Artist with a dual bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Performing arts. He performs with the Brooklyn based group "Something Positive" and is the founder of "Monologue Roulette!" a creative Network, workshop and showcase series that brings the best of nyc's writers directors and actors to collaborate under one roof. Adey is Currently training at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Recent credits include Austin (Black Petal Theater), sons of Johnny Johnson (MSAI Productions), A cops and robbers story(Vernon Films), Fences(Stella Adler Studio), Macbeth(Lehman Stages). @perfectionpending


Benjamin Boucvalt

Constable
This will be Benjamin’s 10th season with Great River Shakespeare Festival; notable performances include As You Like it/Orlando, Julius Caesar/Cassius, Midsummer/Oberon, and Romeo and Juliet/Romeo, other theaters include the Asolo Repertory Theatre, Curtain Theatre, St. Petersburg Shakespeare Company, and the Orlando Shakespeare Theatre where he performed Vanya, Sonya, Masha, and Spike/Spike. Benjamin is also a writer and published his first novel, “The River Road”, in 2014; the audiobook of the novel was also produced that same year, which he narrated. As an active martial artist, he is often choreographing fights for both film and theatre. Benjamin teaches acting and stage combat at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Los Angeles & New York. MFA, SAG-AFTRA/AEA @boucvalt


Ashley Bowen

Anne
Ash Bowen is an MFA Acting student (class of 2024) at the University of Missouri- Kansas City. She was an acting apprentice here at Great River Shakespeare Festival last summer and understudied the role of Miranda in The Tempest. She was seen as Lord Capulet, Benvolio, Chorus, and Gregory in the GRSF apprentice production of Romeo & Juliet. At the UMKC Conservatory, Miss Bowen has recently been seen as King Cymbeline and Jupiter in Cymbeline, and as Miss Scatcherd, Eliza Reed, and Diana Rivers in Jane Eyre. ashbowen.com


Teri Brown

Sarah
Teri Brown is a Los Angeles based actor who is honored to be making her first appearance at GRSF! Inspired by the convergence of turbulent events in our world and a recent “empty nest “, she is grateful to re-enter the Theatre world after a 25-year absence. An alumna of Carnegie - Mellon University, her regional theatre credits include: Doubt (The Public Theatre, Lewiston ME), Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (Alliance Theatre, Atlanta GA), Midsummer Night’s Dream (Atlanta Shakespeare Company), Romeo and Juliet (Arkansas Rep, Little Rock AK), Love Letters (Open Stage of Pennsylvania). She has most recently appeared with Brave New World Repertory Theatre (Brooklyn NY) in productions of Over and Above, Women over 50 Speak, and Dutch Kings.


Raffeal Sears

Billy
Raffeal Sears is blessed to be making his GRSF debut! He last appeared in A Christmas Carol (The Repertory Theater of St. Louis). Regional credits includeTwelfth Night (Yale Repertory Theatre), a staged reading of Master Wilder and the Cabala (Goodman Theatre); Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea, The Grapes of Wrath, and Henry V Project (Illinois Theatre); Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); The Play of Adam (The Met Cloisters); Amazing the Change (Atlantic Theatre Company); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nashville Shakespeare Festival); Lost in the Part (Amity Hall); In the Blood (The New School) and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day (The Coterie). Television and film credits include Chicago Fire (NBC), Cornered, Adventure Around the World and What We Used To Have. He is the recipient of the Shozo Sato: Excellence in Performance Award from UIUC. He is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA. Raffeal received his MFA in Acting from the University of Illinois at Urbana– Champaign. www.raffealsears.com @raffealsears


Doug Scholz-Carlson

Price
Doug works nationally as a director, fight choreographer, actor and certified intimacy director. In 18 seasons at GRSF, Doug played roles including Henry in Henry V, Feste in Twelfth Night and Thomas in Venus in Fur and directed productions including Macbeth, Richard III, Cymbeline and Shakespeare in Love. Doug was the first intimacy director at the Metropolitan Opera working on 6 productions including Fire Shut Up in my Bones. Other intimacy direction credits include Guthrie Theatre, San Diego Opera and Minnesota Opera. Directing credits include Minnesota Opera, Madison Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and Park Square Theatre. He choreographed fights for the world premier of Silent Night at Minnesota Opera (which won a Pulitzer Prize for music) as well as productions for companies including New York City Opera, Kansas City Opera, Children’s Theater Company and the Seattle Police Department. Doug is a graduate of St. Olaf College and the University of Washington. dougscholzcarlson.com


William Sturdivant

Papa Shakespeare
Will Sturdivant enters his fourth season with GRSF this Summer and is thrilled to be back in Winona. Taming of the Shrew will mark his 31st professional Shakespeare production. He received a BFA from the University of MN/ Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program and has performed Off Broadway and regionally for the past 15 years. His newest poetry book “Bounty! a pilgrimage in process” will be released this Summer, more info can be found on his Facebook Page.


Creative Team

Corey Allen

Director


Rodrigo Escalante

Scenic Designer


Lonnie Rafael Alcaraz***

Lighting Designer
*** Denotes membership in United Scenic Artists.


Harri Horsley

Costume Designer


Nathanael Brown

Sound Designer


Ivy Treccani

Props Designer


Kenyana Trambles

Wig/Makeup Designer


Andrew Carlson

Text Coach/Dramaturg


Tonia Sina

Intimacy Director


Tenley Pitonzo

Stage Manager*
*Denotes membership in Actors’ Equity Association, the union of professional stage actors and stage managers.


Abbi Hess

Assistant Stage Manager


Braxton Rae

Assistant Director


Gillian Herold

Assistant Costume Design


Great River Shakespeare Festival Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

Great River Shakespeare Festival is at 450 Johnson Street, Winona.

GREAT RIVER SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL (GRSF) IS A NONPROFIT, PROFESSIONAL EQUITY THEATER COMPANY IN WINONA, MN. The mission of the Great River Shakespeare Festival is to enrich people’s lives by creating dynamic, clearly understood productions of Shakespeare and other playwrights who celebrate the spoken word.

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