Category Archives: Main Stage

Dramaturg Philippa Kelly chats with composer Byron Au Yong, composer for The War of the Roses. Get tickets to the final performances here! Philippa Kelly: Can you tell us a little about your background—something different from resume info? Early life? … Continue reading →

Interview by Philippa Kelly, Resident Dramaturg Awele Makeba’s very being illuminates a room. She glows with humane warmth and light. Awele is a professional actor and storyteller, and a drama teacher at Skyline High in Oakland. Almost all of Skyline’s students … Continue reading →

We’re about to embark on the most epic Shakespearean undertaking in Cal Shakes history, including presenting the Henry VI trilogy for the first time ever! Many of us are familiar with the title character of Richard III (even if just … Continue reading →

Philippa Kelly: I notice that your middle name is Rosalind. Is that a conscious Shakespearean choice on your parents’ part? Lana Russell: No, it is actually my family name going back through 4 generations—I wish I could have Shakespeare take … Continue reading →

Costume designer Anna R. Oliver has designed the sumptuous costume pieces for our epic War of the Roses. Our 14 actors play over 30 characters and their costumes and characters span over 65 years! Anna says,”I wanted form to follow … Continue reading →

by Philippa Kelly, Resident Dramaturg Now we’re getting down to the wire… We’re in our Sunday stumble-through, the last full run-through before the designer run of The War of the Roses this coming Wednesday, what Aldo Billingslea calls “the first … Continue reading →

by Scott Horstein, guest blogger and freelance dramaturg Last week Philippa shared our coffee talk about Richard III, the last of the four plays in the Shakespeare Tetralogy that makes up Cal Shakes’s War of the Roses. I dramaturged Richard … Continue reading →

By Resident Dramaturg, Philippa Kelly “I can’t sit on the throne with this big-ass table here, can I?” says Lance Gardner (playing the Earl of Suffolk) as Joseph Patrick O’Malley (playing King Henry VI) leaves the room. We are rehearsing … Continue reading →