ROUGH MAGIC

ROUGH MAGIC

January 27 – February 25, 2007
  • By Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
  • Directed by Jenny McConnell Frederick
  • THE SANCTUARY THEATRE at Casa Del Pueblo Calvary Methodist Church

Part of the Kennedy Center’s
SHAKESPEARE IN WASHINGTON FESTIVAL

Caliban has escaped from Prospero’s island after being imprisoned for 500 years. On the run from his sadistic and powerful master, he finds himself in modern-day New York where he joins forces with a dramaturg with magical powers and a love-struck lifeguard who might be the child warrior fated to save the world. Taking his cues from many of today’s most popular comic and graphic novel writers like Neil Gaiman (SANDMAN), Bill Willingham (FABLES) and Warren Ellis (PLANETARY), Aguirre-Sacasa, a writer for Marvel Comics and one of America’s hottest young playwrights, melds a very real New York with Shakespeare’s THE TEMPEST, creating a modern tale of thrills, chills and drag queen furies.

ROUGH MAGIC is sponsored in part by generous contributions from Samantha & John Foti, Lt. Col. & Mrs. William F. McConnell and an Anonymous Donor.

Season 7 was sponsored in part by the Dobranski Foundation

“IF YOU SEE ONLY ONE PLAY during the six-month-long Shakespeare In Washington Festival SEE ROUGH MAGIC… the play itself proves an inspired choice for an impoverished but balls-to-the-walls theater company.”

Washington City Paper

FEATURING

Tracy Lynn Olivera
Grady Weatherford
Jason Basinger Linkins
Diana Cherkas
Danny Gavigan
Cesar A. Guadamuz
Gwen Grastorf
Lee Liebeskind
Dustin Loomis
Ghillian Porter
Vasanth Santosham

Designers

Set Eric Grims
Lighting Andrew Cissna
Costumes Frank Labovitz Sound Matthew Frederick
Props Debra Kim Sivigny

STAFF

Stage Manager Megan Reichelt
ASM Cecilia Cackley
Fight Choreographer Casey Kaleba 
Dramaturg Rachel Miller
Assistant Director Ryan Taylor
Asst. Lighting Design Andrew F. Griffin

PRODUCERS

Randy Baker
Jenny McConnell Frederick

MEDIA

PRESS

"It’s the characters of Melanie and Chet and their current-day interactions that dazzle in “Rough Magic,” written by DC-native Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Olivera has a deadpan wit and a likeablity that makes her curious abilities and quirks sympathetic. The interactions between her, Chet, and the Fury-turned-drag queen (it’s a long story) snap and crackle with liveliness and laughter."
Washingtonian
"When a vengeful fictional character steps out of the pages of Shakespeare and into modern Manhattan threatening death and destruction, who in the world can save the day? A dramaturg. The play works best when it makes knowing fun of this goofiness, and so does Jenny McConnell Frederick’s low-budget production. The smoothest element of “Rough Magic” is Tracy Lynn Olivera, whose deadpan style as Melanie perfectly suits the dry, bookish single gal caught up in a supernatural whirlwind."
The Washington Post
"If you see only one play during the six-month-long Shakespeare in Washington festival, see Rough Magic. Now, the Rorschach Theatre troops are gonna slap that sentence into a Web ad within the next five minutes, never mind that the actual production they’ve staged had more than a few bumpy spots on opening weekend. But more marketing power to ’em: Even a rough take on Rough Magic turns out to be kinda fun, if only because the play itself proves an inspired choice for an impoverished but balls-to-the-wall theater company taking part in a big, citywide celebration of all things Shakespeare."
Washington City Paper
"As a festival entry, this one’s a smart pick – it’s not your typical modernist revision or classic choice. Rough Magic toys with Shakespearean characters with afffection and without undue reverence."
DCist
"Tracy Lynn Olivera is a vulnerable, delightfully ditzy, reluctant heroine who can deliver every shade of comedy from romantic to sarcastic, slapstick to erudite, and she shines in this role. Guadamuz brings 3.5 dimensions to his tortured role as the two-dimensional Caliban. When Prospero’s curse brings out the beast in Caliban, Guadamuz has a comedic field day."
DC Theatre Scene
"Mr. Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing is pithy and ironic, as he weaves a tale of love, magic and horror — with a bit of drag and sarcasm thrown in."
DC Theatre Scene