The Second Shepherds' Play
by the Wakefield Master
Produced by Stuart Hall School, December 2009.
Cast
Col, the first shepherd ... Amanda Devlin
Gib, the second shepherd ... Dan Trombley
Daw, the third shepherd ... Katy Mulvaney
Mak, a thief ... Michael Hollinger
Gil, his wife ... Amanda Noel Allen
An Angel of the Lord ... Rachel Kohler
The Blessed Virgin ... Katie Crandol
Crew
Director .... Tony Tambasco
Musical Director .... Amanda Devlin
About the project
Drawing on the scholarship of E.K. Chambers and Glynn Wickham, who both propose that medieval plays were commonly rehearsed over a matter of days at most, I attempted to create a similar set of circumstances in this production of The Second Shepherds' Play. Individual cast members rehearsed for no more than seven hours total for a performance in a space and for a community heavily influenced by the works of the American Shakespeare Center. Modern Christmas songs introduced and punctuated the performance of the play, and costumes were largely drawn from the closets of the company members.
In the spirit of the season, the play was performed as a benefit for Stuart Hall School's charitable contributions toward building and funding a school in Haiti.