Unbound Productions Co-Artistic Directors JoNathan Josephson, Paul Millet, and Jeff G. Rack have announced two waves of expansion to their popular horror story adaptation series WICKED LIT. On Thursday, October 20, The American School of Yaoundé in Cameroon, presented Josephson's adaptation of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. In addition, WICKED LIT's free staged reading series will expand from Los Angeles- based events and schools to two locations in San Diego: Lestat's (October 23 and 27 at 6:30pm) and The Egyptian Tea Room (October 26 at 8:00pm).
"We are beyond excited to work with several new partners on this expansion," said Millet. "Ghislaine Sopher-Phillips and Ryan Phillips are our San Diego Reading Series Directors and they have been a wonderful addition to our team," added Rack. WICKED LIT veteran Naisa Wong will again direct the Los Angeles portion of the staged reading series.
Lindsey Jungman, a teacher at The American School of Yaoundé, will direct and produce WICKED LIT's Sleepy Hollow with a number of her international students in the cast. "Of the 11 seventhth grade students in the show, we have 1 Portuguese student, 4 American students, 2 Cameroonian students, 1 student who is half-English and half-Italian, 1 student who is half- American and half-Cameroonian, 1 student who is half-Cameroonian and half-Greek, and 1 German student. They're quite the crew and have had a wonderful time with this show."
One fun note about producing this show in Cameroon is that the headless horseman's head will be represented by a carved watermelon instead of a jack-o-lantern. "No pumpkins!" added Jungman. Jungman originally discovered Josephson's Sleepy Hollow on YouthPlays.com, a site that licenses plays and musicals for young actors and audiences.
These are not the first WICKED LIT plays to be presented outside of Los Angeles. In 2010, the Shelterbelt Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska produced Josephson's adaptation of Mark Twain's A Ghost Story as part of ShelterSkelter 15, a new works festival that features horror one-acts. Added Josephson "It's gratifying and inspiring that there are producers in other parts of the world that want to mount WICKED LIT shows for their communities. We expect that these are just the first of many new developments for this project across the globe and look forward to what opportunities may lay ahead."
In Los Angeles, WICKED LIT's annual Halloween production will take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery. Production A (NOW-November 5, 2011) will consist of a remountof three plays that the theatre company produced as part of last year's engagement: Charles Dickens' The Chimes, H.P. Lovecraft's The Unnamable, and Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado. Production B (October 27-November 6, 2011) will include three WICKED LIT plays that have never been staged at Mountain View: Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher, M.R. James' Casting the Runes, and Mark Twain's A Ghost StorY. Josephson, Rack, and Millet have written and will direct all six adaptations.
For the production of WICKED LIT at Mountain View, audiences will experience three short plays as they are led through the grounds of the mausoleum and cemetery by a Storyguide. Separate tickets will give patrons access to either Production A or Production B. This is a walking show - patrons must be able to comfortably walk a minimum of 1,000 paces and climb stairs in order to experience these productions.
Visit wickedlit.org for complete pricing and scheduling details. WICKED LIT is also on Facebook.
