Carnegie Mellon University

The Mill on the Floss

The Mill on the Floss

Written by George Eliot
Adapted for the stage by Helen Edmundson
Directed by Dana Resnick

Carnegie Mellon University
November, 2008

Cast List

Bekie Berkman‐Rivera: First Maggie
Nick Cutro Bob Jakin: Phillip Wakem
Tristan Farmer: Mr. Tulliver, Dr. Kenn
Lara Hillier: Third Maggie, Aunt Pullet
Bradley Horwitz: Ensemble
John McKetta: Stephen Guest, Mr. Stelling
Ethan Saks: Tom Tulliver, Wakem
Chelsea Vincent: Lucy Deane, Mrs. Tulliver
Katie Wieland: Second Maggie, Aunt Glegg
Ali Decker: Cellist

Margaret Wade Bridges Asst. Director
Michele Dipietro Dramaturg
Anthea Carns Asst. Dramaturg
Harriet Sogin Stage Manager
Jeannie Yun Asst. Stage Manager

Brian Grego Scene Designer
Umgi Lee Asst. Scene Designer
Mallory Nelson Costume Designe
Crystal Gomes Asst. Costume Designer
Venise St. Pierre Props Master
Liz Atkinson Sound Designer

Fight Choreographer Catherine Moore
Dance Choreographer Judith Conte
Dialect Natalie Baker-Shirer

The Mill on the Floss is a work of startling sadness and is one of the most affecting stories of family loss, tragedy and the sheer meanness of fate in the history of the novel (and now the play.) It was published in 1860 and is the story of Maggie Tulliver, our heroine, who is the daughter of a miller in the English midlands.

The Mill on the Floss spans the life of Maggie Tulliver, sailing her from childhood, through adolescence into young-adulthood. The device of the three actors playing Maggie at different ages of her life expresses beautifully the heroine's emotional conflict, with number one arguing for impetuous passion against number two's moral restraint as number three is drawn into a relationship with her cousin's wooer. It makes you understand, in a way entirely in keeping with the spirit of the Victorian novel, how Maggie is shaped by her environment and circumstances. The environment of the play must stem from her soul’s yearning and the style of the writing encourages me to push the boat of theatricality well beyond the usual constraints of production. If the play is about freedom of spirit, the world I create must come from a place of dreams and imagination. When I read the play I feel like a child in an imaginary land where anything is possible and wishes rule. There is a line in the play that truly hurts my heart: “I have said unto thee, and now I say again I say the same, Forsake thyself, resign thyself, and thou shalt enjoy much inward peace and tranquility. Then shall all vain imaginations, evil perturbations… evil perturbations and superfluous cares fly away; then shall immoderate fear leave thee, and inordinate love shall die.”

Golden Boy

“No More” performed by CAST

“Workout Song” performed by CAST

Golden Boy
at Carnegie Mellon University

Directed by Dana Resnick
Book by Clifford Odets and William Gibson
Lyrics by Lee Adams
Music by Charles Strouse

Based on the 1937 play of the same name by Odets, it focuses on Joe Wellington, a young man from Harlem who, despite his family's objections, turns to prizefighting as a means of escaping his ghetto roots and finding fame and fortune. He crosses paths with Mephistopheles-like promoter Eddie Satin and eventually betrays his manager Tom Moody when he becomes romantically involved with Moody's girlfriend Lorna Moon.

Cast: Kyle Beltran, Ryah Nixon, Charlie Murphy, Brittany Campbell, Mathenee Treco, Bradley Horwitz, Larry Powell, John Michael Reese