Engaging Shaw

July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011
WEST COAST PREMIERE
Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre
Conrad Prebys Theatre Center

By John Morogiello
Directed by Henry Wishcamper
Scenic Design by Wilson Chin
Costume Design by Alejo Vietti
Lighting Design byMatthew Richards
Sound Design by Paul Peterson
Stage Manager, Lavinia Henley

This unexpected new comedy follows the battle of wits and the real-life romance between socialite Charlotte Payne-Townshend and playwright George Bernard Shaw. When wealthy heiress Charlotte Payne-Townshend sets her sights on the famed author of Pygmalion, Mrs. Warren’s Profession and Major Barbara, the challenge of romancing this confirmed bachelor, philanderer and unromantic man is more complicated than in any of his stories. The New York Times hailed Engaging Shaw as “a charming romantic comedy. If there's a minute of the play that's less than clever, you'll be hard,” and Variety cheered, “A spirited and intelligent combat of words and sparkling banter.”
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Production Photos
Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
(from left) Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw, Michael Warner as Sidney Webb, Natalie Gold as Beatrice Webb and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend and Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend and Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
(from left) Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend, Natalie Gold as Beatrice Webb, Michael Warner as Sidney Webb and Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Michael Warner as Sidney Webb and Natalie Gold as Beatrice Webb in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Michael Warner as Sidney Webb in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.
Natalie Gold as Beatrice Webb in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Ed Krieger.


Publicity Photos
Angela Pierce stars as Charlotte Payne-Townshend and Rod Brogan as George Bernard Shaw in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Rod Brogan stars as George Bernard Shaw and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Rod Brogan stars as George Bernard Shaw and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
(from left) Rod Brogan, Angela Pierce, Michael Warner, Natalie Gold, director Henry Wishcamper and playwright John Morogiello. The West Coast Premiere of Morogiello's Engaging Shaw will run July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
(from left) Rod Brogan, Angela Pierce, Michael Warner and Natalie Gold star in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Rod Brogan stars as George Bernard Shaw and Angela Pierce as Charlotte Payne-Townshend in the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Director Henry Wishcamper and playwright John Morogiello. The West Coast Premiere of Morogiello's Engaging Shaw will run July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Playwright John Morogiello. The West Coast Premiere of Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, directed by Henry Wishcamper, will run July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.
Henry Wishcamper directs the West Coast Premiere of John Morogiello's Engaging Shaw, running July 29 - Sept. 4, 2011 at The Old Globe. Photo by Sandy Huffaker.


Cast and Creative Team

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Rod Brogan (George Bernard Shaw) has appeared on Broadway in Mauritius and in the National Tour of Doubt.  His Off Broadway credits include Treasure Island.  He has appeared in The Old Globe productions of Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, The Two Noble Kinsmen, Much Ado About Nothing, Pentecost and The Food Chain.  His other regional credits include Doubt (Syracuse Stage), Judgment Day (Bard SummerScape) and King Lear (CENTERSTAGE).  He has appeared on television in “Major Dad” (series regular), “One Life to Live,” “Law & Order,” “Third Watch,” “Oz” and “Girl Talk.”
Natalie Gold (Beatrice Webb) has theater credits that include Distracted, The Language of Trees and Howard Katz (Roundabout Theatre Company), The Fever Chart (The Public Theater), Twelfth Night (The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival), Festen (Broadway), Brendan (Huntington Theatre Company) and Unfold Me (Summer Play Festival).  Her television and film credits include “The Good Wife,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” “Law & Order,” “Important Things With Demetri Martin,” “Without a Trace,” Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Almost Perfect, Fairhaven, Love and Other Drugs and “Rubicon” (AMC).
Angela Pierce (Charlotte Payne-Townshend) is delighted to be working with Henry Wishcamper and to be making her debut at The Old Globe with the West Coast Premiere of Engaging Shaw.  Her Broadway credits include The Norman Conquests directed by Matthew Warchus, Heartbreak House directed by Robin Lefevre and A Streetcar Named Desire directed by Ed Hall.  Her Off Broadway work includes King Lear with Kevin Kline (The Public Theater), Soldier’s Wife (Mint Theater Company), Silver Nitrate (Blue Heron Theatre), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Irish Repertory Theatre) and Hedda Gabler (Theatre at St. Clement's).  Regionally she has appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire (Intiman Theatre), Proof (Hartford Stage, TheaterWorks and Arizona Theatre Company), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Royal Shakespeare Company and The Shakespeare Theatre Company), Henry VI and The Bald Soprano (The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey), A Flea in Her Ear (The Denver Center for the Performing Arts), Suddenly Last Summer (Studio Arena Theater), Noises Off, The Best Man and Crimes of the Heart (Cape Playhouse) and The Rivals and Macbeth (The Acting Company).  Her films include You Don’t Know Jack with Al Pacino, directed by Barry Levinson, Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe directed by Phil Gallo and Able Danger directed by Dave Herman.  Her television credits include “Private Practice,” “Lie to Me,” “Criminal Minds,” “Medium,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and Farewell Mr. Kringle for Hallmark Channel.  Pierce is a B.F.A. graduate of The Juilliard School Drama Division, Alumni Board of The Acting Company and a recipient of AFTRA and R. Lansing Memorial Scholarships.
Michael Warner (Sidney Webb) most recently appeared in the revival of Arthur Kopit’s Wings, directed by John Doyle at Second Stage Theatre.  His other theater credits include shows at Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Keen Company, Soho Repertory Theater and The Fire Dept, among others.  His World Premieres include Steven Levenson’s The Language of Trees at Roundabout Underground, Lucy Thurber’s Monstrosity at 13P, Missed Connections at Ars Nova and Alena Smith’s The Piven Monologues at The Public Theater/Joe’s Pub.  Warner’s solo play, How. What. Now., was selected for the 2011 New York International Fringe Festival and will have a workshop production in the fall with Project Y Theatre Company and will be directed by Campbell Scott.  His television and film work includes “Boardwalk Empire,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” Breaking Upwards, “As the World Turns” and the upcoming “Almost in Love.”
  John Morogiello (Playwright) is a Playwright in Residence at the Maryland State Arts Council and a member of the Dramatists Guild.  His plays include Irish Authors Held Hostage (Greenwich Street Theatre, Warehouse Theatre and Edinburgh’s Bedlam Theatre), Men and Parts (Actors Theatre of Louisville and Shadowbox Cabaret), Stonewall’s Bust (Mountain Playhouse), Gianni Schicchi (Rep Stage and Harlequin Productions) and Engaging Shaw (Abingdon Theatre Company, New Jersey Repertory Company and Oldcastle Theatre Company).  Engaging Shaw will receive its European premiere at Vienna’s English Theatre next spring.  A new play, Blame It on Beckett will premiere Off Broadway at Abingdon Theatre Company this October.  In December, a scene from A Thing for Redheads will appear in The Best Women’s Stage Monologues and Scenes 2011, published by Smith and Kraus.
  Henry Wishcamper (Director) recently directed the Globe’s production of The Mystery of Irma Vep.   His directing credits include Beau Willimon’s Spirit Control (Manhattan Theatre Club), Ellen Fairey’s Graceland (LCT3), his own adaptation of the Marx Brothers’ Animal Crackers and Horton Foote’s Talking Pictures (Goodman Theatre), Conor McPherson’s Port Authority (Atlantic Theater Company), The Seafarer (TheaterWorks), The Good Thief (Portland Stage), Lanford Wilson’s The Mound Builders (The Juilliard School), Jane Martin’s Flags (59E59), Doug Grissom’s Elvis People (New World Stages), his own play, The Polish Play, A Conflation of Macbeth by William Shakespeare and Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry (Katharsis Theater Company) and Thornton Wilder’s Pullman Car Hiawatha (Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Play, Keen Company).  He served as the assistant director on the Broadway productions of August: Osage County (directed by Anna D. Shapiro) and Shining City (directed by Robert Falls).  Wishcamper is the Artistic Director of Katharsis Theater Company.  He is a Drama League Directing Fellow and a graduate of Yale University.  His next project will be Conor McPherson’s The Birds (Guthrie Theater).
  Wilson Chin (Scenic Design) returns to The Old Globe after designing The American Plan.  His New York credits include Next Fall (Broadway and Naked Angels), 10 Things To Do Before I Die, Len Asleep in Vinyl and The Dear Boy (Second Stage Theatre), Dark Matters and Boise (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Boom and Holy Cross Sucks! (Ars Nova), Masked (Daryl Roth Theatre) and King of Shadows (Working Theater).  His opera credits include Lucia di Lammermoor (Lyric Opera of Chicago), The Saint of Bleecker Street (Central City Opera) and Don Giovanni (San Francisco Opera Merola).  Regionally, he has designed at American Conservatory Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Geva Theatre, Hangar Theatre, Hartford Stage, Indiana Repertory Theatre, People’s Light & Theatre Company, Portland Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Signature Theatre Company, Studio Arena Theater, Trinity Repertory Company, Two River Theater Company, Weston Playhouse, Westport Country Playhouse and Yale Repertory Theatre.  His upcoming projects include Next Fall (Geffen Playhouse), Eine Florentinische Tragodie and Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera Company) and Fallow (People’s Light & Theatre Company).  Chin is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Yale School of Drama.
  Alejo Vietti (Costume Design) has designed New York productions of Séance on a Wet Afternoon (New York City Opera), Secrets of the Trade (Primary Stages), Nightingale (Manhattan Theatre Club) and Grace (MCC Theater), both starring Lynn Redgrave, Paul Scott Goodman’s Rooms: a rock romance, William Finn’s Make Me a Song, Tryst, Roulette, The Last Sunday in June, Servicemen directed by Sean Mathias (The New Group), Manipulation, Othello and Measure for Measure, among others.  His regional credits include works for Alley Theatre, Arena Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cleveland Play House, Colorado Ballet, Florida Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Goodspeed Musicals, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, New York Stage and Film, Northlight Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, San Diego Repertory Theatre, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Signature Theatre Company, Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Wolf Trap Opera Company, among others.  His international credits include Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Donetsk Opera in Ukraine.  Vietti’s other work includes Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Boom-a-Ring.  He is the recipient of the 2011 TDF Irene Sharaff Young Master Award.  His upcoming projects include Così Fan Tutte at Minnesota Opera and Stephen Schwartz’s musical My Fairy Tale at Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts.
  Matthew Richards (Lighting Design) previously designed the Globe productions of The Violet Hour, Bell, Book and Candle, The Women, Whisper House and Welcome to Arroyo’s.  His Off Broadway credits include Graceland (Lincoln Center Theater), Port Authority (Atlantic Theater Company), The Drunken City and Pen (Playwrights Horizons), Grace (MCC Theater), Len and Asleep in Vinyl (Second Stage Theatre), Seussical and Click, Clack, Moo (TheatreworksUSA), One Loss Plus (BAM Next Wave Festival), Ars Nova, Edge Theater Company, Katharsis Theater Company, The Play Company and Rattlestick Playwrights Theater.  His regional credits include CENTERSTAGE, Bay Street Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Cleveland Play House, Ford’s Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Huntington Theatre Company, New York Stage and Film, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Yale Repertory Theatre.
  Paul Peterson (Sound Design) has designed over 90 productions at The Old Globe, including Life of Riley, Rafta, Rafta…, Plaid Tidings – A Special Holiday Edition of Forever Plaid, Welcome to Arroyo’s, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Broadway Bound, The Last Romance, Boeing- Boeing, Alive and Well, Lost in Yonkers, I Do! I Do!, The Savannah Disputation, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Cornelia, The Price, Kingdom, Six Degrees of Separation, Since Africa, The Women, Sight Unseen, The Pleasure of His Company, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Bell, Book and Candle, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Two Trains Running, Hold Please, Restoration Comedy, Pig Farm, The Sisters Rosensweig, Trying, Moonlight and Magnolias, Vincent in Brixton, I Just Stopped By to See the Man, Lucky Duck, The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow, Blue/Orange, Time Flies, Pentecost, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, The Boswell Sisters and Crumbs from the Table of Joy.  His regional credits include designs for Milwaukee Repertory Theater, San Jose Repertory Theatre, CENTERSTAGE, La Jolla Playhouse, Sledgehammer Theatre (Associate Artist), Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company, The Wilma Theater, L.A. Theatre Works, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Diversionary Theatre, Cape Fear Regional Theatre, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, Malashock Dance, University of San Diego, San Diego State University and Freud Playhouse at UCLA.
  Lavinia Henley (Stage Manager) most recently stage managed the Globe’s productions of Death of a Salesman directed by Pam MacKinnon and The Last Romance starring Marion Ross.  Prior credits include over 20 shows with The Old Globe, both world premieres and classics, working with directors including Jack O’Brien, Craig Noel and John Houseman.  Her other regional credits include the American Repertory Theater, Goodman Theatre and Court Theatre in Chicago, as well as the long-running production of Woody Guthrie’s American Song for Chicago’s Briar Street Theatre.  Henley also works as a corporate event producer, supervising business meeting programs for up to 15,000 people in venues across the country and internationally.