Professional theater of the Great Western Catskills!

Possessing Harriet

Possessing Harriet

Possessing Harriet

Jul 12 - Jul 28

Written by Kyle Bass
Directed by Leslie Noble


In 1839, Harriet Powell, a young, mixed-race, enslaved woman slips away from a hotel in Syracuse, New York, and escapes, finding temporary safe harbor in the home of impassioned abolitionist Gerrit Smith. With the slave catchers in pursuit, Harriet spends the hours before her nighttime escape to Canada in the company of Smith’s young cousin Elizabeth Cady, an outspoken advocate for women’s equality. As both women confront new and difficult ideas about race, identity, and equality, Harriet is forced to the precipice of a radical reckoning with the heartrending cost of freedom.

POSSESSING HARRIET
had its world premiere at Syracuse Stage, Syracuse, NY, October 2018
Artistic Director, Robert Hupp
Production Director, Tazewell Thompson
and
Originally commissioned by the Onondaga Historical Association,
Gregg Tripoli, Executive Director

This production is made possible in part by generous gifts from Tri-M Foundation and the Upstate Theatre Coalition for a Fairgame.

90-Minute Stunner
Syracuse.com|Post-Standard

thought-provoking and emotional
–Broadway World

this play is riveting
–WWNY TV

EZRA BARNES (Gerrit Smith) is an actor, director and teacher. Off Broadway appearances: Breakfast With Mugabe(Signature Center & Theatre Row), To Kill a Mockingbird(Queens Theatre in the Park) In White America(New Federal), Far & Wide(Mint), Richard II(Pearl). Regional appearances: McCarter, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, Pioneer, Paper Mill, others. TV appearances: Jessica Jones(upcoming), Orange is the New Black, The Sinner, others. Film: Motherless Brooklyn(upcoming),Noah, Joshua, Landline. He directed The Diary of Anne Frank for Hartford’s Playhouse on Park, earning the 2018 Outstanding Director award from the Connecticut Critics Circle. He founded Shakespeare on the Sound, serving as Artistic Director 1996-2008. Ezra runs Brooklyn’s Young Actors Workshop.


SCOTT HOLDREDGE
(Set Design/Lighting Design/Technical Director) is excited to be back with FSC this summer. He is currently full time faculty at SUNY Cortland.  His most recent work at SUNY Cortland was Scenic Designer on Annie Get Your Gun, Dangerous Liaisons, and The Children’s Hour. Scott has also worked for Syracuse Opera, Syracuse University, and Unatego High School theaters as their set/lighting designer and technical director. Scott has worked in NYC, LA, and San Diego in theater, corporate events, theme parks, haunted houses and film.


LESLIE NOBLE
(Director) is a Co-Artistic Director of FSC, for whom she directed The Country Wife and The Price. She is on the faculty of Syracuse University Department of Drama where she teaches clowning and acting. Directing credits include Servant of Two Masters for SU; The Master and Margarita and Mad Forest for Lemoyne College; Woman in the Blue Dress for Syracuse Stage; and a workshop of Evolution for The Berkshire Theater Festival. Leslie is co-founder of Gams on the Lam, a clown theatre ensemble, and is a station voice for WCNY-TV.


EMILY PIRAINO
(Stage Manager) has just finished her fifth season at Syracuse Stage as the Stage Management Journeyman, and is so pleased to be returning to Franklin Stage. Regional credits for assistant stage management include: The Humans, Native Gardens, The Magic Play, Next to Normal, How I Learned to Drive, and the world premiere of Possessing Harriet. She is also a proud member of the Stagehand Unions ITEA Local 1, and IATSE Local 9, and is a freelance lighting designer. Em is a graduate of the Theatre Arts program at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY.


KATYA COLLAZO
(Harriet Powell) is delighted to be making her Franklin Stage debut as Harriet Powell. Past credits include: Theater: Nurse Flinn/Sandra, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, (Playhouse on Park); Perdita, The Winter’s Tale, (South Dakota Shakespeare); Grace, The Resolutes, (Wyoming Theatre Festival); Negro-Sarah, Funnyhouse of a Negro (The Actors Studio Repertory); numerous readings and workshops around New York City. Films:Antihesis; Daphne; Cecilia the Celibate. Television: Dietland. MFA from The Actors Studio Drama School at Pace University. www.katyacollazo.com


GARY-KAYI FLETCHER
(Thomas Leonard) is thrilled to be making his debut this summer with Franklin Stage Company. His work includes performances at Arena Stage, The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Meadow Brook Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Everyman Theatre, 1st Stage, Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, African Continuum Theatre Company, Manhattan Rep and more. Film/TV credits include work in F.S. Key: After the Song, America’s Most Wanted, The 6th Degree and the critically acclaimed web series Casters and Mythos. Gary-Kayi is a member of the Luna Stage Acting Company and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association. www.itsgarykayi.com


LINDSEY VOORHEES
(Costume Design) received her MFA in Costume Design from UNC School of the Arts. Lindsey is currently the resident costume designer at Le Moyne College in Syracuse; credits including 9 to 5, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Heathers: The Musical, The Liar, Pericles, and Master and Margarita (directed by Franklin Stage’s very own Leslie Noble).  She also designed costumes for the Syracuse Stage children’s tour Miss Electricity, CNY Arts’ Christmas ballet Dasher’s Magical Gift and Gifford Family Theatre’s Corduroy. Lindsey spent several seasons building costumes for Texas Shakespeare Festival and Bard College’s Summerscape Festival operas. Portfolio: lindseyquay.weebly.com.


ERIN CHRISTINE WALSH
(Elizabeth Cady) is a Brooklyn based actor, singer, and theatre artist. She holds a BFA in Acting from Syracuse University, where her training also brought her to Shakespeare’s Globe in London, England, and to New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade. She is thrilled to return to Central New York for this brilliant new piece. Credits: A Doll’s House Part 2, Tangled the Musical (Disney), A Christmas Carol (Syracuse Stage), South Pacific; Agamemnon, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and The Good Woman of Setzuan (Syracuse University). ErinChristineWalsh.com 

Media Gallery

SHOWTIMES

Thursday & Friday @ 7:30 PM
Saturday @ 3 pm & 7:30 PM
Sunday @ 5 PM

Talkback Fridays:
Following the shows on July 19 & 26

FREE ADMISSION

Franklin Stage Company is an admission-free theater that depends on the generosity of our audience and donors—any amount is appreciated!