The mother of the five children living under a bridge lives with more hell than Dante could have imagined.  She refuses to tell the welfare people who the different fathers are and this causes her more anguish and less money.  She proclaims; "My kids is mine" and appears to hold on to that stupid mantra regardless of consequence to her family.  Her kids are not truly hers without the help of some men and the money from society to feed them. She is taken advantage of by almost every person in the play with the only love coming from her children.  The social worker tells her; "The world is just here.  We have to help ourselves.."  The old boot strap analogy is expressed too frequently and little is learned from this modern day "Candide" (without the humor of Voltaire to lighten things up.)  Calling this a remake or modern version of "A Scarlet Letter" misses the target for me. 

Circle Theatre does a wonderful job of bringing this tale to the stage.  The sets are award winning quality in their designs.  Michael Matthews does a nice job of directing in his orchestration of scene and tempo. The acting is tremendous by all persons.  Hester La Negrita, played by Inda Craig-Galvan is the only actor who plays one role, everyone else is performing magic in changing costumes and character-both are quite a feat.  Inda Craig-Galvan, does a wonderful job of portraying Hester La Negrita and her talent and those of the ensemble cast make this show a production to see.  David B. Causey, playing ‘the Reverend D' , almost had me reaching for money to donate to his cause.  The lighting is expertly done as well, changing the feel of the
under bridge set in a moment with an artistic pattern and change of
a few well chosen light works.  This will be a good play to come and see since it is done so well.  It will also give you more than enough to talk about for days after you see the play.  What does society do for the homeless? What should we do?  What about the children?  Health care??? etc.  Circle has done a good job with a less than Hawthorne like drama.
 
 

In this scene mom is in the top center position with her
kids all around.  In a moment the kids become clergy,
street walkers, doctors, lovers and then some.  A lot of
work.
photo by Greg Kolack

Baby/Reverend ........................David B. Causey
Beauty/Amiga Gringa................ Gina Virgallito
Bully/Welfare .......................... Michele Cason
Hester La Negrito. ...................Inda Craig-Galvan
Jabber/Chilli .............................Chris Zumwalt
Trouble/Doctor .........................]im Morley

Staff
 

Director ....................................Michael Matthews
Assistant Director .....................Geoffrey Scott
Stage Manager..........................Annie Kasak*
Costume Design ........................Kevin Bellie*
Lighting/Set Design.................... Robert A Knuth*
Sound Design............................ Ian Goodman
Scenic Painter............................ Lori Willis
Dance Choreographer.................Joey Honsa
Technical Director .....................Andy Kapitan

* denotes Circle Theatre Company Member

Setting
Time: Now
Place: Under a bridge; On the street

There will be one 15-minute intermission.

Special Thanks to
The cast and crew of IN THE BLOOD, Sheldon Patinkin, Jeff Ginsberg, Joey Honsa, Jenn Albert, Todd Milliner, Andre Pluess, Donna Oswald, John Marchund.

Scenes

Prologue

Scene 1: 
Under the Bridge

Scene 2: 
Street Practice/lst Confession: "Times Are Tough: What 
Can We Do?"

Scene 3: 
The Reverend on His Soapbox

Scene 4: 
With the Welfare/2nd Confession: "I Walk the Line"

Scene 5: 
Small Change With Sandwiches/3rd Confession: "In My Head I Got It Going On"

Scene 6: 
The Reverend on the Rock/4th Confession: "Suffering Is an Enormous Turn-on"

Scene 7: 
My Song in the Street/5th Confession: "We Was Young"

Scene 8: 
The Hand of Fate/6th Confession: "I Shoulda Had a
Hundred-Thousand"

Scene 9: 
The Prison Door
 

CIRCLE THEATRE PRESENTS "IN THE BLOOD."
RETELLING OF THE SCARLET LETTER
Presented on the Mainstage

 In the Blood
Written by Susan-lori Parks, 2002 Pulitzer Price recipient

This production of In the Blood, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, will mark the directorial
debut of Michael Matthews at Circle Theatre. Author Susan-lori Parks was a
Pulitzer Prize winner in 2002.

PLAYWRIGHT Susan-lori Parks' works include: Venus (1996 Obie Award),
Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom (1990 Obie Award), The
America Play, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire Word,
Fucking A, and Top Dog/Under Dog.

SYNOPSIS
In the Blood retells the story of The Scarlet Letter in a modem setting. Hester
La Negrita lives with her five children under a bridge in the inner city. As the
play opens her eldest child is teaching her how to write, but thus far, the only
letter she understands is the letter A. Her five children are played by adult
actors, who double as five other figures in her life 

DIRECTOR
Michael Matthews appeared at Circle as Phillip in the world premier of Murder
Americana:...Lizzie Borden and as Stephen in The Lisbon Traviata (Jeff
Recommended). Directorial credits include: the world premiere of
Serendipity's Being 11 at Victory Gardens; Porcelain for Trap Door Theatre
(2001 Jeff Nomination, Best director/2001 Jeff Citation, Ensemble);  for
colored girls who have considered suicide...(2000 Jeff Nomination/2000 BTA
and After Dark Awards for Ensemble).

CAST

Michele Cason, David B. Causey, Inda Craig-Galvan, Jim Merely, Gina
Virgallito, and Chris Zumwalt.

Staff

Michael Matthews, Director;
Robert A. Knuth, Scenic & Lighting Designer;
Kevin Bellie, Costume Designer/Production Coordinator; 
Annie Kasak, Stage Manager; 
Joey Honsa, Choreographer; 
Jen Albert, Combat Coordinator
Currently in its 18th season. Circle Theatre is an artist-based company, which
has received 23 Joseph Jefferson Citations in the past 6 years. Circle has
produced multiple world premieres, including Rebecca Gilman's The
Glory of Living and The Crime of the Century, and the midwest premiere of
Michael John LaChiusa's The Wild Party.

Circle Theatre, 7300 W. Madison Street, Forest Park, IL 60130
RUNS    April 25th through June 1st: Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m.;
Sundays at 3:00 p.m.

Special Thursday performances at 8 p.m. on May 15th, 22nd and 29th only.
TICKETS     $19, $2 discount for seniors and students; Group rates are
available.

RESERVATIONS    708-771-0700