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VIDEO: Kristen Gehling performs McCasland's ALICE PAUL for Election Day

By: Nov. 08, 2016
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Acclaimed playwright Steven Carl McCasland (Little Wars, What Was Lost, neat & tidy) has debuted his new online anthology of monologues,The Bone Orchard Monologues. Inspired by the classic Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters, McCasland has combined his love of history and monologues for this new anthology. In honor of this historic Presidential race, McCasland recently debuted a piece inspired by the life of suffragette Alice Paul. Just in time for Election Day, actress Kristen Gehling has brought the monologue to life. Watch the video.

This royalty free collection of monologues is inspired by the lives of famous men and women throughout history. Inspired by The Spoon River Anthology and a love of historical fiction, these monologues together create a Bone Orchard, or graveyard, of reflection. The Bone Orchard Monologues can be accessed by visiting https://boneorchardmonologues.wordpress.com.

The figures represented here are based on historical figures. The stories they recount are inspired by real moments in their lives. Figures appear from multiple centuries and countries. The only connective thread between each is the fact they reside in The Bone Orchard, their eternal afterlife. Performers are welcome to use these pieces for performance, audition, or whatever they desire. The author only asks is that they notify him which piece they intend to use and how.

Best known for his internationally acclaimed play Little Wars (featuring characters like Gertrude Stein, Lillian Hellman, Dorothy Parker and Agatha Christie), Steven Carl McCasland is the founder and Artistic Director of The Beautiful Soup Theater Collective. A Pace University graduate, Steven's critically acclaimed plays have been seen in New York and abroad. In 2009, Steven was commissioned to adapt the poetry of Jack Wiler into a solo performance about Wiler's struggle with HIV. That play, Fun Being Me, was workshopped with Jack in the title role before his passing in 2009. Steven's other plays include: When I'm 64, Hope & Glory, Opheliacs Anonymous, Blue, Pulchritudinous (Huntington Award in Playwriting - First Place), Shades Of Blue: The Decline and Fall of Lady Day, Memorare and Billy Learns About Captain Kirk have all received productions regionally and in Manhattan.

In June of 2011, Steven premiered his original adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Setting Wonderland in the heart of Paris, he also directed and was featured in the cast as the Mock Turtle. After its one week workshop, Alice Au Pays Des Merveilles was picked up for an extended run at The SoHo Playhouse through September. His writing has been acclaimed by New York critics as "brilliant", "riveting", "mesmerizing" and "extraordinary". His acclaimed play neat & tidy made a splash on the Bowery in May of 2012, with critics hailing McCasland as a new Thornton Wilder and the play as one of the Top Dramatic Plays of the year. After critically acclaimed workshops of Little Wars and What Was Lost in 2014, Beautiful Soup partnered with The Clarion Theatre to present five of his plays in repertory.

Those five plays began on May 7th, 2015 and ran through the end of the month. Also featured in repertory were 28 Marchant Avenue, Der Kanarienvogel (The Canary) and a revival of neat & tidy. Most recently, Little Wars enjoyed a sold out run at Bermuda's Daylesford Theatre. This spring, productions of Little Wars will receive premiere productions in Minneapolis and Costa Rica. When not writing for the theatre, Steven can be found at The Drama Book Shop, where is the Events and Social Media Manager. He is currently at work on a play about Victoria Woodhull, the first female candidate for President of the United States.

A musical theatre actress by trade, Kristen has had the immense pleasure of traveling the country performing in such shows as "The Full Monty" and "Damn Yankees." She was most recently seen in New York productions of "Little Wars", "What Was Lost" and more. Destiny by way of donut introduced Kristen to Steven McCasland. He has given her the honor of portraying legends and heroes, like Talulah Bankhead, Margo Jones, Muriel Gardiner and more.




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