Photos: Burning Coal Theatre Company Second Stage Presents OR

On the heels of their successful outdoor touring production of The Tempest, Switchyard  Theatre Company continues their second season with the North Carolina premiere of Or, as part of the 2023 Burning Coal Theatre Company Second Stage series.

Written by Liz Duffy Adams, Or, tells the story of Aphra Behn, England’s first female playwright, whose old and new loves collide with her former career as a spy on a riotous evening before finishing her first play.  

The play seamlessly weaves classical language and contemporary dialogue, with the three-person cast  portraying characters drawn from the 17th-century literary and political worlds. Laurel Ullman, most  recently featured in Burning Coal’s production of Silent Sky, plays the titular Aphra, whose love for  people, her country and the written word are often at odds with each other. Circling Aphra on her rise  to fame are Nell Gwyn, a celebrity actress of the English stage; and King Charles II, the ”merry monarch”  recently restored to the English throne. Kelly and Ryan McDaniel (the husband-and-wife team who  recently finished local playwright Mark Cornell’s production of The Other Half) portray these characters  and four others between them, facilitated by some skillful quick changes and comedic timing.  

Since comparatively little is known about Behn’s personal and professional life, the play consolidates  and embellishes on the facts, condensing her career development to just a few weeks. The production  also contrasts the political and social upheavals of England in the 1660’s with that of the world in the  1960’s – and the present day. “The Restoration was a time of great creative and social freedom, coming  out of the very dictatorial and religious rule of the Cromwellians,” says director Charles Machalicky. “It’s  good to see this sort of thing is cyclical – that creativity, enlightened thinking and love eventually win  out, over and over. Like Aphra and her friends, we just have to choose it.”  

Performances run from June 10-25 at Burning Coal Theatre at the Murphey School, 224 Polk St., Raleigh  NC 27601. Tickets for all performances are $25 general admission, $20 for seniors and $10 for students.  Tickets are available through the Burning Coal Theatre Company box office as part of the Second Stage Series.

To post a comment, you must register and login.