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Mad Breed
Synopsis
Mad Breed is a historical comedy about a teenaged John Wilkes Booth, an African American actress on the run, and a whole barnyard full of Shakespeare. On the eve of their parents' wedding, the offbeat teenaged siblings of John Wilkes Booth decide to put on a play. All is going well until Adah Francois, an African American freewoman with Shakespearean dreams, arrives and the complications begin. Experience the eccentricity, brilliance and over-the-top sibling rivalry of one of Maryland's most notorious families one glorious summer evening on a family farm in Belair, Maryland. This play was commissioned and produced by Active Cultures (www.activecultures.org).
Cast Break Down
3W/3M
Character Descriptions
Adah Rose Francois (30/16) – African American, lovely, charming, smart, brave, a free African American girl, she adores Edwin. When dressed as a boy, she goes by the name Francois.
Edwin Booth (32/18) – Caucasian, handsome, genuine, endearing, wants very much to be an actor, he adores Adah.
Wilkes Booth (27/13) – Caucasian, terribly handsome, charming, scrappy, precocious, sincere, a good, strong actor, and politically minded.
Asia Booth (16) – Caucasian, lovely, Junius’ youngest daughter, creative, determined, and adores Wilkes to a fault, loves Sleepy for who she knows he could be, if he tried.
Sleepy Clarke (18) – Caucasian, attractive, opportunistic, a bit of a playboy, Edwin’s classmate, wants desperately to be a tragedian actor, but is more suited for comedy.
Blanche Matthews (16) – Caucasian, beautiful, a princess, ridiculous, a horrific actress, neighbor to the Booths, she loves Edwin to a distraction.
Minstrel Man/Stagehand – Caucasian, a member of the Merry Minstrel Men, he is attracted to Adah, but does not love her, who later becomes a stagehand at the Winter Garden Theater in New York.
Development History
Mad Breed is a historical comedy about a teenaged John Wilkes Booth, an African American actress on the run, and a whole barnyard full of Shakespeare. On the eve of their parents' wedding, the offbeat teenaged siblings of John Wilkes Booth decide to put on a play. All is going well until Adah Francois, an African American freewoman with Shakespearean dreams, arrives and the complications begin. Experience the eccentricity, brilliance and over-the-top sibling rivalry of one of Maryland's most notorious families one glorious summer evening on a family farm in Belair, Maryland. This play was commissioned and produced by Active Cultures (www.activecultures.org).
Cast Break Down
3W/3M
Character Descriptions
Adah Rose Francois (30/16) – African American, lovely, charming, smart, brave, a free African American girl, she adores Edwin. When dressed as a boy, she goes by the name Francois.
Edwin Booth (32/18) – Caucasian, handsome, genuine, endearing, wants very much to be an actor, he adores Adah.
Wilkes Booth (27/13) – Caucasian, terribly handsome, charming, scrappy, precocious, sincere, a good, strong actor, and politically minded.
Asia Booth (16) – Caucasian, lovely, Junius’ youngest daughter, creative, determined, and adores Wilkes to a fault, loves Sleepy for who she knows he could be, if he tried.
Sleepy Clarke (18) – Caucasian, attractive, opportunistic, a bit of a playboy, Edwin’s classmate, wants desperately to be a tragedian actor, but is more suited for comedy.
Blanche Matthews (16) – Caucasian, beautiful, a princess, ridiculous, a horrific actress, neighbor to the Booths, she loves Edwin to a distraction.
Minstrel Man/Stagehand – Caucasian, a member of the Merry Minstrel Men, he is attracted to Adah, but does not love her, who later becomes a stagehand at the Winter Garden Theater in New York.
Development History
- World Premiere Production at Active Cultures (Mount Ranier, MD), May 2-June 1, 2008
- New Play Development Workshop and Reading at Active Cultures - January 2008
- New Play Development Workshop and Reading at Active Cultures - October 2007
- Commissioned, developed, and produced by Active Cultures