Like lots of others quarantined by the pandemic, I held a staged reading over Zoom on April 8 for RIKKI THE THIRD — my modern re-write of Shakespeare’s Richard III, with genders reversed and set in a modern high school where Rikki is scheming to become homecoming queen.
Here’s the result. You’ll hear some babies crying and dogs barking, but we live and learn.
The script is written for 12, with massive doubling, but I had so many people who wanted to take part that I undoubled everything and wound up with a cast of 26 plus a 27th person reading stage directions. We wound up with an international cast from three countries — the U.S., Canada and Australia. And those U.S. participants included people from six states — Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. This is amazing technology.
Stage directions: Bill Armstrong (Norfolk, Virginia)
Richelle: Mayalin Quinones (Lynchburg, Virginia)
Summer: Heather Sexton (Roanoke, Virginia)
Georgia: Erika Degraffinreaidt (New York, New York)
Principal: Lydia Gladstone (New York, New York)
River: Michelle Drinnan (Melbourne, Australia)
Grey: Kerry Plank (Christiansburg, Virginia)
Bucky: Beverly Amsler (Roanoke, Virginia)
Stana: Johanna Cooper (Richmond, Virginia)
Edie: Cadie Burks (Roanoke, Virginia)
Rachel: Kaiya Hoagland (Bonsack, Virginia)
Harriet: Arlene Thomas (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada)
Student One: Emily K. Boyhea-Kyere (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada)
Student Two: Carolyn Ziegler (Roanoke, Virginia)
Student Three: Sherilyn Lawson (Roanoke, Virginia)
Student Four: Beth Brackett (Shepherdstown, West Virginia)
Senior One: Kate Cash (Kansas City, Missouri)
Senior Two: Cheryl Carter (Lynchburg, Virginia)
Junior One: Darlene Fedele Thompson (Sarver, Pennsylvania)
Junior Two: Laura Dial Risinger (Paris, Texas)
Sophomore One: Sharon Reynolds (Roanoke, Virginia)
Sophomore Two: Dannielle Ashlee Seanor (Charleroi, Pennsylvania)
Player One: Mason Micevski (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
Player Two: Dylan Kennedy Grey (Bedford, Virginia)
Andy Warwick: Matthew Carcassi (Melbourne, Australia)
Bad Boy One: Brian Lee (Roanoke, Virginia)
Bad Boy Two: Chad Snyder (Roanoke, Virginia)
dwayneyancey 