A new theatrical company, Transformation Theatre, began in April 2019. Its goal is to provide a venue for “up-and-coming theatre artists to focus on socially relevant original, unpublished plays and adaptations celebrating the underrepresented groups.” The company typically produces playwrights in the DC/MA/VA region. However, they do consider works from both national and international playwrights. “TT Strives to enhance and stimulate an understanding of ourselves and others.” Presently, due to Covid-19, they are only performing online but are physically located in Laurel, Maryland.
Their next presentation is a virtual reading of “Welcome to Hell, Please Choose from the Following Options” by Janet Preus and directed by Monique Holt. Preus’ other works include the musical “The Gift” with Ed Kee and T.W. Hale; “Snip, Snap, Snute,” a family musical with Margi Preus and Dieter Frank; “Hank and Jesus” with Bryan Cumming; and “Water from Snow,” a contemporary musical with Robert Elhai and Fred Steele. Holt is herself a playwright and librettist and has directed her own play, “Please UNtranslate Me.” She has a BFA from New York University and MFA from Towson University. “Welcome to Hell, Please Choose from the Following Options” deals with domestic abuse, especially in the deaf community.
I had a chance to interview Carl Randolph about this new and exciting theatre.
Carl Randolph (He/Him) is the Founding Producing Artistic Director of Transformation Theatre. Carl has worked in many aspects of theatre and film including producing, directing, choreographing, acting, and FX make-up for over 35 years. Theatre performances include roles at the Kennedy Center (“Shear Madness”), Bobby in the 2nd National Tour of “A Chorus Line,” the Fulton Opera House, Fort Salem, Signature, MetroStage, Henlopen Theatre Project, Wayside, Round House (Helen Hayes Award,” A Prayer for Owen Meany”), Ford’s Theatre, Washington Stage Guild, Imagination Stage, and Olney Theatre (Helen Hayes Award, “A Chorus Line”).
As a director/choreographer, his credits include the world premiere of Greg Jones Ellis’ “All Save One” at the Washington Stage Guild and Audrey Cefaly’s “{Consider the Ficus” for the D.C. Queer Theatre Festival, the U.S. premiere of “Futureproof” by Irish playwright Lynda Radley, A “Chorus Line,” “My Fair Lady,” “Guys and Dolls,” and “Terra Nova” (winner best director, Burlington Footlighter’s in NJ). Carl was choreographer and lead dancer with Illusionist John Bundy and Morgan in their Halloween special “Spooktacular on Tour” for over six years.
Film credits include leading roles such as Gabriel Utterson in “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” “Satan in Fall of the Morningstar,” “Devlin the Destroyer in Sorcerers of Stonehenge School,” and “Gordon in Nocturne.” TV credits include lead roles in episodes of “The Prosecutors” on the Discovery Channel, “Civil War Combat” on the History Channel, and “Special Forces; GSG-9” on the Learning Channel. As owner of Dragon Fire FX (formerly Morphiage), he is an award-winning make-up and effects artist. His make-up designs have been seen in productions of “The Jungle Book” (winner best make-up in NJ), “The Wizard of Oz,” “Into the Woods,” “Spooktacular”, national commercials including Chevy Trucks with Cal Ripkin, Jr. and numerous independent feature films, such as “Never Dream the Beginning,” “Nocturne, The Suffering” and “Dark Therapy,” as well as the first season of “AMC’s: The Walking Dead.” He has served as the Producing Artistic Director for Footlighter’s Theatre in NJ (1997-99) and as Assistant Artistic Director for the Washington Stage Guild (2018) where he is now an artistic associate. Carl earned his MFA in Directing at Catholic University of America and his MA in Producing Film at American University. He is a proud member of SDC, AEA and SAG-AFTRA and served as the BaltimoreWashington AEA Liaison for six years.
Can you tell our readers a little about yourself?
I’m originally from Baltimore and had a very unusual childhood. I grew up in a cemetery, literally. My father worked as the caretaker, and the house we lived in was on the property. I think that led me to a fascination with horror films and then in turn to my passion for performing. I was also born with a birth defect called pectus excatvatum or sunken chest. This required surgery at five years old and then again at 18. After the second surgery I took a dance class for exercise and was then hooked. In my first semester at Essex Community College, I quickly changed majors to dance and joined the dance company. On a dare from my dance teacher, I went to NY to audition for the second national tour of “A Chorus Line.” Well, I booked the role of Bobby! I joined the union and was on tour for a year. Unfortunately, back in those days a tour didn’t mean much unless you had a resume to go with it. So, I struggled with small jobs and my father kept pushing me to get a “real” job. So, being someone who doesn’t do things on a small scale, I joined the Navy, trained as a hospital corpsman, and specialized as a surgical technologist. I left the Navy in 1988 and found myself in Philadelphia working at Jefferson Hospital. I went back to directing, choreographing, and performing and did fairly well with local theatre in the South Jersey/Philadelphia/Wilmington area. I was then offered the artistic director position for a small community theatre in South Jersey.
In 1998, I met my husband on the Internet. I was working as a makeup artist on an independent film. We were scheduled for an outdoor shoot and I wanted to see what the weather would be. I came across his web page, as he’s a meteorologist and saw that he was a member of the Washington Gay Men’s Chorus. So I wrote to him and he made the “mistake” of answering me! We were married on September 29, 1999 in Maryland and then again once the law caught up to us in 2013. That’s what brought me back to Maryland. I worked part time at various hospitals and, in 2004, I left nursing to return full time to the theatre. Since then, I worked mostly as an actor in a majority of the local DC/MD/VA theaters. In 2012, I earned my MA in Producing Film at American University and was the co-owner of Morphiáge, a special effect makeup company. But I realized that I my real place was in the theatre — my original creative love. While I loved performing, I really wanted to return to my original desire to direct and choreograph. In 2018, I received my MFA in Directing from Catholic University. I book-ended my performance career with another production of “A Chorus Line,” this time playing Zach for Olney Theatre which garnered a Helen Hayes Award!
Opening a new theatre can be a challenge. What made you want to start Transformation Theatre?
Opening a theatre is more than a challenge. Some would call it insanity! I have always had this crazy dream of having my own company, but I couldn’t define it. Then, in grad school while working on my MFA, I had an assignment to create a company on paper. This was the beginning of Transformation Theatre. I realized through my experiences and studies that there was something missing in theatre — equal representation. This was made clearer to me during a production that I was assistant directing. One of the actors made the comment about how thrilled he was to finally have the opportunity to play a lead character that was written to be played by a black man. It was in that moment that I knew what Transformation Theatre needed to be. The mission we created was also a response to colorblind and non-traditional casting. While those ideas are commendable, I don’t think they are really the answer to equality in representation. I believe that we should learn from our theatrical history, but we can’t really re-write it or alter it. We can only move forward. Which is why our mission is to produce new plays that tell stories by and for underrepresented people. We want stories that will influence today and the future we want to see. We strive to cast authentically as much as possible as well as hire directors, dramaturgs and designers who also represent those voices. In 2019 I contacted a few friends. Dr. Heidi Castle-Smith with whom I was teaching with at Howard Community College and Craig Houk who I had the pleasure to direct, joined me in creating Transformation Theatre. Since then, Craig has moved onto a different path, but Heidi and I have continued to build a diverse board of directors and are growing the company little by little. Of course, the biggest challenge for any theatre, especially a startup, is money. Most artistic endeavors do not qualify for grants until they have three years of financial history and productions. So, we have had to depend solely on independent donations. Our belief is that everyone deserves payment for their work, so all of the money we receive goes directly to the productions and the team creating it. While the money may be very, very small as a stipend, we do our best to make sure everyone gets something. While we have been very fortunate to get enough donations to support our productions, we do not receive enough for staff to get a salary. We look forward to changing that after 2022, when we become eligible for most grants. I cannot thank the people enough who have stood by us to keep us going and those who have volunteered their time.
Beyond the normal challenges, the pandemic has been hard on the performing arts. How did TT deal with the new issues due to Covid-19?
AH COVID! Can we just say bad timing? Our plan was to start with staged readings of new plays and then select two of those plays for a full production the following year. Well, we were about to produce our first production, but 2020 had a different idea and shut us down. We took a moment and then realized that we could move our readings to the internet. My background in film combined with my theatre education and experience came into play together. We soon discovered that being online was a bit of a blessing. We were saving some money by not having to rent space, and we were able to reach a larger audience. This also opened the doors to working with talent we may not have had the ability to work with before. We have gone global! The actors, directors, dramaturgs, and playwrights that have worked with us have been from all across the United States, Canada, Colombia, South Korea, the UK and Ireland. This also means the audience has been from those locations as well. Where we may have seen 20-30 people at an in-person reading, we are now seeing upwards to 100 watching our online readings. Our hope is this will encourage more people to attend the theatre wherever they are when theaters reopen.
You have worked in theatre for many years in many different positions. Which do you prefer, producing, directing, choreography, acting, etc.? Briefly tell us why.
Not sound to much like a cliché, but my favorite thing is whatever I’m doing at the moment! Right now, that’s producing and directing. Someday I may find myself back on stage. It all depends on the role and the play. I’m past the “need” to be onstage. I used to take any role no matter what just to be onstage. I have to say I’m much more selective now. Not to sound arrogant, it’s just something that I think comes with experience and age. The “need” is much more specific. I also look forward to returning to the theatre when we open to finally produce some of these amazing stories that we’ve been providing readings for as well as directing at other theaters who have different missions and goals. While Transformation Theatre does not produce musicals, I’m eager to get back to directing musicals wherever I can. My “need” now is directing and creating!
What plays has TT already produced and do you have any ready to go after “Welcome to Hell, Please Choose from the Following Options?” Are they still available online?
We have had the privilege to work with some extremely gifted playwrights. Our first in person readings were “The Last Catastrophist” by David Valdes Greenwood, directed by Jenny Male; “These Arms of Mine” by Philip Hall, directed by A. Lorraine Robinson; and for the 2019 Kennedy Center Page to Stage Festival, we challenged Bob Bartlett, Audrey Cefaly, and DW Gregory to write one play based on a single theme. This resulted in “Gas/Food/Lodging,” directed by Carl Randolph.
Our online readings in 2020 and 2021 include “Chai” by DC Cathro, directed by Brain MacDonald; “Disruptions of the Body Saros by Pharyne Stephney Gremore, directed by Fatima Quander; “Dragonflies” by Kayla Hambeck, directed by Carl Randolph; “American Divide” by Maximillian Gill, directed by Matt Ripa; “You Were Mine” by Rachel Lynette, directed by A. Loraine Robinson; and “Runtime Error” by Elana Gartner, directed by Carl Randolph. Our next reading, “Welcome to Hell, Please Choose from the Following Options” by Janet Preusand directed by Monique Holt will be presented on October 9, 2021. For the end of 2021, “Four Women in Red ” by Laura Shamas and directed by Jeanette Harrison is scheduled for November 9.
Since we work under an agreement with Actors’ Equity Association, the readings are only allowed to be kept online for four days following the live reading. So, unfortunately, they’re no longer available for public viewing. However, you can read a little about them on our website at www.transformationtheatre.org.
Since we have had such success with our online readings, we have decided to continue to present readings online, even when we return to in person productions. Of course, when we start to produce full productions, we will be in person. There’s no comparison to being in the same room sharing a story!
We created a process for our plays. We open for play submissions usually in May. Since we first opened in 2019, we have received between 200-300 submission each year — a good problem to have. But it has been rather overwhelming for such a small team. For 2022, we opened up submissions with a specific group of communities to whom we were looking to give voice. This list will change year to year as there are, unfortunately, far too many underrepresented communities. The communities from whom we requested plays for 2022 include Transgender/non cis, AAPI/East Asian, Neurodiverse, Native Indigenous, and LGBTQ2S. We are delighted with the submissions we have received and are currently in the process of reviewing and interviewing potential plays/playwrights.
Actors should contact us at casting@transformationtheatre.org if interested in auditioning for our readings.
“Welcome to Hell Please Choose from the Following Options” will be available online October 9, 2021 at 7 pm. For tickets, click here. For more information on Transformation Theatre, go to their website. For more information on Carl Randolph, go to this link.
