Jasper Project to produce new play by South Carolina native Randall David Cook as first in Play Right Series
January 16, 2017
The Jasper Project kicks off its new theatre project, The Play Right Series, with the world premiere of the play, Sharks and Other Lovers, by Columbia native Randall David Cook. Directed by Larry Hembree, Sharks and Other Lovers opens at Grapes and Gallery at 1113 Taylor Street on April 29 and runs through May 7. The Jasper Project created the Play Right Series to celebrate original work by SC theatre artists by presenting readings and productions of new theatrical works, and focusing on the process of theatre art creation.
A resident of Manhattan, Randall David Cook is currently serving as theatre artist-in-residence at Furman University. Cook created two Off-Broadway and several regional premieres and has had work produced at such theatres as New York Theatre Ensemble and Neighborhood Playhouse. He a two-time finalist for both the O’Neill Playwrights Conference and the Sundance Filmmakers Lab.
Sharks and Other Lovers is a dramatic beach comedy about fear: fear of aging, relationships, and of being devoured by a very large fish with an enormous number of teeth. It takes place on a small beach in SC.
Hembree, who has worked with Cook for over fifteen years, is excited to reconnect with the playwright. “Randall and I have had a very healthy playwright–director relationship over the years,” Hembree says. “It’s a gift to be able to work with a successful fellow South Carolinian and even better to have him involved so intricately in the rehearsal process.” The last project they worked on together was a production of Third Finger, Left Hand for Trustus Theatre.
Cold reading auditions for the production will be held Saturday, January 21 at 5 p.m. at Grapes and Gallery. Hembree is looking for five actors, two men in their 50s to early 60s and one in his mid-20s, along with two women, one in her 60s and one in her 30s to early 40’s.
For more information on the project, go to jasperproject.org. For more information on the playwright, visit randalldavidcook.com.
The Jasper Project
The Jasper Project is a project-oriented, multidisciplinary arts facilitator serving the greater Columbia and South Carolina arts community by providing space, resources, and collaborative engineering for emerging artists and new projects by established artists.
