Tag Archives: Falcon Theatre

THE EXONERATED to Open as Falcon Theatre’s First Offering of 2019

FT_The Exonerated promo

Dee Anne Bryll, Darryl Hilton, Keith Holland, Phineas Clark & James Troup. Photo by Kristy Rucker.

Falcon Theatre’s first production of 2019 is Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s THE EXONERATED, the true stories of six people who collectively spent more than fifty years on death row for crimes they did not commit. The production opens January 25, 2019.

In the form of a series of courtroom scenes and first-person monologues, THE EXONERATED pulls from, among others, the real-life case of Gary, a Midwestern organic farmer condemned for the murder of his own parents but later exonerated when two motorcycle-gang members confess to the crime. The audience hears from David, a shy man with aspirations to the ministry who at age eighteen was bullied into confessing to a robbery/murder he did not commit who now, a man scarred from a youth spent in prison, is struggling to regain his faith.

Far from being an indictment of our criminal justice system that, when it goes wrong, can quickly swallow and dispose of innocents, the play reveals with touching affection and even disarming humor the resilience of the human spirit.

Backstage says that THE EXONERATED is “extremely moving, and regardless of your political leanings, these stories will touch your heart.” The New York Times says that “…years after its New York premiere, (the play) still has the power to unsettle.”

Falcon’s production is directed by Paul Morris. The cast includes Darryl Hilton, Dee Anne Bryll, James Troup, Keith Holland, Brian Griffin, Phineas Clark, Joy Rolland-Oba, Karson McCall, Kelly Hale, and Nathan Tubbs.

Performance dates are January 25, 26, 31, and February 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. Tickets prices are $25 for adults and $15 for students with ID. Patrons enjoy a $5 discount for Thursday performances. Visit falcontheater.net for tickets.

Falcon Theatre is located at 636 Monmouth Street in the heart of the Monmouth Street Historic District of Newport, Kentucky.

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THE EXONERATED Runs Jan. 25-Feb. 9

FT_The Exonerated logoTHE EXONERATED
Falcon Theatre
Jan. 25-Feb. 9
[Newport]

Directed by Paul Morris

Cast: Darryl Hilton as Delbert, Dee Anne Bryll as Sunny, James Troup as David, Keith Holland as Robert, Brian Griffin as Gary, Phineas Clark as Kerry, Joy Rolland-Oba as Ensemble 1, Karson McCall as Ensemble 2, Kelly Hale as Male Ensemble 1 & Nathan Tubbs as Male Ensemble 2

Culled from interviews, letters, transcripts, case files and the public record, THE EXONERATED tells the true stories of six wrongfully convicted survivors of death row in their own words. In this ninety-minute intermissionless play, we meet Kerry, a sensitive Texan brutalized on death row for twenty-two years before being exonerated by DNA evidence; we meet Gary, a Midwestern organic farmer condemned for the murder of his own parents and later exonerated when two motorcycle-gang members confess. We meet Robert, an African-American horse groomer who spent seven years on death row for the murder of a white woman before evidence emerges that the victim was found clutching hair from a Caucasian attacker. We hear from David, a shy man with aspirations to the ministry, bullied into confessing at eighteen to a robbery/murder he had nothing to do with, scarred from a youth spent in prison and struggling to regain his faith; and from Sunny, a bright-spirited hippie who, along with her husband, spent seventeen years in prison for the murder of two police officerswhile another man confessed and was ignored by the courts. And we meet Delbert, a poet who serves as the play’s center, convicted of a rape/murder in the Deep South of the 1970s and later freed when evidence surfaced showing that he was not even in the town when the crime occurred. Moving between first-person monologues and scenes set in courtrooms and prisons, the six interwoven stories paint a picture of an American criminal justice system gone horribly wrong and of six brave souls who persevered to survive it.

  • Fri-Sat, Jan. 25-26 at 8pm
  • Thu-Sat, Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at 8pm
  • Thu-Sat, Feb. 7-8 at 8pm

Official page |

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A SMALL FIRE Runs Nov. 16-Dec. 1

FT_A Small Fire logoA SMALL FIRE
Falcon Theatre
Nov. 16-Dec. 1
[Newport]

Directed by Ted J. Weil

Cast: Kristy Rucker as Emily, Terry Gosdin as John, Victoria Hawley as Jenny, and Evan Blanton as Billy

Adam Bock’s meticulously crafted A Small Fire follows John and Emily Bridges, a long-married couple whose happy, middle-class lives are upended when Emily falls victim to a mysterious disease. As her senses are slowly stripped away smell, taste, sight Emily resolves to remain engaged with her community, relying on John to help her run her company and experience her daughter Jenny’s wedding. But her stoic outlook reaches a breaking point when the disease steals her hearing, leaving her with nothing but touch to communicate with the world. Suddenly, she is completely dependant on the husband whose endless devotions she had always taken for granted.

  • Fri-Sat, Nov. 16-17 at 8pm
  • Fri-Sat, Nov. 23-24 at 8pm
  • Thu-Sat, Nov. 29-Dec. 1 at 8pm

Official page |

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Cast Announced for THE EXONERATED at Falcon Theatre

FT_logoRounding out our 2018-19 season Falcon Theatre is thrilled to announce the cast of THE EXONERATED. ⚖️

The cast includes:

  • Darryl Hilton – Delbert
  • Dee Anne Bryll – Sunny
  • James Troup – David
  • Keith Holland . – Robert
  • Brian Griffin – Gary
  • Phineas Clark – Kerry
  • Joy Rolland-Oba – Ensemble 1
  • Karson McCall – Ensemble 2
  • Kelly Hale – Male Ensemble 1
  • Nathan Tubbs – Male Ensemble 2

Directed by Paul Morris, performances run Jan. 25-Feb. 9.

For more information visit www.falcontheater.net.

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A SMALL FIRE to Open as Falcon’s Second Production of 2018-2019 Season

FT_A Small Fire logo.jpg

It seems almost a premise borne of a party game: If you had to lose one of your senses, which would you choose? Smell? Taste? Sight? Hearing? Touch? What if you had to lose two? Three? What if you lost all of your senses?

This is the starting point for Adam Bock’s A SMALL FIRE, opening November 16 as Falcon Theatre’s second production of its 2018-2019 season. But far from being a story about a mysterious disease that robs its victim of her senses, the play, says The New York Times, is “raucous, funny, and unexpectedly touching, as we are made intimate witnesses to a frank demonstration of how much of life, of love, and of happiness remain within reach even when so much appears to be lost.”

Falcon Artistic Director (and director for this production) Ted J. Weil says that “the true beauty of the show is the sense of hope that the playwright manages to cobble together in the midst of turmoil.”

The audience is introduced to Emily Bridges, a tough, no-nonsense career woman who is far more comfortable wearing a hardhat and talking trash with the men of the construction company that she has built from the ground up than wearing an apron and making dinner for her husband and daughter. But Emily’s world is upended when a potential disaster is narrowly averted. Because of a sudden inability to smell the smoke from the beginnings of a smoldering kitchen fire that she has inadvertently started, Emily quickly realizes that she can no longer smell anything. As the story progresses, Emily loses her ability to taste…to see…to hear. Plunged into a world in which she can communicate only by touch, she becomes reliant on her longtime husband whose endless devotions she had always taken for granted.

Director Weil says that A SMALL FIRE is “a beautiful piece of theater that deals with loss, redemption, and the wondrous things we often discover in the aftermath of tragic events.”

The production features Kristy Rucker as Emily, Terry Gosdin as John, Victoria Hawley as Jenny, and Evan Blanton as Billy. Performances are at 8pm on November 16, 17, 23, 24, 29, 30, and December 1, 2018. Tickets prices are $25 for adults and $15 for students with ID. Patrons enjoy a $5 discount for Thursday performances. Visit falcontheater.net for tickets and more information.

Falcon Theatre is located at 636 Monmouth Street in the heart of the Monmouth Street Historic District of Newport, Kentucky.

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