Second Thought Theatre Presents
One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace
Closing out its 2022 season, STT’s production of One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace evokes haunting echoes of the COVID pandemic in a unique exploration of disparity, equity, and classism.
Previews: October 26th & 27th, 2022
Opening Night: October 28th, 2022
Run: November 12th, 2022
Tickets on Sale Now
Dallas: (October 14th, 2022) – Second Thought Theatre is thrilled to announce their third and final production of the 2022 season–One Flea Spare by Naomi Wallace–opening later this month. Poignantly dark and affectionately surreal, Wallace’s play resonates with a global timeliness that rides on many of the themes of the waning COVID-19 pandemic. In this otherworldly production, Second Thought Theatre seeks to address concepts of disparity and classism to reflect on the immediate communities opportunities for community growth and connectivity.
“I’m interested in not only the wealth and economic disparity we’ve seen highlighted by the COVID pandemic,” says STT Artistic Director Carson McCain, “but also how these discrepancies hold hands with racial and gender disparities.”
One Flea Spare takes place in 1665 London at the height of the city’s plight with the Bubonic plague. Wallace uses this setting to explore paralleling oppressions across time and between cultures and examine what she determines as a fundamental root of human struggle: imperialism.
Of the work and it’s inception, playwright Naomi Wallace states, “I began to think about what happens when the containment of a presumed danger through the regimentation of space breaks down, such as when South Central L.A. began to ‘invade’ Beverly Hills…By writing about a time other than our own, it’s possible for issues that have become locked in rhetoric, or dismissed as too overdetermined for the stage, to become visible anew.”
In 17th-century London, a city ravaged by the Great Plague with bodies mounting, the home of wealthy aristocrat William Snelgrave and his invalid wife becomes the couple’s infirmary, until a pair of intruders break in demanding food and refuge. Resigned to quarantine together, this unlikely group sees the social paradigms that once defined their behavior begin to break down. Roles shift, boundaries are shattered, and passions erupt in Naomi Wallace’s gripping 1995 drama. Originally inspired by the intersecting themes between Daniel Dafoe’s Journal of the Plague Year and the L.A. race riots catalyzed by the police beating of Rodney King, Wallace blends past and present – starkly pertinent given today’s current climate with COVID-19 and lingering tensions after the murder of George Floyd and subsequent riots in 2020. One Flea Spare explores how different types of oppression intersect across our timelines, always condemning the excesses of capitalism and imperialism.
CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
Naomi Wallace (Playwright) is a playwright and screenwriter from Kentucky who lives in North Yorkshire, U.K. Her plays, which won a MacArthur “genius” prize and Obie award, have been produced in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and the Middle East include In the Heart of America, Slaughter City, One Flea Spare, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, Things of Dry Hours, The Fever Chart: Three Vision of the Middle East, And I and Silence, The Hard Weather Boating Party, The Liquid Plain. Her stage adaptation of William Wharton’s novel Birdy was produced on the West End in London.
One Flea Spare has been incorporated in the permanent repertoire of the French National Theater, the Comédie- Francaise. Only two American playwrights have been added to La Comédie’s repertoire in 300 years. Films: Lawn Dogs, The War Boys, Flying Blind (co-written with Bruce McLeod). Awards: Susan Smith Blackburn Prize (twice), Joseph Kesselring Prize, Fellowship of Southern Writers Drama Award, a Horton Foote Award and a National Endowment for the Arts grant.
Carson McCain (Director/Artistic Director) is a born-and-bred Texas director and producer, with a heart for new and local work that serves to connect humans and foster empathy. She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University, where she studied acting, and directing. There, she received a Meadows Exploration Grant to develop and produce the world premiere of Michelle with Wet Eyeballs by Claire Carson. She serves as the Supervising Producer for Spoke Media where she has produced and directed numerous audiobooks and podcasts, including The Last Of Us Official Podcast, The Left Ear with Dakota Johnson and Because I Watched: A Netflix Podcast. Second Thought Theatre audiences will recognize her work as the director of Empathitrax by Ana Nogueira and The Great God Pan by Amy Herzog. She has also directed at Undermain Theatre (Really by Jackie Sibblies Drury,) and Stage West (Lungs by Duncan McMillan). She served as associate director on Dallas Theater Center’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol, on Second Thought Theatre’s production of BOOTH by Steven Michael Walters, and as assistant director on Belleville by Amy Herzog, Kitchen Dog’s Production of I’m Gonna Pray for You So Hard. Other directing credits include Middletown by Will Eno, Delirium by Enda Walsh and Theatre O, and the world premiere of Ophelia Underwater by Janielle Kastner. To experience more of Carson’s work, check out her podcast, Untitled Dad Project with Janielle Kastner on whatever podcast app you use.
Katie Ibrahim* (Stage Manager) is a theater artist originally from Orlando, FL. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Theatre Studies where she directed, stage managed, and produced a number of productions, including directing Aaron Posner’s Stupid F***ing Bird. Stage management credits include: For a Brief Moment I was Something Else (NYC), Let’s Have a Seance (NYC). Since moving back to Dallas, she has worked as a lead teaching artist at The Playground Acting Program. She is thrilled to be working with Second Thought Theatre on this production!
STT One Flea Spare cast members Carson Wright (top left), Christie Vela (top middle), Drew Wall (top right), Gregory Lush (bottom left), and Monserrat Rodriguez (bottom right).
Photo Illustration/Artwork: Richard Sylvester Oliver and Evan Michael Woods
Gregory Lush (William Snelgrave) is always excited to work with his friends at Second Thought! Past shows include ENEMIES/PEOPLE and HUNTER GATHERERS. He has performed throughout the metroplex and some notable shows include ON THE EVE, TOMMY, OTHELLO, A MIDSUMMER, NIGHT’S DREAM, ASSASSINS, and THE GOODBYE GIRL. In addition to the stage, Gregory also works in film and voiceover where favorites include I BECOME GILGAMESH, THE COLONEL, FAIRY TAIL, DANCE WITH DEVILS, and DRAGONBALL SUPER. He is a proud member of Actors Equity and teaches theatre at the Richland campus of Dallas College in addition to serving as Director of Training for Shakespeare Dallas.
Christie Vela (Darcy Snelgrave) currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director at Theatre Three, one of Dallas’ oldest professional theaters where she will be directing NEXT TO NORMAL in the Spring. She is a founding member of The Brierly Resident Acting Company at The Dallas Theater Center where she most recently appeared as Sugar in Tiny Beautiful Things and where she most recently directed A Christmas Carol. Other directing credits at DTC include, GLORIA, FADE,REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES and A Christmas Carol (2015). She’s been an Artistic Company Member at Kitchen Dog Theatre since the early aughts where she will be directing MAN CAVE in the Spring. As an Artistic Associate at Second Thought Theatre, you’ve seen her in A KID LIKE JAKE, THE NECESSITIES, ENEMIES/PEOPLE and REVOLT! SHE SAID, REVOLT AGAIN and where she’s directed STRAIGHT WHITE MEN, BULL, WHAT WE WERE and REVOLT!You’ve seen her work as a director at Watertower Theatre, Stage West, Teatro Dallas, Echo Theatre and Theatre Three. At Shakespeare Dallas she most recently directed HAMLET and you may have caught her as The Nurse in Romeo & Juliet and Emilia in Othello way back in the day. She is thrilled to be back at Second Thought.
Drew Wall (Bunce/Producer/Production Manager) is currently the Director of Operations for Second Thought Theatre and has been working with the company since 2007. During that time, he has served as an actor, designer, producer, production manager, and resident artist. Second Thought acting credits include Incognito, Empathitrax, Straight White Men, Belleville, Nocturne, The Great God Pan, Booth, Red Light Winter, A Behanding in Spokane, The Bombitty of Errors, A Skull in Connemara, The Country Wife, and Lobby Hero. Other (select) credits include Gloria (Dallas Theater Center); Long Way Go Down, Beauty Queen of Leenane, Totalitarians, Macbeth (Kitchen Dog Theater); On The Eve, Defiance (Theater Three); The Dog Problem (Undermain Theater); Father Comes Home From The Wars (African American Repertory Theater). His work has also been found behind the scenes of many other local theater companies over the past years as a designer, welder, and carpenter. From 2009 to 2015 he served as STT’s Production Manager and Resident Artist. In 2015, Drew was named Director of Operations, the first full-time position in STT history, where he currently leads both the Administration and Production departments and handles all daily company business. Drew received his BFA from Baylor University.
Monserrat Rodriguez (Morse) is so excited to be making her professional debut and is so honored to have it be with this cast, crew, and show. She is currently in her second year at SMU, double majoring in Theatre (with a specialization in Acting) and Psychology. Some of her favorite previous acting roles have included Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Elizabeth Proctor (The Crucible), and Megan (Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic). She wants to give a big shoutout to all the teachers and professors who helped her get to this point, and her family and friends for their love and support. Sí se puede, mija.
Carson Wright (Kabe) is excited to be working with Second Thought Theatre. Selected credits include: HARVEY (WaterTower Theatre), THE TEMPEST (Shakespeare Everywhere), MACBETH, OTHELLO (Shakespeare Dallas), STAND-UP TRAGEDY (Latino & Oak Cliff Cultural Centers), and THE THRUSH AND THE WOODPECKER (Kitchen Dog Theater). In film & television: FINAL DRESS (feature), SCANDAL MADE ME FAMOUS (episodic). Carson attended Dallas’ arts magnet Booker T. Washington High School and holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Southern Methodist University. He’s grateful for his supportive network of family and friends. Carson is represented by the Kim Dawson Agency.
