Kate Alexander is a celebrated director, educator and actor. She has a knack for getting straight to the heart of a play.
“What is the measure of a life?” she asked.
Associate Artist Ben Liebert said that’s an apt description of “Birthday Candles,” upcoming at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota. As the play opens, Ernestine Ashworth is baking a cake on her 17th birthday – and agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough, it’s her 18th birthday. Then her 41st. Her 70th. Her 107th.
“We track this family over about 100 years … and so the audience gets to go on this ride of experiencing all of their challenges, but in little fits and starts,” Liebert pointed out. “So the audience is always at the edge of their seat, trying to get on board with the family and root for them as the years fly by.”
Through Ernestine Ashworth, the audience experiences the vicissitudes of her life and that of her family over five generations. It’s 107 years of life packed into 90 minutes – with a real cake baked onstage every night.
“Birthdays are a tradition,” Liebert explained. “We often get together and celebrate them together. For an audience, that's a pretty common human experience, and the specificity of the play lets us all feel it universally.”
The emotions are raw and they’re amplified in the cozy confines of the Gompertz Theatre. Alexander and Liebert wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We are putting challenging but heartfelt shows on our stage because … our audiences … want to come to the theater and they want to feel and they want to escape a little bit, but also challenge the way they feel,” said Liebert. “And there's nothing more real than coming to see human actors on a stage telling you a story that's just for you on that one night.”
“Previews begin April 1. The play opens April 3 and runs through May 17.
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“Birthday Candles” closes FST’s Winter Mainstage Series with warmth and reflection.
“Variety” calls this journey “a true gift” and “a bold reminder to live each day with zest and adventure.”
BroadwayWorld hails the show as “tender” and “timeless,” while the New York Post declares it’s filled with “tremendous humor and energy.”
Liebert characterizes the show as “magical realism” because each scene takes place on a birthday, with the supporting actors playing their own grandparents, parents and children.
“Like life itself, this show carries audiences through the humor, heartbreak, and wonder of an entire lifetime,” says Kate Alexander, who directs the production.
Alexander has led productions at Florida Studio Theatre of “A Tailor Near Me,” “Dorothy’s Dictionary” and “Bad Books.” As the founder of FST’s award-winning theatre education program, she has trained thousands of students and played a vital role in shaping the theatre’s artistic vision for more than 40 years.
The cast stars FST Associate Artist Rachel Moulton as Ernestine Ashworth.
With this production, Moulton and Alexander celebrate their tenth collaboration together.
Since 2012, Moulton has appeared in 17 productions at FST, including five world premieres. Now in her seventh season as an FST associate artist and her third season as FST’s Director of Education, Moulton is a vital presence on and off the stage. Her previous FST credits include “The Cancellation of Lauren Fein,” “Ugly Lies the Bone,” “Grounded,” “Maytag Virgin,” “Paralyzed,” “Heisenberg,” “Honor Killing,” “Alabama Story” and “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.”
Rounding out the cast are Freddie Lee Bennett as Billy/John (“Ruined,” “Shotgun,” “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “The Cancellation of Lauren Fein”), Rod Brogan as Kenneth (“The Lehman Trilogy;” “Network;” “My Lord,” “What a Night;” “American Son”), Sarah Elizabeth Colt as Joan/Alex/Beth (“Troubadour,” “Take It to the Limit,” “Divas”), Susan Haefner as Alice/Madeline/Ernie (“The Prima Donnettes”), and Peter Kendall as Matt/William (FST debut).
Making up the creative team is Kate Alexander (director), Isabel and Moriah Curley-Clay (scenic design), Andrew Gray (lighting design), Nicholas Christensen (sound design), Madison Queen (costume design), Shira Lebovich (AEA stage manager), Carissa Ater, and Kate Johnson (stage management intern).
Setting
A play such as “Birthday Candles” benefits from a smaller, more intimate environment like the Gompertz Theater, which has 275 seats.
“What I love about Florida Studio Theater, why I love directing and working here, is that all of our spaces are so intimate,” said Liebert. “Even when we do big shows, the farthest seat in the back of the house is still right on top of the stage. It is so difficult not to be engaged in the story. Whether it’s a big adventure set in Monte Carlo [“Lucky $tiff!”], or trying to go to the moon [“The Blue Sky Boys”], they’re still very human stories and because our spaces are so intimate, those human stories come across the footlights and really can affect an audience as opposed to trying to do something this small and intimate at a house like the Van Wezel.”
The fact that the audience is so close to the action forces the actors to pay strict attention to every minute detail, including their facial expressions and where they’re looking.
“We work just as hard, if not harder, because everyone can see every little reaction that's happening on somebody's face,” said Liebert.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
