While the chaotic and high pressure world of theaterwork drives the series, the personal issues facing each character dominates the show’s developing conflict; under this pressure, social masks are stripped away exposing uncontrollable core needs. Though striving for the communal connection that comes with being part of something larger than themselves, ultimately each covets their own white hot moment in the spotlight.
TONE
Cruelly dark, but funny, at times even absurd. The show delves into idiosyncratic characters in an off-kilter world.
It is entirely possible that people can describe the same event in different ways without anyone consciously lying. People interpret any incident based on their own perceptions. In this moment when we are debating what’s worse: accusations of wrongdoing or bearing false witness, ​Open A Vein will explore conflicting accounts of shared histories in order to better understand the truth from each individual’s perspective.
In a fading grand theatre in Los Angeles, a professional theatre company readies an out-of-town tryout of Shakespeare’s ​King Lear​. The emergent German director, has re-imagined the play from a female-centric perspective, wrangling a big star and his biological daughter to play the central roles. There’s plenty of buzz. An ambitious Silicon Valley scion is even financially backing a run on Broadway -- provided she likes what she sees.
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In the pressure to mount a successful production, personal histories are revealed, and prevailing truths deconstructed. The combined result? A reversal of fortunes for the two male stars, and a destructive effect on the rest of the cast and company.
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Each episode will begin with a return to a moment from the six-week rehearsal period which will expose underlying character dynamics and bring thematic emphasis to the episode.
THEME
Artistic self-interest vs. the good of the community.
In a world of imaginary circumstances -- circumstances just got real.
CHARACTERS
FRANK DISTEFANO
The Fool
60’s -- an iconic New York character actor cast in the role of Lear’s Fool. Despite his career success Frank still craves legitimacy. Though not known for Shakespeare, he secretly eyes the role of Lear. Frank arrives in Los Angeles with fanfare, but when his reasonable complaints go unanswered he becomes the production’s chief antagonist. However, when it really matters, he puts the good of the community over artistic self interest, finally redeeming himself.
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“I feel like I’ve been playing the same role my whole life, the guy who shoulda been top banana but always ends up slipping on the peel.”
ALEXANDER
Homeless Man
20​ -- a self-proclaimed actor living on the street, he manipulates his way into the company in order to reconcile an unresolved past with Frank. Eventually proving himself to be talented, he wins the role of Edmund only to succumb to mental illness and addiction.
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“I’m gonna take everything away from you and then destroy you.”
ARTURO ARGENTO
King Lear
75​ -- this legendary leading man with a long list of stage and screen credits has always wanted to play Lear. Like the mad king, Art faces an existential crisis: who am I, an actor or a father? No matter his good intentions in the present, he is unable to wash his hands of the sins of the past. Art goes from confident leading man to banished untouchable and is ultimately replaced.
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“Lear is the one thing I wanted to do before I die. You think you’re in the middle of the end of the second act, then you suddenly realize you’re in the last part of the third act. There’s got to be something to get me through the final act of life.”
ANGIE ARGENTO
Cordelia
late 20’s -- a professional actor on the verge of her big break. Art’s daughter, and arguably the reason he’s here, Angie sees herself as “practically a producer”. Also in charge of social-media for the production, her talents are beginning to spread thin. Her need to be a star soon erupts, cracking the facade of selflessness and exposing her petty despotism. When her stardom is jeopardized Angie finds her inner producer and ruthlessly fires her own father.
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"I always say, do what's best for you."
ROMAN LAMPADA
Make-up Artist
30’s -- rumored to be Arturo’s lover but actually his unacknowledged son, Roman is also in charge of special effects. In recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, Roman sees artistic expression as his salvation. Roman moves from unwanted son to exterminating angel, eventually confronting his father and the entire company for having abandoned him for dead.
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“Creativity saved my life. It’s how I’ve always found my way back from addiction. If we are not creating, we are destroying. What do we destroy the most? Ourselves.”
DANIELA BENEDIKT
Director
early 30’s -- German and innovative, her status as the reigning Enfant Terrible of European theatre is based on the instantaneous success of her first play ever, a female-centric production of Macbeth. A Hollywood outsider, Daniela’s purist principles dissolve when prestige and gravitas are dangled in the form of an offer to direct the feature film adaptation of her Lady M. She accepts, abandoning her own troubled stage production of Lear.
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“I’m going to be blunt with you because I know that’s how you communicate.”
JULES RAPPAPORT
Prop Master
21 -- trained as a fine-artist she is competent and well-meaning, but often ignored by the company. Jules is a can-do professional but her emotional resources are tested when she takes on everyone’s problems as her own. Despite her heroic efforts to turn this into a dream job, Jules becomes distracted by a personal attachment to Alexander. She tries to “fix” him, but instead pays a heavy price becoming deeply enmeshed and broken herself.
​“I only get paid for the props and special effects but I want to do everything. Sometimes I’d like to say ‘fuck off’ to these people but I prefer to do my job well and let the work say it for me.”
LENNY SHAW
Kent
40’s -- a Los Angeles based stand-up comedian anxious about doing Shakespeare, he was initially sold on Daniella’s anarchic directorial vision and the chance to work with a personal idol, Frank DiStefano. Feeling mis-cast and disgruntled early on, Lenny eventually receives the acknowledgment he deserves for his unique comedic talents when he is recast as The Fool to Frank’s King Lear.
“God is sending me to tell you that you’re stupid. There’s zero possibility that you stick around when there’s a dead body. That’s Paul Manafort type shit - see you on Facebook.”
AOIFA DUNCAN
Regan
30’s -- a serious and well-respected Irish stage actress, Aoifa recently starred as Lady M for Daniela in Europe. A recovered addict, Aoifa transferred her addiction to infatuation upon meeting Daniela, acting as both her muse and protector. W​hen Daniela leaves to direct the film version of her last stage play starring Cate Blanchett in the role of Lady M, Aoifa is forced to let go. Now abandoned, Aoifa’s need to desire and be desired is fulfilled when Ruby takes her on as a new client, and possibly more.
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“I like the idea of performing Shakespeare in Hollywood. It’s like Sid Vicious playing punk rock in a redneck bar in Georgia... and I think it’s funny that no one here understands what I am saying.”
KATHERINE KENSINGTON
Goneril
30’s -- a trained Shakespearean actor, she never wanted to sell out for film or television work. This role is her big ticket to Broadway after many near misses. Looking for more stage-time she helps Daniela sharpen her take on Lear, pitching that Regan and Goneril, both abused by Lear, must use their new found power to protect Cordelia. Out of gratitude Daniela rewards Katherine, luring her away by offering her the role of Hecate, the leader of the coven of witches, in her film adaptation of Lady M.
“I can’t work with someone who’s crawling on the floor spewing Shakespeare. I know that happens with men under twenty-five, the method thing, but yelling doesn’t affect me honey - I’m an actor. By the way... I could easily see this production as Goneril-centric.”
RACQUEL “ROCKY” FREDERICKS
Stage Manager
​late 30’s -- a former actress, cast as a Broadway ingenue at 23, Rocky was on her way to stardom. Tragically disgraced by a professional mis-step, she was effectively blacklisted. Stage management has been her road back to theatre respectability. Rocky is exonerated when Art is exposed for having exploited her at 23, but when she is offered the role of Goneril under less than ideal circumstances, her bitterness is ignited and she refuses to accept the part.
“I used to help the world see themselves. I lost that job. Now I help other people do that. It hurts watching people do what you know you can do better.”
RUBY WHEELWRIGHT
Talent Manager
30s -- Frank, her first ever client, is a reliable meal ticket. Art, her first ever big star, is the coveted golden ticket. Years ago, Ruby leveraged Frank’s notorious dissatisfaction with his agent to poach Frank and transform herself from assistant to manager overnight. ​Ruby uncharacteristically walks away from years of future commissions when she fires Art in the wake of his banishment. Always in pursuit of new talent, she takes on Aoifa as a new client and possibly more.
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“​Frank sees the world through a different lens; he sees things through gucci shades. The director... what’s her name? Daniela right? ​She doesn’t want to play by my rules. She hates me and I don’t care.”
TRENT CRESWELL
Edmund
mid 30’s -- a bartender, new lover to Emilia, and struggling actor with raw talent, he uses his masculine wiles to land the role of Edmund. The embarrassment of his endless flirtations coupled with his limited stage experience wear on all members of the cast and crew. When Emilia learns of Trent’s liaison with Lenny, it’s the last straw; she fires him on the spot.
“People fall for me. It’s the one thing I got... and also, part of my M.O. is to make people fall for me.”
EMILIA JENKINS
Creative Producer
40’s -- a retired television executive undertaking this production to launch her creative producing career. Emilia risks everything, personally financing this Los Angeles showcase, in the hope that Krrish, a moneyed would be tastemaker agrees to back a legitimate Broadway run. She’s also nepotistically hires her boyfriend, Trent, in the co-starring role of Edmund and installs her old college classmate, Christopher, as a loyal crew member. When ​Daniela unexpectedly exits, Emilia seizes the moment. She fires Trent, who has become an embarrassment to her personally, and promotes Christopher, tapping his unfulfilled promise as a director. Christopher proves a willing collaborator and Emilia seizes creative control of the production.
“Look at my track record in show business. I am this play.”
KRRISH
Producer-Financier
mid 20’s -- having taken her name from a Bollywood superhero, she has the apparent wherewithal to bring this hopeful production to Broadway. Riding a wave of titanic tech industry success, Krrish has staked the reputation of her nascent studio, ​Mama-Ji​, and her producing career on managing talented narcissists like Daniela Benedikt. A big gamble given that she has little-to-no authority to commit the resources of her family’s business. Krrish will choose to fulfill her destiny by breaking free of the family patriarchy and putting her trust fund on the line for the show.
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“I want to take the most obscure and artistic thing and make that succeed.”
JEROME BRADLEY
Krrish's Right Hand
early 40’s -- advance man on any and all of Krrish’s projects whether related to her burgeoning media empire or real estate development. Jerome ​convinces Krrish to get out from under the thumb of her family financially, becoming not just Krrish’s enabler but a true partner.
“Do you want your usual?”
MARGO ODEGAARD
Head Makeup Artist
late 30’s -- An Orange County native with real skills as an aesthetician, she’s stylish, confident and always at ease with big stars. ​Struggling to provide as a single mom (a fact she hides in her professional life), Margo toys with becoming Art's lover, attaching herself to the play’s patriarch is a move that would create much needed job security. When Art falls from grace, Margo abandons him in order to survive. By pitching her ex-husband, a known actor, to play Kent she re-aligns herself with Emilia, now the true matriarch of this production.
“I don’t mind a little tension.”
CHRISTOPHER COLES
Stagehand
30's -- a reliable and experienced technician, he’s quietly on ​the brink of homelessness​. After a star-making turn as an MFA theater directing fellow, the realities of the business and life intervened, limiting his once promising directorial opportunities. Now, ​in order to meet family demands, he moonlights as an EMT despite being squeamish around blood. When Emilia comes to him in despair, ​Christopher replaces Daniela as director refocusing Lear yet again through the personal lens of a lone wolf metaphor.
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“I could probably count on one hand (four fingers) the African-American directors working on Broadway. I’m an EMT now, not the greatest EMT but I can lift heavy stuff. As big as I am, I can go in and out of these spaces without being seen. I’m the ghost of this theatre.”
STORYTELLING POINT OF VIEW
Acting is like no other job. It looks like anyone can do it, but few can do it well. Stage acting is perhaps the most demanding. A high-wire act each and every night. You work in a frenzy – long hours spent in the company of equally driven artists. If you’re smart enough and tough enough to make it to Broadway, you’ve made sacrifices. Big ones. You pour everything you have into the role. Nobody gets rich on the stage but you do get something else. An intangible that you probably wouldn’t admit to your closest friend. Be it adoration, immortality, a surrogate family, danger or even the chance to just step away from yourself - the stage offers you something that an ordinary life just can’t.
And the Broadway stage offers you this in extremity. Theatre at this level attracts a certain kind of person, obsessional, some might even say possessed.
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The question then arises, what would ​you ​do ​to stay in the spotlight? Would you lie (isn’t that the job?), cheat (hmm?), steal (a few lines? another actor’s part?) Would you do violence, hide a body. . .or perhaps even worse?
These are the questions put to our company of hopefuls on the eve of their debut.
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*NOTE​: By improvising characters from the ground up in a workshop lab, we have answered the questions above with genuine particularity, discovering each character’s want and deepest need. The series is powered by this improv-to-film process intended to strengthen and reflect the thematic backbone of the concept.
