Ghost on the Black Gulf
by Ben Holbrook
Staged Reading
Facilitated by The Interstitial
and Space Lab @ 59E59
Cast:
Aenid Legrange: Talia Thiesfield*
Percy Legrange: Hagan Oliveras*
Mémé: Madeline McCray*
Deacon: Spencer Scott Barros*
Bartholomew: Sam Underwood
Josephene: Lia-Shea Tillett
Stage Directions: Isabelle Chirls
*denotes member of Actor's Equity Association
Directed by Erica Wray
Line Producer / Production Manager: Isabelle Chirls
Produced by Morgan Grambo
****
MAY 2026
Facilitated by The Interstitial
and Space Lab @ 59E59
Cast:
Aenid Legrange: Talia Thiesfield*
Percy Legrange: Hagan Oliveras*
Mémé: Madeline McCray*
Deacon: Spencer Scott Barros*
Bartholomew: Sam Underwood
Josephene: Lia-Shea Tillett
Stage Directions: Isabelle Chirls
*denotes member of Actor's Equity Association
Directed by Erica Wray
Line Producer / Production Manager: Isabelle Chirls
Produced by Morgan Grambo
****
MAY 2026
Aenid and her son Percy fight environmental disaster in the wake of the catastrophic 2010 BP oil spill—Aenid as defiant broadcaster on a makeshift pirate radio station and Percy as gentle guardian of the poisoned shore—when a mysterious figure is pulled from the blackened tide, blurring the line between the living and the spectral. In this Southern Gothic tale, Ghost on the Black Gulf explores greed, inherited sins, and the unyielding spirit of a community in the face of obliteration.
Ben Holbrook is a Brooklyn-based (originally from NC) playwright, filmmaker, and creator of digital and live experiences whose works have been produced, developed, or commissioned by: The Brick, The High Line, The Prism Festival (Makers Ensemble and Judson Church), Theatre Untitled, The Exponential Festival, Fundamental Theater Project, Ruddy Productions, The Samuel French OOB Festival, The Mercury Store, The New York International Fringe Festival, The Memphis Fringe Festival, The Motor Company, Wildwind Performance Lab, University of Maryland Baltimore County (MD), Voices of the South (TN), Ugly Rhino (LA), Seoul Players (SK), Holiday House, Find the Light (LA), The Irish Arts Council, 45th Street Block Association, and Paper Lantern Theatre Company (NC).
His films have been seen at the Big Apple Film Festival, The Imaginarium Convention, The Comedy of Horrors Festival, The Sickest Short Films Festival, and The Films Open Mic Festival. Ben has been awarded the Williamstown Theatre Festival Residency, Edward Albee Foundation fellowship, the Drama League Rough Draft Residency (partnering with Sam Underwood), Fresh Ground Pepper’s Playground Playgroup Residency, The New Concepts Theatre Lab at UNC-Greensboro, Magic Time at Judson Church, he is the inaugural recipient of the Peter Shaffer Award for Excellence in Playwriting, and a winner of the 47th Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival.
To learn more visit http://baholbrook.com.
Ghost on the Black Gulf Development History:
Residency, UNC Greensboro - New Concepts Theatre Lab, 2018
His films have been seen at the Big Apple Film Festival, The Imaginarium Convention, The Comedy of Horrors Festival, The Sickest Short Films Festival, and The Films Open Mic Festival. Ben has been awarded the Williamstown Theatre Festival Residency, Edward Albee Foundation fellowship, the Drama League Rough Draft Residency (partnering with Sam Underwood), Fresh Ground Pepper’s Playground Playgroup Residency, The New Concepts Theatre Lab at UNC-Greensboro, Magic Time at Judson Church, he is the inaugural recipient of the Peter Shaffer Award for Excellence in Playwriting, and a winner of the 47th Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival.
To learn more visit http://baholbrook.com.
Ghost on the Black Gulf Development History:
Residency, UNC Greensboro - New Concepts Theatre Lab, 2018
THANK YOU: Alex Etling, Thea Brooks, Margaret Holsinger