Alaina Shefelton
As a natural storyteller and artist, directing has become a powerful channel to fully unleash my theatrical toolkit. My consent-based practice emphasizes the beauty of collaborative creation. My productions are centered on clear storytelling and heartfelt connections, all while embracing a vision for striking imagery.
See production images and details below.
Download my resume here.
"A MUST SEE"
Much Ado
About Nothing
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Alaina Shefelton
Endstation Theatre Company
"Magnificently funny"
"best Shakespeare I've ever seen"
"Where Shefelton has particularly excelled in her directing work is integrating the mechanics and design elements of a period setting (supported by some stunning costuming by Savannah Bower, and by Sapphira Koerner’s props work), with the effect here that the production itself took on the material essence of 80s comedies and action movies, both in a deliberately self-referential style and in casual moments."
" - Dr. Peter Kirwan, "The Bardathon"
Read full "Bardathon" REVIEW
"In one of the best theatrical coups I’ve seen in a while, [Claudio] came to Hero’s memorial accompanied by Pedro (D’Kameron Edmonson) and Balthasar (Brett Womack, also music director), the latter of whom had a ghetto blaster. Avoiding the temptation to do the Say Anything bit, Claudio instead started singing Air Supply’s “I’m All Out of Love” in a performance that rapidly turned into a committed full-blown live recreation of an 80s music video: Balthasar and Pedro sang back-up, the rest of the cast appeared swaying with candles at the back, the audience lit up the night with cellphones and lighters, and Hero (Jordan DeSilva) even ran through the scene in her wedding dress in what I have to assume was a direct reference to the “Total Eclipse of the Heart” video. Seeing the previously buttoned-up Claudio leave absolutely everything on the dancefloor also brilliantly resolved any question about whether Claudio earns forgiveness, by embracing precisely the logic of the 80s romantic comedy: the big, un-self-conscious gesture (ideally with music) that erases all prior failings." - Dr. Peter Kirwan, "The Bardathon"
Read full "Bardathon" REVIEW
CREW
Stage Manager: Ty Richardson
ASM: Reid Rasumssen
Costume Designer: Savannah Bower
Intimacy Coordinator: Matthias Bolon
Music Director: Brett Womack
Choreographer: Stephanie Holladay Earl
Props Designer: Sapphira Koerner
Lighting Designer: Travis Smoak
Technical Director: Cooper Mulderry
Assistant TD: Vir Gupta
CAST
Leonato - James Stringer Jr.
Innogen - Anna Eleanor Taylor
Hero - Jordan DeSilva
Beatrice - Kristina Hinako
Margaret - Olivia Green
Benedick - John Williams
Claudio - Wyatt Moore
Balthasar/Verges - Brett Womack
Messenger/First Watch - Tanner Cochran
Don John - Jacob Granado
Don Pedro - D'Kameron Edmonson
Conrade - Noah DeCarmo
Borachio - Za'Marae Morgan
Hugh Oatcake, Ensemble - Arilyn Webster
George Seacole, Ensemble - Penn Dorsey
Friar/Dogberry - Ryan Davis
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen
Adapted by Emma Whipday, with Brian McMahon
Directed by Jemma Levy
Assistant Director/Understudy Coordinator - Alaina Shefelton
American Shakespeare Center
"There’s something special about a live, lights-up performance of Jane Austen’s novels; even if you know the characters and the stories by heart, there’s a special thrill having them come to life before your very eyes, just a few feet from where you sit. And as they take turns pleading their case, directly to you, you have the power to respond to them — with applause, with nodding and shaking heads, even with invective, as you please. With the American Shakespeare Center’s current production of Sense and Sensibility... you have an unprecedented opportunity to get up close and personal with the likes of Marianne and Elinor Dashwood."
- Andrew Walker White, "DC Theatre Arts"
Read full "DC Theatre Arts" REVIEW
CREW
Stage Manager: Tenley Pitonzo*
ASMs: Rachael E. Sheffer*, Kaela A.C. Wilson
Costume Designer: Elizabeth Wislar
Intimacy Coordinator: Haley Roberts
Music Director: Jordan Friend*
Movement & Physical Dramaturgy: Doreen Bechtol
Dance Choreographer: Cory Douyliez-Willis
Props Designer: Conrad Gothard
CAST
Mrs. Dashwood - Tristan Rose Gillia*
Elinor Dashwood - Sara J. Griffin*
Marianne Dashwood - Corrie Green*
John Dashwood - L James*
Fanny Dashwood - originated by Raven Lorraine*
- Julia Sommer
Edward Ferrars - Geoffrey Warren Barnes II*
Colonel Brandon - Jordan Friend*
John Willoughby - Komi M. Gbeblewou*
Mrs. Jennings - Angela Iannone*
Sir John Middleton - Geoffrey Warren Barnes II*
Lucy Steele - originated by Raven Lorraine*
- Julia Sommer
*Member of Actor's Equity Association
Understudies: Maggie Lengerich, Molly Minter, Kathleen Mitchell, Pete Sheldon, Katy Shinas, Kyle Showalter, Julia Sommer, Emmet Temple, Nick Trusty
Romeo and Juliet
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Chris Johnston
Assistant Direction by Alaina Shefelton
Wayne Theatre
"Something which seemed to emerge from this production, then, was the idea that everyone is deserving of tragic dignity. For this Romeo and Juliet, who clung to the idea of something simple and pure and aspirational amid a world of meaningless tension and fights over nothing, the beauty they found in one another became a beauty that took on significance for others. Richards and Altman’s final performances in the tomb saw them clinging to the idea of one another on a raised plinth, dying framed in light, and becoming a cautionary tableau of destruction for everyone else. And by closing on a gesture of hope as well as a declaration of woe, the production seemed to hope that people can transcend their own limitations, both self-imposed and societally constructed, to fight for what matters rather than over what doesn’t."
- "The Bardathon"
Read full "The Bardathon" REVIEW by Dr. Peter Kirwan
All Photos by Miscellaneous Media
https://www.waynetheatre.org/events/william-shakespeares-romeo-and-juliet
CREW
Costume Designer: Rosemary Armato
Intimacy Coordinator: Lesley Larsen
Choreographer: Corey Holmes
Lighting Designer: Drew Thompson
Scenic Designer: Josh Donohue
Props Designer: Cleo Marcelline, Lesley Larsen
Stage Manager: Becca Gustafson
CAST
Sampson/Peter/Page- Micah Shank Zehr
Gregory/Rosaline/Petruchio- Riane Mia Tolliver
Abraham/Apothecary- Merab Yeomans
Paris/Capulet Servant- Collin Wheeler
Benvolio/3rd Watch- Rosemary Armato
Tybalt/Balthazar- Austin Cox
Chorus/Capulet- Robert Gotschall
Lady Capulet- Kelsey Harrison
Lady Montague/Friar John/Watch- Jennifer L Jones
Romeo- Louis Altman
Juliet- Rosemary Richards
Nurse/Montague- Sophia Beratta
Friar Lawrence- Jacob Laitinen
Mercutio/Prince- Amy Ippolito
Spirit:
The Authentic Story
of the Bell Witch
by David Alford
Directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
The Bell Witch Fall Festival
Fall 2024 Bell Witch Fall Festival
CREW
Costume Designer: Denese Rene Evans
Lighting Designer: Rylee Hickey
Sound Designer: Alaina Shefelton
Props Manager: Paige McCroy
Stage Manager: Sam Drapeaux
ASM: Grace Taylor Montgomery
Technical Director: Wyatt Plank
CAST
Becky Porter/Ensemble- Ashley Ball
Alex Gooch, Ensemble- Nathan Basner
Elder Sugg Fort/Ensemble- Brian Best
Mary Batts/Storyteller- Cate Bounds
John Johnston/Ensemble- Riley Bowers
Kate Batts/The Spirit- Holly Constant
Lucy Bell- Devlin Ford
James Johnston/Ensemble- David Graham
Williams Bell- Alex Hillaker
Powell/Calvin/Storyteller- Chad Marriott
Anica/Storyteller- Tameshia Nicole Martin
Betsy Bell- Kate Pierson
John Bell - Danny Proctor
Dean, Soryteller- Elliot Robinson
Joshua Gardener/Ensemble- Pete Sheldon
John Bell Jr.- Dominic Stancescu
Joel Bell- Ezra Valdez
Theny Thorne - Peyton White
Drewry Bell - Dalton Wolf
"PHENOMENAL"
"Picture-perfect"
"So magical"
Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare
Directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
"Great fun!"
Endstation Theatre Company at Randolph College
"'Give me excess of it'”, demands Orsino at the top of Twelfth Night. The desire to feel more pervaded Alaina Smith [Shefelton]’s new production of the play for Endstation, in a snappy two-hour cut that utilized its glorious setting to make sense of the play’s oscillation between repression and expression. And the production’s joy came from its suggestion that catharsis rarely comes from where we think we’re going to get it.
Point of Honor, a historic building in Lynchburg, provided so apt a setting that it’s hard to believe that it wasn’t designed for this purpose." - "The Bardathon"
Read Dr. Peter Kirwan's "The Bardathon" REVIEW
"Director Alaina Smith [Shefelton], in a stroke of genius, has chosen to stage this production in Regency style, costumed in early 1800s fashions that fans of a certain (ahem) hit Shondaland series on Netflix will instantly recognize. For me, one of the absolute highlights of the show is the music; not only are the song choices apt, but the harmonies they have developed are wonderful to hear and speak to the best of the British folk tradition—or any other one, for that matter. All of the songs Shakespeare peppered the play with are truly wonderfully done." - "DC Theatre Arts"
Read full "DC Theatre Arts" REVIEW
Summer at the Point 2024 Season
Costume Designer- Savannah Bower
Props and Furnishings Designer- Sarah White
Lighting Designer- Alexzandra Gancedo
Sound Designer- Tristin Burke
Technical Director- Heather Sinclair
Stage Manager- Luciana Garza
CAST
Orsino- James Stringer Jr.
Curio/1st Officer/Servant- Mitchell Ngwneya
Valentine/Antonio- D’Kameron Edmonson
Feste- Kyle Showalter
Viola- Even Tyree
Captain/Fabian- Melora Kordos
Sir Toby Belch- Marcus Martinez
Maria- Kristina Hinako
Sir Andrew Aguecheek- John Williams
Olivia- Madalyn Macko
Malvolio- Michael Blackwood
Sebastian- Wyatt Moore
2nd Officer/Priest- Nico Thomas
Hero Dogberry
by Monica Cross
Staged Reading
Directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
Meadowlark Shakespeare Players
"Smith [Shefelton]’s sensitive staged reading took a pleasingly simple approach that privileged excellent vocal performances from the cast. Sat in a curved line with scripts on music stands, actors simply stood to enter the stage, raising their music stands as they did so. [C]oncentric pairings created clear shape to the reading, focalizing Hero and Claudio as the central duo, while also opposing the women on stage right from the men on stage left. In doing so, Smith [Shefelton] revealed something of the script’s own conscious imbalancing; this is a play leading up to marriages, and yet the stage right side was far more active, in a play which sought to privilege women’s experiences. Smith [Shefelton]’s intelligent staging helped unearth much of this play’s potential for developing the backstory of Shakespeare’s characters." - "The Bardathon"
Read Dr. Peter Kirwan's "The Bardathon" REVIEW
2023-2024 Fly The Nest Staged Reading Series
Lighting Design- Johnny Williams III
Stage Manager- Allison Lyne
CAST
Hero/Dogberry- Julia Sommer
Beatrice/Verges- Molly Patrick Martinez-Collins
Gemma/George Seacole- Genevieve Henderson
Margaret- Sarah Scarborough
Claudio- Pete Sheldon
Benedick- Andrew Stephen Knight
Don Pedro- Johnny Williams III
Borrachio/Priest- Ethan Goodmansen
Stage Directions- Morgan Ford
A Midsummer
Night's Dream
by William Shakespeare
Co-directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
and Johnny Williams III
"Rightfully silly"
Meadowlark Shakespeare Players
"The larger purpose here was acceptance. Theseus and Hippolyta’s ability to rule together in confidence; Lysandra’s ability to be publicly accepted with Hermia; Demetrius being able to choose his own love, and Helena’s ability to accept being loved; the Mechanicals’ joyful embrace of the returned Bottom; Titania and Oberon’s renewed commitment; and the acceptance of the Mechanicals’ amateur theatrics by the assembled nobles; all that was here worked towards the shared aim of celebrating people for who they are. A final dance, full of laughter and joy, brought all strata of fairies, lovers, royals, and working folk on stage together. Puck’s closing “Give me tus manos, if we be amigos, / And Robin shall restore amends” perfectly summed up a production that insisted on finding different ways to rhyme. - "The Bardathon"
2023 MFA Education Touring Production
Stage Manager- J Paige Hilton
Costume Designers- Petra Shearer and Mikaela Hanrahan
Set and Props Designer- Cait Redman
Lighting Designer- Johnny Williams III
Music Director- Jacob Laitinen
Intimacy Coordinator- Mathias Bolon
CAST
Theseus- Fawzia Istrabadi
Hippolyta/Mustardseed- Hailey Pearce
Egeus/Moth/Philostrate- Pete Sheldon
Lysandra- Jean Roche
Hermia- Sarah Scarborough
Demetrius- Shawn Passero
Helena- Petra Shearer
Peter Quince- Jacob Laitinen
Nick Bottom- Adam Hobbs
Starveling- Cait Redman
Flute/Peaseblossom- Morgan Ford
Snout/Cobweb- Allison Lyne
Snug- Genevieve Henderson
Puck- Molly Martinez-Collins
Oberon- Christopher Niesner
Titania- Mikaela Hanrahan
Understudies- Emily Bassett, Gray Casterline, Katie Mestres
Treasure Island
by Briony Lavery
Directed by Stephanie Holladay Earl
Assistant Direction by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
Endstation Theatre Company
Summer 2023 Season at Endstation Theatre Company
Costume Designer- Hope Maddox
Set Designer- Amanda Nerby
Lighting Designer- Travis Smoak
Sound Designer- Heather Sinclair
Props Design and Scenic Charge- Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
CAST
Black Dog/Ensemble- Thomas Bell
Grey/Ensemble- Bill Bodine
Killigrew/Ensemble- Will Cloud
Benn Gunn/Ensemble- Noah Decarmo
Billy Bones- Patrick Earl
Lucky Mickey- Chris Evans
Silent Sue/Ensemble- Olivia Green
Red Ruth/Ensemble- Genevieve Henderson
Dr. Livesay/Ensemble- Kristina Hinako
Blind Pew/Captain- Ken Hopkins Jr.
Grandma/Job Anderson/Ensemble- Stephanie Howieson
Shanty Man/Violin- Daniel Kepel
Dick the Dandy- Chad Marriott
Basilica Hands- Marcus Martinez
Jim- Molly Patrick Martinez-Collins
Badger/Musician- Ronan Melomo
Long John Silver- James Stringer Jr.
Joan the Goat- Harper Whetzel
Squire- John Williams
"Beautifully reconcieved"
"Rootin'-tootin' Western fun"
The Rover by Aphra Behn
Directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
Mary Baldwin University
"Smith [Shefelton] created a playful environment that leaned into parody when it needed to but without ever diminishing the fought-for stakes. The Wildness of this West was tamed as both men and women learned how to discern true treasure from fool’s gold, and the ‘civilizing’ forces of modernity were forced to accommodate the free spirits that refused to be constrained any longer. And the closing line dance brought even those characters who remained isolated from the happy endings into coordinated alignment with one another. - "The Bardathon"
MBU S&P 2023 Second-Year Showcase.
Stage Manager- Nora Frankovich
Costume Designer- Petra Shearer
Set Designer- Sarah White
Lighting Designer- Johnny Williams III
Dance and Intimacy Choreography- Margaret Levin
CAST
Hellena- Molly Patrick Martinez-Collins
Florida- Riley Tate
Willmore- Devlin Ford
Bellville- Ronan Melomo
Angellica- Jean Roche
Loretta- Caroline Lyons
Blunt- Morgan Ford
Valeria- Sarah Scarborough
Peter- Adam Hobbs
Anthony- Petra Shearer
Masquerader/Ensemble- Julia Sommer
Masquerader/Ensemble- Katie Mestres
Life on the Mississippi
by Douglas M Parker and Denver Casado
Directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
ACT 1 Theatre, Nashville, TN
*cancelled due to COVID-19
Scheduled for May 2020 at Act 1
This production was pitched to the board, selected, and in pre-production steps. Auditions were held; however, the show was canceled due to the health crisis.
"I could have watched it
again
and again"
The Fastest Woman Alive by Karen Sunde
Directed by Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
Freed-Hardeman University
Senior Thesis Project
Set, Costume, Sound Design- Alaina (Smith) Shefelton
Lighting Design- Marie Norris
Faculty Supervisor- Dr. Cliff Thompson
Technical Director- Annie Pickens
CAST
Jackie Cochran- Maddie Alden
Floyd Odlum- Kevin Record
Amelia Earhart- Cassie Sikes
Jill- Marla Nordstrom
Chuck Yeager- Robby Robertson