Jonathan Mimnaugh Performed with the Shoestring Players in "Compleat Female Stage Beauty

2016 Sep 30

Jonathan Mimnaugh of Boiling Springs, SC (29316) performed the role of George Villiers the Duke of Buckingham in the Shoestring Players' production of "Compleat Female Stage Beauty," September 29 through October 2 in the Performing Arts Center Theatre at the University of South Carolina Upstate.

Written by Jeffrey Hatcher, the play centers around Edward "Ned" Kynaston who specializes in female roles like Desdemona in "Othello." Not only was he the darling of the theatre, but he was also "mistress" to the powerful Duke of Buckingham. After Charles II is exiled to France, women are now allowed to perform on the stage. The transition is the beginning of the end for Kynaston who struggles with his own gender identity, especially when forced to act like a man on stage and in life. The New York Times describes it as, "A clever exploration of rich territory, the world of the English theatre at the seventeenth-century moment when women were first allowed on the stage."

Other cast members included:

Carter Baran of Peoria, Ariz., as Thomas Betterton; Chantel Brown of Greenville as Maria; John Gibbs of Lyman as Samuel Pepys; Eva Grayson of Easley as Miss Frayne; Savannah Hall of Taylors as Margaret Hughes; Howie Jordan of Greenville as Edward Kynaston; Najee Joyner of St. Stephens as Hyde; Quenton Lyles of Spartanburg as a ruffian and a thug; Lauren McGaha of Anderson as Lady Meresvale; Colin Miller of Boiling Springs as a ruffian and a thug; Brandon Mimnaugh of Spartanburg as George Villiers the Duke of Buckingham; Aaron Nathanson of Landrum as Thomas Killigrew; Candice Owens of Greer as courtier; Lindsay Rhodes of Liberty as Nell Gwynn; Isabelle Scanlon of courtier Milwaukee, Wisc., as courtier; Dexter Simmons of Clinton as Sir Peter Lelly; Brigitte Staggs of Woodruff as Mistress Revels; Gabe Troski of Boiling Springs as Charles II; Jason Ventura of Providence, R.I., as Sir Charles Sedley; Jillian Wain of Boiling Springs as courtier and a ruffian; Kacy Winterhalter of Columbia as Mrs. Elizabeth Barry and courtier; and Doug Yates of Ovideo, Fla., as Emilia, a bouncer and a thug.

Professor Jimm Cox will serve as the director for the show. Cox is in his 44th year of teaching in the University of South Carolina System, having taught the past 41 years at USC Upstate. His exceptional leadership of the theatre program has earned it national and international recognition and fostered collaboration that established an exclusive partnership with The Rose Theatre and the American Conservatory Theater both in London, England.