Flora & Ulysses

Master Production In Lieu of Thesis

Flora & Ulysses by John Glore and adapted from the novel by Kate DiCamillo invites audiences into the high-contrast comic-inspired world of Flora Buckman, a ten-year-old natural-born cynic and recent child of divorce. After resuscitating a squirrel following a tragic accident with a vacuum, Flora's life transforms into a story out of her favorite comic books, The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto, when the squirrel develops peculiar powers, such as the ability to understand humans, super strength, flight, and a knack for writing poetry. Flora's well-meaning and flawed parents, a temporarily blind new kid in town, his poetry-obsessed great aunt, a well-traveled psychiatrist, employees at the local diner, and the Amazing Incandesto himself round out the cast of this story about the innate human desire to love and be loved that reminds audiences to "let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. / Just keep going. No feeling is final." (from "Go to the Limit of Your Longing" by Rainer Maria Rilke)

This page features insights into the process of bringing Flora & Ulysses to the stage with the North Carolina Theatre for Young People, a producing organization that works in conjunction with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Explore concept imagery, process images and videos, production shots, and culminating reflections.

Click on one of the process cards below for a glimpse into the preparation for Flora & Ulysses, in addition to the design, casting, and rehearsal process, as well as moments of reflection.

Production images captured by Becky VanderVeen

Scene Designer: Annabelle Leibering
Lighting Designer: Kelly Sandoval
Projections Designer: Rachel Lake
Costume Designer: Brianca Robinson
Prop Director: Natalie Hohman
Puppet Artisans: Sam Gainer and Dorian Leto

FLORA BELLE BUCKMAN: Zaynah Gatling
ULYSSES THE SQUIRREL: Stetson Smith
PHYLLIS BUCKMAN: Lissa Pope
GEORGE BUCKMAN: Teondré Chappelle
WILLIAM SPIVER: Jayden Wingate
TOOTIE TICKHAM: Elsa Wansink
DR. MEESCHAM: Yuliya Donovan
ALFRED T. SLIPPER/INCANDESTO: Vance Routh
MR. TICKHAM/MR. KLAUS: Sebastian Newlin
ERNIE/ENSEMBLE: Riley Simutami
RITA/ENSEMBLE: Kayla Cruz