Founding Co-Artistic Director, Speech of Fire Theatre Company
Former Artistic Director, Seoul Shakespeare Company
Actor, Voice Actor
Shakespeare Text Coach
Theatre Producer, Director, Designer
Student in Korean Traditional Music and Dance
English (EFL) Instructor
Location: London, UK (with right to work)
Nationality: American
Artistic Direction & Producing
As Artistic Director of Seoul Shakespeare Company (2014-2019), I was responsible for setting the artistic, educational, and budgetary goals for the company, working with the stage director to create a vision for each show, and articulating the vision for each year's production to the public.
I was also the producer for each show, handling the macro-level planning for each show--such as gathering the creative team for each production, creating budgets, and planning fundraising events for the year--and micro-level tasks such as creating rehearsal schedules, managing the company's social media, creating and updating the website, purchasing items needed for the show, handling ticketing, contacting and corresponding with teachers and professors about bringing school groups to performances, creating audience programs, creating concepts for posters, working with our graphic designer, getting posters printed and placed, filming clips of rehearsals, scripting/filming/editing crowdfunding videos, hiring a photographer and film crew for performances, and editing final performance videos and trailers of productions.
Scroll down for posters, fundraising videos, trailers, and basic information about each show.
Show list:
The Orderly / Garage (2019) (Produced in rep)
The Orderly & Garage
(Produced in rep)
Speech of Fire & Seoul Shakespeare Company Co-production (2019)
The Orderly Trailer video
(Footage from the 2019 production)
Garage Teaser Trailer for 2019
(Footage from the 2017 production)
The Orderly
October 13-20, 2019 (Speech of Fire & Seoul Shakespeare Company co-production of Garage and The Orderly in rep)
(Originally produced by The Rebel Alliance Theatre Company, and then
produced by Probationary Theatre Company at the White Box Theatre in 2013)
Studio SK, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Written and performed by Michael Downey
Directed and Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Poster photo by Liam Mitchinson
"Hospitals are battlefields."
Mind must be the firmer,
heart the more fierce,
courage the greater,
as our strength diminishes.
More information on Speech of Fire's performance repertoire page:
https://www.speechoffire.org/performance-repertoire
2019 Show Page: https://www.speechoffire.org/the-orderly-2019
(This show was videorecorded and can be available upon request.)
Garage (차고)
October 13-20, 2019 (Speech of Fire & Seoul Shakespeare Company co-production of Garage and The Orderly in rep)
Studio SK, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Written by Jason Cutler and the members of Dive Theatre
Directed by Michael Downey
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Sound Design by Michael Downey and Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Blood effects by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Poster photo by Robert Michael Evans
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
"This here's an arena."
An original, raw, intimate, and uncompromising piece of contemporary theatre.
More information on Speech of Fire's performance repertoire page:
https://www.speechoffire.org/performance-repertoire
2019 Show Page: https://www.speechoffire.org/garage-2019
(This show was videorecorded and can be available upon request.)
King Lear
Seoul Shakespeare Company (2019)
May 18-June 2, 2019
Theater Egg and Nucleus, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Directed and Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Costume, Set, Sound, and Lighting Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Musical Composition/Arrangement/Direction by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Fight Choreography by Jason Cutler
Blood effects by Amanda Conkey
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Seoul Shakespeare Company presents Shakespeare's masterpiece, King Lear.
The final production for our Artistic Director, producer, and actor Lauren Ash-Morgan and regular stage director and actor Michael Downey, after nine years with the company.
Show Page: https://www.seoulshakespearecompany.org/king-lear-2019
(This show was videorecorded and will eventually be available.)
Photos by Robert Michael Evans
Trailer / Fundraising Video / Company Update Video
Photos by Robert Michael Evans
Trailer / Fundraising Video:
The Merchant of Venice (베니스의 상인)
April 28, 29 May 5, 6, 12, 13, 2018
Theater Egg and Nucleus, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Directed by Michael Downey
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Costume and Set Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Musical Composition/Arrangement/Direction by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by John Campbell
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
"Thou shalt have justice more than thou desirest."
Seoul Shakespeare Company presents William Shakespeare's deceptively complex play The Merchant of Venice, exploring the themes of mercy and revenge, prejudice and power, trust and betrayal, and appearance and reality.
Show Page: https://www.seoulshakespearecompany.org/the-merchant-of-venice-2018
(This show was videorecorded and will eventually be available.)
The Merchant of Venice
Seoul Shakespeare Company (2018)
Garage
Seoul Shakespeare Company (2017)
Teaser Trailer
Garage (차고)
October 14-22, 2017
Studio SK, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Written by Jason Cutler and the members of Dive Theatre
Directed by Michael Downey
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Sound Design by Michael Downey and Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by Megan Hammond
Blood effects by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
"This here's an arena."
Seoul Shakespeare Company boldly expands its repertoire and presents Garage, an original, raw, intimate, and uncompromising piece of contemporary theatre.
Show Page: https://www.seoulshakespearecompany.org/garage-oct-14-22-2017-eng
(This show was videorecorded and can be available upon request.)
Trailer / Fundraising Video:
The Winter's Tale (겨울 이야기)
April 15-30, 2017
Theater Egg and Nucleus, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Directed by Michael Downey
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Costume, Set, and Sound Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Musical Composition/Arrangement/Direction by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by Iain C. Culp
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Shakespeare's late masterpiece of reconciliation and forgiveness.
One of Shakespeare’s greatest plays: the tragi-comedy and late romance play The Winter’s Tale—a story of jealousy, loss, redemption, forgiveness, and reunion.
In a production that both builds upon and contrasts with the innovations of last year’s Much Ado About Nothing, director Michael Downey brings us two contrasting mythicized worlds of a stark, melancholic, and tragic Sicilia and a joyful, pastoral, comedic Bohemia, and a story that moves from the coldness of winter to the warmth and hope of spring.
(The full video will eventually be available.)
Show Page: https://www.seoulshakespearecompany.org/up-next-the-winter-s-tale
The Winter's Tale
Seoul Shakespeare Company (2017)
Teaser Trailer
Much Ado About Nothing
Seoul Shakespeare Company (2016)
Full show video
First Half: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmfuqKGcm-s
Second Half: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqOsBtM5b3k
Teaser Trailer
Trailer / Fundraising Video
Much Ado About Nothing (헛소동)
May 21 - June 5, 2016
Theater Egg and Nucleus, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Directed by Michael Downey
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Costume, Set, and Sound Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Musical Composition/Arrangement/Direction by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by Iain C. Culp
Poster Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
"This year's production, Much Ado About Nothing, goes in a brand new direction for our company. In our tradition of alternating between tragedy and comedy, we are swinging the pendulum in the opposite direction from the dark, technically complex Titus of last year to bring audiences a lively, warm, fast-paced, playful experience, with a design and style reminiscent of Elizabethan stage practice."
Show Page: https://www.seoulshakespearecompany.org/much-ado-about-nothing-2016
Teaser Trailers for Much Ado production video:
(Short teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btzd7udOFXo&feature=youtu.be
(Medium teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99sktMoPoJo&feature=youtu.be
(Long teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmzSC5rjCr0&feature=emb_logo
Love and Despair:
Scenes from Shakespeare
Seoul Shakespeare Company (2015)
Love and Despair: Scenes from Shakespeare
Program 1: Macbeth (plus a bit of The Tempest)
November 28-29, 2015
Program 2: Hamlet & Othello (plus a bit of Titus Andronicus and The Tempest)
December 5-6, 2015
Camarata Music Company Studio, Haebangchon, Seoul, South Korea
Using direction from our original productions, with some new direction by Lauren Ash-Morgan and Michael Downey.
Othello scenes directed by Raymond Salcedo.
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by Iain C. Culp
Sound Design by Brian MacQueen and Lauren Ash-Morgan
Graphic Design by Za'chary Westbrook
For SSC's 5-year anniversary, we have gathered some of our most prominent actors to revive favorite scenes from our past productions and to explore some new scenes from Othello, focusing on the relationship arcs of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, Hamlet and Gertrude, Laertes and Ophelia, Othello and Desdemona, and Trinculo and Stephano in an intimate, bare-bones style production.
(There is no show page for Love and Despair, but videos can be found in SSC's Video Archive and photos in SSC's Photo Archive.)
Teaser Trailer
Trailer / Fundraising Video:
Titus Andronicus (타이투스 안드로니쿠스)
May 30 - June 14, 2015
Theater Egg and Nucleus, Daehangno theatre district, Seoul, South Korea
Directed by Raymond Salcedo
Produced by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Costume Design by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Lighting Design by Iain C. Culp
Sound Design by Brian MacQueen
Set Design by David Spadaccini
Fight Choreography by Patrick Foley
Poster concept by Lauren Ash-Morgan
Photography by Jorge Toro, My Seoul Photography
Graphic Design by Charles Joongwon Jeong
Video editing by Lauren Ash-Morgan
"A brutal but beautifully poignant play."
We are preparing our fifth mainstage production, Titus Andronicus, which is our most ambitious project to date. With this production we aim to attract larger general audiences and to become more widely recognized as a resource for Shakespeare in Korea.
Full show video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LfvLKgx_Ik
Show Page:
https://www.seoulshakespearecompany.org/titus-andronicus-2015
Teaser Trailers for Titus Andronicus full production video:
(Short teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSTTebXn1C4&feature=emb_logo
(Medium teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WftthqrZR3I
(Long teaser) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzRAg74J9Rg