Come see “Our Space” by Caroline Turner Cole! And read all about Ms. Cole below, as we continue our focus on the talented playwrights whose work is featured in Fresh Reads 2!
Tickets: https://
Caroline Turner Cole’s biography:
Caroline Turner Cole is a storyteller originally from directly across the lake from where you’re sitting. She writes, acts, does voiceover and advocates for theatre in schools by teaching and directing youth theatre all over the metroplex. Basically, she’ll tell stories any way someone will let her. She’s a firm believer that stories are our greatest super power. As a playwright, Caroline studied at The National Theatre Institute (at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre) with Donna DiNovelli, Larissa Fasthorse, and Adam Bock – all excellent humans and talented playwrights. Her solo and collaborative work has been showcased throughout the US and in Ukraine where she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2010-12. Recently, her play “Honestly” came in 2nd place at Bishop Arts Theatre’s PlayPride LGBT Festival. A member of the Aviary, Spark and Echo Arts, Women 365 Writing Project, and Arts Mission Oak Cliff, Caroline is proud to work alongside inspiring artists here in Dallas and all over the world via the Internet. Her work as a playwright has been consistently received as moving, interesting, comical and thought-provoking. As you will see in “Our Space”, her current obsession is putting the magical, strange Internet world onstage. With so much of our lives now online, she’s fascinated with taking life away from the screen and putting it onstage, dissecting connection (or lack thereof), friendship and family through the fickle, and unpredictable, lens of social media. Social media’s a tricky beast, but she’s come to the conclusion that it’s an excellent servant, albeit a terrible master. Speaking of which, let’s “connect” 
😉: @carowhack, www.carolineturnercole.com
Caroline Turner Cole’s answers to our deep questions:
1. How long have you worked with Pegasus Theatre?
Answer: This is my first show with Pegasus. Hooray!
2. What appeals to you about this project?
Answer: I am so glad Pegasus is supporting local new work. Dallas is a wonderful theatre town and I’m thrilled to work with a company that sees the potential here and wants to invest in new and adventurous pieces.
3. How long have you been involved in theatre in general?
Answer: Since I was 6?? Basically forever.
4. What do you do when not working on this project?
Answer: I work as a voiceover/film/stage actor, writer, director and teaching artist. I’m often in the middle of several projects, but can usually be found at Saint Patrick School, where I run the middle school theatre program, or in the basement of Arts Mission Oak Cliff (where I am a co-working artist) drinking copious amounts of coffee.
5. Give an odd fact about yourself, something people wouldn’t guess from having first met you!
Answer: I speak Ukrainian and spent two years living and serving in the Peace Corps in Ukraine, where I met my husband.
6. Describe your first live theatre memory.
Answer: When I was younger, maybe 6 or 7, we used to go see the Outdoor Musicals in Galveston, TX. My Fair Lady was already one of my favorite movies and I’d seen it enough to quote it, even at a young age. I was so excited to see it live onstage finally. I knew I should watch it and not speak or sing along even though I knew all the words, but at one point I couldn’t help myself and stood up with the actor playing Henry Higgins, loudly quoting along “Damn damn damn damn damn”. My family was simultaneously embarrassed and dying with laughter. They’ve never let me live it down.
7. What inspired you to get involved in theatre?
Answer: I love telling stories. I love getting into the minds of other people and understanding new points of view.
8. Theatrical pet peeves?
Answer: Nudity. It’s very rarely necessary and nearly always a distraction.
9. Favorite play/musical/movie musical (that you didn’t write)?
Answer: This changes on the regular so it’s a tough one to answer, but I’m currently digging deep into Jane Wagner’s “The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe” and loving it. It’s a one-woman show brought to life originally by Lily Tomlin (comedic genius and goddess of magic wonderfulness) that is a simply brilliant dissection and exploration of humanity.
10. What is your hometown and where else have you lived?
Answer: Dallas is my hometown, right near White Rock Lake in Lakewood. I went to college in Houston; I studied Theatre and English Literature at Rice. Afterwards, I joined the Peace Corps and served two years in Ukraine before returning to Dallas, where I’ve been since 2013.
11. What would you like the audience to take away from the piece you have written/are directing?
Answer: Technology is wonderful, until it’s not. It is an excellent servant and a terrible master. It’s ironic to me that, as a society, we are simultaneously more “connected” and more lonely than ever. Humanity’s greatest strength is the ability to empathize, connect and form communities; it is a shame when tools designed to bring us together create division, discord, and disconnection. May we not let our devices own us, but remember to turn them off, go outside, listen to the wind, hug a friend, look into someone’s eyes, and remember that we are all just human, after all.
Caroline Turner Cole’s resume:
Training
– University of Northern Colorado, MA in Theatre Education
– Clown College, New York Goofs, University of North Texas
– Voice Over, KD Conservatory
– Rice University, BFA in Theatre Performance
– National Theatre Institute, Eugene O’Neill Theatre
Experience (Writer)
Our Space, Full Length
Pegasus Theatre, Fresh Reads 2 Festival
Steps, One Act
Spark and Echo Arts, Commission
A Prayer for a Free Society, Poem
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, Writer’s Resist
Honestly, One Act
Bishop Arts Theatre Center, LGBT Pride Festival, 2nd place
Herstorical PenPals, One Act
Rover Dramawerks, 365 Women Festival
Betty’s Birthday, 10-Minute Comedy
Rover Dramawerks, 24-Hour Festival
Sisters, One Act
Rice University, New Play Festival
An Amicably Divorced Appetite, Monologue
Rice University, Love Your Body Monologues
Special Skills
Alto; Basic Spanish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Dolphin; Accents—Southern, Midwest, California, New York, British (RP, London, and Cockney), Eastern European; Character Voices; Basic Tap, Ballet and Jazz; Basic Stage Combat.
Represented by the Linicomn Agency.
(For the rest of Caroline Turner Cole’s resume, including her Acting and Directing credits, please email us at [email protected]!