Recorded live on December 5, 2025
Blackfriars Playhouse – Staunton, VA
We’re closing out the year’s Lights ON Blackfriars series with a conversation rooted in craft, community, and Christmas.
Education Programs Manager Lia Wallace sat down with director, choreographer, and longtime ASC artist Stephanie Holladay Earl to reflect on her journey to the stage, her many years shaping A Christmas Carol at ASC, and why this story continues to matter.
Watch the conversation
From Annie to a life in the theatre
Stephanie’s path to the stage began long before she could articulate what theatre would become in her life.
“I don’t know how many people figure out what they want to do with their lives when they’re three years old, but I did.”
From community theatre to dance training, professional apprenticeships, graduate school, and eventually the ASC, her story reflects a throughline many artists recognize: curiosity followed by commitment.
Touring with the ASC: learning the scale of connection
Stephanie toured with the ASC for four consecutive years, performing for audiences across the country and learning firsthand how far the work reaches.
“When you go on tour, you really understand how much this place means to people from all over the country.”
Those years shaped how she thinks about storytelling, scale, and connection, lessons that continue to inform her directing and choreography today.
Choreographing for the Blackfriars Playhouse
Creating movement in the Blackfriars Playhouse means working in three dimensions, with the audience on three sides and actors with a wide range of movement experience.
“It’s a specific kind of vulnerability.”
Stephanie described her process as one rooted in storytelling and spatial awareness first.
“Formations are my friend…I literally plot out what the stage pictures are going to be… and then the very last thing is figuring out what the steps are.”
A Christmas Carol: a tradition that stays alive
Stephanie has been part of A Christmas Carol at ASC for 14 seasons, serving as an actor, choreographer, and now director. Over time, the show has evolved while retaining its deeply familiar essence.
“We have a structure, we have a procedure, we have a system if we want it.”
That structure, she noted, creates room for discovery.
“Because I’ve been doing it so long, there’s a comfort in knowing that the system exists that I feel comfortable letting us try new things.”
The rewrite years and the zipline that wasn’t
One of the most memorable moments of the conversation came when Lia asked about a stage direction from an earlier script draft: “Perhaps on a zipline.”
Stephanie confirmed the experiment.
“We tried it… and it just kind of fell apart over and over again.”
While the zipline didn’t last, the spirit of experimentation did, shaping the ensemble-driven storytelling that defines the production today.
What’s hitting differently this year
When asked what stood out in this season’s work, Stephanie spoke about the street scenes. The cast created beautiful, brief snapshots of Dickens’ London that mirror the present moment.
“Keeping your eyes actually open to all the different members of our community is what I was really thinking about this year.”
She described the way those moments echo outside the Playhouse walls, connecting the story to the lived experiences of people right here in Staunton.
About Lights ON Blackfriars
Lights ON Blackfriars is the American Shakespeare Center’s monthly conversation series, hosted by our Education team. Each event invites audiences behind the scenes to explore the ideas, questions, and artistry that shape our work—live, unscripted, and under Shared Light. Our 2026 lineup of speakers will be coming soon.