WOUNDED
by Jiggs Burgess
Beard Collins Shores Productions
&SoHo Playhouse present
WOUNDED
written by Jiggs Burgess
directed by Del Shores
starring
Shaw Jones, Kristen McCullough
& Craig Taggart
produced by
Emerson Collins
Louise H. Beard & Del Shores
January 24-February 11, 2024
Follow our journey on IG: @WoundedbyJiggs FB: WoundedbyJiggs
MEET THE TEAM
JIGGS BURGESS (playwright)
In 2022, Jiggs was the winner of the inaugural Del Shores Foundation writers search for his play The Red Suitcase. Produced by P3 Theatre and Jon Peterson, the Los Angeles world premiere production of The Red Suitcase garnered stellar reviews and Burgess was hailed an important new voice in theater. Reviewers compared the poetry of Jiggs’ work to many of his Southern predecessors. Directed by Del Shores, and starring Emerson Collins, The Red Suitcase has been nominated for 21 awards in the Los Angeles region. In 2018, Burgess' play The Girl In The White Pinafore earned a finalist position at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference. Jiggs has strong connections to the educational theatre community in Texas, where many of his plays are produced by schools of all sizes statewide, often winning the top awards given by the state.
A condensed draft of WOUNDED was first produced at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. The production won the Pick of Fringe award, Best of the Broadwater award and the Producers Encore Series award leading to an invitation from Darren Lee Cole and the Soho Playhouse to their prestigious International Fringe Encore Series, leading to this updated, yet still condensed, production.
Jiggs would like to thank Jon Peterson of P3 Theatre Company for first producing WOUNDED for the Hollywood Fringe, Emerson Collins, Louise H. Beard and Del Shores of Beard Collins Shores Productions for joining to produce WOUNDED through the Encore Series, and hopefully far beyond. A huge, open-armed, thank you to Craig Taggart and Shaw Jones for your crazy, inspired performances and going far above and beyond to help get and keep WOUNDED on its feet. And a most special thanks to Darren Lee Cole, Artistic Director of The Soho Playhouse, for the invitation to the Encore Series. To say it is an honor to be here among the best in the world would be a vast and criminal understatement.
CRAIG TAGGART ("Carrol")
Craig Taggart’s first starring role was in his high school’s production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Cast in the titular role in his sophomore year, he knew at the age of 16 what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Slaying on stage was for him! That same year, he and his family discovered a film by the name of Daddy’s Dyin’ Who’s Got the Will? and another dream was born…Taggart knew that he HAD to work with the person who created that world of characters that were laugh-out-loud funny, poignant, and chock full of country-fried bite. That dream came true when Taggart made his Los Angeles stage debut in Del Shores’ revival of Southern Baptist Sissies. So began a decades-long professional relationship that led to Taggart appearing in assorted “Sordid” incarnations: in repertory in 2006’s Season of Shores in Sordid Lives, Sordid Lives: It’s a Drag” and then on TV’s Sordid Lives: The Series.
Del introduced Craig to playwright Jiggs Burgess while WOUNDED was being developed in Shores’ playwriting class, and since the script first came across his proverbial desk, Taggart has been enamored with the genius of Burgess’s story of Carrol and Robert. Sharing the stage with the brilliantly-gifted Shaw Jones has been another dream come true for Taggart. The two first worked together in a Los Angeles-based production of Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins in 2017— and now WOUNDED affords them both killer roles, so to speak, in an entirely different light. Taggart wants to thank his family (both blood and chosen), his mentors and teachers, the producing team of Beard Collins Shores Productions and especially Darren Lee Cole and the team at SoHo Playhouse for this invitation to bring WOUNDED to the New York stage. This entire experience is proof positive that dreams don’t have expiration dates — from Sweeney to SoHo, it’s been a helluva ride… so settle in, fasten your seat belts, and enjoy this one tonight.
Follow: IG: craigggart FB: craigtaggart
SHAW JONES ("Robert")
Shaw Jones has brought his talents to the stage starring as Lee Harvey Oswald in Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins at The Lyric Hyperion Theater, Charles Gordone’s No Place To Be Somebody at the WACO Theater and Randy Ross’ Birdland Blue at the Paul Robeson Theater. Shaw can also be seen on Amazon with leading roles in the features Proximity, for which he garnered praise from Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers, and Blue, for which he has been honored with two Best Actor awards. Television work includes Your Honor, Star Trek: Picard, The Upshaws, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Snowfall, Grace and Frankie, The Affair, 911, The Cool Kids, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, For All Mankind and recurring appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live, to name a few.
Shaw would like to extend his gratitude to Craig Taggart for inviting him on this incredible journey, Jiggs Burgess for trusting Shaw with his poignant words, Del Shores for his unparalleled direction and guidance, Louise Beard, Del Shores, and Emerson Collins of Beard Collins Shores for their invaluable help and care. He would also like to thank his manager, Debbie Britt, for her endless support and Darren Lee Cole for believing in WOUNDED and bringing it to a wider audience. Shaw would also like to especially thank his wife, Heather, for her unconditional support and love.
Follow: IG: shawzyjones FB: shawjonesactor
KRISTIN McCULLOUGH (publicist)
Kristen was bit by the acting bug in the third grade and has been acting professionally since the age of 14, beginning her professional career at The Wortham Theater in Houston. She has worked on numerous productions including a successful run at West Hollywood's Coast Theater in the world premiere of Del Shores’ brilliant play YELLOW, originating the role of "Kate" which earned her an LA Weekly Award and a Backstage Garland Award. She also had the honor of performing the role of "April" in the world premier of Jiggs Burgess' play The Red Suitcase at the Broadwater Theater in Hollywood and thanks Jiggs for the opportunity to once again bring his beautiful words to life. Kristen is so grateful to Beard Collins Shores Productions and The SoHo Playhouse for the chance to work once again with Del Shores and Emerson Collins in this exciting production. When not playing a mom onstage, you can find Kristen writing her own plays and films with her body positive Pug on her lap. As always gratitude to John, Meara and Oliver for their love and support.
Follow: IG: kristen_mccullough
DEL SHORES (director/producer)
Del Shores has written, directed and produced across studio and independent film, network and cable television and regional and national touring theatre. He is the writer/director/producer of the films Sordid Lives, Blues for Willadean, Southern Baptist Sissies and A Very Sordid Wedding. He wrote and executive produced the MGM feature Daddy's Dyin'...Who's Got The Will?
He has written eleven plays, produced thousands of times worldwide, six have been adapted for the screen. His publisher is Samuel French/Concord Theatricals. In television, Shores wrote, directed, executive produced and created the LOGO series, Sordid Lives: The Series. He also wrote and executive produced Showtime's Queer As Folk for the last three seasons, and he wrote and produced for Dharma & Greg and Ned & Stacey. He has been honored with awards from GLAAD, NAACP, LA Weekly, Backstage, Broadway World, LA Theatre Alliance, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle as well as many film festivals.
In March 2023, he was given The Chuck Rowland Pioneer Award “for groundbreaking and distinguished achievements in LGBTQ+ playwriting and arts advocacy" by The Celebration Theatre. Shores directed Jiggs Burgess’ world premiere of The Red Suitcase at the Broadwater Mainstage, Los Angeles in 2023. Suitcase was winner of the inaugural Del Shores Foundation Writers Search Best Play Award in 2022 and garnered rave reviews for Burgess, Shores and the entire cast. He is thrilled to direct Burgess’ Off-Broadway premiere of WOUNDED with this brilliant cast.
Follow: website: delshores.com IG: delshores FB: delshoresofficial
EMERSON COLLINS (producer)
In theatre, Emerson produced the world premiere of Del Shores’ Yellow, winner of the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Production, the national tour of Sordid Lives and Southern Baptist Sissies, the national tour of A Sordid Affair starring Caroline Rhea, Leslie Jordan and Rue McClanahan and the Los Angeles premiere of Shores’ This Side of Crazy. Emerson directed and produced both the world premiere play of Six Characters in Search of a Play and the award-winning film adaptation. Emerson directed and produced the 20th Anniversary of the Gertrude C. Center for the Performing Arts benefit hosted by Morgan Freeman, Debbie Allen and Christine Baranski. Emerson assistant directed the world premiere stage adaptation of A Very Sordid Wedding.
In film and television, Emerson was executive producer for the “Drag Isn’t Dangerous” telethon raising $600,000 for LGBTQ+ organizations. Emerson produced and starred in A Very Sordid Wedding, which opened number one at the specialty box office, produced and starred with Leslie Jordan and Dale Dickey in Southern Baptist Sissies, which won 15 film festival awards including one for Emerson as Best Actor, and he produced Blues For Willadean, starring Beth Grant and Octavia Spencer. Emerson also co-produced and recurred in Sordid Lives: The Series for MTV’s LOGO. Emerson directed the live taping of Del Shores' standup comedy specials My Sordid Life, Sordid Confessions and Naked. Sordid. Reality. Emerson co-directed his first short film Shafted which has played 40 film festivals, winning seven Best Short awards and three Best Director awards.
As an actor and host, Emerson is best known for four seasons of BRAVO’s The People’s Couch and being featured as “Steve” performing “Will I?” in RENT on FOX. Emerson won the Desert Theatre League Award for Best Actor in a Comedy for the first Regional Theatre Premiere of Buyer & Cellar in Palm Springs then again at the Laguna Playhouse.
Follow: Website: emersoncollins.com IG: EmersonCollins Threads: EmersonCollins FB: EmersonCollinsOfficial
LOUISE H. BEARD (producer)
Louise H. Beard is a Tony-winning producer for A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder and Hello, Dolly! and produced the world premiere of the three-time Tony-nominated A Christmas Story. Broadway producing credits include Ragtime (7 Tony/8 Drama Desk nominations), Finian’s Rainbow (3 Tony/8 Drama Desk nominations), The Pee-Wee Herman Show, The Scottsboro Boys, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Porgy and Bess, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and Ghost, the Musical. Off Broadway and National Tour producing work includes Through the Night, Leslie Jordan’s My Trip Down the Pink Carpet, A Sordid Affair and the LA Drama Critic’s Circle Award-winning world premiere of Del Shores’ Yellow. She produced the DVD’s of Del Shores: My Sordid Life, Del Shores: Sordid Confessions, and Six Characters in Search of a Play and was an Executive Producer for the films A Very Sordid Wedding and Blues For Willadean.
ADAM MATTHEW (sound designer)
Adam, a seasoned sound designer, brings three decades of theatrical expertise to the off-Broadway premiere of WOUNDED. Currently serving as the Director of Production and Technical Director for the REDCAT theatre in downtown Los Angeles, Adam's extensive background includes a decade-long role as the Technical Director, Audio Consultant, and Production Stage Manager for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles.
Notably, Adam directed technical operations for the "It Gets Better Tour," a groundbreaking collaboration with GMCLA, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and the It Gets Better project, touring the US and Canada for over six years.
As a Sound Designer, Audio Engineer, Technical Director, and Production Manager, Adam has lent his talents to numerous productions along the west coast. His portfolio includes memorable sound designs for The Red Suitcase directed by Del Shores, The Exonerated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, as well as The Snow Queen, Dracula, and four seasons of the Annual Playwrights’ Festival at Key City Public Theatre.
Adam is thrilled to contribute to the vision of the world premiere of WOUNDED, embodying his unwavering commitment to pushing artistic boundaries and ensuring the thriving legacy of live theatre. Beyond the stage, he finds joy in his relationship with partner Raven, children, chosen family, and his beloved pups Mallow and Taro.
BEARD COLLINS SHORES PRODUCTIONS launched in 2012 with the hybrid theatre film adaption of Del Shores' GLAAD Award-winning play Southern Baptist Sissies. The film starred Emerson Collins, Dale Dickey and Leslie Jordan. Entirely crowd-funded, it won 15 film festival awards, including 9 Audience Awards and opened in limited release in fifteen markets. It ran for 12 weeks at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs. Beard Collins Shores also produced three live DVD standup comedy special written by and starring Del Shores, My Sordid Life, Sordid Confessions and Naked. Sordid. Reality. It produced the world premiere of Shores' Six Characters In Search of a Play and the award-winning feature film adaptation. In 2017, BCS Productions produce A Very Sordid Wedding, the sequel to Shores cult-classic Sordid Lives. Wedding starred Leslie Jordan, Bonnie Bedelia, Dale Dickey, Caroline Rhea, Emerson Collins, Alec Mapa, Levi Kreis with a cameo by Whoopi Goldberg. The film opened number one at the specialty box office opening weekend, it opened in 45 markets and was the #1 LGBT DVD on Amazon for six straight weeks upon release. BCS also produced the Los Angeles premiere of Del Shores' play This Side of Crazy, nominated for six LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards.
