KING HEDLEY II Production Photography with City Lit Theater Company

Congratulations to City Lit Theater Company on their opening of King Hedley II, by August Wilson, directed by Manny Buckley. This edition of The All Worlds Traveller takes a look at the production photography for the show, which Distant Era made on October 14.

King Hedley II clocks in at just under three hours. For this reason, we photographed it a little differently from some of the City Lit shows over the past year, concentrating on the second act, with a few stunning light cues from designer Mike McShane. We also eschewed character portraits for the sake of time, kind of.

Collaborators

It wouldn’t be an edition of The All Worlds Traveller if it didn’t mention all the inspiring ways people are connected and when and where I’ve worked with them before. As I prepared to photograph King Hedley II, I was thrilled to discover that Brandon Boler (City Lit’s Shane), James Lewis (Promethean Theater Ensemble’s The Book of Will), and Barry Irving (Midsommer Flight’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It) were part of the cast.

I was similarly thrilled to see Michael Lesko (City Lit’s Shane, Eos Theatre Company’s The Trojan Women) as stage manager, and Jeremiah Barr (City Lit, Promethean, Idle Muse, Midsommer Flight…) as scenic designer and technical director. And of course artistic director Brian Pastor, from a great multitude of past projects, without whom I wouldn’t be in the room in the first place. It’s always a joy to collaborate with old friends, and to make new ones in each production.

Production Photography

The staging for King Hedley II was such that I could shoot the show from two different angles, each of which offered a good view of the action. Some scenes made for better compositions on the long side of the stage, and some worked better shooting across the stage from the shorter side. Each of these angles featured a building facade from Jeremiah Barr’s set (when I arrived, Jeremiah was “weathering” the buildings by stippling with a paintbrush), thus views from each angle immersed the viewer in the world of the play and made excellent background elements for the production photography.

While most of the second act took place under a warm daylight wash of light, we also photographed actors Andrea Conway and Isis Elizabeth in colorful light from the first act by Mike McShane.

I had recently experimented with using my silent electronic shutter again for photographing theatre, in part because one show with a live audience required it. However, I continue to get better/more useable results with the mechanical shutter, so I returned to it for King Hedley II, syncing my shutter speed with the LED lighting.

Portraits After All

City Lit artistic director Brian Pastor and I saw Idle Muse Theatre Company’s production of Witch on the same day, a week prior to the King Hedley II shoot. I mentioned bringing the small, portable kit I’ve built throughout 2026 to get creative when there’s not much time. I used this to make some pictures for Kassandra Top of the World (Fat Theatre Project), The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (Young People’s Theatre of Chicago), Blood of the Lamb (Promethean Theatre Ensemble) and God in a Hole (Three of Cups Theatre Company). We tried it out for King Hedley II, and I’m happy with what we got.

So is all the other gear I’ve hauled in to previous shoots necessary? My answer is, absolutely yes. With my small kit, I’m working hard to exceed its limitations. With more powerful lights and larger modifiers and backgrounds comes more precision and flexibility.

So that’s the story of photographing King Hedley II at City Lit! It was great meeting so many new friends on the day of the shoot. The production runs through November 29, 2026, and tickets are available here during the run of the show. Wishing City Lit and the cast of King Hedley II a most successful run, and I look forward to seeing the full production in that time!

Top: Andrea Conway-Diaz (Ruby); James Lewis (King); Isis Elizabeth (Tonya).
Center: Jelani Julyus (Elmore); Brandon Boler (Stool Pigeon); Ernest Henton (Mister).
Bottom: Isis Elizabeth (Tonya); Andrea Conway-Diaz (Ruby).

Cast

Brandon Boler (Stool Pigeon)
Andrea Conway-Diaz (Ruby)
Isis Elizabeth (Tonya)
Ernest Henton (Mister)
Jelani Julyus (Elmore)
James Lewis (King)
Barry Irving (U/S – King & Mister)
Fred Cavair Robinson (U/S – Elmore & Stool Pigeon)

Crew

Director: Manny Buckley
Stage Manager: Michael Lesko
Assistant Stage Manager: Devi AngelDesigners
Lighting/Sound: Mike McShane
Costume: Andres Mota
Intimacy/Violence: Greg Geffrard
Props: Melanie Thompson
Scenic Design/Technical Director: Jeremiah Barr
Photography: Steven Townshend
Casting Director: Becca Holloway
Sound Engineer: Zach Stinnett
Production Electrician: Mark Brown
Scenic Charge: Bruce Bennett
Artistic Director: Brian Pastor

1st row: Props: Melanie Thompson; Lighting/Sound: Mike McShane; Assistant Stage Manager: Devi Angel.
2nd row: Artistic Director: Brian Pastor; Stage Manager: Michael Lesko; Barry Irving (U/S – King & Mister).
3rd row: Director: Manny Buckley; Scenic Design/Technical Director: Jeremiah Barr; Fred Cavair Robinson (U/S – Elmore & Stool Pigeon).
4th row: Cast and crew.

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Steven Townshend is a fine art/portrait photographer and writer with a background in theatre, written narrative, and award-winning game design. As a young artist, Steven toured the US and Canada performing in Shakespeare companies while journaling their moments on paper and film. In his transition from stage to page, Steven continued to work as a theatre photographer, capturing dramatic scenes while incorporating elements of costume, makeup, and theatrical lighting in his work. Drawn to stories set in other times and places, Steven creates works through which fellow dreamers and time travelers might examine their own humanity or find familiar comfort in the reflections of the people and places of a distant era.