Largely Literary Theater Company, L.L.C.
2683 13th Street
Cuyahoga Falls, OH 44223
e-mail us at: hlgrouch@sbcglobal.net
Contact Largely Literary Theater Company, L.L.C.
ABOUT US
The Largely Literary Theater Company, L.L.C., was founded in 2002 by husband-and-wife team Mark Dawidziak and Sara Showman. Our mission is to champion literacy, literature and live theater by bringing to life on stage great literary works by such authors as Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe and Charles Dickens, as well as staging original works that explore genres, pop-culture phenomenon and moments of historical importance influenced or inspired by great literature.
Largely Literary is a touring company. We perform in venues such as theaters, museums, libraries, parks, schools and historic sites -- anywhere that people are interested in exploring great stories and celebrating great storytellers.
Over the last 23 years, the troupe has taken its shows to more than 75 Ohio communities and several states, including New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland and California.
Largely Literary Theater Company, L.L.C., also has partnered with the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read initiative to celebrate the works of Mark Twain and renowned mystery writer Dashiell Hammett and fantasy legend Rat Bradbury.
We are keenly aware of tough economic times and so strive to keep our prices reasonable while keeping our work at a high level of quality.
Sara Showman (co-founder and managing director)
Sara Showman, the managing director and co-founder of the Largely Literary Theater Company, has been an actor for more than 45 years, appearing in college, children's, community, summer stock, small professional and Equity theater productions. A Kent State University graduate with a BFA in acting and directing, the Tennessee native also is a storyteller, performing fables, hero stories, animal stories, fairy tales, folk tales, spooky stories, myths and original stories. Her storytelling shows include She Stories (stories from around the world with with female heroes), Stories for the Ages (stories about what makes life great), L-O-V-E (stories about all kinds of love, plus the story of St. Valentine's Day and its customs), Tales from the Emerald Isle (stories from the "Shanakee" -- or ""storyteller"), Things That Go Bump in the Night (a spooky celebration in story and song) and The Holly and the Ivy: Why We Do What We Do at Christmas (the stories behind our Christmas traditions). She played 15 roles in the Largely Literary production of A Christmas Carol. She performs "Alone," "The Bells" and "The Masque of the Red Death" in The Tell-Tale Play and "Eve's Diary," among other selections, in Twain By Two. She also has written such Largely Literary shows as Monsters Are Universal, Under the Skull and Crossbones: A Pirate's Life for Me, Suspense On Screen: Presenting Alfred Hitchcock and Force of Nature.
Mark Dawidziak (co-founder and artistic director)
Mark Dawidziak plays Mark Twain and Charles Dickens in various Largely Literary productions, in addition to directing many of the company's shows. He also played Dashiell Hammett in the troupe's The Mystery of Dashiell Hammett, a play he wrote for the National Endowment's Big Read program. He is the author or editor of 25 books, including three acclaimed studies of landmark television series: The Columbo Phile, The Night Stalker Companion and Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone. His most recent books are The Shawshank Redemption Revealed: How One Story Keeps Hope Alive, a deep-dive look at the beloved film based on a Stephen King novella, and the Edgar, Agatha, Anthony and Ohioana-nominated biography A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe. He has been playing Twain on stage for 46 years. Also an internationally recognized Mark Twain scholar, his many books about the iconic American author include Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing, Mark Twain in Ohio and Mark Twain for Cat Lovers. He is at work on his sixth book about the iconic American writer. No less an authority than Ken Burns has said, "Nobody gets Mark Twain the way Mark Dawidziak does." Inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame in 2015, Dawidziak spent most of his 43-year journalism career as television, film or theater critic for such newspapers as the Akron Beacon Journal and Cleveland’s The Plain Dealer. He also was an adjunct faculty professor at Kent State University for more than ten years (2009-2020), teaching two classes each semester (Reviewing Film and Television and Vampires on Film and Television).
More About Us
- 2002: Company premieres it three-person version of A Christmas Carol.
- 2009: Premiere of The Mystery of Dashiell Hammett for NEA's Big Read.
- 2009: Twain By Three staged at 103rd International Dickens Fellowship Conference. "Brilliantly acted and hilarious," said The Dickensian, the English publication devoted to Dickens research and scholarship.
- 2015: Twain by Two staged at Virginia's historic Barter Theatre.
- 2015: Twain by Two staged at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn.
- 2015: Twain by Two staged at the Thurber House in Columbus, Ohio.
- 2015: Twain by Two staged at Center for Mark Twain Studies, Elmira, N.Y.
- 2016: Force of Nature premiered for the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.
- 2017: Everything I Need to Know I Learned in The Twilight Zone premiered at SerlingFest in Binghamton, New York.
“All three are excellent actors who make this staging of A Christmas Carol a most intimate experience . . . This adaptation of A Christmas Carol taps into Dickens’ heavy theme of darkness, which is often glossed over in other adaptations.”
-- Akron Beacon Journal
“this quiet, faithful take” . . . “is restrained, reserved, and charmingly quaint.”
-- Cleveland Scene
“The three performers are excellent as they bring to life Dickens’ characters and his themes of celebrating Christmas with good cheer and generosity.”
-- The West Side Leader
Sara Showman 330-322-9949
sshowmanstoryteller@gmail.com
Mark Dawidziak 440-823-9237
hlgrouch@sbcglobal.net
The Largely Literary Theater Company was built on the success of its acclaimed three-person version of A Christmas Carol, which was toured for ten years (2002-2012). It featured Mark Dawidziak as Charles Dickens, Tom Stephan as Ebenezer Scrooge and Sara Showman as just about everyone else.
Twain by Two at the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut.
