Frigid Festival Previews
Tag: Revivals/Riffs on Classics
Live!...at the Cockpit
Produced by Loose Moon Productions
Author: Kobun Kaluza and T. D. White
Live! … at the Cockpit … is a look at what back stage, the “tiring house,” might have been like one day in 1599 at the newly built Globe Theatre when Shakespeare was working with his actors, then The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, on new plays such as Henry V and Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, and rehearsing certain scenes for upcoming performances such as Henry IV, Part One, a particular favorite of the Queen’s. It’s Shakespeare alright, but this time from behind. Our new, original work for theatre opens back stage in what we now would call a dressing room as we hear a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream ending with the “…lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisby” (Act V). Shakespeare plays The Lion but is often seen scribbling feverishly between entrances and exits and “directing” those remaining back stage in a physical imitation of what’s being said on stage — after all, he understands what his words really meant better than anybody! Will will then introduce his actors to new scenes from his new play, Henry V, one of which he will compose right before our audience’s eyes. Then it’s some after show entertainment and a trip to The Mermaid Tavern where Shakespeare will seek out the former boy actor “Joseph” and direct a scene from Hamlet about “… country matters.” For an uproarious conclusion, it’s all about sack and saloon as Shakespeare puts the actors playing Prince Hal and Falstaff through their paces. Where there’s a Will, there’s a way!
Today, curiosity about actors and their processes approaches adoration. We feel that people are fascinated by the craft and art of acting and would appreciate a journey into a most iconic past for acting, the Elizabethan Era, to see how Shakespeare and his ensemble might have worked together, what Shakespeare’s particular role might have been “back stage;” what his relationships with his fellows might have been like; what the acting “styles” or methods might have been like. Modern people seem more fascinated in what goes on “back stage” than in the production being presented! People can come to this show and really enjoy watching actors work with new material, somewhat familiar to them perhaps, but not to the actors. Are actors any different today than they were 350 years ago? We explore that question!
The primary reason for presenting this show at this time is that it’s fun and funny. And people need to laugh. It’s healthy. People respect Shakespeare and his work, of course, but we feel much of the richness is lost on contemporary audiences — quite naturally — because of archaic language and constructions, and lack of knowledge of customs and history easily familiar to Elizabethans. Today’s audience for Shakespeare loses a lot due to some natural self-consciousness when sitting through a two or three hour even well-made production. Our production is meant to reduce this strain and give a contemporary audience the full delightful flavor of Shakespearean theatre in just short of an hour in a modern, most digestible way.
Thomas D. White, co-director/co-playwright
Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun
Produced by Sleepless Lookout Players
Author: Bradley Rand Smith
Johnny Got His Gun is a solo show based on the classic 1939 novel by Dalton Trumbo. It is the story of Joe Bonham, a young WWI soldier who, in his service, loses his limbs, sight, hearing and speech. The audience witnesses his discovery of his condition, and his attempts to communicate with the outside world and retain his sanity in the face of potentially endless isolation.
The show becomes more relevant as medical technology advances in relation to the destructive potential of combat. Even though soldiers now survive injuries that are more and more horrific, war is presented to us as a distant and abstract affair. The protagonist in Johnny wants to confront people with his ravaged body, to show people that war has real, living consequences that cannot be swept under the rug. This show just does that.
Revivals always carry with them the threat of obsolescence, but Johnny's immediacy was clear to me from the start. The psychology of this soldier is timeless, and while experiencing the performance it is easy to forget the war he fought in occurred almost a century ago. And, though the play is incredibly dark, it is nevertheless an incredibly inspiring and hopeful story, following one man's journey back from the grave to stand and fight to be heard. The text is very powerful and elicits introspection in its audience, both about war and human connection.
Ricardo Pérez-Gonzalez, performer
