Backstage at "Bug" - Part I

Tech week is in full effect for Towson's production of Bug. I spent some time there on Sunday doing production work and captured some of it to share with you here.

First: welcome to the Ruth Marder Theatre as you've probably never seen it.



Second: meet the director!



Third: experiments with blood capsules.



This is just a preliminary glimpse into what goes into putting together a production. Part 2 of behind-the-scenes footage to come!

--DQ

Chatting with John Freedman

John Freedman, an American-born translator who lives and works in Russia, spoke to my Russian Theatre and Politics class today about his experiences both in Russia and with translating some of the plays we're studying.

With regards to choosing the title for the play Frozen in Time, a modern day Russian Romeo and Juliet, Freedman noted that the original Russian title, Exhibits, didn't exactly do the piece justice.

"It's interesting, the power of choices," he said. "'Exhibits' doesn't really give you a feeling. It doesn't give you anything. A title should point you in a certain direction, make a suggestion. I thought 'Frozen in Time' sounded much more influential. It implies not moving on, losing something that is part of human experience."

After seeing one of the first performances of Frozen in Time in Moscow, Freedman left disappointed and confused.

"For me, it lost a lot of course," he said. "You didn't get the way little things kind of build up and lead to the explosion. It's a difficult play to do. If I were directing it, I'd come back to this: you cannot create characters of these people. The ambiguity is very strong. You're encouraged to take sides and make judgments. If you have done that, you've started losing touch with the play. Everybody's life has its right to be expressed fully. The difficulties and conflicts we experience are legitimate. I love that ambiguity; it makes me accept everyone and everything."

Freedman also clued the class in about certain aspects of Russian culture. Infidelity, he said, while frowned upon, is not such a moral problem as it is in the United States. Gender roles that used to exist in the United States are still prevalent there, where in the most general terms, the females typically are the nurturers and the males are the protectors.

"There's a certain understanding of life that Russians have," Freedman said. "There's a sense that life itself is sacred, not the morals attached to it."

Freedman's endeavors in the emerging Russian theatre world will be transformed from page to stage this fall in the premier of the TU Theatre Department's "Russian Season," featuring several of the plays he's translated over the span of his impressive career.

For more on Freedman's experiences and life in Russia, journalism and theatre, head here.

I remain your Drama Queen.

You'll find forever, you've got to follow your heart

When and how did you find your passion?

It's not such a little-known fact that my passion is for theatre and everything about it, and that extends not only to performing, which is always a blast, but also to being a part of a production on a more personal level by adding something to it that can't be seen, like a costume or a set piece, or even researching the show. That's the magic of theatre; every little bit each person does comes together in the end to create this grand final product.

From my love of drama in high school, I sort of knew I'd always wanted to do theatre in college, but I didn't know I wanted to do theatre in college full time. The thought kind of scared me, actually, knowing that I'd be working directly with people whose interests lay within the same area, people who were probably better than me and knew way more about the field than I did.

I came into college as a Mass Comm major, and I don't regret that decision, because it's definitely one of my strengths and I've learned a lot about the field. But something was missing. Halfway through my sophomore year, I decided to give theatre a try. After hours of action-packed classes and invaluable experiences with some of the best faculty I've ever worked with, I haven't looked back.

When did you know that what you're doing now is your passion? How did you know, and did you sacrifice anything for it?

--Drama Queen

There's one more star in the sky

Film and Broadway actress Natasha Richardson, 45, passed away tonight from head injuries after a skiing accident.

Ms. Richardson's impressive career consisted of numerous Hollywood roles including a remake of The Parent Trap and Maid in Manhattan. She was most well known for being a gifted stage actress, having performed in Hamlet, A Streetcar Named Desire, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1998, she earned a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of struggling singer Sally Bowles in Cabaret.

The theatre world grows a little quieter for you today, Ms. Richardson.

What's the story, morning glory? What's the word, hummingbird?

Overheard on Twitter:

Single Carrot Theatre, one of Baltimore's newest theatre companies, has found recent success with a play by none other than Tracy Letts, author of Bug and August: Osage County.

"Last performance of Killer Joe is on right now," @SingleCarrot tweeted yesterday afternoon. "A sell out weekend, standing room only--our most attended show ever. Thanks to all who came!"

For a company trying to gain its ground and compete with Baltimore's already-thriving theatre community, Single Carrot is well on its way! They were voted the Best New Theatre Company by City Paper's Best of Baltimore 2008 issue. According to their website, they strive to produce socially relevant shows to educate the community through a variety of diverse works, a feat which I'd say they are accomplishing at an astonishing rate right now.

I suppose, then, that their motto is true:

"The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution." --Paul Cezanne

Now there's some food for thought.

--DQ

She made a scandal and a start

Last semester, I took a class called Playwriting. It's not too hard to discern what the class was about. It was an absolute blast because I love love love to write, and our teacher, David White, is one of the most interesting, knowledgeable people I've ever met in my entire life. But, I digress.

The coursework consisted of us writing a 10-minute play and a one-act play, which we would then cast and read within the class and revise and read again. We also had the opportunity to submit them to young playwriting festivals in the area.

My friend, classmate and fellow theatre major, Janet, wrote an abstract play that is now being produced in the department during next fall's jam-packed season. She will direct it herself.

I've requested an interview with Janet, and hopefully can get in contact with her within the next few days and share her ideas with you. Stay tuned.

--DQ

We sat there sighing, groaning and crying

DISCLAIMER: As a member of the TU Theatre Department, I have only the utmost respect for my peers, the faculty and all of the productions that take place within the department itself.

But I must be honest here. I expected much more of Miss Julie.

While it is a play comprised of compassionate dialogue and deep, emotional characters, it was all a bit much for me. The play functions in one hour-and-45-minute scene without an intermission, over half of which follows the title character's yearns for affection from her lover and servant, Jean. All Miss Julie does throughout the entire play is beg him to love her, and I've never seen a more desperate, pathetic character in all my life. She winds up killing herself at the end of the play, and I wish I could have been the one to drag Jean's razor across her throat instead of her dying by her own hand, just so I wouldn't have to hear her whine anymore.

Easily, the most interesting part of the show was a ten-minute interval where, after Jean, Miss Julie and the other servant, Kristine, have gone to bed, the estate's farmers romp about the room, destroying things, throwing flowers everywhere, making love, shouting, laughing, and stomping around in a drunken display of joy and carefree life.

I don't think it was anyone's fault that the production didn't turn out the way I expected; the acting itself was decent and everything worked well as far as the production as a whole is concerned. I just think the play itself was not all that intriguing.

Here's to Time of Your Life being more enjoyable when it opens in May.

--DQ

There's a moment when fear and dream must collide

It was a cruel realization when I signed up for the required theatre course, Lighting Crew, this semester: I'd have to face the one thing that theatre majors of all people should get over REAL fast.

My fear of heights.

In a field which incorporates hanging lights, pulling curtains, dropping in microphones, acrobatics, and the like, a fear of heights can seriously hold a theatre person like myself back from experiencing the finer elements of the technical work that goes on behind the scenes.

It was never a big deal for me riding roller coasters in theme parks or even climbing the 990-foot-tall Eiffel Tower. But get me on a lighting catwalk and my legs turn to jelly as I gaze down into the expanse of the theatre house below me, which wouldn't be such a comfy landing.

Alas, the day came when my fears came around to face me. On the first day of Lighting Crew, we were set to hang lights for August Strindberg's Miss Julie. I entered the Studio Theatre in Towson University's Center for the Arts with my head held high, even though deep down I was ashamed that someone involved in an art where anything is possible could possess such a fear.

As it turned out, I wasn't the only one. Some of the other crew members requested other tasks that didn't involve being so far above the stage. I opted to face my fear and do what I came there to do: hang lights. The cool thing about the Studio Theatre is that the entire lighting area functions on a giant steel grid directly over the performance area, so if the lights (or a person) should fall, they would be caught by the steel grid. The springy grid was actually quite fun to walk on, and after a while, I started having conversations with some fellow theatre majors on the stage below who were painting the set, and I forgot all about my apprehensions from earlier that day.

My light circuiting handiwork, which took several hours but was fun all the same, can be seen in Miss Julie, which runs until Thursday at TU. Tomorrow I'm seeing the show; see you after right here.

I remain your fear-conquering Drama Queen.

What's the buzz? Tell me what's happenin'

As I now have two blogs, a thriving Facebook page and a neglected and pretty-much-useless LiveJournal, I'm in the process of expanding my online social media network. Good thing, too. I stumbled upon one of Ryan Goff's Twitter updates today, telling me that Baltimore professional theater company CENTERSTAGE now has a Twitter handle: @CENTERSTAGE_MD. Through CENTERSTAGE's list of handles it's following, I found the handle for another favorite of mine, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.: @arenastage.

I think I'm starting to understand Twitter's usefulness a little bit more these days.

Through Twitter and some contacts I know, I'm going to check out some things happening at these local professional theaters and get back to you.

--DQ

The cast is great, the script is swell, but this we're telling you, sirs...

A couple of entries ago, I mentioned that each theatrical season at TU involves not only the larger Mainstage productions, but also student-directed shows, where theatre majors have the chance to cast and direct a show of their choice rather than perform in it.

I spoke with graduating senior Andrew Peters, an Acting student who is directing a play called Bug this spring, set to open next month. As a young theatre artist, he gave me some insight into the directing experience.

What drew you to Bug and why did you have an interest in directing it?

I first read Bug a few years ago and I've always been drawn to how visceral and gritty it is. It's a love story, a thriller, a piece of science fiction, a dark comedy...all of these different genres all wrapped into one. As a student director, I wanted to direct something challenging and gritty, but something that would allow me to also flex a creative muscle so to speak. It also came down to what I thought would not only interest theatre artists, but the Towson student body as well. With most of its Mainstage repertoire, the Towson theatre department puts on shows that I feel are good learning experiences, but I don't always feel that they are chosen due to what students our age actually want to see. So I wanted to do something very raw, provocative, and fun, but still doable in a college environment.

Author Tracy Letts is also responsible for the Tony Award-winning play August: Osage County. Did this success have any effect on your decision to direct Bug?

The fact that Letts is becoming a huge name in the theatre world definitely influenced my decision. In general, I wanted to do this to get his name out there to a younger audience because I think he's going to be someone who continues doing work for years, and if I can spread his work around to as many people as possible, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

As a theatre student, how valuable is it to have this kind of behind-the-scenes, hands-on experience with a show?

You learn a lot about the process that certain things like classes and such won't teach you. I've been in a good amount of shows here at Towson, but directing a show has taught me so much more than I could've gotten from actually being on stage. You learn about the process and the ways to adapt to it.

What have been your favorite moments so far?

Sometimes, we've stumbled into territory I never expected. For instance, I love it when the actors take a risk with a way they deliver a line or an action they perform, and it completely makes me rethink my original ideas. Also, seeing the show on its feet as it progresses is incredibly exciting each step of the way. The first time we put together Act 1 in one night, I really got a sense that we were well on our way.

Do you have any advice for future student directors?

One, don't be afraid to take risks. Jump in head first! Second, think around the box. With Bug, there are a lot of technical things that I am working around now that I've been able to brainstorm solutions for, and I'm really excited to see how those choices will pay off when the performances start. It's a thrill to be able to see how you can play with a concept and adapt a piece of text to it.

Bug runs April 2 - 4, 2009, in the Ruth Marder Theatre at Towson University.

--DQ

Take off that gloomy mask of tragedy, it's not your style

My Russian Theatre and Politics class went downtown last night to the Hyatt hotel near the World Trade Center, where the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United States, Sergey Kislyak, spoke briefly about Russian-American relations. It didn't remotely have to do with theatre, but it gave us some perspective into foreign policy, and how current economic and political conditions in Russia can affect the types of artwork produced there and consequently those we may see here in the near future.

I won't bore you with gritty details, but essentially he indicated that Russia is a young nation that is still learning how to embrace its independence and govern itself. He himself does not agree with certain ways the United States has handled certain instances in the past, or with the ways in which the American media has portrayed Russian political action, namely recent conflicts with Georgia, which struck a particular chord in me as a Mass Communication major. But he does acknowledge that Russia has also had considerable failures. He also says relations are improving and he is optimistic that we will come to terms on several issues such as gas prices and our relations within NATO.

(Update: Today (March 5th), NATO resumes ties with Russia! Thanks, Twitter!)

Overall I'd say he's quite optimistic about the future of Russian-American relations, and when it comes down to it, even the fact that we were permitted to have this class to examine new Russian drama (which is still not universally accepted in Russia) and function as intellectuals in this fascinating new element of their culture is still mind-blowing to me. Hopefully these improving relations will allow for improved support of the evolving arts in Russia so that we may enjoy them here.

Here's the class with the Ambassador, courtesy of Dr. Robyn Quick.


And here's Dr. McCartney approaching him, also courtesy of Robyn.


As always, I am your Drama Queen.

There's a fine, fine line...or is there?

Recently in my blogroll I stumbled upon this post by Carrie Dunn which discusses the roles of popular musicals in high schools, and addresses the problems some schools are having staging shows with less-than-appropriate content for parents to be watching their children portraying on stage. It got me thinking.

Here's an example. A new edited version of RENT was approved by show creator Jonathan Larson's estate this year so that high schools now have rights to perform it, but the new version still addresses the same hard-hitting themes of homosexuality, drug addiction, and coping with H.I.V. that the original does, probably because these elements are such integral components of the characters, and to remove them would dehumanize the show and frankly leave you with nothing more than a sad plot and empty, emotionless songs.

Now, let's be logical. As much as I've already confessed my undying love for this in-your-face rock musical, I can't quite say I'd want my mom watching me shoot heroin at age 17 on a high school stage. I'm not sure a show containing such strong coming-of-age, finding-your-identity issues can ever really be edited well enough to be appropriate for a high school to perform.

Consequently, three schools have already canceled performances of RENT: School Edition, and debates about the show's provocative content have sparked up all over the country.

As someone who's performed in some not-so-PG shows in the past, I sympathize with Dunn's point of view and with parents who are concerned about the messages these shows are broadcasting. Take a popular high school favorite, Guys and Dolls. Um, gambling and alcoholism, anyone?

Or for that matter, try Grease, everyone's favorite day-in-the-life-at-Rydell-High movie: "The stage show might not have all the explicit back-seat fumbling," Dunn writes, "but it's certainly innuendo-laden: Summer Nights, where Danny brags about his sexual prowess, is pretty unequivocal, and Rizzo still confesses that she might be pregnant – and Kenickie isn't the only one who could be the father. As for the show's overriding messages – that you must smoke, drink and abandon all your principles to get a boyfriend and thus be happy – it's hardly life-affirming stuff."

Should high schools have the freedom to perform such promiscuous shows, or should we demand something more appropriate? Perhaps this is the reason Disney found immediate success in its cleverly-named High School Musical.

Since HSM has taken off as one of the most popular productions being done in high schools these days, I'm almost positive there are schools in the Baltimore area who are performing it. If not, there are most likely schools staging West Side Story or its other provocative counterparts mentioned above. I'm going to see what I can find and try to get a perspective on it from people involved in the productions. I'll report back here when I do.

I remain your Drama Queen.