Fall 2014 - Southern Theatre

Volume LV Number 4 • Fall 2014 • $8.00

Going Green Donyale Werle Takes You Behind the Scenes of a Tony Award Winner

What Are You Producing?

10 Playwrights You Ought to Know

The Missing Link Read 2014 Getchell Award Play

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Contents

Volume LV Number 4 l Fall 2014 l Southern Theatre – Quarterly Magazine of the Southeastern Theatre Conference

Features

8 Going Green

Departments 4 400 Words Let’s Do Color-Inclusive, Not Color-Blind, Casting

by Herb Parker

Donyale Werle Takes You Behind the Tony Award-Winning Scenes of Peter and the Starcatcher

10

Ways to Make Your Theatre More Green

stories by Robert O’Leary

16 10 Contemporary Playwrights You Should Know

6 Outside the Box: Design-Tech Solutions

by Megan Monaghan Rivas

Make Your Paint Shop Environmentally Friendly

2014 Charles M. Getchell Award

by Larry Cook

32 Words, Words, Words...

21 The Playwright: Robert Plowman

Review of The Prop Building

Robert Plowman’s Plays Spring from Fearlessness

Guidebook: For Theatre, Film, and TV, by Eric Hart

interview by Kent R. Brown

reviewed by Erin Freeman

25 The Play: THE MISSING LINK

Correction The speech about the 2014 Suzanne Davis Award winner, published on Page 30 of the Summer 2014 issue of Southern Theatre, incorrectly identified Alvin Cohen, who endowed the award, as “Harry” on follow-up references.

We apologize for the error.

Act One of the 2014 winner of the Charles M. Getchell Award, given by SETC to recognize a worthy new play, is published.

Act Two is available online at www.setc.org/the-missing-link.

Cover Donyale Werle provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of her green design for the Tony Award-winning set of Peter and the Starcatcher. This collage of process photos shows some of the everyday items, from plasticware to kids’ toys, that went into development of the show’s gold proscenium. Read more in the story on Page 8.

(Photos by Donyale Werle; cover design by Garland Gooden)

3

400 Words

from Herb Parker, Associate Professor, Division of Theatre and Dance, East Tennessee State University

Let’s Do Color-Inclusive, Not Color-Blind, Casting ver since Actors’ Equity Association founded the Non-Traditional Casting Project in the mid-1980s, well-meaning regional theatres and university theatres have sought to comply. Many university theatre departments in particular have tried to address this issue by adopting in the casting of their plays what they call a policy of “color-blind” casting – the promise that the best person will be cast for the role, regardless of race.

As an actor of color who benefited from diverse opportunities in casting during my regional theatre career, I would like to propose a new way to think of this: I would like for us to call it color-inclusive casting.

As laudable, as well-intentioned and, in many situations, as successful as colorblind casting has proven to be, I think the

E

4 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

word “blind” conveys the wrong meaning.

“Blind” may be the action of closing one’s eyes to color, but it can also close one’s eyes to the humanity of the person one is hoping to advance. It is to ignore culture as well as color or race. It is to say that the essence of a performer’s very being – what he or she looks like – does not matter and is not present. I say: Why not allow it to matter by using our imaginations?

Why not allow more diverse casting to lead to the invention of a cultural reality applied to the role? For instance, how about an African American actor cast as, say, Colonel Pickering in Shaw’s Pygmalion (a role I played, by the way) with a West Indian dialect? Or a Haitian Hercule Poirot?

Or an Indian or Asian Doctor Watson working with Sherlock Holmes? Or an

African as a Sephardi Shylock? Why not allow performers to build “back stories” for the characters they are playing, with details on how someone of that color came to be in that play, building upon the clear reality of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes, and the thickness of their hair?

Wouldn’t this further enrich and enliven the production, as well as go a long way toward fulfilling a goal we in the performing arts community all share – celebrating the glorious tapestry of the racial quilt our nation has finally become? n Have an opinion you would like to share on a topic related to theatre? Send your column of 400 words or less to deanna@setc.org.

Theatre s o u t h e r n

From the SETC President

SETC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Betsey Horth EDITOR Deanna Thompson

ADVERTISING

Tracy Hall, tracy@setc.org BUSINESS & ADVERTISING OFFICE

Southeastern Theatre Conference 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14 Greensboro, NC 27405 336-272-3645 PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEE

J. K. Curry, Chair, Wake Forest University (NC) Annette Grevious, Claflin University (SC) Denise Halbach, Independent Theatre Artist (MS) Scott Phillips, Auburn University (AL) Dominic Yeager, University of Alabama EDITORIAL BOARD

Jesse Bates, Independent Theatre Artist (AL) Sonya/Tim Bixler, Washington School/Delta Center Stage (MS) Kent R. Brown, Independent Theatre Artist (SC) Tessa Carr, Auburn University (AL) Larry Cook, University of North Georgia Bill Gelber, Texas Tech University H. Duke Guthrie, Valdosta State University (GA) Kendra Johnson, Clemson University (SC) Jen Nelson Lane, Birmingham Children’s Theatre (AL) Jerry Lapidus, Independent Theatre Artist (FL) Scott Phillips, Auburn University (AL) Steve Willis, Bennett College for Women (NC) Amile Wilson, Pippin & Maxx Arts and Entertainment (MS) PROOFREADERS

I

It’s the time of year when summer is waning and thoughts of a new season of theatre begin filling our minds. I cannot think of a better time to contemplate different ways of approaching our craft and new works we might want to produce.

Many of us are environmentally conscious in our daily lives, but are you just as

committed in your theatre work? Donyale Werle, one of the Design Competition adjudicators at the 2014 SETC Convention, not only has embraced green concepts in her designs, but also has won a Tony Award for the resulting work. Robert O’Leary shares Werle’s evolution and her tips for others.

Continuing the green theme in our regular “Outside the Box” column, Larry

Cook shares techniques for making your paint shop more environmentally friendly.

We also celebrate playwrights and their work, with the publication of the winning play in SETC’s annual Charles M. Getchell Award competition. Beginning on Page 25, you’ll find Act One of the 2014 winner, The Missing Link, by Robert Plowman. (Due to the length of the play, Act Two is published online at www. setc.org/the-missing-link.) On Page 21, Kent Brown interviews Plowman about his interests as a playwright and about the development of his winning play, which began as a master’s degree class assignment to, within 72 hours, write a

Ethan Pell, SETC Marketing and Membership Manager Tracy Hall, SETC Communications and Marketing Coordinator Philip G. Hill, Furman University Denise Halbach, Independent Theatre Artist (MS)

play based on a series of prompts.

PRINTING

will be hearing more about in the coming years.

Clinton Press, Greensboro, NC NOTE ON SUBMISSIONS

Southern Theatre welcomes submissions of articles pertaining to all aspects of theatre. Preference will be given to subject matter closely linked to theatre activity in the Southeastern United States. Articles are evaluated by the editor and members of the Editorial Board. Criteria for evalua­tion include: suitability, clarity, significance, depth of treat­ment and accuracy. Please query the editor via e-mail before sending articles. Submissions are accepted on disk or via e-mail. Stories should not exceed 3,000 words. Color photos (300 dpi in jpeg or tiff format) and a brief identification of the author should accompany all articles. Please note any photos, disks and other materials to be returned and include SASE. Send stories to: Editor, Southern Theatre, 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14, Greensboro, NC 27405.

E-mail: deanna@setc.org.

Also in this issue, we spotlight 21st-century playwrights. Megan Monaghan

Rivas profiles 10 writers that you may or may not know about now, but likely Both professionals and students interested in learning more about prop building techniques will be interested in our regular book column, “Words, Words, Words,” which features a review by Erin Freeman of The Prop Building Guidebook: For Theatre, Film, and TV, by Eric Hart.

Finally, in our “400 Words” column, Herb Parker urges theatres to take off their ”blinders” and choose “color-inclusive” casting.

So, whether you are thinking of going green or pondering how to tackle a new

and exciting project in your season, I think you will enjoy the following pages of Southern Theatre!

Southern Theatre (ISSNL: 0584-4738) is published quarterly by the Southeastern Theatre Conference, Inc., a nonprofit organization, for its membership and others interested in theatre in the Southeast. Copyright © 2014 by Southeastern Theatre Conference, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without permission is prohibited.

Subscription rates: $24.50 per year, U.S.; $30.50 per year, Canada; $47 per year, International. Single copies: $8, plus shipping.

Jack Benjamin, SETC President Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 5

outside

the box DESIGN/ TECH SOLUTIONS

Make Your Paint Shop Environmentally Friendly

by Larry Cook

T

he concept of being green – or lessening

• limit water usage during clean-up;

in metal cans in direct contact with a cement

our impact on the environment – is

• and dispose of waste paint properly.

floor for extended periods.

3

not a fad. And it is not just a good idea,

Storing Paint for Longevity

it is a moral imperative. One way that

There are no specific guidelines from

those of use in theatre can have an impact

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

is by adopting environmentally friendly

(EPA) or other federal agencies regarding

if properly stored, for up to 10 years.

techniques in our paint shops.

storage of water-based paints. Some state

Cleaning Brushes with Little Water

Shortly after World War II, water-based

EPAs, such as Ohio’s, provide guidelines

Clean-up after painting is a process

paint (often referred to as latex paint)

for the storage and disposal of water-based

that can use lots of water. A house painter

became popular. Modern versions of this

paint, and many county and municipal

taught me how to wash brushes and roller

type of paint, with water-soluble acrylic or

governments do as well. Here are some

covers in a bucket – and I have brought that

vinyl binders, are the backbone of theatre

good rules to follow:

technique into the paint shop. This same

paint shops. However, even though it is water-soluble and of low toxicity, this

1

Make sure the paint is clearly labeled and marked with the date it was last

opened. Most water-based paints will keep,

Store paint in a well-ventilated space

method is described by Ellen E. Jones in her

(preferably one with air exchange

book, A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre,

type of paint is not 100 percent safe and

that does not mix with the building’s

published by Focal Press in 2013.

is certainly not good for our environment.

environmental controls), out of direct

Depending on the size of the brushes

Water-based paints, especially older

sunlight and protected from temperature

and the work put into removing excess

formulations, can contain measurable

extremes (over 100 degrees and under 40

paint ahead of time, you may be able to

amounts of mercury and other heavy

degrees Fahrenheit).

wash many brushes in the buckets before a

metals and dangerous chemicals. So, it behooves theatre artists in the paint shop

2

Clean the rim completely and seal the

change of water is necessary. This method

container well. Turn the can upside

also works well for roller covers, sponges

to do all they can to minimize the effect of

down if you are storing paint for an

and trays.

paint on the environment.

extended period. (That will self-seal

Three simple ways to reduce the impact

Start by filling two buckets half full of

the paint, thus stopping oxygen from

clean water. Then use a 5-in-1 painter’s tool,

of your paint on the environment are to:

contaminating the paint and helping

a spatula, a paint stirrer or other device to

• store paint properly to limit disposal;

organisms grow.) Also avoid storing paint

remove as much paint from the brush as

How to Clean Brushes Using Small Amounts of Water (See more detailed instructions above) Step 1: Remove as much paint as possible. Then agitate the brush in the first of two buckets.

6 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

Step 2: Shake out as much dirty water as possible.

Step 3: If necessary, comb out the bristles with a brush cleaner.

possible, scraping it back into the paint

it to water nearby ornamental plants. You’ll

container. Next, follow this step-by-step

have a few inches of paint and water left in

process to clean the brushes:

the bottom that needs disposal.

1

Using an up-and-down motion, agitate

Disposing of Waste Paint

the brush in the first bucket of water.

Proper disposal of waste paint is critical

It’s okay if the brush scrubs the bottom; that

for the environment – and is, in many cases,

will not damage it.

regulated by the government.

2

When the liquid draining from the

1

Send a brief summary of your idea to Outside the Box Editor Larry Cook at Larry.Cook@ung.edu.

Check with your local or state EPA for laws or guidelines governing disposal

enough sawdust with the paint to form a

shake the brush vigorously in the bucket to

of water-based paints. Laws vary from state

dry crumbly mixture similar to sweeping

remove as much liquid as possible.

to state and even county to county.

compound. The mixture can be placed in

3 4 5 6 7

brush is mostly water, rather than paint,

Do you have a design/tech solution that would make a great Outside the Box column?

Use a brush cleaner if needed to remove

2

Find out if your area has a paint recy-

a trash can or dumpster. If you don’t have

cling program. Some states are very

sawdust available, other materials – such as

Add a small amount of detergent. (I

serious about managing waste paint.

shredded paper, kitty litter and commercial

use Murphy’s Oil Soap, diluted 1:10

For example, Connecticut has the Paint

spill driers – can be used in the same way.

Stewardship Law, while California and

Set the empty containers in a dry

paint from the bristles.

with water.)

4

Work the cleaner into the bristles and

several other states have programs called

up toward the base of the brush.

PaintCare. Some municipalities have

evaporate. Recycle the empty containers.

Rinse the brush in the first bucket, and

recycling programs or private recyclers –

Get Started Now

repeat steps 2-5 if necessary.

such as Atlanta Paint Disposal in Atlanta,

A little searching on the Internet can

After rinsing the brush in the first

GA – that you can pay to pick up unwanted

provide a number of ideas for handling

bucket, shake out as much dirty water

paint. Check as well with local organizations

and disposing of paint. You can also find

as possible. Rinse the brush in the second

such as Habitat for Humanity, Salvation

documents from most state, county and

“clean water” bucket until it rinses mostly

Army, 4-H or the Boy Scouts. They may

municipal EPAs online in PDF format.

clean. If needed (especially for large

have a use for your unwanted paint.

If your paint shop isn’t already using

3

place to allow any remaining liquid to

Most waste disposal companies will

these green techniques, give them a try.

not take water-based paint in liquid

Your paint will last longer, so you’ll throw

Finally, work a very small amount of

form, regardless of whether there is a law

away less. You’ll reduce your water usage.

detergent into the bristles to condition the

banning it. Therefore, the paint must be

And you’ll minimize your shop’s impact

brush and stop any remaining paint from

made solid before disposal. This also helps

on the local landfill and water supply. n

bonding to the bristles.

to keep the paint in the landfill and out of

When you are done using the buckets,

the water table. There are several ways to

let them sit a day. That will allow the paint

make your paint waste a solid. However,

solids to sink to the bottom. Then, carefully

the easiest method for a theatre paint shop

pour off the water. You can run this dirty

– which is usually not far from the scene

water down the drain, or – even better – use

shop – is to use wood waste: sawdust. Mix

brushes), repeat the detergent and rinse in a small amount of water from the faucet.

Step 4: Apply a brush cleaning compound of your choice.

Step 5: Massage the cleaning compound into the bristles.

Step 6: Rinse the brush in the first bucket. Repeat steps 2-5 if necessary.

Larry Cook is director of design and technology for the Department of Theatre at the University of North Georgia in Gainesville, GA, and editor of Southern Theatre magazine’s Outside the Box column.

Step 7: Do a final rinse in the second bucket. Apply cleaner to bristles and hang brush to dry.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 7

Photo by Donyale Werle

Going

GREEN Donyale Werle Takes You Behind the Tony Award-Winning Scenes of Peter and the Starcatcher

D

by Robert O’Leary

Donyale Werle is on a mission to light everyone’s green theatre fire. The acclaimed scenic designer, who was a design keynote speaker and Design Competition adjudicator at the 2014 SETC Convention, won the 2012 Tony Award for scenic design for her work on Peter and the Starcatcher, the Peter Pan prequel that features a set made almost entirely of recycled and reclaimed materials, including corks, bottle caps, action figures and CDs. During an interview at the SETC Convention, Werle shared the evolution of her green practices, details on how she created the Peter and the Starcatcher set, and advice for others on going green.

8 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

The Evolution of a Green Revolution

Growing up in Nashville, TN, Werle got an early Left: After 13 months of work on the show’s design, Donyale Werle was dismayed when High Fidelity ended its Broadway run after just 13 days – and its set was trashed in the dumpster (left). The event helped inspire Werle to pursue a new green mission.

introduction to green practices – before the term was even coined – from her father, a landscape architect with an affinity for recycled materials. He built the backyard playground of her youth out of a world of reclaimed timbers, mounded earth, stacked tires and found objects.

Werle’s own entry into green theatre design came

in the late 1990s when she was doing scene design in the San Francisco area, after earning a BFA in painting from the University of New Mexico. Her

Opposite page: Peter and the Starcatcher is the largest green undertaking to date for Werle (inset) who won a 2012 Tony Award for the design.

design work with such theatres as Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Campos Santo Theatre, The Marin Theater Company and the Magic Theatre led to opportunities to design with the San Francisco Mime Troupe (SFMT), a Tony Awardwinning regional theatre that started in 1959. While working on City for Sale for SFMT in 1999, Werle began taking note of environmentally conscious practices there and elsewhere on the West Coast.

for a bold move. She quit her job.

Her new mission? Discovering ways to design

“Every board was reused, they straightened every

nail, and there was this real sense of reuse – it was

and build scenery more sustainably. In looking back,

just what everybody did,” she says.

Donyale says her decision to quit seems radical even

After moving to New York and earning an MFA

to her. However, at the time she was so frustrated

in set design at New York University’s Tisch School

with the system that she knew there had to be another

of the Arts, Werle began designing on the East Coast

way.

– and immediately saw a difference.

The Other Side of the Green Fence

“Not only did they not reuse things, but it was

Jolly Ship the Whiz Bang, a pirate puppet rock

laughable to reuse at that time,” she says. “It just

musical with adult themes, was one of the first

wasn’t considered professional.”

projects Werle tackled under this renewed idea of

At home, Donyale had long carried out concepts

self as a green designer. The outrageous style of the

of repurposing and had embraced the idea of

show freed her to be creative and begin testing how

sustainability passed to her from her father. It was

to make various materials appear to be something

important to her that she recycled trash, grew a

they are not. Her first experiments tapped an easy

balcony box garden, and biked to local stoop sales

material to find in the city.

to buy items for the home or for design work. As

“I used cardboard as the medium, designing

she increasingly noticed a disconnect between those

entire sets out of cardboard,” Werle says. “They never

practices at home and her work in theatrical design,

looked like cardboard. No one would guess that they

a frustration with the industry and its common

were cardboard, and that was sort of the point.”

practices grew.

The Tipping Point

look as professional as those made from traditional

By 2006, Werle was working as an associate

materials.

designer with Anna Louizos at Anna Louizos Designs,

assisting on productions such as Avenue Q and In the

not about putting trash onstage. It’s about using

Heights and becoming more and more aware of the

more creativity to turn it into something that is

wastefulness of the standard New York production.

striking.”

Then came the show High Fidelity. Werle had worked

She notes that it is important that green designs

“It can never look like cardboard,” she says. “It’s

Design, she adds, must not be slave to the material.

for 13 months on the show, and after a 13-day run, it

“We walk a fine line here, being kind of crafty, and

was in the dumpster. High Fidelity became the impetus

I try to be very aware of that label because I think it Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 9

Werle recycled everyday items, such as action figures, plastic spoons, corks, poptops from cans, bottle caps and pencils in the proscenium she created for Peter and The Starcatcher.

The Greening of Peter and the Starcatcher

Werle says. “While it [green

The largest-scale production in her green effort

theatre] does use techniques

thus far is Peter and the Starcatcher. The show started

that craftsman may have used

out off-Broadway, then played on Broadway at the

before, we must elevate it to the

Brooks Atkinson Theatre from April 2012 to January

level of anything that you use on

2013, before moving off-Broadway again in March

stage. At no point, because you

2013. Werle’s scenic design for the show won her a

are using a different method,

2012 Tony Award. The show toured nationally from

should it look junky or less

August 2013 until May 2014, and a second tour is set

finished.”

to begin in January 2015.

The Realizations of Reuse

The script presented a major design challenge,

The world of reuse really

with some fairly radical scene changes spread over

opened up for Werle as she

20 locations. It was a tough puzzle to tackle both

explored other materials in

technically and artistically. Werle’s vision: a set that

designing for the theatre.

would reflect a child’s sense of imagination, using

“First it was cardboard, then tires, then plastic

repurposed materials, collaged and woven together

bottles,” she says. “Really anything can be a raw good.”

to provide visual clues that take audience members

The more she adopted this attitude, the more

artfully to each location.

possibilities she saw around her.

“I became fascinated with plastic bottle chan-

toy theatre, was meticulously built by Showman

deliers,” she says. “It is sort of a common up-cycled

Fabricators in a sort of “green art” collaboration

thing because the light penetrates through it, it’s

with Werle. It consists of reclaimed wood, cardboard,

beautiful, and it’s colorful,” she says. “So ... it became

paper, old records and CDs, action figures, rope, bottle

a challenge to see how many ways we could use

caps, used toys, corks and thousands of other little

these properties.”

plastic, wood and foam items that were up-cycled

before they ended up in a landfill.

As Werle’s experiments continued, her studio and

The proscenium, designed to suggest a Victorian

shops began to change practices to work with these

new materials. Each design became an opportunity

of the set and props followed suit with re-used and

to push the multiple uses of the newest raw good,

alternative materials making the textures, colors and

found in the trash.

shapes of islands, seas, a grotto, jungles, beaches,

After some additional dumpster diving, the rest

“Every area has tons of trash,” Werle says. “We just

sailing ships and the like throughout the show. For

don’t see it, and it’s dirty work when you reclaim it.

all of these creations, Werle and the production team

That’s the problem – you have to go down that alley

not only canvased the community, but also involved

and look in that dumpster.”

the community in collecting items for the show.

To locate items that might work in a green design,

They even had a bottle cap collecting event with

she says it is important to create a community of

The Broadway League’s Kids’ Night on Broadway

discovery, letting others know of your quest for

program, in collaboration with the Broadway Green

salvageable items. “Talk to tech supers, search

Alliance.

Craigslist and Art Cube – put the word out,” she says.

When you do green design, she says, “it is hard to

the set makes a lot of sense because the show’s staging

exist on your own.”

was based on the use of simple props,” Werle says.

Werle has made amazing finds at stoop sales (the

“A single rope was used in multiple ways: as a ship’s

New York equivalent of a yard sale). Sometimes,

deck, a ladder, a staircase, a doorway, a cabin, a boxing

she says, you just have to beat the streets, shopping

arena, the ocean and the skyline, to name a few. The

for shapes and looking at the materials around you

story unfolds in the audience’s imagination. The PR

with a sense of discovery. When she was designing

team for both the Broadway run and the tour promoted

Peter and the Starcatcher, for example, she found

the salvaging aspects because it was so integrated with

enough small plastic toys to cover the Starcatcher

the dramaturgical concept of the show.”

proscenium while shopping at stoop sales within six

blocks of her apartment.

community involvement in all of the cities on the

10 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

does a disservice to this idea,”

“Dramaturgically, the idea of using found objects in

When the show went on tour, a PR team encouraged

Photos by Donyale Werle

itinerary. Items for the touring proscenium were

together in the Green Alliance initiative, and a number

donated by patrons and sponsors – “like beer

of Broadway stars are serving as Green Captains in

tops from Coors beer in Denver,” says Werle. “We

their shows. Green Captains are volunteers who

incorporated anything that was sent to us. It all went

represent the Green Alliance within a production,

onto giant tables of like items at the shop.”

encouraging good green practice from rehearsal to

Many of the cities where Peter and the Starcatcher

run. Changes have included a move to rechargeable

played on its first national tour instituted recycling

batteries in microphones and flashlights, a small

programs and encouraged found object works as a

step that has had a large ripple effect on Broadway.

precursor to the show.

Through collection drives in Times Square over

“We are getting all the kids in, and they are doing

the past five years, the Broadway Green Alliance

their own found object prosceniums, and that’s great,”

says it has kept 15 tons of electronic waste and

says Werle. “It’s inspiring a lot of discussion.”

almost 10,000 pounds of clothing and textiles out of

Looking to a Greener Future

landfills.

Werle is committed to working toward a greener

This past summer, Werle had two green design

theatre world. One way that she is doing that is

interns working at her studio on projects for the

through her work as co-chair of the pre- and post-

Broadway Green Alliance. Among other duties, they

production committee of the Broadway Green

wrote a report on sustainable lighting and conducted

Alliance, which began in the fall of 2008. The catalyst

interviews about the greening efforts of the long-

for its creation was An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy

running show, Blue Man Group.

Award-winning documentary about Al Gore’s efforts

to educate the public on global warming. Werle

green companies. “I had assistants,who then became

joined nine months after its inception after she saw

associates, that now have their own shop, Paper

a blurb in the newspaper about then-Mayor Michael

Mâché Monkey (papermachemonkey.com),” Werle

Bloomberg supporting a movement called “Broadway

says. “They build everything sustainably, and they

Goes Green.” According to the mission statement,

are a big force of nature now with tons of clients.”

“The Broadway Green Alliance is an industry-wide

In her own design studio, Werle is determined

initiative that educates, motivates, and inspires the

that everything she uses can be recycled. She has

entire theatre community and its patrons to adopt

challenged her design lab to produce no more than

Werle also has influenced others to begin their own

environmentally friendlier practices.”

a 1” x 12” x 12” block of trash a day. Old models

are broken down into usable pieces. Foam core and

Manhattan’s professional theatres have all joined

Werle went dumpster diving and stoop sale shopping to find toys and other items to create the proscenium for Peter and the Starcatcher.

Photo above left shows work on the left side of the proscenium arch.

Photo above right shows work on the clamshell (pictured above the pineapple in the bottom photo).

The bottom photo shows the finished proscenium.

Also see the magazine cover for more detail from the proscenium.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 11

illustration board have been replaced by salvaged

Werle also is experimenting with ideas related

cardboard and pulp-board. Textiles, packaging and

to renewable energy and sustainable architecture.

even delivery containers don’t go to waste and are

She spoke excitedly of Katie Mitchell’s production

cut down to usable materials.

of Lungs, which harnesses the energy of the actor to

”We stopped using paper towels and have

power the lights. This idea of a new energy source

switched over to tea towels that hang on a couple

inspired her to begin planning for solar panels in her

lines in the kitchen,” Werle says.

studio to power lighting and peripherals.

Through her own work and the work she does with the Broadway Green Alliance, Werle is inspiring

Donyale Werle’s Awards

Tony Awards: Winner, 2012, Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Peter and the Starcatcher; Nominee, 2011, Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Obie Award: Winner, 2011, Sustained Excellence of Set Design Lucille Lortel Awards: Winner, 2011, Outstanding Scenic Design: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Nominee, 2011, Outstanding Scenic Design: Peter and the Starcatcher Henry Hewes Design Award: Winner, 2010, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson Outer Circle Critics Award: Nominee, 2010, Outstanding Set Design: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

others to share her passion for environmentallyconscious design, which she believes is essential for theatre’s future as a sustainable art form. From her father to her, to all who met her at the SETC Convention, to all those connections who pass it on, the message travels forward. From her first green efforts with cardboard sets to the amazing proscenium of Peter and the Starcatcher, Werle provides solid evidence that one person really can make a difference. n Robert O’Leary is head of scenic and lighting design for Florida School of the Arts in Palatka, FL, and chair of SETC’s Design/Technology Committee.

Theatre & Dance within the Liberal Arts Highly Competitive  Academically Rigorous  Nationally Ranked

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Small, individualized classes, integrated with production and performance Beginning to advanced study in all aspects of theatre Opportunities to double major / minor 4 major productions & 2 dance concerts yearly Two well‐equipped spaces: proscenium and thrust Faculty and student directed productions, Multiple student producing groups Talent Based Scholarships for performance & production Both merit and need based financial aid Funding opportunities for student projects, summer study & travel Over 400 approved Study Abroad programs in 70 countries

12 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

www.wfu.edu

theatre@wfu.edu

10 Ways to Make Your Theatre More Green

R

eady to take a shot at your own Great Green

“I know stock has become a bad word but … when

Theatre Experiment? Here are 10 simple steps

you find it in a certain shape, it doesn’t mean you

that Donyale Werle suggests for theatre artists,

have to use it in that shape.” Rework the piece to suit

designers, teachers and students.

your needs, Werle says. Werle’s design for The Old

1

Globe Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show

Begin with an overview. Assess what you do and have at your theatre now. What are

the green practices, inventories, typical materials, equipment and recycling plans at your theatre or institution? Find a starting point for changing the processes, products and world around you.

2

Embrace the use of stock. Take inventory of what you have in storage, down to the measurements.

“Go to the stuff you have lying around,” Werle says.

Encourage others to get involved in your green efforts. Children donated more than 4,000 bottle caps for use in the design of Peter and the Starcatcher through a Kids’ Night on Broadway collection.

JAMES HOUGHTON Richard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division

Juilliard

DRAMA

used an entire repurposed proscenium structure. For Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, yards and yards of red velour made their way back to the stage from a retired The Producers tour.

3

Discover green materials. “There are so many, and you must explore what is around,” Werle

says, adding that experimentation is especially important in the college setting. “Young people have to experiment in the shop.” By experimenting, you might even find an undiscovered raw good.

4

Build community through collection efforts and collaborations. Set up collection boxes for

items that figure into your design or shop practices, connecting your community, department or campus to your efforts. Green theatre, like most theatre, is dependent on connections and collaborations.

FALL 2014 85% of all actors receive scholarship support

MFA in Acting

providing full tuition and stipend in the 4th and final year

BFA in Acting Apply by December 1 Auditions in New York, Chicago, San Francisco juilliard.edu/drama

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A Postgraduate Artist Diploma program providing tuition-free fellowships and stipends Apply by December 15 juilliard.edu/playwrights

14 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

Photo by Jessica Katz

Christopher Durang and Marsha Norman, Co-Directors

Resources like Art Cube, a recycling hotline of sorts

bottle madness in this world. Have you seen pictures

for the film and entertainment industry, are built on

of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch lately? Take a look,

that idea. Designers also need to connect with each

and you will be up-cycling a mason jar or buying a

other, Werle says. Think not only of how your piece

nice stainless steel bottle within a day.

works for you, but also how parts of it might travel

8

on to another designer. “Try to think of luan and foam as materials of last choice,” Werle says. These are two of the most environmentally harmful products used in large amounts for theatre productions.

5

Join the Broadway Green Alliance. It’s free! If you are ready to take it a step further, request

the free kit from the Alliance, establish a Green Captain, and start working on your next show. At the university level, all you need is a faculty advisor and a student with an interest in greening your production.

6

and other battery-powered items in the theatre

on rechargeable batteries. It will save you in the long run and keep some pretty toxic things out of the daily

Set up recycling bins in convenient locations.

Many hands make light work when it comes

people are more prone to do it consistently if it is in the location where it makes the most sense to recycle.

Get reusable water bottles for the production

Pulp Art Surfaces pulpartsurfaces.com

9

www.filmbizrecycling.org

Track and publicize your green efforts.

Celebrate your green experiment by tracking

Julie’s Bicycle

what you do. Publicize your green efforts. Blog,

www.juliesbicycle.com/

tweet and just plain communicate what you are up

theatre

to. It gives your college or theatre a sense that you

Earthship Biotecture

are working for the greater good and may even spur

10

Get and stay in the green loop. Continue to inform yourself. Pick up a copy of Ellen E.

Jones’ new book, A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre.

It includes tips on assessment and offers green ideas for those working in areas from the administrative

earthship.com A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre

by Ellen E. Jones Focal Press www.focalpress.com

office to the scene shop and all points in between.

- Robert O’Leary

History/Theory/Criticism

Acting/Directing

www.broadwaygreen.com

Film Biz Recycling

team and performers. Let’s stop the plastic

Innovate.

Create.

Articulate.

PhD MFA MA

For more information: Beth Scheckel - Graduate Admissions Coordinator beth.scheckel@ttu.edu (806) 742-3601 ext. 236 Dr. Mark Charney, Chair

Performance & Pedagogy

Theatre Arts

Design

Playwriting

Broadway Green Alliance

show trash.

others to go green.

to sorting at the top end of the recycling chain, and

7

Use rechargeable batteries. Run microphones

Green Resources:

Arts Administration Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 15

10 Contemporary

Playwrights You Should Know

by Megan Monaghan Rivas

W

When someone says “great American playwright,” who do you think of? If the names of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, August Wilson, Lorraine Hansberry, or David Henry Hwang come to mind, of course you are right. But there are newer generations right behind them.

Drawing on my 20 years’ experience as a professional dramaturg focusing on new plays and leading the literary departments of major regional theatres, I set out to create a short list of of writers whose names might be added to that list in the future. I looked for playwrights whose work embodies a mix of styles and approaches and who come from a variety of geographic areas, cultures and ethnicities, offering something of interest to students, artists and educators of widely varying tastes.

This article will offer you 10 names. Some may be new to you, some not. Some are native Southerners, some not. Two have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. One received a “genius grant.” All are active professionals with significant credits to their names.

So if you’re looking to expand the universe of plays you produce in your theatre, present on your college campus, teach in your courses, or recommend to colleagues and students, this article should offer you an excellent start.

Two Great Passions: Literature and Eavesdropping

Topher Payne, winner of the Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award this year, is no stranger to awards. Nearly every periodical in his home city of Atlanta has named him best playwright at some point in the past five years. Mississippi native Payne writes crowd-pleasing comedies such as Lakebottom Prime, Beached Wails and Perfect Arrangement, involving “boozy Southern matriarchs, garden clubs, catfights, sister bonding and beauty parlors,” but he also writes about revolution with no holds barred. One of his two 2013 world premieres, Angry Fags, explores the revenge impulse in a drastically unbalanced justice system. In his Osborn acceptance speech, Payne noted, “We do it because we share a belief that the right story told to the right people at the right time can change the world!” Payne’s work can be found at topherpayne.com.

16 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

Discovery, Defiance and Love

Born and raised in Decatur, GA, Lauren Gunderson earned her MFA in dramatic writing from New York University and is taking U.S. theatre by storm. Her play I and You was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and won the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award in 2014. Long fascinated by the competition between the life of the mind and the will of the heart, especially in the lives of women, Gunderson notes she always aims for “Holy Sh*t Theatre. You can’t fake making your audience feel.” Some of Gunderson’s plays focus on forgotten or unrecognized geniuses – 19th Getchall

century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky, “degenerate” artist Rudolph Bauer in Bauer, and Emilie La Marquise du Chatelet in Emilie. Other plays bounce off Shakespeare (Exit, Pursued by a Bear; Toil and Trouble; and We Are Denmark) or spring from fully original stories (I and You; Rock Creek:

Kirsten La ra

Southern Gothic). Gunderson’s plays are published and licensed by Samuel French and Playscripts Inc., and her work is represented by Kate Navin at the Gersh Agency Theater Department.

Comics! Gaming! Puppets?

Originally from Arkansas, Qui Nguyen is a writer, fight choreographer, and self-described “all around pop-culture nerd.” He’s also co-artistic director of Vampire Cowboys, the Obie Award-winning troupe in New York City. Nguyen packs his plays with spectacle, such as the climactic battle between a woman and a five-headed dragon in She Kills Monsters, Mark Dawson

the climactic battle between the galaxy’s last two surviving humans and alien forces in Fight Girl Battle World, and the climactic battle between Shakespeare’s leading ladies and a horde of zombies in Living Dead in Denmark. From that list, Nguyen’s background as a fight director and teacher of stage combat will come as no surprise. The winner of a 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellowship, two GLAAD Media Award nominations and the Patrick Lee Award for Outstanding Off-Off-Broadway Show, Qui has begun exploring his Vietnamese family’s immigrant background in later plays such as The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G. His plays are published and licensed by Samuel French, Playscripts and Broadway Play Publishing.

Dark Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups

Steve Yockey is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia who went on to study playwriting at New York University, then relocated to the West Coast. Whenever Yockey starts a

a wound in a community that can only be healed by more bloodshed.

Know a Playwright Who Belongs on This List?

Cartoon shows a commedia dell’arte troupe run amok when a stolen

Send your

sentence with “What if…?” it’s best to buckle your seat belt and brace yourself for a wild ride. In Bellwether, a little girl’s disappearance opens

talisman unleashes chaos on the stage … and in the audience. And in Pluto, even the appliances get into the act, when a single mother tries to connect with her son, who won’t talk to her, and with the family dog, who won’t shut up. Many of Yockey’s plays are published and licensed by Samuel French. His work is represented by Mary Harden and Scott Edwards at Harden-Curtis Associates.

Adrenaline Rush

New York native Kristoffer Diaz never hesitates to put the unlikely on stage, from the roots of hip-hop in Welcome to Arroyo’s to a keen exploration of ethnic identity and public meaning wrapped in a love letter to professional wrestling in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. He then proceeds to make you fall in love with his creation, sweeping you away on the kind of powerful feeling that you might expect

nominations to deanna@setc. org. We’ll publish a list of reader suggestions for the top 10 contemporary playwrights in the November/ December issue of SETC News.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 17

in a sports arena but rarely encounter in a theatre. His all-out farce The Upstairs Concierge, premiering in the Goodman Theatre’s 2014-15 season, takes on the American obsession with celebrity in the setting of a family business. Diaz’s #freescenes project, described on his blog theheavylifting.tumblr.com, offers monologues, scenes and more – all material that actors can work with for free.

In an online interview with Adam Szymkowicz, Diaz stated,“Exciting theatre, to me, celebrates community. That’s the only thing theatre can do better than film and TV. If you can’t create community in your work, go write for the screen.”

Diaz’s work has been published by Samuel French and Dramatists Play Service.

His work is represented by Derek Zasky at William Morris Endeavor.

Young, Gifted and Fearless

Katori Hall, who grew up in Memphis, has collected awards, degrees and plaudits that would impress anyone from anywhere. Her landmark play The Mountaintop, a fictional meditation set during the last night of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, gathered up the Olivier Award for Best New Play after its world premiere in London, then came to Broadway in a production that starred Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett. Her work ranges from the gutsy comedy of WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! to the heartbreakingly clear-eyed Hurt Village, set in her hometown and the winner of the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Educated at Harvard, Columbia and the Juilliard School, Hall was named one of the first resident playwrights at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Her work has been published by Methuen Drama; more information is available at katorihall.com.

Tough and Tender

Aditi Brennan Kapil started out as an actor and director, then wrote plays. She has never stopped doing the former in order to excel at the latter. Drawing on the Indian side of her heritage (she’s of Bulgarian and Indian descent), Kapil this past year premiered Brahman/i: A One-Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show, The Chronicles of Kalki and Shiva, a set of plays collectively called the Displaced Hindu Gods trilogy, in which avatars of the deities appear in contemporary immigrants to the West. Among her earlier works, Love Person skillfully deploys English, Sanskrit and American Sign Language to explore how communication shapes understanding, while Agnes Under the Big Top delicately explores the difficult lives of its five main characters as they intersect – or never meet. Raised in Sweden, Kapil now lives in Minneapolis. Her work is available for license through Samuel French and is represented by Antje Oegel at AO International.

Changing the Face of Theatre

Winner of the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius grant,” Luis Alfaro keeps one foot on the ground in Los Angeles and the other in his position as playwright-in-residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, standing like the Colossus of Rhodes over the edge of the continent. As inspired by Greek tragedies (his Electricidad connects with Sophocles’ Electra, and Mojada aligns with Euripides’ Medea, while Oedipus el Rey speaks for itself) as by his personal experience (St. Jude, which premiered this year), Alfaro discovered his writing path unexpectedly. He notes, “I started by writing about where I thought the new kingdoms were – the fast-growing California State Prison system and its alternate 18 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

societies. I was thinking a lot about young Latino men, gang culture and our ability to defy these destinies. But I ended up with a love story! What happens when your passion is larger than the world you live in?” Dramatic Publishing and Playscripts publish and license Alfaro’s work.

Funny, Sharp, Inventive

Playwright and novelist Madeleine George possesses many gifts – not least among them a way with a title. Who could resist a play called Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England?

When she was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama this year, however, it wasn’t just for the title. That new play, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence, looks at the power of technology to draw us together or push us apart – not just in the digital 21st century, but in the steam-driven 19th, and at other moments in history. One of the founders of the celebrated 13P company, George spearheaded the world premiere of her play The Zero Hour as part of the company’s mission to produce one new play by each of its 13 members, without putting them through the wringer of readings and workshops first. Originally from Amherst, MA, George now resides in Brooklyn. Her plays are published

by Samuel French, her theatrical work is represented by Seth Glewen at The Gersh Agency, and her novels for young adult readers are available on Amazon.com. More information is available at madeleinegeorge.com.

‘My Writing Is Like My Ministry’

Marcus Gardley, equal parts poet and playwright, grew up in Oakland, CA, and now teaches playwriting at Brown University. He is having a banner year – 10 productions of seven of his plays at theatres across the country. From the satire The Box: A Black Comedy in New York to the passionate The Gospel of Lovingkindness spinning off the topic of gun violence in Chicago, Gardley’s extraordinary art combines fact and fiction, myth and stereotype, and his amazing command of language. His goal, though, is to heal. As he said in a recent New York Times interview, “We have so many traumas and need so much healing in our communities. I want my work to be part of the healing process.” Methuen has published Gardley’s work, and he is represented by Susan Weaving at William Morris Endeavor. n Megan Monaghan Rivas is an associate professor of dramaturgy at the School of Drama at Carnegie Mellon University. Recipient of the Elliott Hayes Prize in Dramaturgy, she served as literary manager of South Coast Repertory Theatre, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and Frontera @ Hyde Park Theatre in Austin, TX, and oversaw the artistic programming at the Lark Play Development Center in NYC and The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. She has freelanced with TheatreSquared, the New Harmony Project and the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, among others.

Over 70 show packages Plus a huge general stock www.msmtcostumes.org 207-208-8950 rentals@msmt.org Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 19

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Getchell Award The Playwright

Robert Plowman’s Plays Spring from Fearlessness

R

obert Plowman, winner of the 2014 Charles M. Getchell New Play Award, has been writing

plays for over 20 years. They are intriguing plays with titles such as The Route 19 Roadside Choir of Dead Babies Invites You to Visit “The Fountain of Youth” Museum and Giftshop,

Welcome to Burger Heaven, Radium City and I Was a Teenage Firestarter/Bedwetter from Mars. Readings and productions of his works have been seen throughout Canada and the United Chad Runyon

States. A native of Toronto, Canada, he has been in residence at the Playwrights Theatre Centre’s Playwrights Colony in Vancouver, BC, and the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH. In May 2014, he received an MFA in playwriting from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA. Kent R. Brown interviewed Plowman in person and via e-mail in late spring 2014 after the staged reading of The Missing Link at the 2014 SETC Convention.

Robert Plowman

BROWN: Let’s start with the standard who,

and my place in the world and increases

are embarrassing or silly, all of these I’m

what, where and so forth.

my idea of what it is to be alive. My bent,

attracted to, in the belief that the parts

PLOWMAN: I was born in Toronto and

most likely, will always be, well, not quite

of myself that can’t be easily explained

have spent the majority of my creative life

realism. I have a different set of aesthetics

are exactly the things that other people

in Halifax [Canada].

for the plays that I consider my own work.

will relate to, that the inexplicable and

BROWN: Any formal training as a writer?

I think the most powerful thing about the

unlanguageable parts of our humanity

PLOWMAN: I graduated from Dalhousie

medium of theatre is this collective dream

are peculiarly suited to being the subject

University in Halifax with an English

we have as audience members and actors

for theatre. So, for me, fearlessness is the

degree that, depending on your point

on the stage. For me, there is something

first step.

of view, prepared me for everything or

really alive in creating a world that has

BROWN: The Missing Link has an unusual

prepared me for nothing. There was a

never existed before the lights go up and

backstory.

college theatre society, completely run by

does not exist after they go down.

PLOWMAN: Yes. The play was written for

students, the largest society on campus.

BROWN: You’ve been quoted as saying the

a class in my MFA playwriting program

Just enough actors, just enough directors

theatre that excites you is theatre “that is

at Hollins University, called First Drafts,

that we could all push each other.

fearless.” Can you push that a bit?

in which each assignment was to write a

BROWN: And after college?

PLOWMAN: I believe the process of

play within 72 hours, based on a series of

PLOWMAN: I helped run The Chestnut

engaging deeply with my own impulses,

prompts.

Tree Theatre. We produced original work

biases, dreams and fears, the parts of

BROWN: Which were?

and older plays, and the diversity of our

myself I distrust, the things in the world

PLOWMAN: It had to be a two-act

output reflected the varied interests of the

that trouble me, all of the tangle of thoughts

expressionist play, with narrator. The plot

company members. I wrote and directed.

and feelings in my brain that resist my best

had to be taken from a story in that day’s

One of my original pieces was called

efforts to tidy them or find a reassuring

newspaper. Two of the characters had to

Levitate Me, and it was generated through

moral, I think this process of finding a

be modeled on different major literary

a combination of writing and ensemble

play within myself relies on fearlessness.

characters. No more than five actors. One of

creation. I also directed Chekhov’s The Bear

It’s necessary to be fearless of judgment

the characters had to have a physical illness

and Sam Shepard’s Cowboy Mouth.

and failure. The contradictions, the things

or deformity. One of the themes of the play

BROWN: Your play titles suggest realism

that don’t make sense, the things that

had to be drawn from the Book of Proverbs.

is not your style of choice.

PLOWMAN: Over time, I’ve come to appreciate that it’s a rare enough experience to see a play, or sometimes simply read a play, that changes my life. The question of style doesn’t really concern me if the work takes me to an understanding of myself

Are You a Future Getchell Award Winner?

SETC’s Charles M. Getchell New Play Award recognizes worthy new scripts written by individuals who live or go to school in the SETC region or by SETC members who live in or outside the region.

More info: Visit www.setc.org/getchell-new-play-contest

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 21

UNCSA01_pr_DP_SouthernTheater_2.32x9.5_1213.pdf

School of

DESIGN & PRODUCTION Joseph P. Tilford, Dean

Photography by Donald Dietz and Design & Production students and faculty

1 EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATION 5 Theatres; 20 Productions per year; 24 Full Time Faculty; 95% Employment; 200 Courses per year; 80,000 Square Feet of Production Facilities C

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CONCENTRATIONS Undergraduate: Costume Design & Technology, Lighting, Scene Design, Scene Painting, Scenic Technology, Sound Design, Stage Management, Stage Properties, Wig & Makeup Design Graduate: Costume Design, Costume Technology, Performing Arts Management, Scenic Art, Scene Design, Sound Design, Stage Automation, Stage Properties, Technical Direction, Wig and Makeup Design INTERVIEW LOCATIONS On campus; New York, NY; Chicago, IL

1

9/20/13

12:13 PM

BROWN: The result is an episodic, non-

had to convince me that nothing would

linear coming-of-age play set in a fantastical

happen. And I think, what’s going on in

carnival world. Grotesque, rich in menace

The Missing Link, from my point of view, is

and uncertainty. What was the personal

that I was taking some of the stuff from my

impetus for the piece?

childhood, the sense of wonder, and seeing

PLOWMAN: I am interested in how

what might happen.

imagination is both a sustaining thing for

BROWN: In Radium City, you ask the

us and how it can also turn and become

question, “Is there ever an end to wonder?”

very dangerous – that imagination has a

This might be said to be a defining energy

dangerous underside. When I was seven,

behind much of your work.

eight years old, I received a chain letter.

PLOWMAN: Most of our cultural rep-

One of those that requires you to send

resentations of what it is to be a human

it on to 12 people or bad luck will strike

being – by which I mean the mass media

you? And for whatever reason, I ended

representations – are insulting. We live

up not sending it off. Time passed, and

in a culture that profits by keeping us

I remember being hooked by this fear of

dumb. There’s a strong anti-intellectual

the consequences, by what bad luck might

bias in North America, even in the arts.

come my way. So much so that my mother

And I think there’s something rare and

A Plowman

Sampler

Below are synopses of some of Robert Plowman’s other plays: My Sex Rays Will Cover the Earth. This play was inspired by Wilhelm Reich, a disciple of Sigmund Freud, who focused on the orgasm as the defining diagnostic feature of a person’s psychological health. “It’s a classic mad scientist story,” says Plowman, “involving the Food and Drug Administration and a book-burning purge.”

The Route 19 Roadside Choir of Dead Babies Invites You to Visit “The Fountain of Youth” Museum and Giftshop. “In his quest for the Fountain of Youth, the famed explorer Ponce de Léon encounters the Aztec goddess Coatlicue, mother of miscarriages, and the pair begins a love affair that lasts through the ages...” Such is the story that unfolds in the strange museum of a roadside attraction, hosted by a choir of sinister and delightful dead babies, and featuring human sacrifice, meddlesome gods and the end of the world – more than once.

The Common: for as long as you have so far. This piece is designed to be experienced by a single participant who is given props, earphones and an iPod with a 44-minute recorded commentary. The participant walks over now-developed land that was once part of the Common, Canada’s oldest urban park, while listening to Plowman’s blend of city myths, local fears about crime, and actual historical events.

The Mnemonist: A Tale of Espionage. Created with LoHifi Productions, a Canadian

Your passion today.

Your profession tomorrow.

company specializing in found-object puppetry and performance in nontraditional theatre spaces, this is a Cold War spy story set in Ottawa. It examines the question of identity in a world where everyone is a foreigner, an immigrant, a person in search of a home. A bit of Hitchcock by way of Kafka.

WWW.UNCSA.EDU

admissions@uncsa.edu 336-770-3290 Winston-Salem, NC

The Matador. A love triangle in the bullfighting ring involves the matador, his lady friend and, of course, the bull. This dark comedy with songs and dances was inspired by the Spanish word duende, meaning, in part, a sense of imagination – a dark creative force.

22 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

wonderful about plays that are concerned

next. They must actively track the multiple

with characters who have intellectual

contours of your world. What skills do you

passions. This isn’t a question of characters

expect audiences to bring with them to

being smart or witty, or any of that. For

engage with your vision?

instance, The Missing Link is a play where

PLOWMAN: I suppose it goes to the

the characters may be naïve and not very

mystery of how any theatre creator

self-aware in our contemporary terms.

cultivates, first, a circle of fellow artists

However, they still confront moral and

who get it, and next, an audience who gets

ethical questions; they are still shaped by

it. I write the work that I would like to see.

their internal lives, their dreams and ideas.

I find immense pleasure in seeing theatre

BROWN: Your creative aesthetic seems

that surprises me and does things I didn’t

to replace “what’s going to happen next”

know were possible. I’m attracted to the

with “look how it’s being made to happen

unspeakable, the numinous, the mysterious

now.” There is an emphasis on the narrative

parts of our humanity. Sometimes I’m

tools being used to reveal the puzzle that

told that my plays are poetic, and it’s true

is being solved because these narrative tools

the language I use is often heightened or

are being utilized.

at least separated from our day-to-day

PLOWMAN: The suspension of disbelief

vernacular. A world in which language

that’s at the heart of theatrical storytelling

operates slightly differently than we’re

has a deep connection with the desire for

accustomed to opens up the possibility that

play we all experience in childhood. I

other rules also operate differently than

point my finger and it is a gun – and it’s

we’re accustomed to.

immediately clear to all my playmates

BROWN: Bob Moss says the job of the artist

that it’s a gun. In the same way, if the

is to reveal the truth. What is “the truth” in

storytelling connection between performers

The Missing Link?

and audience is true, then the play can be as

PLOWMAN: The Sideshow of Wonders

fleet, as magical, as inventive as the minds

is, at first, full of magic, but is later

of its makers. I say, “Look, the Eiffel Tower!”

transformed into a dangerous and tawdry

and everyone in the audience sees the Eiffel

place. However, I don’t think the Sideshow

Tower behind the characters.

is best looked at as a metaphor where x = y,

BROWN: What about the conventional

and it stands for, say, “adulthood” or “the

notion of suspense?

power of the imagination.” Nor do I think

PLOWMAN: I don’t find suspense a

the shift from “magical land” to “dangerous

particularly interesting tool. Of course,

place” is presented in the play as the final

there’s the kind of suspense that all good

verdict on the meaning of the place. I think

stories have, such as engaging the audience

there’s a clash of ideas within the play over

in the desire to know what happens next.

the nature of storytelling and the meaning

However, the suspense that’s concerned

of “growing up.” It’s this clash of ideas that

with withholding knowledge from the

I seek to embody in my writing, to lead an

audience doesn’t hold much appeal for

audience through a certain landscape of

me. In this play, there are many kinds

thoughts. In fact, the difficulty in finding

of knowledge that are denied Marie –

external “truth” may be part of the journey

mysteries she will never ever learn in

for Marie in the play. n

the course of the story – but the audience always knows as much as she does. Since it’s a play concerned with childhood, it was important that the story continually lives in the present.

BROWN: Your audiences can’t comfortably sit back and wait to see what happens

Kent R. Brown, Emeritus Professor of Drama at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, is an awardwinning playwright whose works have been produced around the world. He lives in Simpsonville, SC.

GRADUATE SCHOOL AUDITIONS • INTERVIEWS PORTFOLIO REVIEWS Acting • Design Directing • Technical Arts Administration Stage Management Fri & Sat, November 14 & 15, 2014 Airport Hilton – Atlanta, GA

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Getchell Award The Play

THE MISSING LINK

by Robert Plowman

CAST OF CHARACTERS:

NOTES ON STAGING:

MARIE OF ROMANIA: A 12-year-old tomboy.

FLETCHER HASTINGS: Her uncle. A dreamer.

Mid-40s.

THE MERMAID/THE FORTUNE TELLER/ HELENE: A performer. Mid-30s.

THOMAS: The saddest 9-year-old boy in the world. Will not live to see 10.

JOHN WILKES BOOTH: A wax figure with movie-star good looks. (The actor playing John Wilkes Booth doubles as Father and The Man.)

The principal scenic element for the play is to be the illuminated signage of Dr. Varanasi’s Sideshow of Wonders. It is gaudy and perhaps a little worn (blown bulbs and so on), but playful and genuinely inventive.

Often, memories emerge suddenly out of darkness and then are swallowed once more. In all cases, the staging ought to strive for a fluid movement between scenes, and the literal use of set pieces (beds, windows, giant crates) should be avoided.

The role of Marie need not be played by either a 12-year-old or a 90-year-old. Nor should age be indicated in a cartoonish fashion. A simplicity and plasticity of presentation will be most effective.

SETTING: WHERE: Dr. Varanasi’s Sideshow of Wonders.

Marie’s bedroom. Outdoors.

A seaside (or lakeside) resort town that has seen better days. 1932.

WHEN: Then and now.

FOR PRODUCTION: Email Robert Plowman at: robertplowmanplaywright@gmail.com Robert Plowman © 2014

ACT ONE SCENE I (Then: 1932. Fletcher teaches his niece, Marie, the art of being a sideshow barker.)

FLETCHER: Step inside!

MARIE: Step inside!

FLETCHER: Right this way!

MARIE: Step inside!

FLETCHER: All for the price of a nickel!

(Now. Old Marie remembers:) OLD MARIE: All for the price of a nickel.

It was my education.

Once you stepped inside The whole world Was yours for the taking.

(The signs begin to light up: DR. VARANASI’S SIDESHOW OF WONDERS. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. ENTER THE ROGUES GALLERY.) Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 25

FLETCHER: Thrill to the Wonders of History come to life!

In our Wax Museum The Greatest Villains of the Ages Plot their Diabolical Devilry!

You will See their Murderous Folly!

Witness the Proceeds of Sin – Up Close!

Ladies, take care not to approach too near…

These villains may leer at you from the shadows.

(In lights: MURDER MOST FOUL.) OLD MARIE: Wax figures were poised with pistols at the ready.

Posed with an axe raised high in the air.

Lizzie Borden in her nightdress Hovering in the moment just before her fame.

Nero, I admired for his chin and the cut of his robe.

The fiddle, however, so I learned, Was not the genuine article. It would not play.

And John Wilkes Booth was The first man I ever fell in love with.

Chiefly for his eyes.

FLETCHER: Next, to the Hall of Mirrors!

This is a maze to Astound and Delight!

Get Lost in your own reflection!

OLD MARIE: After the Hall of Mirrors was the Penny Arcade And after the Penny Arcade was the very best part: The Palace of Science.

FLETCHER: Here are the Greatest Marvels of the Animal Kingdom Hunted down from the Four Corners of the Globe At tremendous risk of Life and Limb.

Behold, the Kraken!

(In lights: DEVIL OF THE DEEP.) OLD MARIE: A huge oil painting depicted A great seven-masted schooner in the clutches of the Kraken: A sea creature of innumerable tentacles And fierce, sub-marine strength.

Next, in a glass case hung an enormous white pelt, The hide of the Russian Yeti.

(In lights: THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. Here, Fletcher assumes a funeral air.)

FLETCHER: A moment of silence, please, for the men who died, Murdered at the hands of this MONSTER, In capturing the only specimen of Yeti ever exhibited.

(Pause.)

OLD MARIE: The crowds would OOH and AHH And THRILL to wonders Not so wondrous in themselves perhaps But made magical in my Uncle’s telling.

I remember: The rhinoceros horn…

FLETCHER: Those who suffer an infirmity may stop…

And touch the horn…

And see if you are not, indeed, among those who share In its Fabled Healing Power.

OLD MARIE: … and the gorgeous Mermaid…

(In lights: SWEET SIREN OF THE WAVES.) FLETCHER: The curves of a woman, the gills of a fish!

Enchantress of the seven seas!

26 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

She sings sailors to their watery tomb!

OLD MARIE: … and the fearsome Monkey’s Paw. FLETCHER: Careful not to cast a wish in its presence!

You might not want your wishes to be granted!

(End of scene.)

SCENE II (Marie and Thomas. A field. Dusk. He pulls behind him a red wagon, carrying a burlap sack.)

THOMAS: Psst!

MARIE: What?

THOMAS: Psst!

MARIE: What is it?

THOMAS: Do you want to see?

MARIE: What is it?

(Thomas picks up the sack from the wagon.)

THOMAS: I don’t think I’ll show you.

MARIE: Thomas!

THOMAS: Want to see?

MARIE: Yes! THOMAS: Alright then, I suppose.

(He takes from the sack a large mason jar with fireflies inside. In lights: FIREFLIES.) THOMAS: I caught ’em in a jar! Look at ’em go!

MARIE: Can I hold it?

THOMAS: Promise to give it back.

MARIE: Yes. THOMAS: Alright then, I suppose.

(Marie dances with the jar of fireflies raised above her head. She sings like a music box.)

MARIE: La la la La la la THOMAS: La la la MARIE: La la la (A change: Her uncle helps her into bed. She’s still singing.)

MARIE: Why is father sad?

FLETCHER: He misses your mother very much.

MARIE: I miss her too.

FLETCHER: Of course you do, dandelion.

Everyone who knew your mother Loved her.

(A change: Another dusk. The field. Marie and Thomas.)

MARIE: I want to see your hand.

You promised you’d show it.

(Thomas hides his right hand.)

THOMAS: First, tell me the story again.

MARIE: My mother was royalty.

Her blood was royal blood (And my blood is royal blood too).

And she was called a Grand Duchess And when people spoke to her they would say Very pleased to meet you, Grand Duchess, And they would curtsy and kiss her hand Like so.

Now you try.

(He curtsies and kisses her hand.)

THOMAS: Very pleased to meet you, Grand Duchess.

MARIE: That’s good.

She lived in Russia which is a country in Europe.

And her family all died.

(In lights: PRINCESS ANASTASIA OF THE ROMONOV FAMILY. ALL THE OTHERS SLAUGHTERED.) MARIE: And people said she was dead too But she wasn’t.

She was spirited away!

And no one knew where she had gone.

She ran away and didn’t stop And ran and ran Until she met my father.

(A change: Another night. Another bedtime story.)

FLETCHER: They had the love affair of the century Your parents did!

(In lights: THE LOVE OF THE CENTURY.) FLETCHER: For, you see, in his veins coursed the blood of royalty too!

Our father’s father’s father’s father – (Did he ever tell you this? No? Impossible!)

– was the rightful heir to the French throne – (Do you know what an heir is? Very good.)

– who was imprisoned all his life in a high tower In a filthy little cell And do you know what’s worse? Do you?

On his face they set an iron mask And on that mask a lock So that no one who saw him Would ever know who he really was. (pause) His rescue was long and involved A story for another day But the point is this: Your parents loved as only Kings and Queens Can love. And he mourns her now with all his heart. (pause) Goodnight.

(He turns out the light.)

MARIE: Is my blood the blood of royalty too?

FLETCHER: Of course it is, dandelion. Blue blood in your veins.

You are Marie of Romania.

(In lights: ALL HAIL QUEEN MARIE. Marie regards the lights: at first critically appraising them, then with satisfaction.)

(End of scene.)

SCENE III OLD MARIE: At twelve years old I knew all there was to know.

I knew the books in the Bible And the countries on the map All by heart.

I knew how to tie knots And how to get rid of leeches And I knew why cats howled at night.

I knew my father paced the floors After I had gone to bed.

I would wake in the night and hear him And wake in the morning to the same footsteps So I knew he didn’t sleep.

And we’d say grace at the table Often he wouldn’t touch his food He’d just put his head in his hands.

And I knew that this was called mourning.

And I knew that mother wasn’t really

In the ground Where we had put her body.

Still sometimes I went there to visit.

And even though I knew she wasn’t there I felt better.

And now thanks to Uncle Fletcher I was learning other mysterious things They never taught in school.

(She comes into the Fortune Teller’s tent. A crystal ball and a turbaned gypsy lady. In lights: SUBTLE SECRETS OF THE GYPSY.) FORTUNE TELLER: Give me your hand.

(She studies Marie’s hand intently, then gasps.)

FORTUNE TELLER: Look!

MARIE: What is it!

FORTUNE TELLER: Do you see?

MARIE: What do you see?

(In lights: THE FUTURE IS WRITTEN.) FORTUNE TELLER: All of the secrets of your future Are written on your hand.

Do you want to learn All that your life will bring?

(End of scene.)

SCENE IV (Another dusk. The field. Marie and Thomas.)

MARIE: You promised.

You promised.

You promised.

THOMAS: I never. Let’s go see the Mermaid.

MARIE: You always want to see the Mermaid.

It’s like you think the Mermaid’s your mother.

We can’t see the Mermaid, Thomas, she’s sleeping now.

THOMAS: In that case, why don’t we – MARIE: Promise breaker! Promise breaker!

THOMAS: Alright then.

(He holds out his right hand. Marie marvels at it.

The hand and arm are quite shriveled. In lights: A SHRIVELED LIMB.) MARIE: Was it always like this?

THOMAS: I suppose.

MARIE: From when you were a baby?

THOMAS: It’s just the way that I was made.

MARIE: It’s skin and bones, like a dried-up skeleton.

THOMAS: No. MARIE: Dried up like The Monkey’s Paw. THOMAS: No. MARIE: Dried up like a little old Monkey’s Paw! I could make a wish on you!

THOMAS: Oh! (Thomas pulls his hand away.)

THOMAS: That wasn’t very nice.

MARIE: I was only kidding, Thomas.

Gosh! I was only fooling around.

(She makes a funny face, trying to make him laugh.

He doesn’t respond. She makes another funny face.

He runs off.)

(A change: Another day. They watch the Mermaid in her tank. Through the convex lens of the porthole, she appears to be sitting on a rock, deep underwater. Fish swim around her.)

THOMAS: See! She’s part woman... and part fish.

THE MISSING LINK (In lights: SWEET SIREN OF THE WAVES. The Mermaid flips her tail and runs her fingers through her hair. She’s clearly the same woman as the Fortune Teller, but the illusion is complete for the children. Thomas and Marie watch with delight.

The light, as through water, washes over them.)

(End of scene.)

SCENE V OLD MARIE: Then One night I remember, I awoke to the sounds of an argument.

Two voices.

A man and a woman.

I crept to the bedroom door.

The man’s voice was my uncle’s…

But who was the woman?

I cracked the door to try and see.

(Marie watches giant shadows of the argument cast on the wall. In lights: NOT FOR CHILDREN. Marie overhears: The Argument. Indecipherable.

But seething with the possibility of dangerous, grown-up knowledge.)

THE MALE VOICE: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: THE FEMALE VOICE: ################### THE MALE VOICE: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: THE FEMALE VOICE: ################### not again not again YOU PROMISED! BOTH VOICES: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

(The shadows disappear.)

OLD MARIE: I snuck back to bed And shut my eyes as tight as can be. And pretended to be asleep In case anyone should check on me...

Until I was.

And the next morning it was like Nothing had happened.

(The next morning:) FLETCHER: Hello, dandelion! How’d you sleep?

MARIE: Like a log!

I kept rolling all night.

(She cracks herself up.)

FLETCHER: Queen Marie?

I’m going to tell you a secret…

(He winks) The secret is Your uncle is cooking something up.

(He goes off, whistling.)

(End of scene.)

SCENE VI (A meadow. A beautiful summer afternoon.

Fletcher spreads a blanket on the hillside. Helene – the Fortune Teller and the Mermaid in her off hours – carries a picnic basket. She has flowers threaded in her hair. Marie is suspicious of this whole occasion. In lights: THE ADULTS ARE ACTING STRANGE AGAIN.) HELENE: How idyllic!

How beauteous!

You see?

You can leave your wonders and amusements For an hour or so For a picnic…

by Robert Plowman

Hm? And they will still be there when you return.

(Fletcher is uncharacteristically awkward. At a loss for words.)

FLETCHER: Well! Here we are!

HELENE: (to Marie) Your uncle so loves his world of Mirrors that make you thin and Mirrors that make you plump.

MARIE: And so do I! HELENE: Ah, you do?

MARIE: It’s the greatest thing in the world, Uncle, What you’ve done.

I think it’s my favorite place in the world I don’t ever want to leave And I’d like to run it some day FLETCHER: I’ve always said, people like to be amazed!

MARIE: – and, and, and the Mermaid Is… So beautiful!

HELENE: Is she?

Thank you.

(Helene sees that Marie clearly hasn’t made the connection. In lights: OH, THE NAIVETÉ OF YOUTH.) HELENE: But don’t you know, my dear?

(Fletcher signals to Helene not to tell her.)

FLETCHER: (… no…)

MARIE: Don’t I know what?

FLETCHER: (… no…)

MARIE: Don’t I know what?

(Helene simply throws up her hands and laughs.)

HELENE: Ask your uncle then.

Ask Dr. Varanasi himself.

MARIE: (to Fletcher) Don’t I know what?

Tell me!

(Marie is getting cross. Helene laughs.)

(End of scene.)

SCENE VII (The Wax Museum. Marie studies John Wilkes Booth. In lights: A DARING CONFESSION.) MARIE: I don’t think I want to grow up, John Wilkes Booth.

I don’t see the advantage. What I’d like Is to stay just as I am today. But for time To keep going forwards. That would be very pleasant.

The alternative seems barbarous. Shall I Weave flowers in my hair, and powder my nose And laugh, gaily, at nothing at all?

I have a sensible head on my shoulders, Mother said so. And I’m made for important things Like helping my Uncle run this Museum!

What do you think, John Wilkes Booth?

JOHN WILKES BOOTH: Now, consider: a museum, as I see it, Only looks in one direction, and that is To the past. Whereas a girl, a young lady, Such as yourself, Marie, she might look in Any direction she pleases. Let the compass spin.

(John Wilkes Booth never says what Marie wants to hear, but she is continually charmed by his nonsense.)

MARIE: Oh, you talk such nonsense, John Wilkes Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 27

Booth.

(Thomas comes in, not very quickly, but nevertheless out of breath.)

MARIE: What is it Thomas?

THOMAS: It’s… It’s…

MARIE: Slow down, Thomas.

What is it?

THOMAS: Men came.

In a big cart.

It was a team of horses.

Your uncle.

For the Museum.

I was watching ’em.

A crate bigger than Any crate I ever saw.

MARIE: Show me!

(A change: They sneak down to the basement of the Sideshow. In lights: DOWN IN THE CELLAR. Fletcher is illuminated by flickering gaslight. He stands before his prize. The children watch him.

He paces and talks to himself.)

FLETCHER: … step inside step inside right this way…

Ask yourself: can you put a price On amazement? Can you count the value Of expanding your horizons? Would you quibble Over pennies in order to purchase true wisdom?

I offer you a periscope into a cruel and foreign land A land before time A land before the beasts were civilized And I offer all this for the low price of A nickel and a dime.

(The children gasp at the high price.)

FLETCHER: Who’s there!

(He takes up the hatchet, lying nearby.)

FLETCHER: Who’s there!

I can hear you breathing. Come out, you!

MARIE: Why, it’s only us, Uncle.

THOMAS: I’m sorry, sir. We snuck in.

MARIE: Thomas told me there was a delivery.

Something special. And we came to see.

FLETCHER: Children. Come closer.

THOMAS: Are you fixing to hide me, sir.

MARIE: Thomas, he won’t hide you.

FLETCHER: I don’t hold with the switch, Thomas.

MARIE: Don’t be a scaredy cat, Thomas!

FLETCHER: Come closer.

(A change:) OLD MARIE: Isn’t that funny? Some parts of memory How they don’t always line up, one with the other.

It is as clear as a bell to me, like it happened yesterday.

The two of us, me and Thomas, crouched down And spying on my Uncle. Then him calling us out.

That part is clear. And I remember what came next.

But in what came next Thomas isn’t there anymore.

Perhaps he just ran on home. That must’ve been The way it happened.

(A change: In the basement of the Sideshow.

Fletcher and Marie.)

FLETCHER: Come up beside me, child.

It’s right that you’re here beside me. (pause) 28 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

Did you know that your uncle fought in the War? Well it’s true. And I came home With metal in my leg.

Wasn’t a heroic thing that got me sent home Some of war may be heroic, I do believe.

This was not. This villa we captured And were using as barracks, see, One day the munition room went up, Don’t know why, it went up just like that And I was knocked flat on my face.

Whether it was flying glass I don’t know But my body was all cut to ribbons. I woke up And didn’t know what had happened.

Well, when I healed – (Fletcher starts to take off his shirt.)

FLETCHER: – see, when I healed, the gun powder Left its mark on me. It looks like a strange tattoo.

Doesn’t it? Like real Egyptian hieroglyphics.

(Marie looks at her uncle’s chest, all spider-webbed with blue lines.)

FLETCHER: I am a man at home with addressing crowds, But it’s more difficult when a person speaks Of a person.

I suppose I get all twisted with my meaning. (pause) I think this world is full of wondrous things, dandelion.

Did I come back from the war a broken man All covered in scars? Is that what I am? Hm? Or am I The Man That’s Blue All Over! (pause) This Museum is my way of saying to folks, This is perhaps bigger than you think.

I think the world is full of wonderful things, dandelion.

Everywhere I look it seems there’s something wonderful. (pause) But this – This!

I am just tickled pink. I thank my lucky stars.

I wanted to show you first of all.

First! Before anyone!

Are you ready?

(There’s a shipping crate. Fletcher takes a crowbar and pries off the lid. Lifts it. Marie peers inside.)

MARIE: What is it?

FLETCHER: That is a million dollar featured attraction.

Bona fide. Guaranteed. Your jaw will drop.

(Marie looks closer. Recoils at the smell.)

MARIE: What is it?

(In lights: HALF-APE! HALF-MAN! ONE NICKEL AND ONE DIME! THE MISSING LINK!) (End of scene.)

SCENE VIII OLD MARIE: The next day there was a line around the block.

There were reporters. Flash bulbs exploding.

It seemed to me like life was starting over.

The Missing Link, Uncle called it, was set in a room of its own.

The first day it was still in its crate,

The crate tipped up on one end.

Blocks of ice were piled around to keep the temperature low Even in the heat of July.

And the crowds filed past all day From ten o’clock till eight in the evening With just a half hour supper break And a sign that said Be Back Soon.

Within a few days, the supper break Was a thing of the past.

Within a few days my Uncle had knocked out a wall And added a velvet rope With men posted at either door to keep the crowds moving And otherwise beautified the exhibit, Adding an artist’s representation Larger than Life, as he would say, In Oils Depicting the Missing Link fighting the fearsome sabertooth.

Thomas and I wandered through The Hall of Mechanical Marvels Now abandoned by its usual patrons In favor of rarer delights.

With three pennies between us We disputed which machines’ handles we should pull.

(A change: The Hall of Mechanical Marvels. Marie and Thomas.)

THOMAS: Mother said if I don’t behave The Missing Link Will come and catch me.

MARIE: Thomas, you know the Missing Link Is a mummified creature that’s been dead thousands of years.

Don’t you?

THOMAS: But can’t a mummy come out of its tomb And hunt you down if you steal its treasure?

MARIE: That’s true, but there is no tomb here And no one’s stolen anyone’s treasure.

THOMAS: I suppose.

MARIE: Have you stolen anyone’s treasure?

Have you?

THOMAS: … no…

MARIE: So you have nothing to be afraid of.

THOMAS: I suppose.

(They consider the various machines of the Penny Arcade.)

MARIE: I want to play “Love Ends Badly For the Wicked.”

THOMAS: I want to play “The Masque of Red Death.”

MARIE: I want to play “Overcrowded Tenement Inferno.”

THOMAS: Oh, that’s fine with me, I suppose.

(Marie puts a penny in the machine and Thomas takes the first turn watching.)

MARIE: Last night, when everyone went home Uncle let me sit and watch the Missing Link For one quarter hour All alone!

By myself!

I am memorizing its features.

THOMAS: That sounds scary.

MARIE: My turn.

(Marie looks into the viewpiece of the arcade machine and gasps with delight at what she sees.

She steals a glance at Thomas.)

MARIE: Are you still thinking about stolen treasure?

Are you?

THOMAS: … yes…

(A change:) OLD MARIE: I thought, well that settles it.

There’s no going back to school now!

And what? Study history? This is history!

I imagined from now on I’d live at the Sideshow Naturally start to learn the trade How one goes about traipsing around the globe And netting these rare and dangerous creatures And bringing them back to put on display.

And father of course he would visit As he would want to see these beasts As much as you or I. And he would be ever so proud.

(A change: Reprise:) FLETCHER: Step inside!

MARIE: Step inside!

FLETCHER: Right this way!

MARIE: Step inside!

FLETCHER: All for the price of one dime – MARIE: – and one nickel.

(A change:) OLD MARIE: And this will be my life.

From this day forward.

And quite a good one. I imagined.

(End of scene.)

SCENE IX (The Fortune Teller’s booth. Marie rushes in.)

MARIE: Tell me my future.

(The Fortune Teller smokes a cigarette and regards her critically. It’s possible that the Fortune Teller has had a few drinks. Or more than a few.)

FORTUNE TELLER: I told your future yesterday.

How much future can one girl have?

(Marie holds out her hand. The Fortune Teller relents and reads her palm.)

FORTUNE TELLER: Oh! MARIE: What?

FORTUNE TELLER: Oh! MARIE: What do you see?

FORTUNE TELLER: Great things… and terrible things…

Happiness… and misfortune…

Laughter… and sorrow…

Birth… and death…

Love… and fear…

All things wait for you in your future.

(This is a brush off. But Marie doesn’t get the hint.

Marie is amazed. And troubled.)

MARIE: What terrible things?

What misfortune?

And... death?

FORTUNE TELLER: All things die, liebling.

(Dropping the pretense, the Fortune Teller produces the bottle from under the table and drinks.)

MARIE: I don’t believe you.

That doesn’t make any sense.

Everything is going so well.

THE MISSING LINK FORTUNE TELLER: For who?

MARIE: For who?

FORTUNE TELLER: For who?

MARIE: Everyone. For everyone.

Have you seen them standing in line?

They – They – All of them pay a nickel and a dime To see the Missing Link.

And they’re amazed!

FORTUNE TELLER: Perhaps the crystal ball lies…

MARIE:That doesn’t make any sense.

Why should there be misfortune?

FORTUNE TELLER: (a wicked grin) Perhaps you are cursed.

(In lights: PERHAPS YOU ARE CURSED. Marie gasps.)

FORTUNE TELLER: Perhaps. Perhaps no. Who can say?

MARIE: Why would I be cursed?

FORTUNE TELLER: Ask yourself this: Have bad things already started to happen?

MARIE: What bad things?

(The Fortune Teller gestures. Marie holds out her hand. The Fortune Teller reads her palm. Recoils in fear.)

FORTUNE TELLER: Ach! MARIE: What?

FORTUNE TELLER: Go! You must go! Go now!

MARIE: What do you see?

FORTUNE TELLER: If you do not believe in bad luck...

Ask the beautiful Mermaid.

(End of scene.)

SCENE X OLD MARIE: These things I remember of Dr. Varanasi’s Sideshow: I remember the tin ceiling of the lobby And the chandelier converted from gaslight to electric.

And dancing down the floors in my bare feet Through the pools of dirty water after mopping.

I remember the ticket taker licking her thumb To peel off tickets. And I remember the seventeen steps Covered in metal that led to the Mermaid’s Cave.

I’d stand at the bottom and throw an Indian rubber ball And have it come back at me. I remember Pressing my face against the giant eye Of the underwater window to her world How the glass was worn a funny sort of smooth From so many hands wanting to touch.

And this day when I came down the seventeen steps To the Mermaid’s Cave there was no one there.

No one pressed against the glass.

No Mermaid swimming behind it.

It was a cement floor – Especially Reinforced to Support the Weight Of One Thousand Tons of Water, my Uncle would say – And I sat down on the cement floor… and waited.

(Marie sits and waits. The light, as through water, washes over her.)

by Robert Plowman

(A change: It’s dark now. Marie has fallen asleep.

She wakes to see the Mermaid peering at her, from the other side of the glass. Stillness. The Mermaid, smiling, turns and disappears. Then she reappears, further away, sitting on the familiar reef.)

MARIE: Where has everyone gone?

Doesn’t anyone come to visit you now?

Are you alone all day?

But you’re a queen of the ocean!

How long does it take for someone to notice something?

And what if something happens and no one notices ever?

(The Mermaid flips her tail. In lights: 1ST MISFORTUNE.) MARIE: It must be true, what the gypsy woman said Bad things have begun to happen and No one even noticed till now!

(The Mermaid’s voice crackles through a loudspeaker that Marie has never seen before. Her voice sounds full of bubbles and very far underwater.)

THE MERMAID: You mustn’t be so serious, darling.

MARIE: What?

THE MERMAID: For the love of God, you’re only twelve years old!

(End of scene.)

SCENE XI (Marie sits in a tree outside of Thomas’s bedroom window. She raps on the glass.)

MARIE: (sotto voce) Thomas!

THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) What?

MARIE: (sotto voce) Come to the window.

THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) I can’t.

MARIE: (sotto voce) She spoke to me.

THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) Who? MARIE: (sotto voce) Open the window!

THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) I’m in bed.

MARIE: (sotto voce) I didn’t know she could speak.

THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) Mother says MARIE: (sotto voce) I know your mother says Not to get out of bed She told me so herself When I knocked on your front door Now open the window.

(Thomas comes to the window in pajamas, looking just slightly more sickly than usual.)

THOMAS: I don’t feel good.

MARIE: Have you a fever?

THOMAS: I don’t think so.

MARIE: The Mermaid spoke to me.

THOMAS: Oh dear. What did she say?

MARIE: She said that there’s a curse And bad things are going to happen.

THOMAS: Oh dear. What bad things now?

MARIE: Like misfortune And sorrow And death.

THOMAS: That’s true. Those do happen.

MARIE: You look terrible.

THOMAS: Maybe it’s part of the curse.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 29

(Marie gasps. It makes a terrible sort of sense. In lights: 2ND MISFORTUNE.) MARIE: Go back to bed. Hurry on back to bed, Thomas.

You need to rest and get better right away.

THOMAS: Mother says – MARIE: I know what your mother says.

You need to rest and get better right away.

THOMAS: I don’t feel good, Marie.

(A change: The Fortune Teller’s tent. Marie and the Fortune Teller.)

MARIE: The rhinoceros horn!

FORTUNE TELLER: Its healing powers might help your friend But who will help the Mermaid?

MARIE: The Monkey’s Paw! FORTUNE TELLER: It grants only three wishes And when the wishes come true You wish they hadn’t.

If you want to lift the curse You know what you need to do.

Can’t you feel the bad luck spreading?

Like a disease that you carry.

Think it over as long as you like And we’ll see what other misfortunes Befall you In the meantime.

(End of scene.)

SCENE XII OLD MARIE: I went to bed without supper that night Feeling a terrible premonition Of things to come.

I awoke without a sense of where I was.

The room looked strange I thought, you’re only dreaming, But I wasn’t. Again, for the second time I awoke to an argument in a far-off room.

My Uncle, whose voice’s natural volume was A roar, who never said an unkind word to anyone Not in my presence: It was his voice I was sure of it, saying Words I had never heard before Though I felt confident I understood their meaning – (The bedroom. That night. Marie overhears: The Argument. Indecipherable. But seething with the possibility of dangerous, grown-up knowledge. A siren song to her:) THE MALE VOICE: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: THE FEMALE VOICE: ################### THE MALE VOICE: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: THE FEMALE VOICE: ################### OLD MARIE: – and then a cry and a thump and things falling, A crash, something breaking, a woman crying, I cracked open the door to try and see.

(Two shadows, enormous, on the wall. The man holding the woman up, speaking in soothing tones.)

THE MALE VOICE: … just for a little while…

THE FEMALE VOICE: … please, please…

THE MALE VOICE: … no, no, just for a little while…

THE FEMALE VOICE: … please…

30 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

THE MALE VOICE: … it’s only for a little while…

THE FEMALE VOICE: … please…

THE MALE VOICE: … the Mermaid’ll go away And later on, you’ll see, she’ll return.

Just for a spell…

OLD MARIE: I closed the door to make the shadows stop.

(A change: The passage of time. The world has become peculiar.)

OLD MARIE: Like seeing a ship far off in the harbor And having no way to gauge its size I felt this premonition And couldn’t measure it – No reference point! – Until it was so close I could see It was not simply “large” It was a monster The size of everything Jaws open Set to swallow me. (pause) I lay there saying, Help… help… help me…

But I was hardly making a sound. (pause) I went to the door.

(When Marie opens the door: the shadows on the wall are locked in a dance-like tangle. Dangerous and sexual. He growls; she throws back her head and laughs. Marie closes the door and the shadows disappear.)

OLD MARIE: I lay in my bed And realized a number of things all at once: (In lights: THERE’S BLOOD BETWEEN MY LEGS. I’M DYING. 3RD MISFORTUNE.) (End of scene.)

SCENE XIII OLD MARIE: I remember When my mother was alive I would say, I remember When I was only eighteen months And you would bathe me in the sink And I remember watching Sparrows in the yard Out the window And laughing.

And mother would say Of course not No one remembers that Not at that age.

You’re remembering me telling you.

Oh no, I’d say, I remember. I do.

And she would insist and I would insist, and who’s to say?

All these things I say I said When I was twelve And these memories of things said to me Are more distinct than what I did this morning.

I feel no distance between the desire of that girl To know why her father was unhappy

And myself. The question haunts me in the same way Not as regret for something done or never done but In the burning need for something happening now.

And as a child, yes, I never asked my Uncle Well, who was this woman in his life? – For it was no mystery. Do you see?

What if I were to ask him now?

(Fletcher comes on.)

MARIE: Well?

FLETCHER: Hm. Mm-hm. Yes. Well, it’s peculiar.

(Fletcher chuckles. Clears his throat. Shuffles his feet. Pulls out his pockets, like a magician, to show there’s nothing inside. Hums and haws.)

FLETCHER: And that’s the long and the short of it.

(Fletcher goes.)

MARIE: I intend to be as untroubled now As I was then For the pieces of this story that I knew In my twelve-year-old wisdom Did not concern me.

Even now I am the girl Lying in her bed Who believes That she is dying.

(End of scene.)

SCENE XIV (The bedroom. The terrifying night. Marie tosses between dream and waking nightmare. Lit by moonlight through the window. Someone stands over her in the darkness. It is the Fortune Teller.)

FORTUNE TELLER: Have bad things already begun to happen All around you?

And what further misfortunes await you In your future?

Once one bad thing happens One bad thing leads to another And another and another Until all the world is Filled with misfortune.

I want to play “The Unluckiest Girl Alive.”

(As though she put a coin in an arcade machine, a huge diorama springs to life behind the Fortune Teller.)

(In the diorama: A smiling girl eats a lollipop. The dog beside her catches on fire. The firemen who arrive catch on fire. The buildings catch on fire.

People fall out of the sky, screaming. Giant spiders cover the face of the earth.)

FORTUNE TELLER: If you want to make the bad things stop, liebling, You know what must be done.

(The Fortune Teller disappears.)

MARIE: Wait. Am I dying?

(Now, the Mermaid appears before her. The Mermaid’s words still sound as though she is speaking underwater.)

THE MERMAID: Oh darling! Yes! You are dying!

Don’t be sad! We’ll meet again On the bottom of the sea.

And we’ll ride on the backs of giant turtles.

And dress in kelp and coral.

You’ll be there with all the royalty And your mother too!

I want to play “The Laughing Princess.”

(Another mechanical diorama: Amid the fish, swim a school of princesses. They all dance on the bottom of the ocean and are happy. Until the Kraken comes and eats everyone.)

THE MERMAID: I don’t want to go.

I’ll miss you, my darling.

(The Mermaid disappears.)

MARIE: I’m dying.

Everyone’s dying.

Everyone, everywhere.

(Now, Helene appears before her.)

HELENE: Don’t be foolish, no one’s dying.

We’ll get you fresh sheets And I’ll take good care of you.

You’re only becoming a woman.

(In lights: THE CROWNING MISFORTUNE.) (End of scene.)

SCENE XV (The next morning. Marie is not happy about the world. Fletcher is shaving with the straight razor, his face lathered with shaving cream.)

FLETCHER: Queen Marie!

Good morning!

How are you?

Don’t answer!

No details!

I feel bad, girl!

Happy for you!

But terrible!

And I’m no help, you know that!

I’m just what I am, and not much at that!

Useless.

And children?

And girls?

No, thank you!

But you’ve never been a girl to me.

And you’re no more a child than I am!

Or less. Let’s be frank!

And now, you’re no child now, no sir.

You’re a woman. By gum!

It’s a great thing!

No details!

Couldn’t be more sorry!

Useless.

Congratulations.

Now we’ve had our talk and Never need to speak of it again.

Shake?

(Somewhere in this, he’s finished his shaving, washed his face, slapped on aftershave, pulled up his suspenders, and done up his tie. Fletcher and Marie shake hands. A little cool on her part.)

FLETCHER: Walk with me to the Museum, dandelion?

MARIE: Don’t mind if I do.

(Without moving, they arrive at the Museum.)

FLETCHER: After you, Queen Marie.

Before we open today Why don’t you and I inspect

THE MISSING LINK Our prize exhibit, hm?

(Without moving, they arrive at the Missing Link exhibit. Fletcher opens the curtain and we see the Missing Link for the first time: It is perhaps four feet tall. Mummified. Looks like an ape. The lighting for the exhibit conceals as much as it reveals.

In lights: BEHOLD. THE MISSING LINK.) FLETCHER: Look at him!

Look at the great beast!

Can you see him roam the savannah?

Hm? In search of prey? Yes? Child of apes! Father to man!

Do you know: They parade past this beast Near one thousand every day And many emerge weeping. Men and women both!

Scientists are writing me to inspect my claim.

I make no claim. None! Just look at him…

MARIE: Uncle, where did he come from?

FLETCHER: You know this story, silly.

MARIE: Remind me, then.

FLETCHER: I was contacted.

They found it.

You see, the sand preserves the creature Prevents the effects of time from – Decay and so forth – The party didn’t want to be named they – I’ve told this story over and over And it’s grown threadbare I’m sorry.

In any case, you remember.

MARIE: Uncle?

FLETCHER: Hm? MARIE: Where is Romania?

FLETCHER: Oh it’s You know One of those kingdoms in Is it a country?

Perhaps it I know it used to be a Oh, the Black Sea and Oh, the Carpathian Mountain pass, it’s As a matter of fact, I’m not entirely – (He trails off. Marie leaves him. Engrossed in the Missing Link, Fletcher doesn’t notice her leave.)

(End of scene.)

SCENE XVI (The Fortune Teller’s tent. Marie and the Fortune Teller.)

FORTUNE TELLER: You see now?

MARIE: I see now.

FORTUNE TELLER: You understand.

MARIE: I do.

FORTUNE TELLER: Misfortune – MARIE: – breeds misfortune.

FORTUNE TELLER: And the only way to end it – MARIE: – is to make things the way they were before.

FORTUNE TELLER: Yes? MARIE: I’ll make Uncle get rid of – FORTUNE TELLER: No. MARIE: I’ll – FORTUNE TELLER: If you speak a word of this – MARIE: No?

by Robert Plowman

FORTUNE TELLER: If you – MARIE: Then no.

FORTUNE TELLER: To him or anyone.

MARIE: Then – FORTUNE TELLER: Yes? MARIE: Then… I… will...

(Pause.)

FORTUNE TELLER: Give me your hand.

MARIE: What does it say?

FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand says…

MARIE: Tell me.

FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand…

MARIE: What.

FORTUNE TELLER: It says you are capable of anything.

MARIE: But – FORTUNE TELLER: Of anything at all.

MARIE: But – FORTUNE TELLER: That no one can stop you.

MARIE: But – FORTUNE TELLER: That everything you want is yours.

MARIE: It is?

FORTUNE TELLER: Do it at night.

MARIE: At night?

FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand says.

MARIE: What else?

FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand says MARIE: What – FORTUNE TELLER: It says, all the misfortune will end.

MARIE: Will end.

FORTUNE TELLER: Yes. MARIE: All of it.

FORTUNE TELLER: Yes. Provided you tell no one.

(FORTUNE TELLER takes out a leather pouch and unfurls it on the table: A hammer. A chisel. A saw.)

FORTUNE TELLER: You see now?

MARIE: I see now.

FORTUNE TELLER: You understand.

MARIE: All the misfortune will end.

(In lights: ALL THE MISFORTUNE WILL END. Marie takes the tools.)

FORTUNE TELLER: And do it at night.

(Blackout. Only the sign remains.)

(End of Act One.)

Read Act Two of The Missing Link on the SETC website at www.setc.org/ the-missing-link

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 31

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS . . .

Editor: Scott Phillips

Words, words, words … [Hamlet II,ii] reviews books on theatre that have a connection to the Southeast or may be of special interest to SETC members. Scott Phillips, associate professor and chair of the Auburn University Department of Theatre, edits this regular column. If you have a book for review, please send to: SETC, Book Editor, 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14, Greensboro, NC 27405.

The Prop Building Guidebook: For Theatre, Film, and TV

late 2009. His new book, The Prop Building

book brings together years of prop building

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