Beginning Fight Work for Two Gents

Greetings folks! We have started to rehearse, and we are now up on our feet. What does that mean? It means we make interesting subjects for pictures! Here are some of the pictures from tonight's fight work. You will see some familiar faces from our last productions: The Shadows of Edgar Allan Poe, and Your Swash Is Unbuckled, among others. Our lovely experienced fighters helped us choreograph this fight between Proteus and his manservant Sebastian (who is his forsaken lover, Julia, in disguise) and outlaws who have captured his current object of desire, Silvia.

Proteus and Sebastian (played by Nick Snyder and August Roy) surprise the outlaws.

Silvia (Lindsay Dixon) takes charge of the fight, attempting to escape.

Sebastian is thrown back my Silvia's mighty struggle.

Silvia is captured again, and Proteus carries her off, while Mark Hardiman (director) looks on to check safety. 

Commedia dell'arte from our dramaturg, Jim Seay

What is Commedia dell' Arte. You may understandably ask. The simple answer is that it is a form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th Century and spread out from there, The performers (they are not called actors!) have a scenario (in outline form) and a performing troupe would generally have about a week to improvise an entire performance from a stage direction that may well read something like “Pedrolino and Oratio enter and do something funny,” or, perhaps “Everyone comes on stage and resolves everything happily,” Since the entire performance in improvisation and comedy, people not familiar with actually performing in the Commedia dell' Arte generally thin it is quite easy to do, Nothing could be further from the truth. Actually this pair of features (improvisation and comedy) make it one of the most difficult forms of western theatre, The performers (not the playwright) write the dialogue. Which means that they must have the wit and imagination of a playwright. Since the action and dialogue are improvised, there are no cues and timing is much more important than in conventional theatre, Since the performance is also comedic, the timing requirements are unforgiving. In conventional theatre the actor can be semi-tragic and the audience will still feel it, or he can be semi-funny and they will still laugh, not true in the Commedia dell'arte.

The characters in the Commedia are stock, but they usually include the following:

• Pantalone:(who is a Merchant of Venice [not to be confused with Antonio in Shakespeare's play of that name), He is rich, greedy and miserly])
• Gratiano who is a pedant, usually a lawyer, PLEASE NOTE: since both Pantalone and Gratiano are old men, they are referred to as vecchi, which is Italian for “old male characters.”
• Pedrolino & Arlecchino: who are servants of the old men and are known, collectively, as Zanni
• In addition to these stock characters, most Commedia dell' Arte performances will have the amorosi (lovers)
• Il Capitano,(a Spanish soldier who is full of bluff and bluster but actually afraid of his own shadow.) along with a section of villains and others.

The Commedia dell' Arte, despite being an Italian art form, has had a notable influence on English.

Here are a few:

• The word “pants” comes from *guess where?) Pantalone (via pantaloons which are the type of  dress that Pantalone wore on stage. Before the Comedia,they were called “Venetian breeches.)
• The word, “zany” comes from (you guessed it!) the two zanni,Doesn't this give you a pretty good idea of how they behave on stage?
• Harlequin is the French version of Arlecchino.

So much for the small influences – now let's go for the big ones! Let's just mention one from Scenarios of the Commedia dell'arte, a translation of Flaminio la Scala's collection of scenarios, published in  1611, taken from the “argument” (or introduction) of the play: “There lived in Florence two gentlemen called Pantalone and Gratiano. They were old men of noble families, and bore a long hatred for each other ... Oratio [Pantalone's son] had fallen in love with Isabella. Daughter of his enemy [Gratiano] ... [Isabella] too, with the help of a physician, a potion which would put her into a death-like sleep.... ”Now does that sound familiar? And we thought Willie-the-Shake swiped R&J from the Greeks (Pyramus and Thisbe) Except Shakespeare turned it into a tragedy, where this Commedia scenario was actually a set-up for a comedy. In point of fact, many of Shakespeare's plays (including Two Gentlemen of Verona} share so many points of similarity with many of the scenarios of the Commedia dell'arte that it seems pretty likely that ol' Will had seen them or at least was familiar with them! What was that Brendan Behan said? “Talent plagiarizes. Genius steals.”

Opening May 29 in collaboration Theatre in The Park LLCC Theatre will be doing a Commedia dell'arte inspired version of Shakespeare's Comedy, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

Commedia (as it is known) was a renaissance improvised comedy that used broad physical comedy. It is from Commedia that we have acquired the term "slapstick.". The slapstick is a wooden bat of sorts that is thin and flat. It has two parallel boards so that when it is used to strike someone it makes a loud clapping sound.

The illustration above depicts Harlequin (or Arlecchino) one of the clownish characters in Commedia holding a slapstick.

Interview with Dramaturg Jim Seay

Jim Seay is a local theatre advocate who has been doing work in the arts for his entire adult life, aside from his work in the airforce. He has studied at ISU, and has worked on projects in California, to Washington D.C., and even in Dublin, Ireland. He has worked on TV shows, movies, and staged plays. In addition he has written 18 plays and a musical. Collectively, he has sixty-plus years of experience in acting, directing, producing, and writing for the stage. Now he works with LLCC as a dramaturg for their production of The Shadows of Edgar Allan Poe appearing at the Hoogland Center for the Arts.

To begin our conversation, I asked him what his role was, as a dramaturg.

Roy: So, to start us off, tell me, what exactly is the role of a dramaturg, and why is it so crucial to have one on the creative team of this production?

Seay: Well, actually, dramaturg’s a position that is not too well known in the United States. It’s been well used in Europe for many many years, but it is just beginning to be recognized in the [U.S.]. What a dramaturg basically does is [a creative team member] who does research and takes that effort off the director, and then helps the cast with their understanding of the role. It’s very important here because we are taking something not written for the theatre but is written as either prose or poetry, to be a stand alone sort of thing. The director, Mark, has taken [these] pieces and welded them into a single dramatic unit. Therefore it is necessary for the cast to understand not only the complete unit as a piece of theatre, but to understand the individual writings by Poe as well. Thanks to the internet and the World Wide Web and whathaveyou, a dramaturg no longer has to spend long hours in the stacks of the library, which is good, but… I am of an age when I feel kind of guilty doing it that way… Even though it is accessible to people with a computer and contact with the internet, I can do it and save people that much trouble. That is primarily my job as a dramaturg and why it is important.

Roy: If I heard you correctly, it sounds like you are saying you are a guiding force, to help make the text understood by the audience, as well as the cast and crew?

Seay: Well, if I understand your question, basically yes. Although I don’t have much control over the audience. That’s where the director and the cast and crew come in, their job is to communicate with the audience. My job is to just make certain everyone understands Poe. This is a fairly young cast and a lot of ‘em don’t know all of the words Poe uses. Some of [the words] are a bit antique, some of them are just obsolescent I guess one could say. Also to help them to understand the piece of poetry in itself, and some of his allusions. Like in The Raven it says “Ah distinctly I remember It was in the bleak December And each separate dying ember Wrought its ghost upon the floor.” Now these kids aren’t old enough to be around open fireplaces, most of ‘em if they do have fireplaces, they’re gas logs, and so they’ve not seen bits of a log pop out [of the fireplace] and that little bit of smoke come up from it as it goes out. I think this is one of the beautiful images of Poe, and I’m just using it as an example of something that I would try to make sure that a person understands. I am the behind the scene guy doing research. Had this been thirty years ago I would have been the behind the scenes guy who would have been buried in stacks [of books] at the library, making all kinds of notes with pencil and paper and having volumes of “forgotten lore” stacked around me.

Roy: What part of this production is most crucial, to you?

Seay: Well, as a dramaturg, the most crucial part is understanding. If I can get the cast to understand not  only the thing as a dramatic whole, but as different segments of Edgar Allan Poe, and his writing, why then to me that’s the essence of my job.

Roy: What is your favorite part of this job?

Seay: Oh… [Of dramaturgy in general] I guess the research. I just love knowledge for the sake of knowledge. And if I find out something I didn’t know in my efforts, which is always the case, to me that is a victory, something I like.

Roy: What do you hope the audience walks away from this production with?

Seay: Well I hope the audience walks away from the production with an understanding of the influence of Poe’s writing upon itself, and upon them, as an audience. You see Poe, in my estimation, Poe is one of the major American authors even though he’s kind of overlooked. Such people as T. S. Elliot referred to him as being a pre-pubescent adolescent… About the only American author I can think of who really appreciated Poe was Walt Whitman. And now you cross the pond, and it’s just the opposite. Charles Baudelaire discovered Poe and just thought Poe was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Baudelaire was probably a better poet than Poe, but he gives an awful lot of credit to Poe in Baudelaire’s own works. T.S. Elliot couldn’t stand him.

Roy: How long have you being doing theatre, or worked on things related to theatre?

Seay: WIth exception of the time I was in the airforce, my entire adult life. I would say.. 60 years. I have done work in central Illinois, in Washington D.C., Dublin, Ireland, California… I’ve got rather extensive credits on stage mostly, and some work on televisions, and some work in the motion pictures although I don’t like doing motion pictures. I don’t have a feeling of… completeness in it… Everything is driven by the production end of it, rather than the artistic end of it, at least that’s how I feel. I can be in a movie... and I have no feeling of fulfillment from it. I much prefer the stage. I like doing something as a whole, not as bits and pieces. And also, like most actors, and indeed directors, I feed off the audience. [That circuit between the audience and the actors] is the reason theatre is still here. With technology these days, there is no reason that the theatre’s touch still exists. Yet it goes back to the time of Thespius. Aside from acting and directing, I have also been a critic and a playwright. I wrote for non-professional theatre, and the high school, that sort of things. I have written about 18 plays and musicals.

If you would like to know more about Seay’s writing, he recommends his play and musical “How The West Was Fun.” His publisher is Samuel French.

The Physics of "Imaginary" Props By August Roy

The Physics of "Imaginary" Props 

An Exploration of Mime and the Actor

By August G. Roy

Props are those lovely things actors use on the stage. This can be a book, a sword, a plate, a bottle, or a goblet. As actors, props are often very difficult. The show can easily be consumed by too many props, and the production could end by being a show about props. That isn't something we want to happen, is it? Nope! So what do we do? We mime. This leads to many other problems, some of which are harder to face than learning how to use "concrete" props, rather than "imaginary" or "mimed" props. 

You probably think of the scary clown-like guy in black and white face paint, gloves, striped shirt paired with black pants doing the "Crap, I can't talk and I am stuck in a box!" or "Look at me! I am pulling on a rope!" and it kinda gave you the willies, yes? Me too. No offense to anyone who is living a successful life as a mime. Yay, for you!!! 

We as actors have learned some amazing things from mimes. We have learned how to fix a point in space and remember it, we have learned to leave that spot, come back to it after a few hours, and remember exactly where we left it. We have learned how to turn that spot, that tiny fleck in space, into a plane... into a cube with properties of weight, texture, and malleability... After we master these techniques, we move onto other things... like building ropes, and walls... but also building temperature into our objects. One of the first experiments I did as an actor exploring these techniques was picturing my favorite mug with my favorite hot beverage in my hand, learning how it felt, smelled, and tasted even though the mug and the beverage did not exist.

Those beginning steps help give us as actors the ability to do things like mime props in a large scale production when there are too many complex pieces to try to use real props, as in this show. Sometimes there are too many parts to a show to add any little bits. When we use fabric, as we do, it is tricky to monitor placement of props on the stage and not create a larger safety hazard. 

Tonight, actors worked on the physics involved with beverages and how to toast with mimed glasses. The creative staff and actors who have study these techniques gave the other ensemble members a crash course in miming techniques. Luckily, we are a full-service theatre program, and we use real props to train actors to use mimed props. Below is one of our actors learning how to stand up and toast with a full glass.

Photo Documentation Of Our work with Fabric, Light, and Movement

Remember when we posted about how working with fabric as an actor is a HUGE pain, SO difficult to learn, and INFURIATING to adapt to? Well, here are some of the fruits of our labor! Look at how it floats and glides. We think it is worth the work to have such grace on the stage!

Here is a lovely selection of bits from the last two weeks of our rehearsal. Pieces in these photos include Tell-Tale Heart, Cask, The Raven, Bells, Masque, Annabel Lee, and finally Pit and the Pendulum.

Our lighting design student, Tim, is doing a great job with the lights! Assistant director Shannon has been so helpful with the fabric. And, of course, the actors are showing up and doing stuff. Great job everyone! Keep it up as we enter the final weeks before we get to the location!

What is art? Why Does it matter? by August Roy

What Is Art? Why Does It Matter?

An Interview With Mark Hardiman

By August Roy

I am the PRM intern on this production, as part of my coursework in the Serving Up Art class, taught by Tom Irwin for the Liberal Studies program at UIS. Over the course of the semester, I have been asked many times what art is, what it means, why it is important to the community, and why I chose art as an important factor in my own life. Myself and the other students in the course are being called to answer questions like "How can art affect a community?" "How can art change lives?" "Can art change perspectives, or affect an individual's view of the world?" I decided this would be a good interview topic for my supervisor and long-time director and artist.

Roy: What is art in your opinion?

Hardiman: That is an interesting question. I think... I think art is what happens when an artist makes a choice. Now you bring up an interesting point. It must be an artist who makes the decision, that is when art is made. Not just any person, but an artist. I don't think it matters what kind of art, be it sculpture, painting, architecture, or my chosen field, theatre. Art could be an artist standing on top of a mountain and throwing a rock off a cliff, but not a rock falling off a cliff of its own accord, because there was no artist making a choice.

Roy: Why does art matter?

Hardiman: Hamlet says, "..to hold, as 'twere, a mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image..." I think art tells our stories. Art is created by artists who make choices  Audience members, specific to theatre, but applicable across the board, relate to art through what they know, through their own perspectives and experiences. Each experience of the art is different,  unique and personal.

Roy: So what does that mean for how art can impact an audience? Do you think that art can change perspectives, perhaps even inspire social change?

Hardiman: I think that art can make a change, but it works slowly over time. It is the water on the stone. There are historic art pieces that have caused riots, Waiting for Lefty is one of them Art often serves as a trigger. Ibsen’s A Dolls House inspired the popularization of the feminist sensibility in ways that had not been done before. Boal and Valedez created theatre that inspired change through education. Brecht arguably did the same thing.

For further insights on Waiting for Lefty, wait no longer, a review of the play is here, reference to the riot that broke out after its first performance is here  A gripping article about A Doll's House, including relevancy then and now, and here.  For a better understanding of Ibsen, try here.  For more information on Boal try this,  Brecht try this.  For information on the contributions of Louis Valdez see the site for Teatro Campesino. See Hamlet, Act III Scene ii, for the full speech Hardiman quoted in our interview.