The show's title comes from a line delivered by the Duchess in the play's fourth act that provides the through-line for Webster's original.

The Duchess, who earlier envies the birds' ability to 'choose their mates and carol their sweet pleasures to the spring', later remarks to Cariola, her maid, that 'the robin red breast and the nightingale, never live long in cages'.

Chamberlain (voice of Ferdinand), who also directs this production, has chosen to emphasize transcendence in his revised presentation of the Duchess's story. To realize this, he creates a dream-like state that mixes the real and the imagined to focus attention on Bosola's and the Duchess's triumph over the intense psychological trauma present in Webster's text. This is best illustrated in his disembodiment of Duke Ferdinand's character. The Duchess's brother and the play's chief antagonist, Ferdinand is reduced to only a voice in Chamberlain's adaptation, contributing a haunting, hallucinatory effect to the story.

To read more about Travis's take on Webster's text, click here.

Adding to this psychological treatment is Chamberlain's employment of a chorus of madmen.

"They are very much a presence throughout the play, but not necessarily verbal, as is the traditional function of a chorus," says Adam Gerdts, company member and assistant director/stage manager for this production. "They are infused in the action of the play, existing as madmen, but also as aspects of other characters' consciousness."

A director in his own right, Adam spoke with Travis about the project before the formation of The Collection Agency, shortly after they both moved to New York.

Then Travis pitched his idea for adapting Malfi, already called "Never Live Long in Cages" to the group of friends that would form TCA. And it fit.

"I've always respected Travis as a director," Gerdts says. "The aspect of Travis's directing style I respect the most is his commitment to nurturing the growth of a production organically. He does not impose his ideas, but works with the cast to explore and find the best answers to tough questions."

The use of the madmen in "Cages" put Chamberlain's directing style to the test. According to Gerdts, the madmen have a visceral influence on the action of "Never Live Long in Cages". Working with this character-chorus "proved to be the most challenging part of their rehearsals," Gerdts says. He credits Travis's approach to the process as working well with the actors as they mutually explored realizing his vision on the stage.

"I do think Travis has a very specific vision of what he wants to accomplish with his work, whether with an individual production or as a more vague long-term goal, and his vision is very inspiring to the actors and designers," Ries says. "I think Travis's specific vision helps drive the rest of the members to produce their best work, and therefore will make The Collection Agency successful."

The UNC Connection
If Travis is helping write a new chapter in the careers of the Collection Agency members, the group's present is rooted very deeply in its past. The Collection Agency benefited from a collegiate cross pollination effect as members of the eventual theatre company were introduced to, or discovered, each other at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill through a patchwork of shows done while students there.

"The environment in which we worked [in college] was very conducive to exploration and discovery, and much of the work we produced was very unique and specific," Ries says.

Then graduation came, plucking a few students each year. Each set of fresh grads moved to New York for obvious reasons. They arrived in New York with great expectations for the caliber of theatre that the city offered, but discovered first-hand that, despite popular belief and much to their disappointment, not every show being produced in New York was good.

This creative angst laid the groundwork for the ensemble's formation. As this network of friends began sharing its feelings, the seeds for future collaboration were planted.

"Basically, we knew each other, trusted each other, and wanted to work, so a small group of us got together and talked about what we wanted to do to further our 'careers' and feel like we were a part of something," Kinney (a madman) says.

"Sometimes the inevitable just makes sense," says Karen Sault (voice of Ferdinand) of the group's formation.

What brought them back together was a lingering desire to produce theatre that was valuable to them as learning tools, as well as significant and relevant to the audience. They sought to return to the type of creative environment in which "every creative impulse is valued...and the things which don't work for the production at the moment are discarded with respect for the creative place from which they came," Ries says.

So when Travis proposed his idea for an ensemble production, the rest of the group eagerly bit. And they sunk their teeth into quite a project featuring Jacobean language, the use of ritual elements and electronic sound and a staging that emphasizes psychological dysfunction. It all amounts to fodder for exceptional work and fertile ground for the generation of a dynamic ensemble.

"For some reason fortune brings us back in contact with each other," Sault says. "Will we all stay together indefinitely? Who knows. But through this company we are creating, we hope to have developed something we can come back to: a center."

Editor's Note:
Interest in John Webster's plays has increased in recent months. The Sydney Theatre Company recently brought his play, "The White Devil," adapted and directed by Gale Edwards, to BAM's Howard Gilman Opera House.