The Acting Company takes great books to stages nationwide
By Chad Fasca
In the November issue of Zoetrope All-Story magazine, Edward Albee wrote a piece titled "Why Read Plays" that espoused an interesting belief: that reading is perhaps the most direct way of experiencing the playwright’s intentions. Albee’s 'never judge a play by its production' perspective sounds striking given that it eschews interpretation in the forum it was created for. But construing things outside their original realm has its merits. Nuances lost in conventional interpretations can be uncovered. New ideas can be sparked.
The Acting Company (TAC), a twenty-seven-year-old touring repertory theatre company, has embarked on an ambitious five-year project, dubbed "The American Century," to apply new dramatic interpretations to great works of fiction. The brainchild of Associate Producing Director Richard Corley, The American Century will present five classic works of literature to audiences throughout the country.
"This is, and has always been, primarily a classical theatre company. And I have always been interested in that work as a director, but I also have a deep interest in new plays," Corley says.
As a touring company, TAC cannot simply commission new work, because venues across the country will not book something that does not have "name" recognition. So, Corley had to find common ground between his artistic draw toward new plays and the company's mission to promote classic theatre nationally.
To overcome this obstacle, Corley proposed matching contemporary American playwrights together with the great literature of America's past, "a marriage across time," Corely says. Thus, the American Century was born.
Though not to be confused with the Whitney Exhibition bearing the same name, TAC's American Century is equally ambitious. Every season for the next five years the company will present a new play based on a great work of twentieth century American fiction. These original plays will combine the triumphs of beloved American authors with the talents of contemporary dramatists.
The American Century serves a dual purpose: to develop new plays based on great American fiction through adaptations by some of our best living playwrights, and to present those plays to students all across America during the Acting Company's tour. The company hopes this marriage across time will expose young minds to both the transforming power of theater and the literary heritage of our last century.
The first, "O Pioneers!" adapted by Darrah Cloud, with music by Kim Sherman, was a logical choice, said Corley, because the script already existed (it was produced in the early 90's), and we would only need to create a revision. This meant we could get the project running quickly.
"O Pioneers!" tells the story of Alexandra, an enterprising Swedish immigrant who leads her family from uncertainty to prosperity on the desolate plains of 1890s Nebraska. Throughout the years, Alexandra sacrifices her own personal interests to secure the well being of her kin, yet she finds herself shunned by her own brothers and neighbors. Only after tremendous hardship and loss does she finally reap the rewards of her hard work.
"O Pioneers!" was originally co-produced by the Women's Project & Productions and Seattle Repertory Theatre, and played at Boston's Huntington Theatre and Baltimore's Center Stage to critical acclaim. It was later filmed for PBS' American Playhouse series, starring Mary McDonnell. The Acting Company's version featured significant new scenes and music by Cloud and Sherman, and was directed by Richard Corley.
The second project is a commission of Mark Twain's novel "Pudd'nhead Wilson," by playwright Charles Smith.
Written in 1894, "Pudd'nhead Wilson" follows the story of a young slave woman, Roxana, who, fearing for her infant's son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's child. From this rather simple premise, Mark Twain fashioned a biting, entertaining satire. On its surface, "Pudd'nhead Wilson" possesses all the elements of a turn-of-the-century mystery novel: reversed identities, a horrible crime, a detective, a courtroom drama, and a surprising, unusual conclusion. But beneath this conventional surface, the book exposes criminality in racial prejudice and slavery.
Roxana's natural son, Tom Driscoll, grows up in a privileged household to become a criminal. He finances his gambling debts by selling her to a slave trader. He also murders his reputed uncle. Meanwhile, Roxy raises Valet de Chambre as a slave, until David "Pudd'nhead" Wilson, an eccentric lawyer, uncovers the true identities of Tom and Valet. Roxy is exposed. Tom is sold into slavery. Valet becomes an illiterate, uncouth landholder. And Wilson is elected mayor.
The choice of Smith, an African-American playwright for the task of adapting "Pudd'nhead Wilson" underscores TAC's interest in infusing classic works with contemporary perspectives.
"I would simply say that we are attempting to find the most creative collaborations possible in this work, and hopefully that does mean adding new dimensions to old work, or asking us to look at these 'classics' in meaningfully new ways," Corley says.
"I had seen a reading of Charles' play 'Les Trois Dumas' at New Dramatists, and felt he would be the perfect person for this. He has both a strong political sensibility and a great sense of style, together with a wonderful sense of humor."
Smith is close to completing a first draft of the play.
"The work so far is very exciting," Corley says.
The third project is going to be Maria Irene Fornes' adaptation of Gertrude Stein's "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas".
"Again, here I think we have achieved a perfect choice of playwright and author, and the collaboration between them will be very exciting to watch. This will appear in our 2001-2002 Season, possibly as an alumni production," Corley says.
The final two productions have yet to be announced. The selection process remains underway. So far the pattern has been that a book is chosen, then the playwright is picked. The company has two main criteria for identifying the right works. The Acting Company is fundamentally dedicated to promoting the work of the young actors.
"All of the projects we picked for The American Century must work for young people to perform," Corley says.
Second, The playwright must be equipped, or interested in, adapting literature to the stage.
"We will have a dramaturg for each project, but still the writers must be the kind of writers who know how to do this work well," Corley says.
Each American Century premiere will be paired in touring repertory by a new production of one of Shakespeare's timeless plays.
The Acting Company, America's only nationally-touring classical repertory theater, was founded in 1972 by current Producing Director Margot Harley and the late John Houseman with a unique mission: to reach thousands of people who have few opportunities to experience live professional theatre by touring smaller cities, towns and rural communities of America and to present superior productions of classic and contemporary plays. Fashioned out of the first graduating class of the Juilliard School's Drama Division in 1972, the company provides opportunities for gifted and highly-trained young actors to perform classic plays and contemporary works in repertory, nurturing the growth and development of generations of theater artists. The company's 263 acting alumni roster includes Lisa Banes, Frances Conroy, Keith David, Gerald Gutierrez, Harriet Harris, James Houghton, Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Jesse L. Martin, Mary Lou Rosato, Derek Smith, David Ogden Stiers and Jeffrey Wright among others. Since its inception, The Acting Company has traveled over 500,000 miles through 48 states and nine other countries, performing a repertoire of 77 plays for more than 2 million people.
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