Our last goodbye | WTF Moving Out

As we leave Williamstown for the summer, we thought we'd share some of our thoughts about leaving and how the summer has gone with you. Thanks for watching and reading--we will, of course, be back again next summer.  In the meantime, stay tuned for updates about our 2011 season and don't forget to SAVE THE DATE for our NYC Gala on November 15, 2010.

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Video | The Last Goodbye interview with Jeff Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert and Original Developer, Lauren Fitzgerald

Check out this interview with Jeff Buckley's mother, Mary Guibert, and The Last Goodbye Original Developer, Lauren Fitzgerald.

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Special Feature | Famous Missourians

by Rachel Lerner-Ley, Dramaturg

Shirley dreams of becoming a famous artist—“the greatest artist that Missouri has ever produced.” To which John responds “would that be so difficult?” Shirley then spouts off a list of famous and influential people who got their start in Missouri.

Here’s a glimpse into the famous folks of the Show Me State that make their way into Fifth of July:

Mark Twain (author and wit): Samuel Clemens was born in Florida, Missouri and at the age of 4 moved with his family to Hannibal, Missouri—a bustling town situated on the Mississippi River. It is in Hannibal that Clemens observed life along the Mississippi as well as the realities of slavery—two major themes of his later works. It is also in Hannibal that he began writing and drawing. His brother, Orion, owned the local newspaper, the Hannibal Journal, and Clemens became a frequent contributor.     

Betty Grable (actor and pin-up): Betty Grable was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She made her first film appearance at the age of 13 and made her way up the Hollywood ladder, appearing in musicals and comedies. She eventually rose to the top of the box office throughout the '40s. In 1943 she posed in a swimsuit and became the most popular pin-up of WWII. The picture has even made it into LIFE’s list of the "100 Photos that Changed the World." Her legs were insured for over $1 million, and Hugh Hefner has noted her as an inspiration for Playboy. She died of lung cancer in 1973.

Tennessee Williams (playwright): He may have been born in Mississippi and have family roots in Tennessee (hence the name), but Williams did in fact spend many of his “formative years” in Missouri. From the age of seven until his late teens, Williams was a resident of St. Louis, Missouri. Here he wrote his first essays and stories as well as found inspiration for several characters that would appear in his later masterpieces. He began writing plays while a student first at University of Missouri and then at Washington University, St. Louis.

Vincent Price (actor): Price was born and raised in St. Louis eventually going away to Yale to study Art History. He traveled Europe and became an actor. He is most well known for his (somewhat campy) appearances in horror films and for his spooky voice (he “raps” in Michael Jackson’s landmark song “Thriller”).  Later in life, he followed his passion for gourmet cooking and started his own line of cookbooks.

Harry S. Truman (President): Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri and grew up in Independence, Missouri. As a boy, he got to serve as a page at the DNC in Kansas City in 1900. He spent the majority of his young adult life in Missouri as a farmer and then went away to fight in WWI. He returned to Missouri and soon was elected a district judge, beginning a political career (as a Democrat) that would eventually lead him to the presidency.  

Gwen also gives two other Missourians a shout-out. She compares June’s persona in the 1960s  to these two ladies...

Ma Barker (outlaw): Born outside Springfield, Missouri, she married her husband in Aurora, Missouri. They moved to Oklahoma. Her sons became known as the “Bloody Barkers,” committing a series of kidnappings, robberies, and other crimes in Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma throughout the '20s and '30s. Ma Barker is remembered in popular culture as being the ring leader of this gang of criminals, though recent evidence suggests quite the opposite. In 1977, Boney M. came out with a song called “Ma Baker” based on Ma Barker in which they call her “the meanest cat.”

Belle Starr (outlaw): Born in Carthage, MO, though she eventually moved to Texas after the outbreak of the Civil War.  She became an outlaw in the “Old West”—“the bandit queen” helping to organize and lead gangs that participated in horse stealing, bootlegging, and other profitable ventures. Later in life, after being released from jail, she took on a long line of various lovers. She was shot to death, possibly by one of her children.

And of course, there is one important Missourian very close to the play itself:

Lanford Wilson (playwright): Born in Lebanon, Missouri and growing up in the town of Ozark, Wilson points to his experience of the Mid-West as being a major inspiration of several of his plays.

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Special Feature | Jeff Buckley and William Shakespeare in Dialogue Across 400 Years

by Kristin Idaszak, Dramaturg

Jeff Buckley

“My skin is tight underneath the tear, dried upon my cheeks the night I cried.
When I smiled Good Morning to you, my crow's feet let you know that I lied.
Please let me give these gifts of mine to the woman who eyes shined on my back
as I slept. I left you because I loved you.”

William Shakespeare

“There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd.”

________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Buckley

“And though the meaning fits, there's no relief in this. I miss my beautiful friend.”

William Shakespeare

“How heavy do I journey on the way

When what I seek, my weary travel’s end,

Doth teach that ease and that repose to say,

Thus far the miles are measur’d from thy friend.”

________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Buckley

“I am a man enclosed in quotation marks, ever since I took a drink of you.”

William Shakespeare

“If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and so die.
That strain again, it had a dying fall.”
________________________________________________________________________

Jeff Buckley

“I'm lying in my bed, blanket is warm.. this body will never keep me safe from harm.
I still feel your hair, black ribbons of coal. Touch my skin to keep me whole. If only you'd come back to me.”

William Shakespeare

“When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see

For all the day they view things unrespected;

But when I sleep, in dreams they look on thee,

And darkly bright, are bright in dark directed…

All days are nights to see till I see thee,

And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.”

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Special Feature | From the Wilder Estate

Please enjoy these biographical materials on Thornton Wilder from his estate, which still manages all the rights for productions of his plays and publications of his plays and books. --Sarah Slight, Dramaturg

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Special Feature | From First Workshop to World Premiere, After the Revolution at WTF

by Rachel Lerner-Ley, Dramaturg

Every year, WTF gathers an emerging playwright, an early-career director, and 10 talented non-equity actors into a rehearsal room. 3 weeks later a new, fully produced play emerges.

AFTER THE REVOLUTION, now receiving its world premiere on the Nikos Stage, was one such play. The play was developed last year as the 2009 Bill Foeller Fellowship production.

I was able to catch up with Amy Herzog (playwright) and Amanda Charlton (producer and Artistic Associate ) as well as some of the non-equity actors who appeared in last year’s workshop production to share some thoughts and memories of being a part of this unique process.

The Fellowship

Artistic Associate and workshop producer Amanda Charlton explains how the Bill Foeller and Boris Sagal Fellowship work:

Every year an artistic team pitches an idea that they would like to develop into a play or a musical. Once we choose the projects we cast a company of ten actors who we feel will make a diverse and interesting ensemble.  It’s important to cast people who are excited by the prospect and challenge that comes along with creating new material. 

We encourage the playwright not to write a single word until the workshop, where they meet the actors for the first time. The actors are sent assignments and research material to read before the workshop so that they are informed about the subject matter and can really contribute something to the work.  We want the process to be collaborative and for the artistic teams to be inspired and influenced by the actors hired. That’s why the Fellowship Projects are always ensemble pieces.  The writers write for the actors in their plays so every part is rich and important to the telling of the story.  Morty in ATR is only in two scenes, but they are two fantastic scenes!

A Last-Minute Change…or two

The fellowship allows for a playwright, director, and cast to play with ideas, try out new scenes. It is a constant process of collaboration and re-writing, a process that can be incredibly inspiring for all involved.    

Lucas Kavner, a non-equity actor who played patriarch Ben
(or rather as he was called last year “Robbie”) and is currently appearing in Six Degrees of Separation explains: “Working on the fellowship last year, I think all of us can universally say, was one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of our careers.  To watch Amy Herzog work was just this prodigal, remarkable thing - she would get a few notes from Tamara [Fisch, Director] in rehearsal and then run off to Tunnel City for an hour and write this beautiful monologue and bring it in for us that same day.” 

It can also be an exciting process, with changes happening right up to the night of the first performance.

Dominic Spillane, a non-equity actor who appeared last year as Leo and is currently appearing in Six Degrees of Separation recalls “One of the most interesting things about our production was that Tamara Fisch, the director, had found the original transcripts of the Joseph senate hearing. The play opened with a staging of this. It was about 10 min long and we all played various senators and what not. This scene was fully teched and costumed, and was cut right before our first show.” 

A Tale of Two Casts

The original cast of AFTER THE REVOLUTION featured members of the 2009 Non-Equity company. Early career actors mostly in their 20s, the ten cast members took on characters anywhere from 5 to 60 years their senior.

 However, as Amanda Charlton recalls the age discrepancy made no difference. “The play worked with 23 year olds playing parts outside of their age range or experience, which I think is a testament to the strength of Amy’s writing.”

The current cast of AFTER THE REVOLUTION features a collection of stage and film veterans, all age appropriate to their roles. The current script also has been cut down from 10 characters to 8.

For playwright Amy Herzog having the opportunity to work with two different casts on developing her script has been quite advantageous. She reflects: “Last year, I developed this play with a really wonderful company of actors who were all in their twenties. They didn’t know a lot of the history, which was very helpful in its own way because I learned what I could sort of short hand and what I had to really explain. And having that experience meant that I got the script into fairly good shape before arriving here this year. Now I feel that the current actors have a solid textual basis. This company’s made up of extremely seasoned actors and hearing from them when they feel like something is missing or when they are struggling is really valuable information for me as a writer.”

Now on the Nikos Stage

Tonight, AFTER THE REVOLUTION will receive its world premiere on the Nikos stage.     

Lucas Kavner: “We are all just so insanely excited to see the Nikos production.  Almost too excited, I think; everyone in the new company is probably a little freaked out by how much we tell them how excited we are.  But it's going to be phenomenal, I'm sure.  It's pretty impossible for that text to go wrong...”

Amanda Charlton: “I love the play for so many reasons. I was not alive during the McCarthy hearings and it seems extraordinary to me that something like that could actually happen. The play tells us not to forget the lessons learned from McCarthyism.  But it’s not a political play; that’s just the landscape for a very personal story about family in crisis.

It’s also exciting on a personal level. We bring artists to the Festival that we believe in and hope that this process allows them to create new work that will take their career to another level. We believe Amy is an extraordinary playwright with a strong voice, and we are thrilled to be part of her journey.  ATR is a powerful and important play and it was created here with us, and we just love that!”

A Life After Williamstown

This fall, AFTER THE REVOLUTION will make its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons. Carolyn Cantor will direct. 







Photos by Sam Hough from the 2009 Workshop and 2010 Season Production of After the Revolution

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After the Revolution | Whatever Happened to Cousin Jake?

by Rachel Lerner-Ley

After developing AFTER THE REVOLUTION here at Williamstown last summer, playwright Amy Herzog spent this past year revising the script. There are several changes throughout, most noticeably, though, is that two of the original ten characters have been cut from the script. These characters—Emma’s cousins—are now off-stage presences, mentioned by other characters, but never actually appearing on the stage.

Whereas I always thought that it was decision based in the dramaturgy of the piece, I recently learned that Amy’s decision to cut Jake, Emma’s cousin, was in fact one made for the greater good.

Dan Hartley and Irene Sofia Lucio 

Below Dan Hartley, a non-equity actor who appeared in last year’s production and is currently appearing in Six Degrees of Separation, explains the logic behind Amy’s decision to cut the character of Jake, the role he originated last season:    

In the 2009 workshop, I originated the role of Emma's cousin, Jake, the family albatross.  Jake never achieved quite enough and drank a little too much.  He is constantly overshadowed by Emma's achievements, but let's face it, standing out in a family with a hyper-achiever is no easy task. It was a great role that showed a different side of the family dynamic, and provided some comic relief toward the end of the first act.

The problem, however, is that I was just too damn good.

Dan Hartley and Irene Sofia Lucio

Amy felt that all actors playing Jake in future productions of the show would inevitably fail since I, the original Jake, had set the bar so impossibly high.  It's understandable. The day will come when I will be unavailable, and that production's unfortunate director will sadly but surely find herself screaming at her second-choice Jake. "BE MORE LIKE DAN HARTLEY," she’ll bellow.  An easily offended actress, no doubt playing Mel, will attempt to seek retribution on Jake's behalf by hurling a copy of the Communist Manifesto at the director's head. The assistant sound designer, who will have gone to college with the director, will defend the director by stabbing the belligerent actress in the neck with a knife from the restaurant scene.  At which point, the technicians will launch an assault on the actors, and a bloody battle will ensue which will leave only one soul alive to tell the tale, the actor playing Morty, but his tongue will have been cut out in the throes of the backstage skirmish, so he will only be able to write his account of the carnage.  Such tasteless unprofessionalism would no doubt crush the production.

All this because I was so stunning as Jake in the original production.

So, in the end, Amy reluctantly cut the character of Jake from the play. To avoid bloodshed. Which is, ya know, smart of her...



Photos by Sam Hough

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Special Feature | Six Degrees of Williamstown

by Kristin Idaszak, Dramaturg

It is a widely acknowledged truism that the theatre community is very small, so the cast and production team of WTF’s Six Degrees of Separation performed our own mini-version of the small world experiment to see just how small it is. If six degrees should connect us to anyone in the world (Nelson Mandela, Tina Fey, Gordon Brown)—how many degrees would it take for us to connect to each other?

I paired people who had never met before this production, from different parts of the country and in different stages in their careers. Each pair was given the task of figuring out what chain of mutual acquaintances connected them, without using anyone else from WTF. Pairs were also discouraged from using Facebook. Still, most of us found that we were only one or two degrees apart.

David Sugarman, Stage Manager (Boston/New York) and Clea Alsip, Tess (San Francisco/New York): 1 degree

From David: “Clea interned with Ted at the Public, who was the musical director of South Pacific at Lincoln Center, which I worked on! At first it seemed like it was going to be hard because she was all West Coast and I was all East Coast and I had never worked at the Public, but then we broke it!”

Kristin Idaszak, Dramaturg (Chicago) and Ben Mehl, Trent (Toronto/New York): 1 degree

From Kristin: “Ben’s Feldenkrais teacher at NYU, Scott, was my first director and mentor, the person who taught me that the arts were essential to a society’s health and who encouraged me to pursue a career in the theatre.”

Sam Hough, Photographer (East Texas/New York) and Ariel Woodiwiss, Elizabeth (North Carolina/New York): 1 degree

From Ariel: “We both know a friend in the city, Julie, who was working at The Studio. Sam was a photographer for their show Big Love and Julie was my roommate in Queens the year we both moved to New York.”

Amber Wedin, Assistant Stage Manager (New York) and Dominic Spillane, Woody (New York): 2 degrees

From Amber: “My best friend Emily, the Company Manager at the Public Theatre, used to work with Dominic's friend Steven.”

Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Assistant Director (Boston/New York) and Michael Bradley Cohen, Dough (Brooklyn, New York): 1 degree

From Adrienne: “So, it turns out Michael Cohen and I are connected through his lovely girlfriend, Chelsea, who worked as an intern for my theater company Colt Coeur during our production of Seven Minutes in Heaven in June.  We loved having Chelsea on our team and she brought Michael to the show and it was only when we played this game that he realized I had directed it...”

Tim Daly, Flan (Vermont/LA) and Caitlin Griffin, Company Management (Connecticut): 6 degrees of separation!

From Caitlin: “Tim is acquainted with Tony S, an alumnus of ART where Skip C is an associate production manager. Skip, the nephew of Karen Macbeth is a co-worker of Meg, my mother.”

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Special Feature | Where Would You Disappear?

I asked the cast and creative team of Samuel J. and K. “If you could ‘disappear’ anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?” Here are their responses:

Mat Smart, Playwright—“I would like to disappear into the ivy on the outfield walls of Wrigley Field. Just for the summer. In the winter, I would like to disappear into El Ateneo in Buenos Aires. It is a huge old theatre that's been converted to the best book shop in the world. But of course, our winter is the Southern Hemisphere's summer—so for the ‘real’ winter, Minneapolis. Where's it's easy to disappear when it's -15 degrees for weeks a time. The fall to Calistoga. The spring to New York City. And New Year’s Eve in Reykjavik.”

Michael Rico Cohen, Stage Manager—“I would disappear to one of those little tiny unnamed islands in a big body of water. Close enough to the mainland to swim back, but remote enough for peace and quiet.”

Denise Chiarella, Assistant Director—“There is a small borgo in Italy with winding craggy streets whose stones have been covered by the soot and washed by the rain for thousands of years. Each morning the women struggle up the steep hill carrying straw baskets to fill with the brightest colored fruits and vegetables I have ever seen. Most are still sleeping within the thick protective walls of the ancient village as the daily bread truck arrives with a toot of its horn and the shutters open and close on the piazza. I have been there, disappearing among its people, hiding from what I left behind, comforted by its anonymity, tranquility, and safety. And as the days, weeks and months passed, I heard my name called -- from the crowded open market and from inside shop doors—and I discovered that one can never truly disappear because that new place had become life itself. “

Justin Waldman, Director—“My couch.”

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Special Feature | Making Theatre: Ancient Rome and Williamstown

by Rachel Lerner-Ley, Dramaturgy

Putting up a show such as FORUM requires a great amount of time, effort, manpower, and ingenuity. Here’s a look into how theatre-makers created plays in Plautus’ day, and how over 2000 years later, the Williamstown team has made the world of Shevelove, Gelbart and Sondheim come to life.

CAST

Ancient Rome: 5-6 cast members, doubling in roles, all-male

Williamstown 2010: 14 cast members, doubling in roles, all-male

MUSIC

Ancient Rome: 1 guy playing a pipe, attached to his head so his hands can be free; he follows the actors around the stage and plays almost continuously throughout the show

Williamstown 2010: an orchestra of 16 (including 4 reeds) conducted by a music director, who has also been in rehearsals working with the actors since day one

COSTUMES

Ancient Rome:  a basic costume of a toga and a linen mask which indicates comedy, tragedy, and character type; perhaps a cloak or a coat thrown on sometime during the show

Williamstown 2010: There are 176 costume pieces on stage throughout the show with 71 total costume changes, 15 of which happen in 30 seconds or less

LIGHTING

Ancient Rome: sunlight—better keep up on those sacrifices to Apollo

Williamstown 2010: a lighting system that took 10 lighting interns, 5 lighting staff members, 8 apprentices, and 100 hours to prepare

SOUND

Ancient Rome: Strong vocal chords and the acoustics-friendly architecture

Williamstown 2010: 74 speakers, 20 wireless mics, and a team of 12 to manage and install it all

PROPS

Ancient Rome: props would be stock, simple, and used from production to production

Williamstown 2010: props made entirely from scratch, including the benches and Domina’s bust which took 60 man-hours to build

AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE

Ancient Rome: by the time of the empire, the Romans had devised a cooling system in which they would blow air over water

Williamstown 2010: air conditioning

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Special Feature | Our Lives as a Theme Song

by Kristin Idaszak

It’s Jewdy’s Show: My Life as a Sitcom chronicles Judy Gold’s quest for a second bathroom, aka her own sitcom, aka the perfect theme song—because the theme song is the secret to a successful sitcom. At least that was what Sherman Schwartz, the creator of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, maintained.

Recounting his pitch of Gilligan’s Island to CBS, he explained the necessity of a good theme song: “There would have to be...so much exposition explaining what the hell these seven people were doing on the island and it would be so dull before you ever got to the comedy. [I said,] I will have a song written that will take care of all the exposition in one entertaining minute. That's all you were allowed in those years. Sixty seconds was your limit. I said in 60 seconds I will tell the whole background story so there won't be any exposition. I myself have a saying: ‘Exposition is the enemy of entertainment.’ That's the truth. If you have to keep explaining what people are saying and doing, and why they're where they are, you never get to the story.”

In honor of Judy’s raison d’etre I polled the team behind It’s Jewdy’s Show about their personal theme songs. My findings are best introduced by a song (to be sung to the tune of The Brady Bunch):

Here’s the story of a theatre called Williamstown

That was putting up eight very lovely shows

One of them was about a Jewish lesbian

In search of her own sitcom
But the one day when this lady met her production team

They decided to put on a play instead

All of them have their own theme songs too

Which we’ll now share with you:

Kate Moira Ryan, Playwright – “If Love Were All” by Noel Coward

Judy Gold, Playwright and Performer – “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This” from Sweet Charity

Amanda Charlton, Director – “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey

Kalyn Lummis, Wardrobe Supervisor – “Pink” by Aerosmith

Alex Neumann, Sound Designer – “I Think It Is Beautiful That You Are 256 Colors Too” by Black Moth Super Rainbow

Wilburn Bonnell, Lighting Supervisor – The Price is Right theme song

Adam Dworkin, Assistant Director – “Harder Better Faster Stronger” by Daft Punk

Sam Hough, Photographer – “Teen Angst” by M83

Marisa J. Barnes, Assistant Sound Designer – “Caterpillar Girl” by The Cure

Phil Tokarsky, Assisstant Set Designer – “Give Me Love” by George Harrison

Josh Hacket, Associate Properties Master – Sanford and Son theme song

Caitlin Griffin, Company Management – “There She Goes” by Sixpence None the Richer

Andrew Layton, Scenic Design Dept Supervisor – “Happy Birthday” by Stevie Wonder

Jeanette Lee Porter, Assistant Scenic Designer – “I Wear My Sunglasses at Night” by Corey Hart

Kristin Idaszak, Dramaturg – “Twentysomething” by Jamie Cullum

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Simon Gray | Complete(ish) Works

by Clare Drobot, Dramaturg.

Doing research for the program biography of Simon Gray I began to read more of his plays and novels. At the start of this production, I’m embarrassed to say, I had only a glancing familiarity with Mr. Gray’s works. In the course of compiling and writing I began to read several of his plays and memoirs. His writing made me laugh, cry, do double takes, and kept me thoroughly captivated. Below is an unofficial chronological list of his plays with a few interesting facts, I dug up in the research process.

Wise Child (1967)
The show starred Alec Guinness and was originally written as a teleplay. When it was deemed too controversial for the small screen, Gray adapted it for the stage.

Dutch Uncle (1969)
Partially based on serial killer John Christie.
The Idiot (adapted from Dostoyevsky in 1970)

Spoiled (1970)

Butley (1971)
The Last Simon Gray play that appeared on Broadway. The revival in 2006, directed by WTF Artistic Director Nicholas Martin, starred Nathan Lane in the title role. The original production starred long time friend Alan Bates and was directed by Harold Pinter.

Otherwise Engaged (1975)

Dog Days (1976)

Molly (1977)
An Adaptation of “Death of a Teddy Bear” a Teleplay that first aired in 1967.

The Rear Column (1978)
A historical play based on the rear column left behind in Yambuya during Henry Morgan Stanley’s 1886 expedition into Equatoria.

Close of Play (1979)

Stage Struck (1979)
A Hit Comic Thriller that also starred Alan Bates.

Quartermaine's Terms (1981)

The Common Pursuit (1984)
The play follows a group of Cambridge Classmates who begin a literary magazine during their undergraduate careers and investigates their artistic dreams and the evolutions of their lives over the ensuing years. Simon Gray wrote How's That for Telling 'em Fat Lady about the US production of the play.

Melon (later revised as The Holy Terror) 1987
Simon wrote about the US production of The Holy Terror in his Introduction to Four Plays (http://www.faber.co.uk/work/simon-gray-four-plays/9780571219889/)

Hidden Laughter (1990)

Cell Mates (1995)
The initial production was beleaguered by the departure of star Stephen Fry and resulted in another collection of Gray’s diaries, Fat Chance.

Life Support (1997)

Simply Disconnected (1996)
A sort of sequel to Otherwise Engaged

The Late Middle Classes (1999)
The play’s evolution (and subsequent troubles landing a London production) became the subject of a third set of diaries Enter a Fox, which is also subtitled “Further Adventures of a Paranoid.”

Japes (2000)
The show chronicles two brothers and their 30 plus years of sibling rivalry.

The Old Masters (2004)

Little Nell (2006)
The show focuses on the affair between Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan.

Gray also wrote teleplays, novels and a series of diaries. I highly recommend reading any of the three volumes of The Smoking Diaries. For more information on Simon Gray please visit his official website at: http://www.simongray.org.uk/

[photo] courtesy of Victoria Gray. [pictured] Simon Gray

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GHOSTS in New Jersey

by Sarah Slight, Dramaturg

“It starts with the sounds. Creaking floors and slamming doors, fading footsteps down empty halls, whispered words in the wind. Sensations and shadows follow. A feeling of being watched, tingling taps on the shoulders, spectral shapes crouched in corners or gathered in front of fireplaces long gone cold” (www.edithwharton.org).

This quote from the official website dedicated to Edith Wharton’s The Mount recounts the numerous eerie feelings felt by its temporary inhabitants. Our own, Melinda Lopez, playwright of Caroline in Jersey, has experienced it there. “Although my experience was very limited to feelings and dreams and lights flickering and…creepiness” (from my interview with Lopez for the program).

While Lopez’s experience happened in Massachusetts, Caroline’s own encounter happens in New Jersey, another state known for unearthly run-ins. In fact, their professional hockey team is named for a nearly 300 year old creature dubbed the Jersey Devil. Many legends exist telling the tale of the birth of the Jersey Devil—either it was a Mrs. Leeds in any number or cities or a Mrs. Shrouds of Leeds Point, for the devil’s other name is the Leeds’ Devil—but most agree that a mother, after bearing 12 children, wished or exclaimed that the 13th would be a devil. At birth, the child was severely deformed and had horns. One night, it flapped its arms, which turned to wings, and flew out the chimney never to be seen by his family again, but to be spotted by many (a bat-like, devil creature) for centuries to come—the most recent being in October 2008 when a man saw a creature whose “wing span must have been a startling three feet. It was brown in color, and it seemed to be a mixture of various animals” (www.njdevilhunters.com).

Sightings of the Jersey Devil happen all over the state, whose inhabitants seem to encounter other supernatural forces quite frequently as well. Numerous online communities exist through which one can share their ghostly encounters. Most divide stories up via state—some of the best for New Jersey are www.americanfolklore.net, www.theshadowlands.net, and my favorite, the one the following story comes from, www.yourghoststories.com. It is called “Was My Imaginary Friend Real?” and was posted in September 2008.

“My mother tells me stories about when I was younger. As most children do, I had a so-called imaginary friend, named Sarah. When my mother could not find things and I swore I hadn't taken them, she would sometimes find them under my dresser. After finding things she had lost under there, she confronted me about it. I would say things like, 'Mum, it wasn't me' or, 'Mum, it must have been Sarah!' She would think I was just trying to get over on her and let it slide. But after this happened more and more in the passing weeks, she confronted me with it again, saying, 'Enough with these games! Stop taking my things!'

After that, they stopped but other strange things started to happen. Like the pantry door swinging open when everyone is in the living room, coming home from vacation with the windows open when we knew that they were locked and closed when we left. We blamed it on the ghost, thinking nothing of it, then. Things like these continued to happen over the next eight years.

My father got a promotion moving him to another state. While we were packing up my room, my mother told me about when I used to hide things under my dresser. While we were moving the dresser, a part of the molding fell off of the wall. Inside the wall there were small trinkets like lockets, candies, dolls, coins, a book and a diary, telling about a girl named Sarah.”

This is just one of the many, many personal, New Jersey ghost stories out there. I suggest you take a read to find out just how creepy a place it can be. Perhaps you have some of your own tales to add...

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INTERVIEW | Steve Lawson, writer and director of BLANCHE AND BEYOND

As the staged reading of Blanche and Beyond nears, I wanted to know more about it, so I grabbed an opportunity to talk with Steve Lawson, writer and director.

Sarah Slight: What made you want to create these two works surrounding Tennessee Williams' life and writing? What draws you to him as a writer and as a person?

Steve Lawson: I'd met him twice in Williamstown - 1979 and 1982 - and years later read a just-published volume of his correspondence. It struck me that the letters would make a powerful theatrical piece. The Williams Estate gave me permission to adapt them, and the success of the first play led to a sequel.

I've always thought that no other American playwright has consistently written so wonderfully for actors. For all the tumult of his later years, he was a very funny man - and many of the letters capture that. Like his plays - and like the man himself - the letters are an amazing blend of rollicking humor, darkness, and raunchiness.

SS: Are Blanche and Distant Country part of a larger series? (If not, any plans to do another?)

SL: Richard Thomas and I have been hoping that Al Devlin, who edited these first two volumes of correspondence, would tackle Tennessee's last years in a third collection. Right now, it's looking good. How great if someday, somewhere we could then do all three shows in one day - talk about a marathon!

SS: 1982 was near the end of his life--how much was Tennesse Williams around for Celebration? What was his response? What was it like to be around him?

SL: Tennessee was in residence for the entire three-week rehearsal period. I was lucky enough to be part of the creative team that put the two-night, six-hour production together, so got to work hands-on with him. He'd become a fan of WTF and then artistic director Nikos Psacharopulos after seeing Camino Real, which he stated publicly was the best version of the play he'd ever seen.

And he loved the Celebration. He'd stopped drinking by that time so was incredibly focused and funnier than ever. One night a bunch of us were talking with him, and he asked if we wanted to know his favorite four-letter word. Well, sure we did. He leaned in and intoned, very slowly: "W-O-R-K." And he meant it! He was just chock-full of life, which is why it was so shocking to lose him just seven months later.

SS: Is there anything else you want to us to know about the play and the project before we go see it?

SL: The built-in advantage of this piece is that - unlike Distant Country, which dealt with Tennessee's obscure younger years before anyone had heard of him - Blanche and Beyond covers the time span of what we think of as his greatest achievements. It's the period of Streetcar, Rose Tattoo, Camino, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, with letters to people like Elia Kazan, Gore Vidal, and Jessica Tandy - even New York drama critics. (Imagine that happening today.) So I think the audience will relish the roller-coaster ride of a famous man trying to hold on to his success and his art in the face of intense pressures - some external, some engendered within himself - interpreted by an outstanding actor. And to fill in any gaps, Richard and I will be doing a Q-&-A right after the show, and there are always a lot of questions.

By Literary Associate, Sarah Slight

[photo] T. Charles Erickson

[pictured] Steve Lawson, Richard Thomas

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Page to Stage | How a world premiere production, like WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THUNDER?, is born

by Dramaturg Clare Drobot.



As Noah Haidle’s play What is the Cause of Thunder has its world premiere on the Williamstown Nikos Stage tonight, you might find yourself asking, how do new plays make it from page to stage?

The process varies from show to show, but in general, if a show is not commissioned by the theatre, its journey begins when someone on staff reads the script. Scripts are received in many ways, through agent submissions, recommendations from industry professionals, or from writers with a prior connection to the theatre. In this case, playwright, Noah Haidle, had met Artistic Associate and director, Justin Waldman, on a previous show. “Justin was the assistant on a play I did at the Huntington called Persephone and then he was the assistant on Saturn Returns at Lincoln Center [Both directed by WTF Artistic Director, Nicky Martin]. So Justin and I have been fast friends for years. And we made the decision [to work together] in the lobby of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre. We were at intermission for South Pacific, and we were just enchanted, as you are. And I said, ‘Do you want to direct my play?’ He said ‘Yeah’ And that was that.” –(From my interview with Noah Haidle included in the Thunder program.)

After a theatre company expresses interest in a script, they often organize an informal reading of the play with staff members. Informal reads allow the theatre to hear a play out loud and get a better feeling for the text. Here at WTF, Thunder was part of the festival’s Fridays @ 3 reading series which offers a first public glimpse at new works. Shows are given a short rehearsal period and then read for a small audience. These readings help a writer to explore the text and see how an audience responds. Readings can be invaluable in the development process as texts often mutate when read out loud. Sometimes a scene will work on paper, but aloud will feel too short, too long, or certain jokes won’t land. In the case of Thunder, an additional scene was added post reading. This summer’s production of Knickerbocker by Jonathan Mark Sherman was also part of the Fridays @ 3 series.

Once a theatre company commits to producing a play they hire designers and actors. The play continues to evolve throughout the process, before and during rehearsals and into the run of the show. So there you have it, an insider look at the process of developing new work.

[photo] Sam Hough for © WTF ’09. Pictured: Betty Gilpin and Wendie Malick in WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THUNDER?, Dir. Justin Waldman

© [Scenic Design | Alexander Dodge, Costume Design | Nicole V. Moody, Lighting Design | Jeff Croiter] 2009

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