Backstage with Death of a Salesman

Mount Vernon & Coralville - Dreamwell is taking a show on the road this weekend. For the second time, they'll take a show to Mount Vernon and perform in the First Street Community Center. Last year Dreamwell brought The Whipping Man to that venue. "We didn't have a huge turnout for Whipping Man, but we feel the audience is there," said Matt Falduto, Dreamwell Theatre board president. "We just have to do a better job of getting the word out." They'll have another chance this evening as the final production of the 2014-15 season, Death of a Salesman, opens tonight for just two performances before moving to the Coralville Children's Museum for a traditional run of four performances. It stars Rip Russell as Willy Loman. We had the chance to talk to director David Pierce and two of the actors, Krista Neumann, who plays Willy's wife, Linda, and Matt Falduto, who plays their son, Biff.

What made you initially interested in directing Death of a Salesman?

David: I had decided to start becoming more involved again in the Iowa City theatre scene. I haven’t exercised my directing muscles in a long time, and when I saw that Dreamwell was looking for a director for the show, I decided to throw my hat in the ring. I was familiar with the show, of course, but didn't begin to fall in love with it until I started preparing for the director interview. As a result, I left the interview really wanting a chance to direct this play. I've been living with this play for over a year now, and in that time I've grown very close to the script and the characters.

Backstage with Romance/Romance

Photo by Emily McKnight

Iowa City - This weekend, the Iowa City Community Theatre will present a lesser known musical, Romance/Romance, book and lyrics by Barry Harman and music by Keith Herrmann. The show wasn't originally part of their season, but a replacement for the large cast show The Man Who Came to Dinner, which was canceled when the theatre couldn't find enough actors. By contrast, Romance/Romance has only four actors, all of which play two roles in the show. They are Colin Nies as Alfred/Sam, Stephanie Fahey as Josefine/Monica, Brett Borden as "Him"/Lenny, and Kristina Rutkowski as "Her"/Barb. We had the opportunity to ask Jaret Morlan, the director of the show, a few questions. Here's our look backstage.

Backstage with Troll Music Opening March 20

Iowa City - Troll Music, written by Janet Schlapkohl, opens March 20 at the Montgomery Hall on the Johnson County Fairgrounds. This Combined Efforts Theatre production runs through March 28.We had a chance to talk to Janet about the show.

Can you give us a quick synopsis of the play?

Janet: Down on their luck musicians return to an old dance hall in the hopes of reuniting their old group, and resurrecting their careers. They don't know that other members including a retired burlesque group is still at the hall, now working in the kitchen. They return at the spring equinox, a time when Nisse (think elfish-gnomes) sneak into dance halls everywhere to listen to the music and help fix mistakes of the past. In the case of these folks, there were plenty of mistakes. But, as the leader of the Nisse explains, "There was a gift here once, which will be lost forever unless forgiveness sweeps the cobwebs of memory and the truth blows through the music."

Backstage with Bob: A Life in Five Acts

Actors rehearsing Bob

Iowa City - Dreamwell Theatre's production of Bob: A Life in Five Acts by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb will open this Friday, March 13 and run through March 21. In the past, this blog has looked 'backstage' of shows, giving our readers an idea of what we can expect from a particular production. We're bringing that feature back and we asked the director of Bob, Nate Sullivan, to give us that backstage peek for his show. Check out the interview below and then check out Bob. Tickets are available here.

The show follows Bob on his journey to become a "great, great man". Tell us more about who Bob is.

Nate Sullivan: Bob is a lot of things in this show. We get to see his entire life unfold. He's born and abandoned in a White Castle bathroom and then taken in by a loving woman named Jeanine, who teaches him everything she can to make him special. He spends his entire life trying to live up to those expectations. He keeps a long list of things he wants to accomplish, and he sets out to do them. In a lot of ways, Bob is the American Spirit personified, and we see the journey that this takes him on.

Backstage with Soldier's Daughter

Iowa City - Dreamwell's original play, Soldier's Daughter, opens this weekend. This show marks a number of firsts for the company. The location, the style, and the fact that the show is an original play written specifically for the company are all unique experiences for the 14-year old theatre. The show is performed promenade style on a farm just short ways from Iowa City proper. We had a chance to talk with the co-writer and director of the show, Matt Falduto, who is also a founder of the company. Our conversation follows.



So where did the idea for this show come from?

Matt Falduto: Well, I saw a show by Working Group Theatre called Odysseus, Iowa last year at this farm. The audience moved around the farm to different locations and I was just so taken with the idea, the concept, that I knew I had to do a show in that style. So I decided to write one especially for the farm. And that’s when I asked the Black Doggers for help.

And now let me make sure I understand this. The audience will move around the farm?

Matt: Right. It's called promenade theatre. We are fortunate enough to have Mike Moran, the Goatsinger, be our traveling minstrel for the show. He will lead the audience to the different locations.

Kind of like the Pied Piper?

Matt: Kind of. Yes. Except we're not stealing children.

Okay, so let's talk about the writing process a little bit. You mentioned the Black Doggers. Who are they?

Matt: They are a group of playwrights from all over the Corridor who meet every two weeks to give and receive feedback on their current projects. Joe Jennison started the group a number of years ago. I’ve been a member since the beginning and it’s been a huge help with my writing to be a part of the group.

So they helped write it?

Matt: Yes, five of them did. Amy White, James Trainor, Mike Moran, Brian Tanner and Barbara Lau. I gave each of them a location on the farm – the pond, a field, the sailing ship…

Wait, there’s a sailing ship?

Matt: There is. It’s really cool. Wait til you see it. And we made a sail for it.

Okay. So each writer got a location…

Matt:Right. Random location and random concept – like love, courage or jealousy. Then they had to write a scene using that location around that concept. The only thing I told them was the story had to be a story a Dad would tell his 13 year old daughter. They came up with the most interesting stories – there are moose, Greek gods, and fairies. Something for everyone.

I see. So then you put the stories together?

Matt: I took them and created the story of Tigerlily, a 13 year old girl waiting for her Dad to come home from Afghanistan. He comes home from the war and takes Tigerlily on a story walk, which is something they have done many times in the past. They walk the farm and Dad tells her stories. Weaving the stories together and creating the through line of Dad and Tigerlily was a really interesting writing challenge.

Did you have to do any re-writing?

Matt: Yes, that’s been part of the process. I did a reading of the first draft in January or February, I can’t remember, for the Black Doggers and got some great feedback. Then I wrote a second draft. That was what we started rehearsals with, but there's been major and minor rewriting as we've moved through the rehearsal process.

Major re-writing? Has that been difficult to work with?

Matt: No, not really. There was one of the stories that the actors had a completely different take on than we had intended when it was written. So we re-worked that to take into account their ideas. It made for a much stronger scene. That kind of collaboration has been a lot of fun. We have such insightful actors in this show.

So tell us about these actors.

Matt: Well, the Dad is played by Brian Tanner, who may be the hardest working theatre person in our area. He’s always working on a show. Brian also wrote one of the stories Dad tells Tigerlily. Tigerlily is played by Makayla Phillips, who was recently seen in A Little Night Music with City Circle. She immediately got the character of Tigerlily from day one and does such a good job of taking us though her journey. We have a great group of actors with a wide range of ages. There is a 10 year old girl, Mary Vander Weg, who plays a 100 year old fairy. She’s great.

Wait a minute, there are kids in a Dreamwell show?

Matt: Yep, that is a little different for us. Though we did have a couple of very talented younger actors in Henry V. We're trying to expand a little bit.

So tell me more about these kids.

Matt: Well, there are three birds played by girls who range in age from 9 to 11. They represent Tigerlily’s emotions and sort of her younger self in a way. They fly in and out of the play at different points to give us greater insight into what’s happening in her mind and heart. The girls are doing a great job as the birds. There's a wonderful dance sequence with the birds and Tigerlily that was choreographed by Carol Johnk. It's an important moment for Tigerlily in the play and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

So which of the stories is your favorite?

Matt: Oh, I’m not picking favorites – they’re all great! I will say that the moose scene makes me laugh every time I see it. James Anderson and Mark Nidey portray the moose and they are hilarious. But I also love the Eros-Psyche scene. We have two veterans in that scene – Brad Quinn and Elizabeth Breed. Their scene really shows off the majesty of the Iowa landscape. And the fairy scene is great…and the gypsy scene…and the pond scene…

Okay, I get it. No favorites. What has it been like creating a show in an outdoor setting?

Matt: There’s been a lot of unexpected challenges. There are a bunch of animals on the farm who have been, well, loud. In a traditional show, you’re not really expecting to hear a sheep bleat right in the middle of a scene. And then there’s the sun. Oh my gosh, it’s been hot. And humid. We’ve been drinking lots and lots of water. The cast has been great though in dealing with all of that. And you know, I think it’s all going to be worth it. Creating this show outside against the Iowa landscape… well let’s just say our set designer is pretty amazing.

How does this show fit with Dreamwell's mission of exploration?

Matt: We have done so much exploring with this show. From the collaborative writing process to the unique location to creating roles in the show for children, which is not something Dreamwell is known for at all, it's been one new experience after another. I have to say I feel very fortunate that the Dreamwell Board took a chance on this show. They had no script when they committed to the project. All they had were my ideas and my promise to make it happen. I hope this becomes a regular thing that we do - ask a writer to create a show specifically for our theatre. I'd love to see more original work done in this manner.

Are you worried about the weather?

Matt: Can't worry about it. If it rains too much, we'll cancel, but hopefully things will work out. We do have two rain dates set up. Sunday, July 17 and Sunday July 24 at 2 pm. With luck, we won't need them.

Any last words?

Matt: I hope people check this show out. It'll be a truly unique experience. Theatre on a farm! Don't miss it.

Reserve your tickets at www.dreamwell.com. Tickets also available at the door.

(Photos by Carol Grow Johnk)

Backstage with Innocence

Dreamwell - In 2009, Dreamwell committed to bringing more original work to stage. They devised a Writers Joust competition, where Iowa writers would submit full length plays that dealt with a subject people fear to talk about. Dreamwell received many plays and chose three for the festival. Two were presented last weekend as staged readings. The winner of the Joust opens this weekend as a full production (November 19 and 20 at 7:30 pm at 10 S. Gilbert in Iowa City. Tickets available here.) Innocence by Tom Deiker explores the choices made by individuals who encountered serial killer Pedro Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. We had a chance to ask Tom a few questions about his play.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Tom: My background is in clinical psychology, with most of my career spent researching, developing, evaluating, and administrating public mental health programs in hospitals, clinic, prisons, nursing homes, residential care, substance abuse, sex offender programs, forensic hospitals, child care, etc. My two professional interest areas were psychopathology and aggression, which sometimes overlap - the universal standard for civil commitment of the mentally ill, for example, is "danger to self or others" - with a larger interest in aggression as the "human defect" causing the most human misery in the world - as in ethnic violence, sexism, homicide, genocide, slavery, religious extremism.

I am beginning to see why the story of Pedro Lopez was of interest to you.

Tom: My early research in trying to predict aggression, especially homicide, in society, as well as in offenders and the mentally ill, shows convincingly that it's virtually impossible based on tests, demographics, behaviors. Regrettably, that doesn't deter "experts" from flying by the seats of their predictive pants in courtrooms and civil commitment proceedings to remove people from society, sometimes for life - such as the tragic recent return of indefinite civil commitment of sex offenders in most states, including Iowa. In my readings on serial killers I stumbled on the case of Pedro Lopez, "Monster of the Andes," who raped and killed some 350 young girls in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru. If you have a chance to see or read the play, you will recognize the above themes of poverty, ethnic violence, government apathy.

So how does Innocence tell his story?

Tom: Innocence basically tries to lay out for the audience in dramatic form the range of viewpoints, attitudes, reactions, and "solutions" to a horrific serial murderer - from philosophical to religious to scientific, hopefully to stimulate thought and discussion.

How much of this play is true to the story and how much creative license did you take with it?

Tom: I read everything written about Pedro Lopez. Innocence is a genuine docudrama in that all the biographical and historical references are accurate -- e.g., raised by prostitute mom, thrown out onto the the street in the middle of the civil war at age 8, raped by a man all night in an abandoned building almost immediately, etc. Almost all of the actual words of Pedro were used where I could - his grandiose notion he was the most famous man of the century, his description of the kidnapping, rape, and murder process, and the watching in the eyes for the loss of innocence. The fictional overlay was giving the characters in his life a voice from their point of view in conversation with the journalist, there being no record of those likely conversations.

Can you talk a little bit about your writing process - was there lots of rewriting, how did the play change as you went along, what choices did you make which guided your process?

Tom: I violate most of the rules I've read on writing, don't write character bios, don't make outline or story boards before writing, don't write straight to the end before rewriting; I spend a lot of time reading about my topic, taking notes, walking around with the story line, characters, try to follow general guidelines for introduction of characters, distinct voices and character personalities, introduction of conflict and it's resolution. But once I have those in mind I work my way through the scenes one at a time, starting from the beginning and rethinking/rewriting repeatedly to the latest scene until I'm happy with the process, then continue that process until the final draft is finished. One of the reasons I write this way is that I come to know each page of the story and find the characters themselves begin saying the next line or plot point, one of those "immersion processes" other writers have spoken of. I always set the script aside for at lest a couple weeks before returning to it, try to read it as a reader and ask myself what questions/puzzlements/weaknesses the reader would experience; I also read each character through separately to hear their distinct voice and personality quirks. I have in many projects, Innocence included, written a detailed descriptions of the story line with each scene and then looked for missing/redundant/discontinuous story elements. This script also had a translation process from longer, more narrative screenplay, to shorter more condensed and physically limited stage play. This play also had more of a "philosophical" overlay, trying to give different characters different understanding, insights, and beliefs about "why people kill the innocent."

What has the rehearsal process been like from your perspective - have you been involved at all?

Tom: I have not been involved, will sit in on the dress rehearsal only to thank and support the cast and director.

How does it feel to be the winner of the Joust?

Tom: I've had a few staged readings of my full-length screenplays and stage plays, but this will be the first staging of one of my full-length stage plays. So this is my most exciting experience in my 68-year-old-novice-playwriting career.

What's your next project?

Tom: I just finished my first full-length play written from scratch (all others were written from those screenplays which could be adapted to the stage). Honour addresses Christian and Muslim extremism against the background of tensions following the influx of Muslim Somali refugees in Minneapolis-St. Paul - “whitebread America”. The play’s title and theme revolves around the Muslim practice of “honour killing” females who deviate from strict family control. This play turns honour killing upside down and drops it into the lap of fundamentalist Christian mother, who discovers her daughter has formed a lesbian relationship with a Muslim girl, the mother hires some local redneck thugs to "scare" the Muslim girl, who the thugs rape and kill. The mother tries to convince her family and the victim's family that the death is a Muslim "honour killing."

Anything else you'd like to let our readers know?

Tom: Just my gratitude to Dreamwell for the opportunity and for bringing contemporary plays on contemporary themes to the Iowa City region.

Backstage with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

ICCT - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, the absurdist tragicomedy from Tom Stoppard opens this weekend at the Riverside Festival Stage in Lower City Park. The Iowa City Community Theatre has never produced the show in their 54 year history although it has been produced in the area before. In fact one of the cast members, Brad Quinn, portrayed Rosencrantz in a previous production, but in ICCT's version, he plays Guildenstern. We had a chance to ask Brad, as well as James Trainor, the director of the show, a few questions.


Brad, you were in another production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead many years ago - when was that?

Brad: Yes, West Side Players did a production of this show back when I was in college. This was before the Festival Stage was even built, but ironically it was in the same park, about 150-200 yards from where the stage is now. And we performed it at around the same time too, at the end of August.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern is over 40 years old. How will it relate to modern audiences?

James: Stoppard deals with universal themes in this play. It belong to the "postmodern" school of the 60s that examined the uncertainty of the human condition: whether an individual has an control over his or her destiny, the difficulty of coping with the unknown, the mutability of identity. We're all rational beings in an apparently irrational universe, and the growing awareness of this has played a big part in creating our modern culture. The setting is a popular play by William Shakespeare, which is canon and probably will be for a while. Hamlet still is a familiar text in high schools and colleges, and I think the premise for this play (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are attempting to analyze Hamlet when they've only witnessed a fraction of the action) is a great metaphor for how life takes us by surprise. Plus, it's simply drop-dead funny. Everyone loves a good laugh.

Brad, you know these Rosencrantz and Guildenstern very well...can you compare the two characters? Is one more difficult to play than the other?

Brad: Rosencrantz is not the brightest character, but he has a childlike innocence and curiosity. Guildenstern is smarter, but not as smart as he thinks he is. He's pedantic and blustery. He might be a little harder to play, but that's mostly because he has more lines, especially in the form of short and long speeches, than Rosencrantz has.

James, how has having Brad in the cast, with his experience, helped the show?

James: Brad is a big fan of the show; if I'm not mistaken he was the one who proposed it to the selection committee, and he also backed the idea to put it on the festival stage, which I think was a brilliant idea. Like Brad said, Guildenstern has a lot more lines, which was a struggle at first, but his commitment and passion has carried him through. He really understands the rhythm of the piece as a whole.

There a feeling of complete randomness in this show, perhaps best demonstrated in the famous coin flipping scene - what do you think the play is saying about this aspect of life?

James: There are aspects of the universe that, as much energy as we spend analyzing and understanding them, still baffle our primate brains. When he loses an extremely unlikely string of coin flips, Guildenstern appeals to the idea that "each individual coin spun individually is as likely to come down heads as tails and therefore should cause no surprise each individual time it does." Mathematicians will tell you that this is obvious, and most of us understand it on some level, but I challenge anyone to actually witness ninety lost coin flips in a row and not be at least a little bit disturbed. Our minds are designed to create tiny models of the universe out of incomplete information. When we encounter something that we can't explain away that doesn't fit into our model, it disturbs us deeply. This is why so much of psychology, religion and art centers around death. We know we're going to die, but we typically don't know when, just as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don't know when the string of "heads" is going to end. We don't know what's going to happen; we only know what is likely.

Can you talk a little bit about the character of the Player?

James: The Player serves the purpose of easing this anxiety a little bit. With intelligence and humor, he dismisses fatalistic anxiety as self-indulgent moping. "Uncertainty is the normal state. You're nobody special." If Guildenstern has a tragic flaw, it's thinking too much, insisting the universe conform to his model. In the end, he wastes his life by trying to cling to control. I think Stoppard is saying we need to lighten up a little bit and not take ourselves too seriously. The unknown and the unpredictable are going to ruin our plans at some point, but that's part of life; as a matter of fact, that is life.

Brad: The feeling in this show is one of inevitability. The coins which are flipped all come down heads, which suggests a pattern which cannot be broken. Nothing is random, it's just that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern don't understand the factors which are leading them to their ultimate end. This is pretty much exactly like life. Every single thing which happens is determined by that which has occurred previously, it's just that we can't possibly understand the vast amount of information it would take to know why, or what will happen next. And more to the point with this show, you get the idea that all this has happened before, and this shall happen again. And nobody will know any better the next time, either.

Let's switch gears... what has it been like working on the festival stage?

Brad: Hot. Buggy. Damp. I'm not going to lie...it's not ideal for rehearsals. You are at nature's whim. And you really have to up your vocal volume a lot, because there aren't really any walls to bounce the sound back. On the other hand, it has the right feel for this play, especially given it's history as a place to stage Shakespeare. You can almost imagine you came to see a production of Hamlet but ended up on the wrong side of it. And the stage has a nice set of traps which are necessary for this show and hard to find in a space around here.

James: The most exciting part of the production is the fact that we're outside on the festival stage. Not only does it recall the Shakespeare plays that usually take place on the same place, but the atmosphere really feeds into the poetry of some of the language. I like the festival stage because it gives us the opportunity to surround the audience, giving them the feeling that they're part of the world of Elsinore castle. The experience of seeing a villainous king or a clueless ingenue pass you by in the aisle, or hearing a snippet of flute on the wind, does a lot of the work of making the world seem larger. In addition to the aisles, We're using the balcony, the windows, and the trap system. The use of these different areas helps separate the world of Hamlet from the world of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern ... who basically aren't allowed to leave the main playing area. I love this space because it has different levels built in, and set dressing can be minimalist or completely absent.

Who else in the cast?

James: Rosencrantz is played by David Priebe. The Player is played by Ed Henry and Hamlet is played by Matthew James. The ensemble cast is rounded out by Elizabeth Breed, Mary Ann Cozine, Paula Grady, Susan Jacobson, Greg Kilberger, Dennis Lambing, Emily Larson, Nick Ostrem, Ariane Parkes-Perret, Noah Parks and Brian Tanner.

How are things going with rehearsals?

James: Everyone is doing a wonderful job, and has brought some really engaging stuff to the table. The two titles characters in this play have a lot of verbal and physical work to do, and David and Brad have done it with nearly tireless energy and creativity. However, this play could simply not be done without a equally versatile and talented ensemble. My conceit is that Hamlet, who is taken out of context here, should be truly crazy, and the Hamlet people have done a wonderful job of creating a bizarre and zany world. Likewise, the band of players encountered on the road have been fleshed out and have a lot of fun physical business and present an intriguing play-within-a-play. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern themselves have a lot of stage time, but I think of this as an ensemble show. I've never seen actors who don't have a single line to speak work so hard.

What new discovery did you make about the show through the rehearsal process?

James: I've learned a lot. When I looked at the play on paper, I thought it was a very intelligent and funny examination of some of the philosophical ideas I talked about earlier. I looked it as a parody of Waiting for Godot, except that Vladimir and Estragon happened to be in Hamlet. I learned pretty quickly that "happened to be in Hamlet" means a dozen people, and all the challenges that comes with scheduling, blocking and teching. I'd never really done a lot of physical comedy before, but I've had a blast creating the environment, and now the interruptions and interjections by these absurd characters are some of my favorite bits.

Brad: Tom Stoppard is smart. He's smarter than me, and he's probably smarter than whoever is reading this. And because of this, I literally find something new every single time I go through the play. I found this to be true of the other Stoppard show I was in, Rock and Roll at TCR last fall, as well. He doesn't bother explaining anything to his audience, he expects you to be able to figure it out on your own. Which actually presents an interesting dichotomy within the play, as it uses several scenes from Hamlet within the text. And as you know, Shakespeare loved to have his characters give long speeches explaining everything to the audience. Hamlet even has a version of itself within itself to further explain it to the audience in case they didn't get it, a fact which is played with in this show to hilarious result. But as an audience member for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, you'd better pay attention and think if you don't want to get lost. Or better yet, see it multiple times. I guarantee you will get more out of it every single time you see it.


The show opens Friday, September 3 at 7:30 pm at the Riverside Festival stage in Lower City Park. For more information, go here.

Backstage at 9 Parts of Desire

Dreamwell & ICCT - It's been a collaborative summer for Dreamwell, Iowa City's resident avant garde theatre. First, they collaborated with City Circle Acting Company of Coralville and the Englert to present the All in a Day Play Festival. And now as summer comes to a close, they are back with 9 Parts of Desire by Heather Raffo, a collaboration with the Iowa City Community Theatre, the oldest theatre in town. Presented at the Riverside Stage in Lower City Park, the show was originally performed as a one woman show, chronicling the effects of war on the women of Iraq. ICCT board member and director Rachel Korach Howell has chosen to cast the show with nine women. We had a chance to talk to talk to Rachel as well as three of the actresses in the show, Jen Gerbyshak, Mary Haaf Wedemeyer and Kathy Maxey.


Thank you all for taking the time to answer questions about your show. I know that each of your characters presents a unique perspective. What can you tell me about your character?

Mary: Nanna is a street vendor selling anything she can find on the street corner. She can be scrappy and shrewd. She is resilient, with strength, a survivor. She brings wisdom. She is street smart, the human real side of Iraq. She has seen it all for many years. She has suffered inner spirit, personal loss, terror and horror. I believe her to be an educated woman that has succumbed to this lifestyle. She desires to live. She has to sell; she has to eat.

Kathy: My character is Umm Ghada and her role is to recount the true story of the bombing of the Amiriyah bomb shelter on February 13, 1991. She was a witness to the event and has personally taken on the duty of informing people of the tragedies that occurred.

Jen: I play Amal. In her, there's joy, there's tragedy, and there's a whole lot of humanity. I just love Amal.

How difficult was to get inside of her and create a woman from another country so different from our own?

Mary: In my readings and places I have been, I have found women that like Nanna everywhere. Nanna experiences every day doing what she has to - selling, hustling, watching, having a voice. My connection to Nanna... I personally experienced a deep loss. I found that in order to stay "alive", stay healthy, I had to move on, embrace life. I had to be resilient for me, for my children. That's where we find our basic human needs.

Kathy: Umm Ghada does exist and was a mother who lost her family in the U.S. bombing of the shelter. This is a true story and I believe that the suffering of a parent for the loss of a child is universal and timeless.

What is your favorite moment for your character?

Kathy: I have to say I found my entire monologue to be a very powerful and emotional experience.

Rachel: You know, everyone has "moments" in their pieces. Their different "moments" all do different things for the onlooker. Every time I get choked up, or even guffaw to some extent...yes, it will be possible to smile at times while watching this show... I am reminded of someone I know. The person I see changes every night, and that alone warrants a smile, because somewhere, you know her too.

Mary: For me, I like the tender almost child-like moments of Nanna when she is talking about her mother's dress. Those cherished humanistic, thoughtful moments of her mother. And the end of the last monologue where she feels Layal is the only one who truly "saw and understood" her... "I let her paint me," she says. She loves that painting... she rescues it, but realizes again... she has to...

Don't give it away! To see what she does, we'll just have to see the show. Can you talk a little bit about the space you're performing in?

Rachel: Everyone walked away from rehearsals bit-the-hell-up by the mosquitoes and spiders and such. People brought in citronella candles, herbal and super chemical-ed bug spray, itch relief products, and a lot of will power to refrain from scratching their skin off while maintaining a character through the burn!

So audience members should bring bug spray?

Brian Tanner (Dreamwell board member): We'll have it available for the audience at the box office.

That's great news. So aside from bugs, what was your experience performing outside in this space?

Jen: Well, the play is based on interviews that the playwright conducted - presumably in a private, indoor space. It can be challenging to recreate that kind of intimacy in an open-air environment. On the other hand, there's something magical about a wooden stage under the stars that I think will lend itself very nicely to the timeless human themes of the play.

Kathy: Yes, performing outside in nature seems perfectly fitting for this drama.

How is everyone working together?

Mary: It has been an honor and joy to participate in this production with such amazing, talented, kind and sensitive women.

Jen: We all work together amazingly well. Rachel and Josh picked nine ridiculously strong women, but none of us are divas; everyone has been incredibly generous throughout the rehearsal process. The result is that, even though our interaction in the play is minimal, I think the audience will feel the bond we share so that when we do interact, there will be a continuity that you wouldn't expect from a series of monologues.

Kathy: I have to agree. It has really been an honor to participate in this production with talented and sensitive women.

Rachel, what have been the challenges in directing this show?

Rachel: As it is a show compiled of monologues, scheduling was an interesting challenge. We are all pretty familiar working with other bodies on stage for a fair chunk of the performance material, but we had to approach this in a very different way. I met with each of the women independently for the first few weeks. When we finally put it all together, we were presented with a whole new set of issues. We had to create one full thought out of the many and everyone put in a lot of effort to make each woman unique within a single body.

And how difficult has it been in changing a one woman show into a show for nine actresses?

Rachel: Before auditions, I had no intention of casting more than five women for this show. Knowing it was originally a one woman show, and wanting to do right by the playwright and all the phenomenal women she'd interviewed to create this incredible piece, I felt that keeping the similar idea of the one being the many was essential. But when I had all these women audition for me, I saw so much talent and realized that this show was for all women, so giving so much talent the opportunity to portray all these incredible characters was just reiterating a driving message for the show. All that was already there. Having nine different women instead of one also allowed for some interaction that doesn't appear in the script.

Should we expect to see a political play when we take out seats?

Jen: I think "politics" is a misnomer. We think about war as a political thing, because most of us haven't experienced it first hand. All we know of war is what our politicians and political activists tell us. To these nine women, war is a daily reality. Most of them have no political ideologies, but none of them had a choice: war found them, again and again and again. It has shaped their lives in ways that we cannot comprehend, and that's where the emphasis of this play lies - in the lives of Iraqi women, and the forces and choices that led them to where they are today.

Kathy: Dreamwell’s 2010 season is Taboo Bijou... Theatre should be challenging and give the audience something to think about and discuss long after the show has ended. To that end, I believe 9 Parts of Desire will not disappoint audiences.

What has been the most rewarding part of this experience for you?

Mary: Being a part of the whole... sharing and enriching the lives of our audience.

Jen: This is the most nuanced role I've ever gotten to play, and I am thrilled at the challenge and the experience it offers.

Kathy: It has been an interesting and emotional journey watching the other actors develop their characters. The support from everyone involved in this production has been wonderful.

What else do you want the audience to know before they arrive?

Jen: I think most people will expect the play to either be hugely political or heavy and depressing. What I really hope that it will be is a learning experience. I hope everyone who sees the play will come to see a new point of view - maybe even nine! - about the Iraqi people. This play is a beautiful piece of art, and I hope people are moved by it, but the eye-opening perspectives are what I want people to take home from this experience.


The show opens Thursday night and runs August 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28 at 8 pm. Tickets available at the door. Cash or check only. For more information go here.

(Cast photo by Dennis Lambing.)

Baltimore Waltz opens tonight!

City Circle - Sometimes things don't always go as planned in the theatre world. City Circle had planned to open The Threepenny Opera a week or so ago, but an unexpected illness in the production team forced them to switch gears. Instead, tonight Paula Vogel's The Baltimore Waltz opens. We had a chance to talk to the director of the show, Greg Redlawsk, as well as one of the actors, Nicole Vespa.


Could you tell our readers a little bit of what the show is about?:

Greg: Well, The Baltimore Waltz is a play that revolves around a fantastical trip made by a brother and sister to Europe after the sister has been diagnosed with ATD (Acquired Toilette Disease) and their search for some sort of cure, some sort of hope.

Nicole: Right, when Anna gets diagnosed with her disease, she and her brother Carl decide to take the European vacation they have always planned. During the trip Anna decides to cut loose and live life to the fullest -- by eating out a lot and lusting after various European men. Anna is a fun character to play -- she is sweet and thoughtful, but she can also be incredibly selfish and short-sighted. She has a sense of humor about her predicament though, and I think that's what really carries her through all the things that happen to her during the play. She's a very feeling person - as she says to Carl at one point during the play, "I can remember the things I feel." Anna is really a stand-in for Paula Vogel herself, because the play is an homage to Vogel's real-life brother, Carl and the vacation they never got to take together.

Greg: It is also a thinly veiled but heartbreakingly poignant critique on how people responded to the AIDS crisis in the late 80's and early 90's.

This show was added to the season after Three Penny was canceled. Greg, can you talk a little bit about how this show came to be? Did you suggest it?

Greg: Yeah, I suggested it. I was on the City Circle Board at the time, and so I was aware of the situation as soon as it happened. The Board looked at a number of different options, but eventually decided on going with my proposal. It was at times a bit hectic, just due to the rushed nature of the whole process, typically of course seasons are laid out at least around six months in advance, giving the directors time to find their production teams and prepare for the show, but despite the limited time frame, this show's ended up coming together pretty effectively.

Greg, why did you want to direct this show?

Greg: Well, first of all, this is an extremely well written play. The text is strong and emotionally demanding but still malleable enough to stand up to a number of different conceptual ideas and directions. It is also a particularly challenging piece in that it has thirty scenes in ninety minutes, which presents a certain difficulty when it comes to matters of flow and pacing. While the subject matter of the play is highly personal to the playwright, themes of how one deals with grief and the notion of death can resonate with just about everyone. And that resonating is also a result of the specificity. Vogel didn't try to make it general to appeal to the broadest possible audience, instead she embraced the specificity of her circumstances which lead to a play that is intense and dramatic, gripping and impossible to ignore.

This show combines humor with pretty serious subject matter. How did you deal with the combination of these two elements?

Nicole:It can be hard at times! The play definitely has extremes between funny and serious, light and dark. The play is really a meditation on the loss of a loved one, so it could have gone to a really dark place. Instead, Vogel chose to make it darkly humorous throughout. I heard a quote at some point (and I'm paraphrazing here) that there is a thin line that separates pain from laughter. There are so many things in life that are like that...if you couldn't laugh about them, you'd cry. In that way I think it's a really truthful play...Vogel doesn't have the characters languishing with grief. Instead she has them celebrating life and trying to make the most out of the little time they have left together.

Greg: I think the major thing that the actors have to do in a show like this is simply embrace their given circumstances. Like in any comedy, it is only funny if the actors are truly invested and truly believe in their actions. The humor comes from the situation. So in a play like this that mixes in humor and serious subject matter in starkly vivid and surprising ways, the major thing that must be done is an adherence to this philosophy, the notion that the characters themselves are real people, respond in real ways, and it is the absurdity of the situation that causes both humor and drama to exist simultaneously. The playwright did that work, the work of making it alternately funny and serious. I also do have the habit of working with physicality, something we didn't have as much time for in this process, but an actor can never forget how much their physical body influences their emotional state. So when I say the actor needs to be committed to the given circumstances, that commitment is not only mental, not only about will, but also about the body being physically ready to respond to the demands of the script and work in harmony with intuitively internal responses as well.

And can you tell us a little bit about your actors?

Greg: We have an interesting amount of variety within this three person cast. All three have significant theatre experience, but manifested in some different ways. Kehry Lane is a regular around these parts, and is an absolute joy to work with. His experience makes him able to take on a demanding role like The Third Man (who actually plays twelve different parts) with fluidity and seeming ease. Bryant Duffy has been acting for years as well, with experience in summerstock and theatre around the region. He and Nicole Vespa have developed a great on stage sibling relationship that has gotten stronger throughout the production due to their abilities to work honestly and effectively in their characters. Nicole is currently a high school theatre teacher in Washington Iowa and brings a great freshness to the role of Anna.

Nicole, how has this show compared with others you've done in the area?

Nicole:It's been a lot of fun. I'm really excited to be acting again, and I hope to do more of it in the future. Frankly, all of my recent experiences in theatre have been very positive - I've been lucky enough to work with very talented actors and directors, on well-written plays that really has a heart. I have no complaints.

What challenges have you had to face in the rehearsal process?

Nicole: The language! During the course of the play, characters speak French, German, and Dutch. My character has relatively few lines in a foreign language, but that is a challenge! The play is a very language-rich, which is part of what makes it fun to play around with, but also a definite challenge at times. Overall this has been a really fun play to rehearse, though.

Greg: And there are always a variety of challenges when it comes to a rehearsal process. This play is particularly difficult because, as I mentioned before, it is constantly moving in and out of scenes and you have to find a way to make those changes fluid and smooth so as not to interrupt the sort of whirlwind atmosphere the show engenders. I'm a director who likes to keep tinkering until the end, I often restage scenes multiple times throughout a process, but as we had a little bit less rehearsal time for this show than has been the norm for me, I've had to adjust my style a little bit. I love physical warm ups but have abandoned them for this show, I staged the show more quickly than I may have liked, and not having a stage manager can at times be difficult. But through it all the actors have been a pleasure to work with, have helped keep the process moving forward in a smooth and efficient way, and I'm quite pleased with the end product.

What moments stand out for you in this show?

Nicole:So many! It's hard for me to narrow it down. There are so many scenes that Kehry is in that make me laugh. I am so lucky to be working with such a great cast and director...the whole process has really been a pleasure!

Greg: I mean, the major moment that sticks out for me is the final scene, which I won't talk about here so as not to spoil the surprise. I'll just say that there's a tenderness and vulnerability in those final moments that really elevates the entire production to something special. It's just an amazingly written and acted ending, and I can't wait for people other than me to see it.


The Baltimore Waltz opens tonight at 7:30 at the Children's Museum in Coral Ridge Mall. For more information, go here.

Backstage with Chapter Two

ICCT - The cast and crew of Chapter Two are working hard to be ready for opening night of what could be ICCT's final show (see this post for more information about that). The main character of this lesser known Neil Simon play, George, is a widower who is still recovering to some extent, but decides it may be time for a new beginning. He becomes involved with a woman who is recently divorced and not sure if she is ready for another romance so soon. Eventually they meet because of his brother and her best friend and hit it off and maybe a little too well. We took some time to talk to Brian Tanner, director of the show, and David Pierce, who plays the lead character, George.

David, tell me about your character. What's he like? Was it difficult to get into his skin?

David: George is a writer. He loves turning a phrase, loves verbal combat. He's trying to put the memory of his late wife behind him, though his success at that is open to question. He works too hard to put his new love into the mold of his late wife, without much success, and his attempts cause him to be more than a bit of a jerk at times. Those have been the toughest scenes to get into; even in meaty parts, it's tough to let go and be an ass, particularly when your co-star is so sweet and does such a great job of crying onstage.

How has this experience been similar to or perhaps different from other ICCT experiences?

David: Well, it's the first performance since my first couple of productions where I wasn't a member of the ICCT board. That's provided a different perspective, though I'm not sure you really want me to get into that. I will say that I feel more like an outsider with this production than I have since those first few productions. I don't mean that in a bad way - everyone has been absolutely wonderful about welcoming me back to the stage. Another difference is simply the cast size. This is the smallest cast I've been a part of at ICCT. It's nice; it allows you to get to interact with the people you're working with far more than a large cast does.

Can you talk about the rehearsal process for this show?

Brian: We spent the first week just working with the script, reading it and doing character analysis. I really enjoy exploring characters in this way and I think it's a big help for the actors. If the cast can understand their characters better, then that is going to show through in their performance. It's important to me that they know their character's wants, needs, where they've been, and where they are going. Not only of their own part but in relation to all the others'. I tend to ask a lot of behavioral questions early on and there's not always a right answer.

I think the character work paid off because all four of the actors really hit the ground running when we got into the scene work. I say we did rough blocking because much of the play is very conversational between two characters, and so we needed to follow the flow of the dialogue about when it felt right to move from one place to another and when to stay still. This cast has been very much fun to work with and very open to this rehearsal process.

What was it like working with Brian?

David: Brian has been great. He's been really open to all of our suggestions, yet can put his foot down in a very nice manner when he needs or wants to do so. He did a great job of casting the show, if I do say so myself, which has led to us being ahead of the pace for most of the rehearsal process. I really appreciated the way he used the first few rehearsals to help us focus on who our characters were.

What moments in this play stand out for you?

Brian: I really like the phone exchange between George and Jennie where they talk on the phone for the first time before meeting face to face. You really get to see this progression of two characters suddenly finding each other and there's a very sweet quality to it. On the flip side they have a couple very dynamic scenes when they are married and really hash some stuff out. They both have heavy emotional baggage from previous relationships and there are some passionate exchanges. There's a lot of emotion in this script and the cast is doing a great job letting it all out there.

Were there any moments that were particularly challenging for you?

David: There are a couple of things in Act Two. One of those is the thing I mentioned above, where George has to be more than a little of an insensitive jerk. The other comes at the end of the play. I had to struggle to find a way that the outcome made sense to me as opposed to being a tacked on happy ending. I found that internally; I hope it comes across to the audience.

Brian, tell us about your actors...what was their process like? What surprised you?

Brian: I've worked briefly with David on a couple other shows and have seen Ken in a number of ICCT productions. Their reputations proceeded them and they certainly filled the bill. I worked with Robyn the most, both as a fellow cast member and as a director. It's been a pleasure to watch her grow over the past year or so and I think she was ready to handle this role. All of these characters are complex and deep and they all get their moments to shine. Which leads me to Caroline. She hasn't done a whole of lot of theater recently but there were certain things that stood out for me in her audition and I'm happy that we were able to expand on these in the show. She has been holding her own, if not raising the bar, for the other three folks in the cast. I think she's going to raise a lot of eyebrows and has a bright future in our theater community. That's not to say that the others aren't doing well, everyone is bringing their "A" game to this show and it's paying off well.

What's your take on your fellow actors, David?

David: I don't share any scenes with Robyn, which is a shame, cause she's a fun person to hang around the set with. Ken, who plays my brother, has been a blast to share the stage with. While our scenes together aren't entirely comedic, there are a lot of nice comedy beats when we are onstage and he has been great to work with on those. And I can't say enough about Caroline. She's an extremely talented actress, with a light comedic touch as well as an intense dramatic side. She's got good stage sense. We've bounced ideas back and forth off each other, and her instincts are good. Brian gets credit for a real find here.

What have you learned about the show or about yourself through this experience?

Brian: I feel like I always take away something from each show that I work on, whether it's working the sound board or directing. I learn a lot from those I work with like Rich [Riggleman], who did the set design and Rachael [Lindhart], who did the costumes. They're very good at what they do and I really enjoy working with them. One of the reasons I was attracted to the show was that it was about adults in love, and not the traditional boy meets girl type of romance. These are not people discovering love for the first time, they have been around the block. They've been hurt, they have defenses, and they need to work things out in order to progress. I liked that complexity and nothing is ever black and white. It can certainly make you think about your own personal relationships and reflect on those.

ICCT has had its difficulties lately. If this turns out to be the last show ever for ICCT, how would you feel about that?

David: I'd be quite sad if this were the last ICCT show. I know I've been away for awhile, and that my times there weren't always that great, but I have a great deal of fondness for ICCT. I'd hate to see it go away, although in a strange way, it'd be an honor to be a part of the last ICCT show. I hope it doesn't come to that, though. I plan on donating, and hope anyone reading this will give what they can to keep ICCT alive.

Brian: Yeah, it would be a dubious distinction I can't say that I would feel the best about. I'm certainly honored to be included in this season and if it is the last show, I'm grateful for the opportunity to have been included in this long and illustrious run. I think this show is a great way to end the season but I would be sad if it were the end of something that should be embraced more by the community. Theater is meant to entertain, to inspire, to create, and explore. It should be a reciprocal relationship. The theater should enrich the community, and the community should keep the theater alive. The arts are there for all of us. I remember a line from "Mr. Holland's Opus" when they were cutting the music program. The Vice Principal said "If I'm forced to choose between Mozart and reading and writing and long division, I choose long division." and Mr. Holland replies, "Well, I guess you can cut the arts as much as you want, Gene. Sooner or later, these kids aren't going to have anything to read or write about." I think that's very true. I would love to see the community support their local theater. Also, it doesn't seem that ICCT gets the same support from Iowa City that City Circle gets from Coralville. ICCT is basically left up to it's own devices to try to keep things going. They aren't related to the University or generally a part of the downtown district so that puts them at a disadvantage. I know that there is currently a drive to save the theater and I really hope that the community will rally for something that has been giving to them for over 50 years.

David: You know, even if the worst happens, I don't think ICCT will go away forever. If this version of ICCT folded, I don't think it would be too long before a new ICCT rose from the ashes.

Check out Chapter Two at ICCT beginning this Friday!

Backstage with Blackbird

Dreamwell - Blackbird by David Harrower is an intense show. The topic is incendiary and the execution is intimate. Of course, that's what Dreamwell's 2010 season - "A Taboo Bijou" - is all about. We had a chance to talk to the director, Angie Toomsen, and the actors, Erin Mills and Rip Russell about this very unique show.


Can you give me a brief synopsis of the show?

Angie: Something inappropriate happened between Una and Ray 15 years ago, when he was 40 and she was 12. Una locates Ray and visits him at his place of work. And they spend the 90 minutes traversing the distance between them, recounting the past and trying to find some kind of closure/resolution. Ray would have preferred this encounter didn't happen. For Una, this meeting is a necessity in ways she doesn't even fully understand when she first walks in the door. I won't say how it ends but they log quite a few emotional miles in this brief play.

Why did you want to direct this show?

Angie: I felt it was a very brave, very honest account of one potential scenario in the lifelong wake of an inappropriate relationship. Theatre gives us an opportunity to make a meeting like this possible. When in real life do we get the opportunity to corner someone who hurt us in a little room and hash out what really happened and why? I love it when film and theatre ask these cathartic "what if's." When I first read it, it reminded me, in many ways, of a Richard Linklater film called Tape, where a man orchestrates a hotel room meeting between two high school friends, one of whom raped the other. It's like, in these four walls - in this finite amount of time - we are going to claw our way to freedom or understanding...somehow. Blackbird has a similar structure, but there's no moderator. There's no one to "referee" this meeting. There's no one keep this encounter "on the rails." And that's where it gets dangerous. I wanted to direct this because the places it goes are not textbook. This show isn't "settling."

The writing in this piece is written with line breaks and a rhythm that is almost poetic. How did that affect your rehearsal process?

Angie: This is both helpful and extremely difficult for the actors. During one rehearsal we kind of arrived at the decision that a period at the end of a sentence was, in fact, a period. If there was no period preceding the line, it's a "cut off." It sounds really technical, and it is, but decoding the way he wrote it is absolutely necessary. What he's done, basically, is write the way we actually speak. Who speaks in perfectly formed sentences? We stop, start, interrupt each other. The key is really knowing what you were going to say. It's been hard in a lot of ways to make this natural, but it's been helpful in others. For example, when Ray stops and starts himself it's like he's catching himself, reframing what he's saying. So it very much fits.

Rip: I really thought it would be difficult to memorize the playwright’s style of writing. The difficulty comes from remembering when your character has a cut-off line or a full stop. It’s like where to put the air!

Erin: Yes, it made the rehearsal process more challenging. I am accustomed to reading prose in a script, then finding line breaks intuitively as a way to lift the character off of the page. But Harrower wrote these line breaks- incomplete interjections that are a part of natural speech - into the script, which has the effect of making them unnatural, initially. I had to work in reverse order in that way, by making sense of sputtered speech that was already written for me. However, it flows beautifully and makes a lot of sense if you're only reading it!

Rip, can you talk about your character?

Rip: Ray is a tragic figure. He has done despicable acts in his past, been punished by society, and has been left to deal with it on his own. He has admittedly ushed it away as far as he can. But it will always be with him. As a character, he is essentially a normal person with a closeted past. When confronted by Una, past emotions bubble to the surface.

Let’s talk about Una a little bit. Erin, can you tell us what it was like to portray her?

Erin: Something Angie and I concluded early on is that Una does not act like a healthily-adjusted person, mentally or emotionally. I had to realize that much of this play is about showcasing the effects that her first "relationship" had, and still has, on her. The character of Una makes a lot more sense when you understand her as a person with poor mental health, who would qualify for some clinical diagnoses. It has helped me feel comfortable saying some of the shocking things that she says. But fundamentally, she is a walking ball of emotion, and it has been somewhat tiring and very intense to play her. Yet, she's so interesting, complex, intelligent, and open to catharsis, that I do love portraying her.

Angie, how did you help your actors get into these very complex and difficult roles?

Angie: One thing that I think has helped is we have really worked very slowly into some of the tough stuff. I knew Erin a little before this process and had only just met Rip. I don't think Erin and Rip knew each other very well either. So I wanted to cultivate a sense of trust among the three of us. In a play that gets very personal like this, it's easy to think "I hope I don't creep her out" or "I hope he knows I'm okay with this, etc etc." So we have peeled back the layers each week as we've gotten to know one another better. There is a very challenging moment that I have saved to the last week prior to tech to really get into, but I feel confident that we can "go there" now. The other thing that I hope I have done to help them is just reinforcing that they are "enough" and don't have to work so hard. This play is such a roller coaster for both of them so helping them understand that they can conserve their energy by trusting that the playwright has done most of the work already. They don't need to worry about whether or not this will be compelling.

What choices did you have to make as a director to make this show work?

Angie: When I heard Erin read the role I knew that she had the special "lived" quality, despite her youth, that Una needed. Una is intelligent, wise, intuitive, but also very fragile at the core. Erin gets that. The only thing is, she was doing Wonderful Town at the time and, if I cast her, we would only really have three dedicated weeks of rehearsal. But I made that choice because I wanted her soulfulness in the play. Rip hadn't originally auditioned and I hadn't had someone who really looked that much older than Erin. When Rip came on board - even though I can't say he looks 55 - it was the right chemistry. And he is a workhorse - very serious about the process and a very generous actor. So, I really think casting was the biggest choice that I felt would set this up for success.

When working on Blackbird, were there any past theatre experiences that you drew on that helped you get into this character?

Erin: Actually, I can't think of theatre experiences as sources, since this has been my most challenging role yet! They have helped on a basic acting level, surely. But mostly I drew on personal experiences I've had with people I've talked to or known - particularly victims of sexual abuse - and my own feelings about ex-boyfriends, where it's applicable. Though it must be stated that I've never experienced anything like this situation myself. I just hope I'm conveying it well.

Can you talk about the rehearsal process in general and how you two worked together?

Rip: Erin was rehearsing Wonderful Town when we began so we had limited time together until three weeks ago. The key to his play is the chemistry of the actors. Erin is a very quick study and a very generous actor. Blackbird calls for the actors to completely trust each other and I think Erin and I are doing that nicely.

Erin: Right, the rehearsal process has been very private and driven by hard work. It hasn't felt socially appropriate to describe what we're doing in casual conversation because it's so serious and heavy. I feel that Rip, Angie, and I have worked as a true union, a force, because we are all highly committed to the show. It's the kind of show that would totally fail if we weren't. Rip is such a great actor because he's a great person - he can rebuild himself. I think we all had to let ourselves transform. But there were lighter moments, for instance, when we'd screw up a really dramatic part and watch it turn into a soap opera. Or just need to laugh because everything was so grave.

Angie, can you talk about the staging of the show, the set, the lights - all of that side of things?

Angie: It's simple. Spartan. That's all I can say. I would love to have given a designer the money to create something wildly imaginative and symbolic, but we don't have the time or the budget, and this show doesn't require all of that. It's a breakroom in a pharmaceutical supply company. It's blue collar. It's a mess, which really represents Ray's life/inner self when Una tracks him down. He's not prepared, in any way, for this meeting. So we will use props and such to create that space as best we can.

Part of the play’s power is that it can be played different ways, with more or less sympathy for Ray and Una and their individual situations – without telling us the choice you made, I wondered how you came to decide how to play it. What I mean is, did you reach an agreement as a cast, did you as director say how you wanted it played, or did the actors each decide their own way to go and allow that contrast to show?

Angie: I think the script itself naturally sympathizes with Una more than Ray. In no way does it ever say what Ray did was understandable, but I do feel the most powerful way to direct this show is to remove judgment. That can be tough. It goes without saying that all three of us firmly believe that the sexual violation of a minor is wrong! And these characters also understand it's wrong. But the characters' feelings about the situation need to be understood without judgment. It is possible to demonize Ray. It is. We have asking the last few rehearsals how much of what he says could be a lie? We have found some specific areas to consider, but I want to assume most of what he's saying is true - or, at least, he believes it to be true. And that he can care for her as a person - for her well being - on some level. That he was "sick." That's what makes this play challenging for both the audience and the actors.

Was there an aha! moment during the rehearsal process when it all sort of clicked together for you?

Angie: This process has had a steady stream of "clicks" from the start. We'll go over a section, or an idea, and suddenly I find myself saying "he gets it now" or "she knows what I meant." I suppose the initial big "click" was working with Erin and Rip and seeing how much each of them responds to direction. No one takes anything personally and they can integrate ideas and shift almost immediately. That's when I went "okay, this is going to be fun."

Rip: Last week sometime I realized that our characters were just “talking.” Not fumbling for line or thinking what is next. It was very natural and very honest. I was like, “Wow! This is working!”

Erin: I think there were several of those. A few came while I was reading psychological case studies for research. More came while Una was sharing some of her history, and I started to feel like it might as well have been mine, because I was starting to "become" her.

What is it you want the audience to take from this show?

Angie: It's hard to say "I want the audience to think/feel such-and-such." But, I do want them to feel included. That they've been allowed to witness something personal. Even feel like voyeurs at times. That takes a rare depth of stillness and lack of ego, but that's what I aspire to with this piece.

Erin: I think it will surprise you no matter what you expect to see.

Blackbird opens Friday, March 19 at 7:30 at 10 S. Gilbert in Iowa City. Tickets can be reserved online or by calling 319-541-0140. It runs March 19, 20, 26, and 27.

Backstage with Poona

Dreamwell - Dreamwell Theatre is known for doing risky shows, but never before have they produced a show with a title they can't even say in polite company. Poona the Fuckdog opens tonight. It's the first play in Dreamwell's "A Taboo Bijou" season. We asked Chuck Dufano, president of the board, to elucidate this season's theme. "A Taboo Bijou refers to plays that involve a taboo subject. Themes that are difficult to witness onstage and are subjects people don't like to talk about. We thought about presenting a season that would elicit the question, "Why would anyone want to write a play about that?!" explained Dufano. "These kinds of plays challenge the way we accept theatre as a means of expression and bring to light certain aspects of life." As they searched for plays for the season, Dufano said they found many plays with taboo subjects were too serious. Poona the Fuckdog, written by No Shame Theatre founder Jeff Goode, is the opposite. "Poona is a blatant comedy. It's fun while still incorporating taboo themes of language and sexuality," said Dufano before adding with a wry smile, "And we thought having a show with the word "dog" in it would sell lots of tickets. I think that was the word."

As we often do with shows, we also had a chance to sit down with some of the creators of the show. Brian Tanner and Meg Dobbs co-directed the show. Kevin Moore is one the actors.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions. So... what is this show about?

Brian: On the surface, it's a series of stories about Poona, who is trying to mature and find her way in the world and she runs into a variety of characters and influences along the way, some good and some bad. It's a sort of fractured fairy tales for adults. She is accompanied by a storyteller and her own special guardian. There are several fairy tale components like a handsome prince, talking stuffed rabbits, as well as a number of characters you wouldn’t expect, like a fast talking salesman and a TV that is elected king.

Kevin: Right and the show's about context. Questioning opinions and ideas we take on faith - this word, that action, that lifestyle: it's "wrong." This script brings some of these concepts we've all been indoctrinated in since childhood, turns them around a little bit and makes us laugh at them, and by doing this, makes a little part of our brain ask "Why?" The show's also about laughing your butt off - really. It might just slide right off of your spine - seriously, wear a belt to keep your pants on.

Brian and Meg, why did you want to direct this show?

Meg: Well, who wouldn't? I wanted to test myself against the challenge of such a wacky comedy and the chance to work on a play that is truly the definition of ensemble.

Brian: This is such a quick witted script and it really challenges the structure and boundaries of your traditional play. Characters step in and out of the narrative, and not only address the audience, but interact with them too. I thought it did a great job making social commentaries through the use of satire and hitting above and below the belt at the same time. It hits you on a cerebral level even as you’re groaning at the political un-correctness.

Kevin, what characters do you play and what was challenging about portraying them?

Kevin: I play the Prince and also the Computer. The Prince is challenging because, well, there are so many Prince Charming roles out there, it can be tricky to introduce something new into a role of that kind. The script helps in that way - he's definitely not Prince Charming! But it's been a lot of fun to try to pry out some originality and fun from a more or less stock character type. The Computer is challenging because it's a character based in a very startling scene and powerful symbolism. It's an emotionless machine that ...just might...have a bit of an agenda of its own. Or, it might simply be removed from any emotional or conscience-based value system. It's a tricky part to make alive and funny and shocking at the same time.

What has been challenging about putting this all together?

Meg: The play is made up of a lot of small separate pieces, with one overarching storyline. The challenge has been to create a sense of cohesiveness.

Brian: And there are quite a few characters and quick set changes. Most of the cast play multiple roles. We went for a minimalistic approach, with costumes that suggest the characters and a basic colorful, but neutral set. We thought that since this is supposed to be adult fairy-tales or stories, what if this kind of looks like a production put on by kids, for adults? So there’s kind of a simplistic feel to the set, although the subject matter is very rich and provocative.

Kevin: I think the toughest challenge of any Dreamwell show is that we choose shows that don't fit into a lot of people's ideas about theatre. The shows are great, and startling and courageous, but rarely easy for the audience - exploration rarely is. Poona's certainly in that vein - the show has elements with the potential to offend almost anybody. But, in the spirit of satire, one has to enter it with a lack of judgment - be prepared for the unexpected, and that the unexpected might just insist on sitting in your lap for a while!

Who among your cast is going to blow us away?

Brian: Pretty much everyone in the cast has their own moments and times to shine. It’s such an ensemble piece that I hesitate to call out any one performance over another.

Meg: Yes, everyone, really. It's an ensemble after all.

You two sound like I've asked you which of your children you love best!

Kevin: I'll say it. Libby Dobbs is an inspired choice for Poona, and has masterfully prepared herself for a complicated role. Steve Polchert brings something unique and brilliant to each of his many roles. But like Meg and Brian said, everyone is working hard and bringing freshness to their characters. It's been a fabulous cast to be around.

What are your favorite moments in the play

Meg: Playing with the pink box. I find the scene with Suzy-Suzy and the computer to be the most gripping moment of the play.

Kevin: I love the Suzy-Suzy scene, not because I'm in it, but because it's the only truly chilling scene in the show. There's a lot of adult material in the show, a lot of stuff that may startle you in its underlying seriousness, or shame you or make you think. Suzy-Suzy's a counter-point to the zaniness and silliness in most of the other scenes. Which is not to say it isn't funny too.

Brian: There are some scenes that stand out for me. One is with the aliens, one of which has a name that unfortunately is something very offensive in our culture. So there’s a great exchange of confusion not unlike “Who’s on first?” which is hilarious while at the same time exploring the nature of offensive language. Just when you think that scene couldn’t go any further, there it goes, going further.

The press release says it “skewers society’s views on everything from sex to terrorism to language to sex again” but what does that mean?

Brian: There really isn’t any subject that isn’t fair game in this show. It takes certain archetypes, twists them around, and reflects them back at us. A lot of the humor is very satirical but at the same time there are rings of truth in the words, or at least we recognize the points it’s trying to make. As we move from story to story, or even from line to line, it’s taking punches at a lot of society’s conventions. It’s also got a lot of smart but silly humor in it too.

Kevin: It also means leave your preconceptions at the door. Let yourself be carried away with the show and try not to let the daytime world of rules affect your enjoyment. Don't get me wrong - if you find yourself stewing for days over the social concepts that we mess with in the show, that's great! But let it stew after the show's over. If you find yourself in the audience and thinking "But you CAN'T say/do/think/sneak into a box with THAT!!!!" Ask yourself: "Why the fuck not?" It's only a play.


Poona the Fuckdog runs February 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27 at 7:30 PM at the Unitarian Society building (10 S. Gilbert). Tickets can be reserved online but are also available at the door.