Rage on the road

Rage - An anonymous commentator informs us that one of the shows from Rage Theatrics' Hero Stories will be produced at Muscatine Community College in April. The show is The Legends of Robin Hood and Little John, one of the best shows of the collection. For more information, go here.

Theatre weekend

Two very different shows are going up this weekend. Riverside's Doubt opens tonight on Gilbert Street. We'll have a review of it next week. And Hero Stories ends its run this weekend with shows on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. The reviews for that show are below. Check 'em out!

A second review of Hero Stories

(The first review is here.)

Rage - Over the river and through the sub-zero to Hero Stories we go. This collaboration between Rage Theatrics and the Old Creamery Theatre opened on January 19th in the Amana Colonies.

It’s a bit of a drive down meandering two-lane highways to get there, but the journey is worth it. First off, watching Hero Stories in the pleasant atmosphere of the Old Creamery’s proscenium theatre makes it all the better. And secondly, opportunities are few to enjoy over two hours of live theatre, complete with swordfights, for only twelve dollars.

Rage has become well-known in the area for producing shows in which stage combat plays an integral role, but Hero Stories is a bit of a departure for the group as it includes original works centered on the theme of “heroes.” Some of these works were more polished and tightly written than others, but it’s always invigorating to see new plays on their feet, and every piece presented had enough appeal to contribute to an overall enjoyable evening.

True to “Rage” form, the swords start clanking even before the curtain opens on a scene adapted from The Three Musketeers, and the high energy combat continues through a vampire hunting adventure and a slick, Matrix-inspired, post-apocalyptic duel.

The sets are simple but effective with lighting design going a long way to set the proper mood in many of the pieces.

The large ensemble cast serves the stories well. A few performers would do well to slow down and fill the space a bit more with their voices and presence, but many more performers take this opportunity to shine—too many, in fact, to mention each one by name. Some of the particular stand-out performances include Adam Turner as a comically self-aggrandizing Robin Hood and Brad Cary as a lovable yet oafish Little John. The cast of Pop Tart Hero was also particularly strong. Emily Dokken is lovely as the slightly awkward love interest, and Thomas Henrich’s performance as Stan is both impressively athletic and emotionally honest. Nika Neihaus and Nate Kula are visually perfect videogame characters in their hilarious “virtual fighting” scene.

Throughout all six pieces, the actors made the fight sequences appear natural and seamless (but not painless) while simultaneously working up a sweat.

As a whole, the evening achieved a nice rhythm and balance with three fast-paced shows in each act. Particularly wise was the choice to end Hero Stories with Pop Tart Hero, a play about an apathetic kid who longs for something tragic to happen so he can prove himself heroic. After watching five pieces full of serious swordplay and traditional stage fighting, Pop Tart Hero’s original take on stage combat is the perfect way to end the evening. It splits the side to see two fast food employees come to arms with spatulas, and to view a video game come to life. A man in front of me had to take his glasses off because he was laughing so hard his eyes were watering. Pop Tart Hero left me wishing there was a rewind button so I could see it again.

Not only does this piece amuse, it successfully leaves the audience with questions. What is a hero? What does it mean to act heroically? What will we sacrifice to be regarded as a hero? Is it worth it?

As the director’s note in the program reads, “We live in a society enamored with heroes.” Indeed, the hero’s narrative is one of the earliest forms of storytelling that exists. Hero Stories can’t possibly address all the dimensions of heroism that have been explored through the ages, but it does a nice job of mixing contemporary and classic notions while keeping the audience wholly engaged.

Even if it is twenty degrees below zero, take the trip out to see this collection of shows before it closes on January 27th. It’s not often that you can actually see blood, sweat and tears in a performance, but this one promises all three—plus a good belly laugh or two.

--Vicki Krajewski

Vicki Krajewski has acted and directed with theatre companies in Chicago and Iowa including the Prairie Center for the Arts, Sandcastle Productions, Dreamwell, Catalyst, Iowa City Community Theatre and City Circle. Several of her short plays and monologues have been produced in Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Along with her performance pieces, she does occasional newspaper reporting, freelance feature writing, technical writing, personal essays and even some poetry.

(The top picture shows Erik Wissenberg, Tyler Hanft, Brad Cary, Lane Hanon and Emily Dokken in Captain Blood. The bottom picture shows Nate Mims, Nate Kula, Derek Schmelling, Brad Cary, and Aaron Haworth in The Siege of La Rochelle. Both photos taken by Shuva Rahim.)

A review of Heroes Stories

Rage - Despite one pretty wide miss, Rage Theatrics' Hero Stories hits the target, its six parts adding up to one very entertaining evening. The production, playing at the Old Creamery Theatre in Amana through January 27th, will have you laughing, thinking, and thrilling, sometimes all at the same time.

There are three pieces in each act of Hero Stories, with the first piece in each act being a snippet of an existing work and the other two segments original works. The production opens with The Siege of Rochelle , taken from Dumas' The Three Musketeers. This is the portion of the novel where the Musketeers, plus D'Artagnan and faithful lackey Grimaud, attempt to hold a bastion for one hour to win a bet. The line readings from the leads was a little unpolished - a nearly silent Brian Tanner as Grimaud conveyed more emotion with facial expressions and gestures than the leads did with dialogue - and I think it was a mistake to leave in dialogue referring to the palace intrigue aspects of the novel. That dialogue had nothing to do with the actual action taking place, and it might have been confusing for someone unfamiliar with the story. But the action was first rate. Fast-paced, hectic, thrilling - a flurry of swordplay and motion that was fun to watch. All in all, a good way to start the evening.

I wish I could say that the next piece, Fine Men of Ostermark, was a good way to continue the evening. Sadly, this was the poorest piece of the evening. The work opened on a dark-blue-lit stage with a small circle of bright light off to one side. The circle wasn't large enough to cover the four actors standing in that location, and except for one brief moment later in the work, the lighting never improved. Several of the actors had projection problems, though not being able to hear the actors may have been a blessing: the script was nothing but a long string of sophomoric jokes. Appropriately enough, the only joke that had an enjoyable payoff involved no dialogue, only the grunting of Brad Cary's Ira.

On the other hand the next piece, The Legends of Robin Hood and Little John, was the highlight of the evening. A Rashomonesque retelling of the first meeting between Robin Hood and Little John, the piece features that meeting as seen through the eyes of three characters, Little John (Brad Cary), Robin Hood (Adam Turner), and Little John's wife Fanny (Mollie Laylin). All three actors brought high energy and fine comedic skills to the piece, displaying the sort of give and take that makes theatre come alive. It's always a pleasure to watch good actors playing off each other, taking the energy of another actor and bouncing it back through their own performance. The acting, combined with the smart writing of Jeff Goode and the crisp direction of Nate Kula and Nancy Mayfield, made for a throughly entertaining little screwball comedy.

After a brief intermission, the second act opened with Captain Blood. A very short work, this piece seemed to exist only as a reason to provide a fight scene between Aaron Haworth's Peter Blood and Erik Wissenberg's Levasseur. I'm not complaining, mind you - this was one of the best extended duels of the evening. The fight between the two ranged from blade to fist, and the action was the most realistic of the evening. I just wish the scene had gone on a little longer; what was there made me want to see more.

The next piece, The Post-Apocalyptic Adventures of Charlie Punter & The 8th Century Kid, made me want to see less. A jumble of cliche sci-fi situations and hokey dialogue that went on a bit too long, the piece was redeemed by strong acting and direction. While the cast as a whole was good, Brian Tanner, Adam Turner, and Mollie Laylin in particular stood out, bringing a nice comedic energy to the work. And though long, the piece never lagged; Scott Lewis' direction kept things moving, flowly briskly through a number of different scenes and set changes that in less-skilled hands might have tested the audience's patience.

The evening closed with Pop Tart Hero, a Walter-Mittyesque story written and directed by Matt Falduto. Easily the most heartfelt and emotional piece of the evening, Pop Tart Hero tells the story of Stan, a young man whose interior life is far more exciting and fulfilling than his actual life. Thomas Heinrich is perfectly cast as Stan, and he quickly captures our sympathies, making us root for him to break out of his shell and live the life he wants to live. Falduto's script is funny, thought-provoking, and ultimately heart-breaking. Pop Tart Hero also features the most imaginative use of fight choreography of the evening, as Nate Kula and Nika Niehaus act out a video game fight as Stan and his roommate play a console game. It's the perfect piece to end an extremely enjoyable evening of theatre.

It's interesting to note that in the two best pieces of the evening, The Legends of Robin Hood and Little John and Pop Tart Hero, the fight choreography exists to service the story. In the other pieces, the story exists to service the fight choreography. (Except for Fine Men of Ostermark, where the fight choreography and story both exist solely to service the jokes.) I think that's why those two pieces work the best - the action flows organically out of the stories instead of having the story be a supplement to the fight scenes. In those two works the stories are the goal, rather than a framework for a fight scene. That leads to a work that, like Hero Stories itself, is greater than the sum of its parts. Despite one misfire, Hero Stories as a whole is a production that should not be missed.

--David Pierce

David Pierce is a four-time past president of the Iowa City Community Theatre. He has acted, sung, directed, and worked backstage for far too many local productions to mention. He is a writer both by trade and inclination, with law and journalism as an educational background.

(The top picture shows Brad Cary, Mollie Laylin, and Adam Turner in Robin Hood. Bottom picture shows Thomas Heinrich, Matthew Falduto and Emily Dokken in Pop Tart Hero. Both photos taken byShuva Rahim.)

Hero Stories Podcast

Rage - Check out this KCCK Culture Crawl podcast for an inside look at Rage Theatric's Hero Stories production, opening tomorrow night.

As a side note, if there are other local theatre podcasts out there, please send us an email. We'd be happy to link to them.

Backstage with Hero Stories

Rage - Last year, Rage Theatrics presented Love and Rage, an evening of action theatre centered around the theme of love. They're back at it again this year with Hero Stories. This evening of swordplay and stage combat features original plays and new adaptations of classic works based around the theme of heroism. As the press release states... from Dracula to D’Artagnan, this wild and humorous collection offers something for everyone. Or as Rage's publicity director Nancy Mayfield said last night, "Hero Stories: A higher body count than last year."

What follows is a conversation with Nancy, who is also co-directing one of the shows, and Scott Lewis, who is a sort of uber-director for the whole project. A few additional voices popped in as we talked.

Can you talk a little bit about the types of shows you've chosen. I know they all have a hero theme - are they funny, serious, some of each?

Nancy: Definitely some of each. Like so much great theatre, I think the audience will notice a theme of the unlikely hero - the noble pirate, the courageous nobody. There is also a fair share of the not-so-heroic icons who don't quite live up to the hype, often with very humorous results.

Scott: It was a very conscious decision for us to not narrow the theme too much in selecting work. I'm very happy with the variety we got, both in terms of funny/serious and in terms of setting, cast size, tone, etc.

Let's get into the specifics of the shows . Tell me about the pirate piece Captain Blood. What makes that show unique and interesting?

Scott: In some ways, Captain Blood represents the traditional swashbuckling roots of action theatre. Rapiers and witty reparte. Sabatini's work in general lends itself well to what we do. Also, we felt it was important to have a purely serious piece with a clear cut hero and villain.

The Robin Hood piece sounds like a Rashomon experience, where everyone remembers the same experience differently. What can you tell me about that show?

Nancy: After the success of 2007's Your Swash is Unbuckled: Three Pirate Plays by Jeff Goode, we knew that Jeff's work lends itself perfectly to the style of combative-comedy that Rage has been developing for years through our touring group, Shattock Schoole of Defence. Therefore it was only natural that we took a look to see what other plays Jeff had written that might work with the "heroes" theme. By breaking down the legendary first meeting of Robin Hood and Little John into three different viewpoints, this play not only embodies a couple of very enjoyable versions, but one that is completely new to our audience by adding the voice of Little John's wife, Fanny.

Scott: The piece was written originally for the Kansas City Ren Faire. It lets us take a break and appreciate the important things in life, namely exaggeration and blunt trauma.

Nothing like a little blunt trauma to start the day. The Fine Men of Ostermark is the Dracula piece. What makes this vampire story stand out from others?

Scott: The protagonists make the big difference. They are a step removed from the rough and tumble vampire hunters of yore with their roguish good looks and wizened companions. They champion a more material ethos, bent on profit as well as ridding the world of evil. Maybe Andrew, the director, can give a little more insight.

Andrew, what do you want people to know about this show?

Andrew Juhl: That it's funny. That it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a Mel Brooks-like take on the tradtional vampire story.

Can you tell me a little bit about the rehearsals?

Andrew: It was my first piece I've directed in a decade so it was interesting to get back into it. Also, I wrote it but I didn't write physical comedy into it. I let the actors write the physical comedy through the rehearsals. We had conversations like, "Can I fall on my butt here? Let's try it. It's funny, let's keep it."

Moving on to Pop Tart Hero, the story of Stan the everyman. Of all of them, it is the most contemporary. Could you tell us why you chose to include it?

Scott: That it was a contemporary piece was part of the appeal, as it provides a contrast to the historical (or ahistorical) settings of the other pieces. Also, it shows off some of the depth of action theatre, by using physicality in ways beyond just two people fighting. Also, pop tarts.

My favorite are the cherry frosted ones. But moving forward... The 8th Century Kid seems to have a comic book feel. What decisions did you make during the production to bring out the style you want to convey?

Scott: The 8th Century Kid was consciously Anime. We limited ourselves to the aspects of Anime that can be reasonably brought out. The characters are strongly one-dimensional, but changing. The loveable con-man, the heroic swordsman, the mad scientist. It takes place in a world of strong statements and little defenition. During production, we took out things that would lead the audience to question parts of the world they couldn't immediately see. Our goal was to present strong characters and big interactions. We also struggled a lot with the idea of being after an unspecified apocalypse. The characters have access to different levels of technology and that shows through in their interactions with one another.

Finally, The Siege of La Rochelle is the Three Musketeers piece. I understand this was an adapted work from the book by Alexandre Dumas. Are the fights in this piece taken directly from the text or were they created in the spirit of the story but without the specifics?

Scott: I'll let Jason, our fight choreographer and the director of La Rochelle, answer that question.

Jason Tipsword: The fights were created to fit the piece and the early hollywood feel that we have attempted to recreate. The choreography was written collaboratively. I came in with the grand scheme of it, but many of the individual parts were written by the ensemble.

Let's talk more generally now about the entire production. This is Rage's second production of this nature, after Love and Rage last year. Why do short plays or scenes like this instead of one full length production?

Nancy: We really enjoy productions like Hero Stories or last year's Love and Rage because they give several directors the opportunity to really develop a style of theatre they may not have been able to fully explore before. It's a great feeling to have so many directors and actors come from all over to try doing something new or different. Whether extremely serious or extremely silly, every scene in this shows gives the audience a look into different ways stage combat comes to life on stage. That's not to say we have ruled out doing a full-length production in the future, though.

Scott: To me, the primary advantage is in the number of people we get to work with and the ability it gives us to take chances with new (or new to us) directors and performers. Since we're asking people to work on 20 minutes instead of a full show, the time commitment for individuals is lessened, while the number of people who get to be involved to any given degree is increased when compared to a more traditional production. Originally, we also looked at this sort of project because the production demands were more distributed and overall somewhat lower. With where Rage is right now, I would feel much more comfortable taking on a full length show during our next season than I would have two years ago when we were planning for Love and Rage.

Why did you choose to perform in Old Creamery?

Nancy: This is a brand new partnership that we are thrilled about developing. We were looking for a venue at the same time that David Kilpatrick of the Old Creamery Theatre was looking for some fresh, exciting shows to offer during the winter months. What can I say? A match made in heaven. Hopefully this will pave the way for future collaborations between our organizations.

Scott: This really was incredibly serendipitous for both organizations. When we sat down for the initial what do we both need out of this meeting it was rapidly apparent that what we were having was a we're both really excited meeting instead. We're always looking for ways to put ourselves in front of new faces and working with an established venue like this is a great opportunity. At the same time, we represent a way for the Old Creamery to reach out.

Don't miss Rage's Hero Stories, opening this Saturday at the Old Creamery Theatre in Amana. Go here for more information.

Auditions for Hero Stories

Rage - Rage Theatrics will hold auditions for Hero Stories, which is a collection of short works by local and classical playwrights performed in one evening. The theme is heroism and each work contains stage combat. The following works will be presented:

• Captain Blood, Chapter XIV: The Ransom, from Rafael Sabatini's novel Captain Blood, adaptation by Scott Lewis
• Pop Tart Hero by Matthew Falduto
• The Legends of Robin Hood and Little John by Jeff Goode
• The Post Apocalyptic Adventures of Charley Punter and the 8th Century Kid by Scott Lewis
• The Siege of La Rochelle, from Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, adaptation by Nate Mims.
• Vampire Story by Andrew Juhl

Auditions are November 4 and 5 at 7 pm in Halsey Hall. There are over 30 roles available and a knowledge of stage combat is not required. Go here for more information.

Deadline extended

Rage Theatrics - Rage has extended its deadline for submissions to Hero Stories. They will accept scripts until Friday, October 5th, 2007. Initial post here.