Be sure to check out the summaries of each piece and notice the Season Ticket promotion available through August 31. We have the best ticket prices in town!
08
May
12
Announcing our 2012-2013 Season!
This is the dramaturgy which will appear in the program. No real “spoilers” and it may help you to read this at your leisure.
One of the first things one notices in reading the script for The Women of Lockerbie is that it is structured in the form of Greek tragedy. Instead of scenes, the play is divided into “Choral Dialogues,” “Choral Odes,” and “Episodes.” Deborah Brevoort, in her preface, encourages producers of her play to “trust the form”. [To the blog reader: The idea I want to stress to everyone thinking of seeing this, is: Yes, it's sad. But it's also hopeful. The ending will be worth the price of admission. And the entire play is only about 80 minutes long. Please take a chance on this! You will not regret it. ]
It was therefore appropriate for us to research Greek theater, and to share some highlights of our findings with you so that you can view this piece in a more informed way. The Greeks are credited with virtually creating theater as we know and understand it. Here are some things to keep in mind about their theatrical style:
1) It was designed to be viewed by huge audiences;
2) It was written to provoke intense emotional response (catharsis–see note below)
3) It was political
4) It incorporated music and dance and poetry as a rule rather than an exception
The “Greek Chorus”: most of us have heard this term, but may not understand exactly what it means. The Chorus function both as storytellers and as witnesses to the story. They are characters in the drama, and also stand outside it (the chorus in a Greek play might be soldiers, townspeople, prisoners, etc). They help the audience to focus on the central events, and they also comment on those events. They speak of their own feelings and also of the overarching ideas being presented. Their part is often sung and/or danced.
In The Women of Lockerbie, the two women, plus Olive, speak three Odes (“Grief,” “Lockerbie,” and “Faith”). The final Ode, “Washing,” is wordless. There are also Choral Dialogues, and “Episodes”. The Episodes are the most naturalistic in style, and it is there that the primary action takes place. The Dialogues are often hard to distinguish from the Odes, except that in them the women speak of their individual experiences, and in the Odes they speak more universally. We have employed some stylized movement for the women to underscore the Odes, and parts of the Dialogues.
Presentational style: Greek theater usually involved no more than three actors, who wore large masks so that the vast amphitheater full of people could distinguish one from another. Each actor might play several roles, using a different mask–and a different voice–for each. Actors moved little, using voice and large gestures to communicate their words and emotions. You will notice in our play that most longer speeches are delivered directly to the audience, and that there is less blocking (movement onstage) than you may be accustomed to seeing.
Most theater today is more commonally done in a “representational” style–striving for realism, where the audience is asked to believe that events are really happening on the stage. There is an invisible “fourth wall”. The characters onstage are supposed to be unaware of having an audience; the spectators are passive, eavesdropping on the action.
Presentational theater is typically more minimalist, employing only suggestions of sets and locations. Frequently, actors will play multiple roles. The audience members are challenged to become more active in creating the action, filling in with their imaginations the elements which are being depicted onstage. Actors may speak directly to the audience.
Production Design: The play is set on a hillside in Scotland. Even with a minimalist approach, there were several possibilities. We’ve chosen to employ a visual metaphor. As violence tears at the fabric of our lives–both individually and communally–and since the women are determined to wash the clothing of the victims, it seemed appropriate to construct the set completely of textile materials. This renders the setting abstract and stylized, rather than trying to achieve a realistic exterior.
The use of visual projections–whose concept as well as production are thanks to Joel Miller–is in recognition of the fact that we live in a highly visual culture, and we are describing events our younger audience members will have little or no knowledge of. Visuals allow us to present much information dramatically, in a very short time, while heightening the emotional impact of the words which will follow.
Catharis: Originally a medical term, ‘catharsis’ literally means a purging. Aristotle was the first to use this term as a metaphor for the strong emotional response by an audience at a play. This response was the intended result of the performance. and might take the form of tears, laughter or other ecstatic emotion. The Women of Lockerbie, written in the wake of the World Trade Center destruction, as well as multiple epic natural disasters, offers to a culture in danger of being inured to tragedy an opportunity for profound and healthy emotional release. Grieving, which is generally personal and private, and progresses at a different pace for each of us, is not often expressed corporately in American culture, and there are not always public opportunities to grieve world events–unless one is able to attend a memorial service which may take place in another state or another country.
To facilitate this invitation to grieve, all for One is providing not only tissues in the program, but grief counsellors on site, and talk-back sessions the first weekend at the end of each performance.
10
Apr
12
The Women of Lockerbie
The Women of Lockerbieby Deborah Brevoort
May 4-6 & 11-13, 2012
Friday/Saturday curtain 8:00 PM
Sunday curtain 2:30 PM
Sunday curtain 2:30 PM
All Performances at the Allen County Public Library Auditorium
In 1988, Libyan terrorists bombed Pan Am flight 103, killing 270 people when the plane went down in flames over Lockerbie, Scotland. The women of the town, in spite of their own losses, reached out to the victims’ families, determined to redeem this act of senseless hate with a profound act of love. Awarding-winning playwright Deborah Brevoort has created a fictional scenario loosely based on these events. Her powerful and poetic drama examines the way violence rends the fabric of life, and how our responses can help the healing process. Rated PG-13 for subject matter and brief coarse language.
Call (260) 622-4610 today for your tickets!
Early Bird Ticket Prices through May 3, 2012
Adults $12, Seniors(60+) $10, Students & Groups(10+) $8
Ticket Prices beginning May 4
Adults $15, Seniors(60+) $12, Students $10
03
Apr
12
Come join us and bring a friend!
Announcing the 2011-2012 Young Playwrights Festival Winners!
K-2 Division Winner
Allison Cwanek
Ballerina Special
K-2 Division Runner Up
Gabi Hanna
Treasure Ship Island
3-5 Division Winner
Jamaica Ellis
Fat Man, Arm Pit Man and Thunder Thighs
3-5 Division Runner Up
Grace Hanna
The Peasant and the Princess
6-9 Division Winner
Bria Warren
The Secret
6-9 Division Runner Up
Lydia Powers
The Babysitter
10-12 Division Winner
Talitha Fischer
Hal’s Emporium
10-12 Division Runner Up
Danae Delanoy
Love Lost in Grief
If you are interested in all things Jane Austen, and want to whet your appetite for our upcoming production of Emma, please visit our new blog, Creating Emma, which chronicles our journey through this production, complete with lots of Regency research and behind-the-scenes stories. We hope to add photos soon.
If you’ve ever seen a screen adaptation of any of Jane Austen’s works, you may have noticed that dancing plays a significant part in the social life of her characters. Whether it’s Anne in Persuasion, who is considered an old maid and consequently expected to play the piano while her younger cousins dance with the man she loves…or Marianne in Sense and Sensibility who is publicly snubbed by her former love in a London ballroom…or the tense conversation between Elizabeth and Darcy in Pride and Prejudice…Austen uses dancing in dramatic, specific ways to advance plot and reveal character.
Emma is no exception. A key plot element takes place at a dance in Highbury’s town hall, and no less than three separate dances are specified in the script–the thought of getting this scene right has had me on edge for a month. How fortuitious, then, that just when I needed the contact, I happened to notice an event listing in Whatzup. There is a contra dance evening, open to the public, on the third Saturday of each month on the campus of St. Francis University. It is hosted by the Fort Wayne Traditional Dance and Music Society–an organization I’d never heard of before. I contacted them and spoke with Barry Dupen, who agreed to choreograph and teach the three dances.
Tuesday night our cast, some in dance shoes, some in sneakers, took their places–I could see some nervousness and some excitement. Barry was an excellent teacher, explaining and demonstrating the moves, counting them out slowly, having the dancers walk the steps slowly, and finally adding the music. Much laughter, some discussion about who was supposed to be dancing with whom (and why), intense concentration, coaching from the sidelines…the hour flew by. We’ll have another hour-long session with Barry on Saturday morning, and then we’re on our own.
The most helpful and encouraging thing he said to our group was that these dances were a great social occasion, a chance to flirt in a way that the period did not allow at any other time (hand holding! lots of eye contact! wow!). Also, the dances didn’t happen all that often, so it’s not as if everyone was proficient. The main thing was to appear to be enjoying oneself. So–an acting scene, in which some people happen to be dancing. Perfect.
I should say a word about the music, since that too has been an answer to prayer. I went hunting online (how did we ever manage to find anything before we could web-surf?) for Regency-era dance music, and found a CD entitled The Regency Ballroom. To my surprise, it was produced by a group of musicians in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, just down the road from where my parents lived for over 20 years. ‘Spare Parts” has an impressive catalog of historic dance music CDs. Bill Matthiessen, one of the core trio of musicians, engaged in a friendly email dialogue with me, negotiating our use of some selections from the CD. I’m thrilled that afO has the privilege of using what I know to be authentic, carefully researched music of Jane Austen’s time.
This is our third Home Stage Production of the season, and also our third adaptation of a famous story from another medium. We started the season with a very short Bible story (Ruth), and presented it as two contrasting one-acts. Then we mounted an O. Henry short story (The Ransom of Red Chief) as a full-length comedy. Now we’re attempting to present a dramatic version of a much-loved novel by Jane Austen, Emma.
All adaptations have their challenges, and the challenges are different from story to story. While the O. Henry story is familiar mainly for its twist, and Ruth is well-known for a couple of famous lines, Jane Austen has become a household name in the past twenty years or so, with film after film based on her six completed novels. Three good screen versions of Emma (two of them for television) have been done just in the past 15 years. So when we approach this novel, we do so knowing that our audience not only loves the story, but they can quote it at length and they have pictures in their heads already of what the characters are like. They have expectations about the costumes, the scenery and music.
All of which makes it daunting to attempt to recreate Austen on stage–and on a small stage, at that. And yet the idea was irresistable: here was a much-loved writer whose work had not been produced here in Fort Wayne in my memory. When I discovered that Jon Jory, a notable theater director and writer, had published adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility and Emma, I knew at once that I wanted to do one of them. It took very little contemplation to decide on Emma. For one thing, I personally haven’t found the screen versions of Emma to be as completely satisfying as the other two. (Who can compete with the BBC version of P&P, especially Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, really? And Emma Thompson’s imaginative big screen take on Sense and Sensibility was so perfect, I wouldn’t want to compare it to any other.) For another, those two stories range through many different locations, including London and Derbyshire, and multiple large estates figure in each book. There are subplots and back stories to explain. But Emma is a very simple, straightforward tale with one setting, the fictional village of Highbury, and a small cast of characters who all revolve around the eponymous central figure who touches all their lives.
Our season was announced, and at once I heard a buzz–there was more excitement about Emma than perhaps anything else we’ve ever done. We had a decent turnout at auditions. Not surprisingly, the majority of my potential actors were women, reminding me that Jane Austen is (perhaps unfairly) perceived as a woman’s writer. This was reinforced at the first read-through of the script: When I inquired, every female in the room had read the novel; none of the men had.
In order to immerse us all quickly in a culture and time period two hundred years remote from our own, I did something I’ve rarely done before: I gave the cast several homework assignments. One, obviously, was to read (or re-read) the book. I asked each one to find a) some passage about his character which described him in a way not found (or not so clearly) in the play, and b) a line of dialogue spoken by his character in the book, but not in the play, which gave him some new insight into his role. This homework is to be shared with me, but not necessarily the whole cast. It is my way of reminding everyone (myself included) that the best way to be faithful to Austen is to develop these characters using all the information she left for us–much of which is not found in the pages of the very compact script adaptation.
The second assignment was due first: I assigned each actor a specific topic related to the world of Jane Austen and Regency England, which they were to research, prepare at least a half-page typed report, and email it to me so that I could format all the reports and distribute a packet of them to each cast member. Each actor presented his or her research at either the first read-through, or the first ensemble blocking rehearsal. I will be posting a separate blog before we open, with a condensed version of the results. These will serve as an expansion of the dramaturgy notes in the program (and we’ll put a link to the blog in the program, as well). I hope that students in particular will find the background helpful.
Give the gift of family-friendly, thought-provoking and entertaining theater with a gift certificate for all for One’s 2012-2013 Season!
Buy one season ticket and get a second of equal or lesser value at half off!
Adults $40
Seniors(60+) $32
Students $24
We can accept checks only. You can mail your check made out to all for One productions to 908 Woodcreek Drive, Ossian, IN 46777.
Call us at 622-4610 to place your order. You can also email us at afooncall@comcast.net and let us know the number and type of tickets.
This offer is good until Wednesday the 21st and the gift certificates will be in the mail on Thursday to arrive by Saturday.
Thank you and Merry Christmas!
We just received our donation check from GoodSearch today! Thanks to all of you who have been using GoodSearch and GoodShop to help support afO!
If you’re not familiar with GoodSearch and GoodShop, let me give you a quick overview. GoodSearch is a Yahoo! powered search engine that you would use just like you use Google. The difference being that each time you use GoodSearch, a donation of $.01 is made to the charity of your choice. You can set all for One productions as your default charity and not have to think about it every time you search.
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Thanks for your continued support of afO!
