News From the Festival
Till We Fly Back Home
By Rhett GuterEditor’s Note: This is fourth and final installment in a series of blog posts from actor and choreographer Rhett Guter. He has appeared in numerous roles since 2005, including Tom Tucker inH.M.S. Pinafore,Tommy Djilas inThe Music Man, Peter inPeter and the Starcatcher,and this year as The Pirate King inThe Pirates of Penzanceand Houdini inRagtime*. He also choreographed this season’sThe Greenshowand in past seasons has choreographedThe Music Man, Peter and the Starcatcher,andAnything Goes.*
You may have heard actors say something to the effect of “this is my artistic home.” Certainly the Utah Shakespeare Festival is mine, but what does that mean? For me, it’s where I came from, it’s where my artistic DNA was forged. It was here, in quaint Cedar City, that I learned how to navigate the landscape of the American theatre.
I can trace nearly every professional theatre job I’ve ever done back to the Festival, sometimes in multiple ways, and it’s no wonder. I spent my very formative years studying theatre at Southern Utah University and the summers at the Festival practicing it. While the classroom provided the context, standing in the wings watching was the real lesson.
My first big “role” at the Festival was playing The Boy who would later become Pan inPeter and the Starcatcher, the story of an orphan who, through an incredible adventure, discovers his family, his identity, and his home. When Brian Vaughn, the artistic director, called to offer me the role, I was elated. But, excited as I was, there was no way to comprehend the experience that was in store. The show was a success in many ways, and for me it opened a myriad of doors—so many, that after seven seasons at the Festival, it would be seven more till I would come back.
I find it ironic that my first year back after Peter and the Starcatcher I found myself playing a pirate; and, while performing in the The Pirates of Penzance, I always chuckle to myself when Samuel says, “Of course: we are orphans ourselves, and know what it is.”
Boy, do I ever.
As the season wraps up, I’ve been reflecting on how incredible this visit home has been. After this past year, I could not be more grateful to be back on the Festival stages performing for and with so many that have cheered me on since the beginning.
Thank you.
“And so may we go on and on . . . past all the jostles of life, till we fly back home.”—Peter and the Starcatcher
Coincidently—The Comedy of Terrors
Alex Keiper (left) as Jo Smith and Michael Doherty as Beverley Jones in The Comedy of Terrors. (Photo by Karl Hugh.)
By David G. Anderson
The Utah Shakespeare Festival has a long history of cultivating and nurturing its patrons’ love affair with farce. Exhibit’s A, B and C being *Noises Off!, The Foreigner,andCharley’s Aunt,*each being produced twice at the Festival, as well as exhibits D and beyond: Boeing Boeing, Blithe Spirit, A Flea in Her Ear, The Servant of Two Masters, etc. Further enabling this amusing love affair, the Festival’s 2021 season is treating us to yet another, The Comedy of Terrors.
Farce, Old French for “stuffing,” is a play that features a most improbable plot and the resulting evolution of very humorously-exaggerated situations. Common fare in these dramas include multiple occurrences of mistaken identity, stereotypical characters in disguise, plot twists aplenty, fast-paced perfectly-timed entrances and exits, and numerous coincidences. Known for his amplified skepticism, NCIS Special Agent LeRoy Jethro Gibbs might have difficulty with its overabundance of coincidence.
Aristophanes, the designated father of farce would delight in John Goodrum’s creation. There would probably be a nod and wink for Goodrum from British born Michael Frayn (Noises Off), the most celebrated faceur in modern times. As a fellow Brit, Goodrum is more recognized for his gothic horror plays/parodies such as Masque of Red Death(Edgar Allen Poe), Captain Murderer(Charles Dickens), and The Ripper Files.
If you are wondering if The Comedy of Terrorsis a playoff and/or parody of Shakespeare’s *The Comedy of Errors,*also coincidently (there’s that word again) playing at this year’s Utah Shakespeare Festival, it is, and it isn’t. There are two sets of identical twins, but in true one-upmanship form, there is an identical third younger brother to one set of twins. Another similarity is, instead of a shipwreck, there is a plane crash on an idyllic desert island in the Pacific. Otherwise, the plots differ—well—except for the mistaken identity, riotous mayhem, and unequivocal absurdity. But then there is that impending horror thing.
The Comedy of Terrors takes place in the present, and the setting is the Randall L. Jones Theatre in Cedar City, Utah, which when you think about it, is rather convenient . . . or coincidental? The playbill advises us that there are two actors credited with playing five parts. The farrago of characters includes an actress, a social worker, a devil worshipper, an ex-prostitute, and a thespian-wannabe cop. Could there be a more motley cast?
The play opens with Jo Smith and Beverley Jones, Beverley is a man—the name is his mother’s fault: “She was desperate for a girl” (p. 4; all quotes are from: The Comedy of Terrors, Goodrum, Samuel French, Ltd). Wait until you hear the names of his twin and younger brother. Jo, an actress, is responding to an audition call, ostensibly from theatre director Vyvian Jones (also male). Coincidently, it is a farce pertinently titled, Keep Your Hands to Yourself.
To short shrift *The Comedy of Terrors,*which flourishes with complications, is challenging at best. But the complications follow speedily. Jo soon determines that her “audition” is not with Vyvian, but his twin brother Beverley. Why the subterfuge? Beverley, a social worker, wants to hire Jo to convince his twin Vyvian that she hasn’t had an affair with him, so as not to tell his fiancée, Cheryl, who is returning months after being plane-wrecked on a deserted island. And of course, they haven’t, they met ten minutes ago. So, why hire Jo? Because Beverley has slept with Fiona, Jo’s identical, but ten-year-estranged, twin sister. Confused yet? Secret relationships form a perfect keystone, arching the oft-used scheme of sexual escapades, and identical twins in farces. Just ask Shakespeare about the usefulness of twins as a plot device!
However, there is one afront to our moral senses, Fiona left home at age fifteen and ended up as a lady of the evening, but after meeting Beverley, has inextricably found her metanoia. Part of Beverley’s employment is managing a hostel for ex-prostitutes who are trying to escape not only pimps but their past lives. This tryst, about which he is inducing Jo to lie, is with an occupant of said hostel and thus his concern. “Aye there’s the rub.” The discomfiture runs way deeper than purely concealing infidelity from his fiancée. Conversely, both Vyvian and Jo’s theatrical occupations lend themselves perfectly to the charade.
No dramaturgical experience is required to divine that within minutes both Vyvian, sporting elan and a red handkerchief, and Fiona turn up. And coincidently, so does the mistaken identity and the hysterical verbal exchanges! Vyvian is there for a concocted staff meeting, and Fiona to declare her eternal and undying love for Beverley.
Unbuttoning the frantic running amuck with the extensive door slamming, characteristic of farce, these characters exit the stage for intervals to allow another to appear. Stage directions call for the ingenious use of directional sound and voice overs simulating where another character might be within the theatre.
Not coincidentally, Vyvian effortlessly unspools their conspiracy and launches his own intransigent counter scheme. He is a long-time member of the local chapter of the Sons of Satan Society, and his darker side makes an appearance. After enlightening Jo that she will become his first human sacrifice, he kills Beverley, “I know a dead body when I see one! I stuck that knife in him up to the hilt,” (p.41), clearly evidenced by Beverley’s legs protruding beneath the theater curtain. Very Cain and Able like!—Not so fast dear patrons—quoting a line from The Princess Bride,“He’s only mostly dead.” Apparently, a packet of condoms in his pocket did provide protection! With strange, crude noises emanating from a theatrical trunk on stage, Vyvian chortles, “No fear, That’s his spirit alright! I haven’t been a member of the local District Sons of Satan Society for fifteen years without getting to know a bit ‘bout it! Quick! Sit on the skip to stop it coming out” (p. 41).
Enter, the third Jones brother, Janet, donning a trench coat and Cockney accent. “Our mother gave up all pretenses by the time I came along, (p. 48). Janet is a full-time police officer, “copper” (p.47) and, coincidently, a part-time thespian. “I am indeed a treader of the boards. . . . I’m a paid-up life member of the local Amateur Shakespeare Players” (p. 47).
Jo: “Do the three of you often get together in the same place?”
Janet: (with a wry look) Not if we can ‘elp it, no” (p. 48).
No familial propinquity here. Ah ha! You are surmising the police, in heroic salvific fashion, will rescue Jo from the sacrificial alter and thwart another attempted fratricide. Recall that tidbit about numerous plot twists?
Casting a titanic shadow on the intrigue is the months-absent (although, there might be a coincidental phone call), soon-to be-returning fiancée, Cheryl. Unless you are Jo, who calls her Charlotte. It’s more than Beverley eschewing exposure, shame, and disgrace. It’s Vyvian also flashing a predacious sibling rivalry in wanting Cheryl for himself, (critics call this memetic desire). So why wouldn’t he share his debauched, but accurate, suspicions, and throw Beverley under the proverbial bus?
Remember, no matter how improbable the plot, farce is expected to work, and it does. Goodrum’s script concedes the absurdities laced throughout, and very Frayn-like, mocks itself continuously, a hallmark of exceptional farce, where the language itself almost becomes a character. It is likewise essential to consider that we observe the theatrical universe through a limited prism of our own personal experiences.
Spotlight two actors performing so many roles. There is no teasing the audience or cast. Everyone is in on the jest—It’s genius; there are only two of them! Most farce obliges the characters have blind ignorance to the larger picture. Coincidence, is the heart and substance of The Comedy of Terrors, so beware of feasible cramping while exercising the “suspension of disbelief” muscle as well as the facial smiling muscles. There is no hiding behind its abstraction, coincidence in farce is a staple employed by playwrights from Aristophanes to—well—Goodrum. The Comedy of Terrorsis a veritable “stuffing” of a resplendent celebration by and for actors, thespian wannabes, patrons, and anyone who knows a twin. How fun to witness theatre inside jokes, and the how-not-to-perform a Shakespeare audition, at a Shakespeare festival! But wait, isn’t the guy supposed to get the girl in—THE END?
Jeff Bezos: The Pirate King?
Rhett Guter (center) as the Pirate King in a scene from The Pirates of Penzance, 2021.
By Rhett Guter
Editor’s Note: This is third installment in a series of blog posts from actor and choreographer Rhett Guter. He has appeared in numerous roles since 2005, including Tom Tucker inH.M.S. Pinafore,Tommy Djilas inThe Music Man, Peter inPeter and the Starcatcher,and this year as The Pirate King inThe Pirates of Penzanceand Houdini inRagtime*. He also choreographed this season’sThe Greenshowand in past seasons has choreographedThe Music Man, Peter and the Starcatcher,andAnything Goes.*
As an actor it’s my job to create the inner life and backstory of a character. No matter how silly, or over the top a character may seem I always strive to create a relatable scenario, even if I’m the only one who knows it. For me, the role of the Pirate King proved especially challenging.
I had never seen the play before; and, admittedly, the first several weeks in rehearsal I just wandered around the room in the Jolly Roger tricorn hat and pirate boots taking haphazard stabs at being the Pirate King. Finally, one afternoon during a break, I asked Brad Carroll, our music director and resident expert in all things Gilbert and Sullivan, what he thought. He replied, “Well I’ve never thought of them as actual pirates, just a bunch of guys playing pretend.” It seemed far-fetched and a bit ridiculous. No one would do that, except . . .
LARPing is an acronym for Live Action Role Playing. Perhaps you’ve seen this when passing a park. A group of fully-grown adults wearing costumes and armor, usually meticulously designed and homespun, bearing weapons, also homespun and not actually dangerous, are engaged in battle with one another. They are often playing out a character with special abilities, backstories, etc. It’s very much a real thing, and it’s practiced all over the world. It may seem silly to some, but I think we all have an inner child that yearns to play pretend long after our costume trunk gets put away and we are knighted with the daunting title of adulthood.
Now, what if someone very rich, say Jeff Bezos, was to embark on such a journey? Could he be the inspiration I was looking for for my Pirate King? Of course he could buy a full pirate ship, bring all his friends along the way and afford to do pretty much whatever he pleased. (After all, the man did just buy the most expensive ship ever—one that takes him to the moon.) Even Jeff Bezos longs for adventure and to show the world that he is, more or less, the king.
So, come see Jeff Bezos, errr—I mean me, in The Pirates of Penzance!
Read Blog Post #1 | Read Blog Post #2 | Read Blog Post #4
Four Remaining Weeks, Four Plays at the Festival
Photos, left to right: Josh Innerst as Guiderius, Jeremy Thompson as Arviragus, and Jasmine Bracey as Belarius in Cymbeline; a scene from The Pirates of Penzance; Michael Doherty as Vyvian Jones and Alex Keiper as Jo Smith in The Comedy of Terrors; and Josh Innerst as Mr. Marks and Afua Busia as Esther in Intimate Apparel. (Photos by Karl Hugh.)
By Liz Armstrong
Following an emotional and powerful week of closing performances of The Comedy of Errors, Pericles, Richard III, and Ragtime, it is with a new burst of energy that the Utah Shakespeare Festival happily announces that the entertainment isn’t over yet!
With four fabulous performances to see before the season ends October 9, Festival administrators and artists hope you purchase tickets to enjoy another four weeks of live theatre.
The Comedy of Terrors
This chaotic and comedic play consists of not only twin sisters, but twin brothers as well. Throw in another brother that looks identical to his older twin brothers, and it’s, well, a recipe for disaster.
Performed by husband-and-wife Alex Keiper and Michael Doherty, the duo takes on the challenge of playing five characters between them. Doherty describes this play as “a sweaty high wire act, a farce in comedy of manners clothing, and a total delight for all who lean in.”
The comedic mistaking of the twins over and over throughout the play will have you smacking your forehead in frustration, laughing all the while as you watch the characters spin themselves into an amusing web of confusion.
Playing the Smith sisters, Keiper encourages those thinking about attending the play to come for a laugh. “The Comedy of Terrors was made to make people laugh,” Keiper said. “We’re hoping to bring some levity and outright silliness into the hearts of anyone who comes to see us.”
Cymbeline
Set in Britain, this play follows Imogen, the only child of the king. In love with Posthumus instead of her stepmother’s son and chosen husband, Imogen is caught in a tragic tale of star-crossed lovers.
Throughout the play, the evil queen plots her stepdaughter’s death, a “friend” convinces Postumus of Imogen’s infidelity, sleeping potions cause supposed deaths, and Cymbeline prepares for war with Rome.
Despite it all, a happy ending ensues, so purchase tickets to this rarely performed Shakespearean play, full of intrigue and deception.
Playing in the intimate Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, this play uses a variety of trunks provided by the props team to creatively add to the fantastical theme of the performance.
Intimate Apparel
Set in the early 1900s in New York City, Intimate Apparel is a heart-rending play that gracefully navigates the human desire to be loved, while dealing with the difficult issues of racial, religious, and class divisions.
After years of sewing intimate apparel for other women, Esther battles with feelings of loneliness as she longs to be married. She begins a flirtatious correspondence with George, who is working in Panama, all while tucking away money in her quilt in hopes to one day fulfill her own dreams.
Esther marries George but soon learns he is not the man she believed him to be. She ends up back where she was at the beginning of the play, sewing in the boarding house of Mrs. Dickson, stitching piece after piece of material together, resiliently mending her broken heart in the process.
The Pirates of Penzance
A sparkling and adventurous play full of policemen, pirates, and vivacious women, Frederic is bound to the pirate trade after finally finding his true love, Mabel. Must he follow the call to duty and abandon his true love? Or will love conquer all?
Breathtaking set design and colorful costumes will transport you into another world, one where an energetic and hilarious Pirate King will tap-dance away with your heart and cowardly policemen will playfully earn your sympathy.
Richard R. Henry, playing Major-General Stanley, says it’s a treat to be able to spend some time in the Gilbert and Sullivan universe and their particular brand of humor. “[The director has] assembled an incredible team of theatre folk to tell this hilarious classic tale in a fresh new way,” Henry said.
The catchy tunes and energetic acting make this Gilbert and Sullivan classic especially family friendly, and you will leave smiling, content with the happy-ever-after we all wish to have.
The Festival’s 2021 season continues through October 9. Tickets are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting www.bard.org.
Blog #2: My Favorite Memories
Rhett Guter as The Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance.
By Rhett Guter
Editor’s Note: This is second installment in a series of blog posts from actor and choreographer Rhett Guter. He has appeared in numerous roles since 2005, including Tom Tucker inH.M.S. Pinafore,Tommy Djilas inThe Music Man,Peter inPeter and the Starcatcher,and this year as The Pirate King inThe Pirates of Penzanceand Houdini inRagtime*. He also choreographed this season’sThe Greenshowand in past seasons has choreographedThe Music Man, Peter and the Starcatcher,andAnything Goes.*
Hey, it’s Rhett again!
Thanks all for the responses from the last blog! The emails are still coming in. I’m loving the traditions and memories at the Utah Shakespeare Festival that are uniquely yours! I figure it’s only fair that I share some of my favorite memories at the Festival.
*Camelot,*2005: My very first show at the Festival was this legendary musical, with Brian Vaughn (now artistic director) as Arthur and Brad Carroll as the director.
*HMS Pinafore,*2006: This was my first Gilbert and Sullivan show. I played Tom Tucker the mute with no lines, but boy did I have a lot to say!
Lend Me a Tenor:*The Musical,*2007: This world premiere went on to play the West End in London! Fun fact—there is now a character in the show named after me!
*The Music Man,*2011: This was my first opportunity as a professional choreographer! To this day I think it is some of the best choreography I’ve ever created for the stage. I also played the role of Tommy Djilas
*A Midsummer Night’s Dream,*2011: I played Francis Flute in this Shakespearean comedy, and it was the only show I did that was directed by Festival Founder Fred C. Adams. The BYUtv live broadcast was a night to remember, and we won an Emmy to boot!
*Peter and the Starcatcher,*2013: My absolute favorite. I was the choreographer and played The Boy. I could write a whole blog on this one—perhaps I will. . . .
*Ragtime,*2021: Never have I been part of a more significant show. How can a story that takes place over 100 years ago, written over 20 years ago, still be so heartbreakingly relevant? Playing the role of Houdini, something of a hero to me, and the opportunity to bring my other passion (magic) to the stage makes this “one for the books.” I mourn it’s closing and hope you got an opportunity to see it.
Till next week!
Shakespeare's Heroines: Imogen in Cymbeline
Constance V Swain as Imogen in Cymbeline. (Photo by Karl Hugh.)
By Kathryn Neves
There’s no shame in reusing plotlines—and let’s be honest, Shakespeare was a pro. You’ll find the same stories over and over throughout his canon. And that’s not a bad thing! It just makes the stories more universal. Cymbeline is a great example of a play that reuses stories, yet is unique and compelling. Cymbeline’s heroine, Imogen, goes through plenty of Shakespeare’s classic plots. Just like Shakespeare’s other heroines, Imogen is made all the more interesting for her story’s archetypes.
One plot that comes up a lot in Shakespeare’s works involves a heroine dressing as a man in order to accomplish a goal. Rosalind, Viola, and Portia are all great examples. Rosalind dresses as Ganymede to protect herself and her cousin, Celia. Viola dresses as Cesario to work for Duke Orsino. Portia disguises as Balthazar to save Antonio. And, in Cymbeline, Imogen dresses as a young boy named Fidele to escape the wrath of her husband, Posthumus. Imogen, like the others, is a proactive heroine. She saves herself; she takes control of her own destiny—an important trait in a heroine, to be sure.
Shakespeare also really liked the idea of bringing people back to life. Throughout his plays, many heroines “die,” only to be revived at a crucial moment in the play. This revival adds a sort of emotional climax to the plays; whether moments of rejoicing or sorrow, “coming back to life” is an important plot point in many of Shakespeare’s plays. There are a few examples. Juliet comes to mind; she takes a potion and “dies,” only to be revived toward the end of the play (too late, unfortunately). Then there’s Hero, from Much Ado About Nothing; she fakes her death in order to teach her fiancé, Claudio, a lesson. The Winter’s Tale’s Hermione collapses at her trial, is declared dead, and returns in the end to be reunited with her husband. Imogen is no exception. During Cymbeline, she is “poisoned” by her evil stepmother; like Shakespeare’s other heroines, she seems to be dead, until she suddenly awakens—as it turns out, the “poison” was a sleeping potion.
Finally, the very crux of Cymbeline is a plot that Shakespeare used often, and effectively. Imogen is framed for being unfaithful to her husband; she is falsely accused and punished unfairly. Othello comes to mind in this instance; Desdemona, another of Shakespeare’s beloved heroines, is accused of infidelity, and murdered by her jealous husband. Then, there’s Hero again—her fiancé accuses her of being unfaithful, and breaks off the wedding at the altar. And once again we have Hermione; her husband Leonatus believes that she had an affair with his best friend, and imprisons her. However, these heroines eventually prove their innocence and live happily ever after (with the exception of Desdemona, unfortunately). Like the others, Imogen is a faithful and constant heroine.
Cymbelineis one of Shakespeare’s finest, full of stories we all know and love. Like Shakespeare’s other heroines, Imogen is complex and well-rounded. She may be at the center of plenty of reused stories; but if anything, she’s a more compelling character because of it. Her story may be recycled—but it’s no less universal.
Festival's Fall Food Drive: Helping Those in Need
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is once again partnering with the local Iron County Care and Share to give back to the community by providing food to those in need. Its annual Fall Food Drive is September 14 to October 9, and playgoers can get discount tickets for donating food to the cause.
By donating six items of non-perishable food, anyone can receive a half-price ticket to any show Mondays through Thursdays. However, this deal is good on the day of the performance only, not for advance sales; and the offer is limited to four discounted tickets per person. Food donation barrels will be located outside the Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, near the ticket office.
“It’s important every year to support this shelter, but considering the times we’re in and all of the damage caused by the pandemic, food insecurity has only gotten worse. So, the Festival is very happy to help where we can,” said Donn Jersey, the director of development and communication.
In addition to financial instability the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, devastating flooding has put local residents in an even tougher situation. Now, more than ever, the support of the community is critical to the success of the Fall Food Drive.
The Iron County Care and Share was founded in 1984 by local churches to address hunger in the community. Almost 40 years later, this organization is still working to help those in need.
The Festival typically receives over 3,500 pounds of food each year for the Iron County Care and Share. Hosting its seventeenth Fall Food Drive, Festival personnel hope to gather just as much—if not more—than in the past.
For those not purchasing tickets but who want to contribute, the Iron County Care and Share is also accepting monetary donations. Go online to https://kindest.com/iron-county-care-and-share to make your contribution.
The Festival’s 2021 season continues through October 9. Plays are The Pirates of Penzance, Cymbeline, Intimate Apparel, and The Comedy of Terrors. Tickets are available by calling 800-PLAYTIX or visiting www.bard.org.
Tradition and the Festival
A scene from The Pirates of Penzance, with Rhett Guter as the Pirate King in the center..
By Rhett Guter
Editor’s Note: This is first installment in a series of blog posts from actor and choreographer Rhett Guter. He has appeared in numerous roles since 2005, including Tom Tucker inH.M.S. Pinafore,Tommy Djilas inThe Music Man, Peter inPeter and the Starcatcher,and this year as The Pirate King inThe Pirates of Penzanceand Houdini inRagtime*. He also choreographed this season’sThe Greenshowand in past seasons has choreographedThe Music Man, Peter and the Starcatcher,andAnything Goes.*
Hey, Rhett Guter here! It’s my pleasure to let you know that I’ll be taking over the Utah Shakespeare’s blog for the next couple of weeks! I’m an actor and choreographer appearing in the current season, and while Utah Shakespeare is celebrating its sixtieth season, it’s only my eighth!
My first few seasons at Festival I was a tour guide on backstage tours. It was a great way to make a couple extra bucks over the summer. We’d start at 10:15 in the lobby of the Randall L. Jones Theatre. While it was my job to explain the inner workings of the Festival to the patrons, it was, in fact, I who would learn the most about the Festival while giving those tours. . . . Let me explain. At some point on the tour, once I had rattled off enough facts to fill anyone’s head, I would turn the conversation to the patrons. I would often ask what shows people had seen or were planning to see; the response to this question was usually positive and complimentary and revealed the real reason they were there.
The patrons would share with me the number of years they had visited, their favorite places to stay or eat, how much they adored The Greenshow and the tarts, or which national park they planned to stop at on their way home. They would talk about the plays only briefly; they were much more eager to share their traditions. Somewhere between the Randall Theatre and the now retired Adams Shakespearean Theatre, I realized it was tradition, sometimes passed down through several generations, that was the lifeblood of the Festival. Much like Disneyland, people came here to create memories. (I don’t why this surprised me so much; after all, Founder Fred C. Adams loved Disney!)
This year has been a bit different, I can’t give backstage tours, and there has been very little interaction with audiences. However, I’d still love to hear about your favorite memories and traditions at the Festival. Whether from this year or years past please shoot me a note at rhett@rhettmagic.com. I hope to know more about you.
Twins: The Time-Honored Trope
Alex Keiper (left) as Jo Smith and Michael Doherty as Vyvian Jones in The Comedy of Terrors. (Photo by Karl Hugh.)
By Don Leavitt
I have had a lifelong fascination with twins. As a very young child, I, like many others, had an imaginary friend, but mine took the form of an identical twin who was like me in every way. We enjoyed the same things, finished each other’s sentences, and looked exactly the same. I was known as Donny, and my “twin” was known as Johnny. I was the clean one, Johnny was the messy one. For two years, my mother tolerated my insistence that, “It wasn’t me, Mom, it was Johnny.” It was perfectly reasonable for Mom to be confused; after all, we did look exactly alike. Today, my parents laugh about finding me in the bathroom, staring into the mirror and carrying on conversations with my reflected image, but at the time, the sheer depth of my commitment to this fantasy must have caused them more than a little concern.
Eventually, some time around first grade, I grew out of my imaginary twin, but my fascination with twins continued. I would look at classmates who were twins, or twins I saw in movies and on television, with a certain degree of jealousy. I loved their stories of being mistaken for the other, of playing pranks on people by changing places. I absolutely loved the movie, The Parent Trap (the original with Hayley Mills, thank you very much), and was fascinated by the twins’ plan to switch places so that each could spend time with the other’s custodial parent. Wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to be someone else and get away with it because you looked identical? To thoroughly and completely put one over on everyone else?
It is from this tradition that The Comedy of Terrors draws its comedy. The play, a farce by British playwright John Goodrum, relies on two actors to portray two different sets of identical twins, plus a younger brother who, as implausibly as farce allows, is also a dead ringer for his older, twin siblings. The plot of the play is nonsensical and almost irrelevant. It is the fun of watching two actors whiplash themselves through the various scenes, trading identities too quickly for even a plausible costume change, and the resulting confusion caused by the mistaken identities, that audiences will enjoy most of all.
The trope of using twins and mistaken identities as comedic devices is nearly as old as acting itself. As early as the Third Century BC, the Roman playwright Plautus was utilizing the mistaken identity in his work, much of which was adaptations of earlier Greek texts. Shakespeare famously used the device in The Comedy of Errors(which Goodrum makes pun of in the title of his play) and Twelfth Night. Both comedies involve twins, both identical and fraternal, and the consequences that stem from both the accidental and deliberate confusing of their identities. From Mark Twain to Stephen King, modern examples abound and extend beyond comedy and farce to drama, romance, and horror.
Shakespeare’s use of twins is particularly intriguing. Of the relationship between Shakespeare and Plautus, The Internet Shakespeare Editions notes: “One of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies is based closely upon two Latin originals. The Comedy of Errorstakes the plots of two plays by Plautus: the *Menaechmi,*a play about long separated twins who are mistaken for each other and are eventually reunited; and the *Amphitruo,*where masters and servants become confused. Shakespeare combined the two plots and added twin servants to the twin masters to complicate things further” (https://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/ Library/ SLT/ drama/ classical%20drama/ plautus.html).
Goodrum’s The Comedy of Terrors bears no resemblance to Plautus, Shakespeare, or The Comedy of Errors, except for the deliberate play on words in its title. But it does build on the trope by relying solely on the concept of twins and mistaken identities to the point that it is the story. Goodrum, whose previous plays have been mostly noir or macabre adaptations of stories by Dickens, Conan Doyle, and Poe, toys gleefully with these concepts, adding just a dash of the macabre to which he is more accustomed for humorous effect.
There is almost no point in dwelling on the plot. The conceit of this play—that two actors play all the roles—is a vehicle for actors to have fun and flex their performing muscles; the audience is really just taken along for the ride. It is madcap and breathtaking and a lot of fun, but the saving grace is that it never takes itself too seriously. Goodrum cleverly, and quite wisely, allows the actors and the play to wink at themselves from time to time. Midway through Act Two, one character is suddenly introduced to the third identical sibling of another character and can barely conceal her disbelief. “Oh, my God! You’re not another one, are you?” she asks, to which the new character responds (in a funny homage to the trope itself), “If—by some strange and unnatural coincidence much favoured by comic playwrights from the Third Century BC Greeks onward—but I digress—if—by some chance—you’ve ’appened to meet both of my two identical elder brothers—then, ‘Yes! I’m another one!’”
Of course, the play relies heavily on frantic entrances and exits to make the mechanics of two actors playing all the roles work, and Goodrum has obviously had fun inventing reasons to get one character offstage so another character can come on. Even these machinations get a gentle tease: later in the scene mentioned above, the first character asks, “Do the three of you often get together in the same place?” And the other wryly replies, “Not if we can ’elp it, no.”
I was never able to conjure an identical twin, and I never had the identical twin offspring I was just sure I’d get to be a dad to. I didn’t fall in love with a twin and, to my knowledge, have never dated a twin. The jealousy I felt watching other twins growing up has mostly dissipated. But every once in a while, I read or watch something about twins that captures my attention. I devoured The Comedy of Terrors with rapt amusement, and when I was finished, I couldn’t help but think, “Damn, that sounds like fun!”
Get to Know Playwright Lynn Nottage
Playwright Lynn Nottage
By Martine Green-Rogers
“Nottage’s imaginative exploration of history, her ability to find resonance in unexpected moments in the past, and her sensitive evocation of social concerns have made her a powerful voice in theater. She is a dramatist who will continue to provide us with provocative plays in which her characters confront some of society’s most complex issues.”
— McArthur Foundation Website
Lynn Nottage, playwright and screenwriter, is the only woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. She was born on November 2, 1964 in Brooklyn, New York, to Ruby Nottage, a schoolteacher and principal, and Wallace Nottage, a child psychologist.
She graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, and while there, she wrote her first full-length play, The Darker Side of Verona, about an African-American Shakespeare company traveling through the South. She earned a bachelor of arts in 1986 from Brown University, a master of fine arts in 1989 from the Yale School of Drama, and a doctorate of fine arts in 2011 from Brown University.
Her plays include Mlima’s Tale; By the Way; Meet Vera Stark; Ruined (Pulitzer Prize); Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play); Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy;Las Meninas;Mud, River, Stone;Por’knockers;The Secret Life of Bees (with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead), and POOF!
Her play Sweat (Pulitzer Prize), premiered at and commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage, moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at the Public Theater. Inspired by her research on Sweat, Nottage developed This Is Reading, a performance installation based on two years of interviews, at the Franklin Street, Reading Railroad Station in Reading, Pennsylvania.
In addition, she is the co-founder of the production company, Market Road Films, whose most recent projects include The Notorious Mr. Bout, First to Fall, and Remote Control. She was also a writer and producer on the Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It, directed by Spike Lee.
Nottage is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including a MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellowship, Steinberg “Mimi” Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, Merit and Literature Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters, Doris Duke Artist Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors include the National Black Theatre Fest’s August Wilson Playwriting Award, a Guggenheim Grant, Lucille Lortel Fellowship and Visiting Research Fellowship at Princeton University.
Last, but certainly not least, Nottage has received honorary degrees from Juilliard and Albright College.
About Playwriting
Nottage has said in numerous interviews that she feels that she writes with the marginalized in mind, and more specifically that she is interested in uncovering untold stories. She states, “not just theatre but art . . . has to reflect what is happening in the culture. Responsibility is not quite the right word, but I do think there is a role for us to play in asking difficult questions, reflecting back what we see” (Compton, Sarah, “Playwright Lynn Nottage: ‘We are a country that has lost our narrative” [The Guardian, 2 December 2018]).
As such, she recognizes the trials of getting plays produced. Plays with a large cast, such as Ruined, are harder to get to the production phase. She states “Plays are getting smaller and smaller, not because playwrights’ minds are shrinking but because of the economics” (Nestruck, J. Kelly, “Interview with Playwright Lynn Nottage” [The Globe and Mail, 10 February 2010]). She feels that plays like Intimate Apparel, with its small, multicultural cast, makes it a popular choice for regional theatres.
Intimate Apparel is set in 1905 and centers on the story of Esther Mills, an African American seamstress, who makes lingerie for the wealthy women and the ladies of the night. Esther’s entire world shifts when the owner of the boarding house she lives in gives her a letter from a man in Panama and she begins to correspond with him. Digging into the world of blackness and immigration while also excavating what it means to be a newly married couple who, in the end, barely knew one another before marrying allows Nottage to bathe this world in all of the complexities of life in the 1900s.
Nottage has done many interviews about why she wrote Intimate Apparel. She has stated that the play is about the “confluence” of immigrants coming in from Eastern Europe and the African Americans moving from rural areas in the south to larger urban areas and what that means in the bedroom (Nestruck).
The genesis of the story began with a passport photo of her great grandmother that was a mystery to her. She knew her great grandmother was a seamstress, but the avenues to find out more about her and the photograph were cut off because her mother has recently passed away. She went to the New York Public Library in an attempt to find out more, and a year later, Intimate Apparel was written. As she states, “All my plays are about people who have been marginalized,” people “who have been erased from the public record” (Soloski, Alexis, “Lynn Nottage: Intimate Apparel and what lies beneath my plays” [The Guardian, 28 May 2014]).
Nottage talked to Alexis Soloski of The Guardian about the rather unconventional setting of the play. She states that she “placed a bed in the middle of every scene, ‘because I wanted to see the way in which it impacts interactions. Even if the bed isn’t used, even if no one sits on it, how does that change the sexual dynamic, the social intercourse?’” Soloski goes on in the article to state how that framing of the bed in the scenes “keeps the play focused on questions of intimacy. Relationships range from those which are physically passionate but devoid of emotional affection to those . . . which are rich in love, but entirely chaste.” These chaste but deep relationships anchor the play and the interest for Nottage in these relationships is evident in the depth of the friendship between Esther and Mr. Marks. As Soloski says, “To see Esther and Mr. Marks together is to feel the almost unbearable poignancy of love denied.” It is this type of emotional ride that makes the play both relatable and almost tragic. To craft a story like this, with some basic facts about her great grandmother, and a host of other stories from Black women of the time period, that makes this a genuinely heartfelt story.