Volume LV Number 4 • Fall 2014 • $8.00

Going GreenDonyale Werle Takes You Behindthe Scenes of a Tony Award Winner

What Are You Producing?10 Playwrights You Ought to Know

The Missing LinkRead 2014 Getchell Award Play

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Donyale Werle provides a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of her green design for the Tony Award-winning set of Peter and the Starcatcher. This collage of process photos shows some of the everyday items, from plasticware to kids’ toys, that went into development of the show’s gold proscenium. Read more in the story on Page 8. (Photos by Donyale Werle; cover design by Garland Gooden)

Features

Volume LV Number 4 l Fall 2014 l Southern Theatre – Quarterly Magazine of the Southeastern Theatre Conference

Contents

Cover

4 400 Words Let’s Do Color-Inclusive, Not Color-Blind, Casting by Herb Parker

6 Outside the Box: Design-Tech Solutions Make Your Paint Shop Environmentally Friendly by Larry Cook

32 Words, Words, Words... Review of The Prop Building Guidebook: For Theatre, Film, and TV, by Eric Hart reviewed by Erin Freeman

8 Going Green Donyale Werle Takes You Behind the Tony Award-Winning Scenes of Peter and the Starcatcher

10 Ways to Make Your Theatre More Green stories by Robert O’Leary

16 10 Contemporary Playwrights You Should Know

by Megan Monaghan Rivas

CorrectionThe speech about the 2014 Suzanne Davis Award winner, published on Page 30 of the Summer 2014 issue of Southern Theatre, incorrectly identified Alvin Cohen, who endowed the award, as “Harry” on follow-up references. We apologize for the error.

2014 Charles M. Getchell Award21 The Playwright: Robert Plowman Robert Plowman’s Plays Spring from Fearlessness

interview by Kent R. Brown

25 The Play: THE MISSING LINK Act One of the 2014 winner of the Charles M. Getchell Award, given by SETC to recognize a worthy new play, is published. Act Two is available online at www.setc.org/the-missing-link.

400 Words

Let’s Do Color-Inclusive, Not Color-Blind, Casting

from Herb Parker, Associate Professor, Division of Theatre and Dance, East Tennessee State University

Have an opinion you would like to share on a topic related to theatre? Send your column of 400 words or less to deanna@setc.org.

E ver since Actors’ Equity Association founded the Non-Traditional Casting

Project in the mid-1980s, well-meaning regional theatres and university theatres have sought to comply. Many university theatre departments in particular have tried to address this issue by adopting in the casting of their plays what they call a policy of “color-blind” casting – the promise that the best person will be cast for the role, regardless of race. As an actor of color who benefited from diverse opportunities in casting during my regional theatre career, I would like to propose a new way to think of this: I would like for us to call it color-inclusive casting. As laudable, as well-intentioned and, in many situations, as successful as color-blind casting has proven to be, I think the

word “blind” conveys the wrong meaning. “Blind” may be the action of closing one’s eyes to color, but it can also close one’s eyes to the humanity of the person one is hoping to advance. It is to ignore culture as well as color or race. It is to say that the essence of a performer’s very being – what he or she looks like – does not matter and is not present. I say: Why not allow it to matter by using our imaginations? Why not allow more diverse casting to lead to the invention of a cultural reality applied to the role? For instance, how about an African American actor cast as, say, Colonel Pickering in Shaw’s Pygmalion (a role I played, by the way) with a West Indian dialect? Or a Haitian Hercule Poirot? Or an Indian or Asian Doctor Watson working with Sherlock Holmes? Or an

African as a Sephardi Shylock? Why not allow performers to build “back stories” for the characters they are playing, with details on how someone of that color came to be in that play, building upon the clear reality of the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes, and the thickness of their hair? Wouldn’t this further enrich and enliven the production, as well as go a long way toward fulfilling a goal we in the perform-ing arts community all share – celebrating the glorious tapestry of the racial quilt our nation has finally become? n

4 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

ITheatres o u t h e r n

From the SETC President

Jack Benjamin, SETC President

It’s the time of year when summer is waning and thoughts of a new season of theatre begin filling our minds. I cannot think of a better time to contemplate different ways of approaching our craft and new works we might want to produce. Many of us are environmentally conscious in our daily lives, but are you just as committed in your theatre work? Donyale Werle, one of the Design Competition adjudicators at the 2014 SETC Convention, not only has embraced green concepts in her designs, but also has won a Tony Award for the resulting work. Robert O’Leary shares Werle’s evolution and her tips for others. Continuing the green theme in our regular “Outside the Box” column, Larry Cook shares techniques for making your paint shop more environmentally friendly. We also celebrate playwrights and their work, with the publication of the winning play in SETC’s annual Charles M. Getchell Award competition. Beginning on Page 25, you’ll find Act One of the 2014 winner, The Missing Link, by Robert Plowman. (Due to the length of the play, Act Two is published online at www.setc.org/the-missing-link.) On Page 21, Kent Brown interviews Plowman about his interests as a playwright and about the development of his winning play, which began as a master’s degree class assignment to, within 72 hours, write a play based on a series of prompts. Also in this issue, we spotlight 21st-century playwrights. Megan Monaghan Rivas profiles 10 writers that you may or may not know about now, but likely will be hearing more about in the coming years. Both professionals and students interested in learning more about prop building techniques will be interested in our regular book column, “Words, Words, Words,” which features a review by Erin Freeman of The Prop Building Guidebook:

For Theatre, Film, and TV, by Eric Hart. Finally, in our “400 Words” column, Herb Parker urges theatres to take off their ”blinders” and choose “color-inclusive” casting. So, whether you are thinking of going green or pondering how to tackle a new and exciting project in your season, I think you will enjoy the following pages of Southern Theatre!

SETC EXECUTIVE DIRECTORBetsey Horth

EDITORDeanna Thompson

ADVERTISINGTracy Hall, tracy@setc.orgBUSINESS & ADVERTISING OFFICESoutheastern Theatre Conference1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14Greensboro, NC 27405336-272-3645PUBLICATIONS COMMITTEEJ. K. Curry, Chair, Wake Forest University (NC)Annette Grevious, Claflin University (SC)Denise Halbach, Independent Theatre Artist (MS)Scott Phillips, Auburn University (AL)Dominic Yeager, University of Alabama

EDITORIAL BOARDJesse Bates, Independent Theatre Artist (AL) Sonya/Tim Bixler, Washington School/Delta Center Stage (MS)Kent R. Brown, Independent Theatre Artist (SC)Tessa Carr, Auburn University (AL)Larry Cook, University of North GeorgiaBill Gelber, Texas Tech UniversityH. Duke Guthrie, Valdosta State University (GA)Kendra Johnson, Clemson University (SC)Jen Nelson Lane, Birmingham Children’s Theatre (AL)Jerry Lapidus, Independent Theatre Artist (FL)Scott Phillips, Auburn University (AL)Steve Willis, Bennett College for Women (NC)Amile Wilson, Pippin & Maxx Arts and Entertainment (MS)

PROOFREADERSEthan Pell, SETC Marketing and Membership ManagerTracy Hall, SETC Communications and Marketing CoordinatorPhilip G. Hill, Furman UniversityDenise Halbach, Independent Theatre Artist (MS)

PRINTINGClinton Press, Greensboro, NC

NOTE ON SUBMISSIONSSouthern Theatre welcomes submissions of articles pertaining to all aspects of theatre. Preference will be given to subject matter closely linked to theatre activity in the Southeastern United States. Articles are evaluated by the editor and members of the Editorial Board. Criteria for evalua tion include: suitability, clarity, significance, depth of treat ment and accuracy. Please query the editor via e-mail before sending articles. Submissions are accepted on disk or via e-mail. Stories should not exceed 3,000 words. Color photos (300 dpi in jpeg or tiff format) and a brief identification of the author should accompany all articles. Please note any photos, disks and other materials to be returned and include SASE. Send stories to: Editor, Southern Theatre, 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14, Greensboro, NC 27405. E-mail: deanna@setc.org.

Southern Theatre (ISSNL: 0584-4738) is published quarterlyby the Southeastern Theatre Conference, Inc., a nonprofit organization, for its membership and others interested in theatre in the Southeast. Copyright ©

2014 by Southeastern

Theatre Conference, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproductionin whole or part without permission is prohibited.

Subscription rates: $24.50 per year, U.S.; $30.50 per year, Canada; $47 per year, International. Single copies: $8, plus shipping.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 5

DESIGN/TECH

SOLUTIONS

ou

tsid

et h e b o x

b y L a r r y C o o k

Make Your Paint Shop

T he concept of being green – or lessening our impact on the environment – is

not a fad. And it is not just a good idea, it is a moral imperative. One way that those of use in theatre can have an impact is by adopting environmentally friendly techniques in our paint shops. Shortly after World War II, water-based paint (often referred to as latex paint) became popular. Modern versions of this type of paint, with water-soluble acrylic or vinyl binders, are the backbone of theatre paint shops. However, even though it is water-soluble and of low toxicity, this type of paint is not 100 percent safe and is certainly not good for our environment. Water-based paints, especially older formulations, can contain measurable amounts of mercury and other heavy metals and dangerous chemicals. So, it behooves theatre artists in the paint shop to do all they can to minimize the effect of paint on the environment. Three simple ways to reduce the impact of your paint on the environment are to:• store paint properly to limit disposal;

• limit water usage during clean-up; • and dispose of waste paint properly.

Storing Paint for Longevity

There are no specific guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or other federal agencies regarding storage of water-based paints. Some state EPAs, such as Ohio’s, provide guidelines for the storage and disposal of water-based paint, and many county and municipal governments do as well. Here are some good rules to follow:

1 Store paint in a well-ventilated space (preferably one with air exchange

that does not mix with the building’s environmental controls), out of direct sunlight and protected from temperature extremes (over 100 degrees and under 40 degrees Fahrenheit).

2 Clean the rim completely and seal the container well. Turn the can upside

down if you are storing paint for an extended period. (That will self-seal the paint, thus stopping oxygen from contaminating the paint and helping organisms grow.) Also avoid storing paint

in metal cans in direct contact with a cement floor for extended periods.

3 Make sure the paint is clearly labeled and marked with the date it was last

opened. Most water-based paints will keep, if properly stored, for up to 10 years.Cleaning Brushes with Little Water

Clean-up after painting is a process that can use lots of water. A house painter taught me how to wash brushes and roller covers in a bucket – and I have brought that technique into the paint shop. This same method is described by Ellen E. Jones in her book, A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre, published by Focal Press in 2013. Depending on the size of the brushes and the work put into removing excess paint ahead of time, you may be able to wash many brushes in the buckets before a change of water is necessary. This method also works well for roller covers, sponges and trays. Start by filling two buckets half full of clean water. Then use a 5-in-1 painter’s tool, a spatula, a paint stirrer or other device to remove as much paint from the brush as

How to Clean Brushes Using Small Amounts of Water(See more detailed instructions above)

Environmentally Friendly

Step 1: Remove as much paint as possible. Then agitate the brush in the first of two buckets.

Step 2: Shake out as much dirty water as possible.

Step 3: If necessary, comb out the bristles with a brush cleaner.

6 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

possible, scraping it back into the paint container. Next, follow this step-by-step process to clean the brushes:

1 Using an up-and-down motion, agitate the brush in the first bucket of water.

It’s okay if the brush scrubs the bottom; that will not damage it.

2 When the liquid draining from the brush is mostly water, rather than paint,

shake the brush vigorously in the bucket to remove as much liquid as possible.

3 Use a brush cleaner if needed to remove paint from the bristles.

4 Add a small amount of detergent. (I use Murphy’s Oil Soap, diluted 1:10

with water.)

5 Work the cleaner into the bristles and up toward the base of the brush.

6 Rinse the brush in the first bucket, and repeat steps 2-5 if necessary.

7 After rinsing the brush in the first bucket, shake out as much dirty water

as possible. Rinse the brush in the second “clean water” bucket until it rinses mostly clean. If needed (especially for large brushes), repeat the detergent and rinse in a small amount of water from the faucet. Finally, work a very small amount of detergent into the bristles to condition the brush and stop any remaining paint from bonding to the bristles. When you are done using the buckets, let them sit a day. That will allow the paint solids to sink to the bottom. Then, carefully pour off the water. You can run this dirty water down the drain, or – even better – use

it to water nearby ornamental plants. You’ll have a few inches of paint and water left in the bottom that needs disposal.

Disposing of Waste Paint Proper disposal of waste paint is critical for the environment – and is, in many cases, regulated by the government.

1 Check with your local or state EPA for laws or guidelines governing disposal

of water-based paints. Laws vary from state to state and even county to county.

2 Find out if your area has a paint recy-cling program. Some states are very

serious about managing waste paint. For example, Connecticut has the Paint

Stewardship Law, while California and several other states have programs called PaintCare. Some municipalities have recycling programs or private recyclers – such as Atlanta Paint Disposal in Atlanta, GA – that you can pay to pick up unwanted paint. Check as well with local organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, 4-H or the Boy Scouts. They may have a use for your unwanted paint.

3 Most waste disposal companies will not take water-based paint in liquid

form, regardless of whether there is a law banning it. Therefore, the paint must be made solid before disposal. This also helps to keep the paint in the landfill and out of the water table. There are several ways to make your paint waste a solid. However, the easiest method for a theatre paint shop – which is usually not far from the scene shop – is to use wood waste: sawdust. Mix

enough sawdust with the paint to form a dry crumbly mixture similar to sweeping compound. The mixture can be placed in a trash can or dumpster. If you don’t have sawdust available, other materials – such as shredded paper, kitty litter and commercial spill driers – can be used in the same way.

4 Set the empty containers in a dry place to allow any remaining liquid to

evaporate. Recycle the empty containers.Get Started Now

A little searching on the Internet can provide a number of ideas for handling and disposing of paint. You can also find documents from most state, county and municipal EPAs online in PDF format. If your paint shop isn’t already using these green techniques, give them a try. Your paint will last longer, so you’ll throw away less. You’ll reduce your water usage. And you’ll minimize your shop’s impact on the local landfill and water supply. n

Larry Cook is director of design and technology for the Department of Theatre at the University of North Georgia in Gainesville, GA, and editor of Southern Theatre magazine’s Outside the Box column.

Step 4: Apply a brush cleaning compound of your choice.

Step 5: Massage the cleaning compound into the bristles.

Step 6: Rinse the brush in the first bucket. Repeat steps 2-5 if necessary.

Step 7: Do a final rinse in the second bucket. Apply cleaner to bristles and hang brush to dry.

Do you have a design/tech solution that would make

a great Outside the Box column?

Send a brief summary of your idea to Outside the Box Editor Larry Cook

at Larry.Cook@ung.edu.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 7

D

Going GREEN

b y R o b e r t O ’ L e a r y

Donyale Werle Takes You Behind the Tony Award-Winning Scenes of Peter and the Starcatcher

Donyale Werle is on a mission to light everyone’s green theatre fire. The acclaimed scenic designer, who was a design keynote speaker and Design Competition adjudicator at the 2014 SETC Convention, won the 2012 Tony Award for scenic design for her work on Peter and the Starcatcher, the Peter Pan prequel that features a set made almost entirely of recycled and reclaimed materials, including corks, bottle caps, action figures and CDs. During an interview at the SETC Convention, Werle shared the evolution of her green practices, details on how she created the Peter and the Starcatcher set, and advice for others on going green.

Photo by Donyale Werle

8 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

The Evolution of a Green Revolution

Growing up in Nashville, TN, Werle got an early introduction to green practices – before the term was even coined – from her father, a landscape architect with an affinity for recycled materials. He built the backyard playground of her youth out of a world of reclaimed timbers, mounded earth, stacked tires and found objects. Werle’s own entry into green theatre design came in the late 1990s when she was doing scene design in the San Francisco area, after earning a BFA in painting from the University of New Mexico. Her design work with such theatres as Theatre Rhinoceros, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Campos Santo Theatre, The Marin Theater Company and the Magic Theatre led to opportunities to design with the San Francisco Mime Troupe (SFMT), a Tony Award-winning regional theatre that started in 1959. While working on City for Sale for SFMT in 1999, Werle began taking note of environmentally conscious practices there and elsewhere on the West Coast. “Every board was reused, they straightened every nail, and there was this real sense of reuse – it was just what everybody did,” she says. After moving to New York and earning an MFA in set design at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Werle began designing on the East Coast – and immediately saw a difference. “Not only did they not reuse things, but it was laughable to reuse at that time,” she says. “It just wasn’t considered professional.” At home, Donyale had long carried out concepts of repurposing and had embraced the idea of sustainability passed to her from her father. It was important to her that she recycled trash, grew a balcony box garden, and biked to local stoop sales to buy items for the home or for design work. As she increasingly noticed a disconnect between those practices at home and her work in theatrical design, a frustration with the industry and its common practices grew.

The Tipping Point

By 2006, Werle was working as an associate designer with Anna Louizos at Anna Louizos Designs, assisting on productions such as Avenue Q and In the

Heights and becoming more and more aware of the wastefulness of the standard New York production. Then came the show High Fidelity. Werle had worked for 13 months on the show, and after a 13-day run, it was in the dumpster. High Fidelity became the impetus

for a bold move. She quit her job. Her new mission? Discovering ways to design and build scenery more sustainably. In looking back, Donyale says her decision to quit seems radical even to her. However, at the time she was so frustrated with the system that she knew there had to be another way.

The Other Side of the Green Fence

Jolly Ship the Whiz Bang, a pirate puppet rock musical with adult themes, was one of the first projects Werle tackled under this renewed idea of self as a green designer. The outrageous style of the show freed her to be creative and begin testing how to make various materials appear to be something they are not. Her first experiments tapped an easy material to find in the city. “I used cardboard as the medium, designing entire sets out of cardboard,” Werle says. “They never looked like cardboard. No one would guess that they were cardboard, and that was sort of the point.” She notes that it is important that green designs look as professional as those made from traditional materials. “It can never look like cardboard,” she says. “It’s not about putting trash onstage. It’s about using more creativity to turn it into something that is striking.” Design, she adds, must not be slave to the material. “We walk a fine line here, being kind of crafty, and I try to be very aware of that label because I think it

Left: After 13 months of work on the show’s design, Donyale Werle was dismayed when High Fidelity ended its Broadway run after just 13 days – and its set was trashed in the dumpster (left). The event helped inspire Werle to pursue a new green mission.

Opposite page: Peter and the Starcatcher is the largest green undertaking to date for Werle (inset) who won a 2012 Tony Award for the design.

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 9

does a disservice to this idea,” Werle says. “While it [green theatre] does use techniques that craftsman may have used before, we must elevate it to the level of anything that you use on stage. At no point, because you are using a different method, should it look junky or less finished.”The Realizations of Reuse

The world of reuse really opened up for Werle as she explored other materials in designing for the theatre.

“First it was cardboard, then tires, then plastic bottles,” she says. “Really anything can be a raw good.” The more she adopted this attitude, the more possibilities she saw around her. “I became fascinated with plastic bottle chan-deliers,” she says. “It is sort of a common up-cycled thing because the light penetrates through it, it’s beautiful, and it’s colorful,” she says. “So ... it became a challenge to see how many ways we could use these properties.” As Werle’s experiments continued, her studio and shops began to change practices to work with these new materials. Each design became an opportunity to push the multiple uses of the newest raw good, found in the trash. “Every area has tons of trash,” Werle says. “We just don’t see it, and it’s dirty work when you reclaim it. That’s the problem – you have to go down that alley and look in that dumpster.” To locate items that might work in a green design, she says it is important to create a community of discovery, letting others know of your quest for salvageable items. “Talk to tech supers, search Craigslist and Art Cube – put the word out,” she says. When you do green design, she says, “it is hard to exist on your own.” Werle has made amazing finds at stoop sales (the New York equivalent of a yard sale). Sometimes, she says, you just have to beat the streets, shopping for shapes and looking at the materials around you with a sense of discovery. When she was designing Peter and the Starcatcher, for example, she found enough small plastic toys to cover the Starcatcher proscenium while shopping at stoop sales within six blocks of her apartment.

The Greening of Peter and the Starcatcher

The largest-scale production in her green effort thus far is Peter and the Starcatcher. The show started out off-Broadway, then played on Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre from April 2012 to January 2013, before moving off-Broadway again in March 2013. Werle’s scenic design for the show won her a 2012 Tony Award. The show toured nationally from August 2013 until May 2014, and a second tour is set to begin in January 2015. The script presented a major design challenge, with some fairly radical scene changes spread over 20 locations. It was a tough puzzle to tackle both technically and artistically. Werle’s vision: a set that would reflect a child’s sense of imagination, using repurposed materials, collaged and woven together to provide visual clues that take audience members artfully to each location. The proscenium, designed to suggest a Victorian toy theatre, was meticulously built by Showman Fabricators in a sort of “green art” collaboration with Werle. It consists of reclaimed wood, cardboard, paper, old records and CDs, action figures, rope, bottle caps, used toys, corks and thousands of other little plastic, wood and foam items that were up-cycled before they ended up in a landfill. After some additional dumpster diving, the rest of the set and props followed suit with re-used and alternative materials making the textures, colors and shapes of islands, seas, a grotto, jungles, beaches, sailing ships and the like throughout the show. For all of these creations, Werle and the production team not only canvased the community, but also involved the community in collecting items for the show. They even had a bottle cap collecting event with The Broadway League’s Kids’ Night on Broadway program, in collaboration with the Broadway Green Alliance. “Dramaturgically, the idea of using found objects in the set makes a lot of sense because the show’s staging was based on the use of simple props,” Werle says. “A single rope was used in multiple ways: as a ship’s deck, a ladder, a staircase, a doorway, a cabin, a boxing arena, the ocean and the skyline, to name a few. The story unfolds in the audience’s imagination. The PR team for both the Broadway run and the tour promoted the salvaging aspects because it was so integrated with the dramaturgical concept of the show.” When the show went on tour, a PR team encouraged community involvement in all of the cities on the

Werle recycled everyday items, such as action figures, plastic spoons, corks, poptops from cans, bottle caps and pencils in the proscenium she created for Peter and The Starcatcher.

10 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

itinerary. Items for the touring proscenium were donated by patrons and sponsors – “like beer tops from Coors beer in Denver,” says Werle. “We incorporated anything that was sent to us. It all went onto giant tables of like items at the shop.” Many of the cities where Peter and the Starcatcher played on its first national tour instituted recycling programs and encouraged found object works as a precursor to the show. “We are getting all the kids in, and they are doing their own found object prosceniums, and that’s great,” says Werle. “It’s inspiring a lot of discussion.” Looking to a Greener Future

Werle is committed to working toward a greener theatre world. One way that she is doing that is through her work as co-chair of the pre- and post-production committee of the Broadway Green Alliance, which began in the fall of 2008. The catalyst for its creation was An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award-winning documentary about Al Gore’s efforts to educate the public on global warming. Werle joined nine months after its inception after she saw a blurb in the newspaper about then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg supporting a movement called “Broadway Goes Green.” According to the mission statement, “The Broadway Green Alliance is an industry-wide initiative that educates, motivates, and inspires the entire theatre community and its patrons to adopt environmentally friendlier practices.” Manhattan’s professional theatres have all joined

together in the Green Alliance initiative, and a number of Broadway stars are serving as Green Captains in their shows. Green Captains are volunteers who represent the Green Alliance within a production, encouraging good green practice from rehearsal to run. Changes have included a move to rechargeable batteries in microphones and flashlights, a small step that has had a large ripple effect on Broadway. Through collection drives in Times Square over the past five years, the Broadway Green Alliance says it has kept 15 tons of electronic waste and almost 10,000 pounds of clothing and textiles out of landfills. This past summer, Werle had two green design interns working at her studio on projects for the Broadway Green Alliance. Among other duties, they wrote a report on sustainable lighting and conducted interviews about the greening efforts of the long-running show, Blue Man Group. Werle also has influenced others to begin their own green companies. “I had assistants,who then became associates, that now have their own shop, Paper Mâché Monkey (papermachemonkey.com),” Werle says. “They build everything sustainably, and they are a big force of nature now with tons of clients.” In her own design studio, Werle is determined that everything she uses can be recycled. She has challenged her design lab to produce no more than a 1” x 12” x 12” block of trash a day. Old models are broken down into usable pieces. Foam core and

Werle went dumpster diving and stoop sale shopping to find toys and other items to create the proscenium for Peter and the Starcatcher. Photo above left shows work on the left side of the proscenium arch. Photo above right shows work on the clamshell (pictured above the pineapple in the bottom photo).The bottom photo shows the finished proscenium. Also see the magazine cover for more detail from the proscenium.

Phot

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onya

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Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 11

illustration board have been replaced by salvaged cardboard and pulp-board. Textiles, packaging and even delivery containers don’t go to waste and are cut down to usable materials. ”We stopped using paper towels and have switched over to tea towels that hang on a couple lines in the kitchen,” Werle says.

Theatre & Dance within the Liberal Arts

10 Reasons to study Theatre & Dance at Wake Forest! 1. Small,individualizedclasses,integratedwithproductionandperformance2. Beginningtoadvancedstudyinallaspectsoftheatre3. Opportunitiestodoublemajor/minor4. 4majorproductions&2danceconcertsyearly5. Twowell‐equippedspaces:prosceniumandthrust6. Facultyandstudentdirectedproductions,Multiplestudentproducinggroups7. TalentBasedScholarshipsforperformance&production8. Bothmeritandneedbasedfinancialaid9. Fundingopportunitiesforstudentprojects,summerstudy&travel10. Over400approved StudyAbroad programsin70countries

For Information, contact: Department of Theatre and Dance P.O. Box 7264 Reynolda Station Winston-Salem NC 27109 336-758-5294 www.wfu.edu

theatre@wfu.edu

Highly Competitive Academically Rigorous Nationally Ranked

Donyale Werle’s AwardsTony Awards: Winner, 2012, Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Peter and the Starcatcher; Nominee, 2011, Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Obie Award: Winner, 2011, Sustained Excellence of Set Design

Lucille Lortel Awards: Winner, 2011, Outstanding Scenic Design: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Nominee, 2011, Outstanding Scenic Design: Peter and the Starcatcher

Henry Hewes Design Award: Winner, 2010, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Outer Circle Critics Award: Nominee, 2010, Outstanding Set Design: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Robert O’Leary is head of scenic and lighting design for Florida School of the Arts in Palatka, FL, and chair of SETC’s Design/Technology Committee.

Werle also is experimenting with ideas related to renewable energy and sustainable architecture. She spoke excitedly of Katie Mitchell’s production of Lungs, which harnesses the energy of the actor to power the lights. This idea of a new energy source inspired her to begin planning for solar panels in her studio to power lighting and peripherals. Through her own work and the work she does with the Broadway Green Alliance, Werle is inspiring others to share her passion for environmentally-conscious design, which she believes is essential for theatre’s future as a sustainable art form. From her father to her, to all who met her at the SETC Convention, to all those connections who pass it on, the message travels forward. From her first green efforts with cardboard sets to the amazing proscenium of Peter and the Starcatcher, Werle provides solid evidence that one person really can make a difference. n

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14 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

JAMES HOUGHTONRichard Rodgers Director of the Drama Division

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Apply by December 15juilliard.edu/playwrights

FALL 2014

R eady to take a shot at your own Great Green Theatre Experiment? Here are 10 simple steps

that Donyale Werle suggests for theatre artists, designers, teachers and students.

1 Begin with an overview. Assess what you do and have at your theatre now. What are

the green practices, inventories, typical materials, equipment and recycling plans at your theatre or institution? Find a starting point for changing the processes, products and world around you.

2 Embrace the use of stock. Take inventory of what you have in storage, down to the measurements.

“Go to the stuff you have lying around,” Werle says.

“I know stock has become a bad word but … when you find it in a certain shape, it doesn’t mean you have to use it in that shape.” Rework the piece to suit your needs, Werle says. Werle’s design for The Old Globe Theatre’s production of The Rocky Horror Show used an entire repurposed proscenium structure. For Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, yards and yards of red velour made their way back to the stage from a retired The Producers tour.

3 Discover green materials. “There are so many, and you must explore what is around,” Werle

says, adding that experimentation is especially important in the college setting. “Young people have to experiment in the shop.” By experimenting, you might even find an undiscovered raw good.

4 Build community through collection efforts

and collaborations. Set up collection boxes for items that figure into your design or shop practices, connecting your community, department or campus to your efforts. Green theatre, like most theatre, is dependent on connections and collaborations.

10 Ways to Make Your Theatre More Green

Encourage others to get involved in your

green efforts. Children donated more than

4,000 bottle caps for use in the design

of Peter and the Starcatcher through

a Kids’ Night on Broadway collection.

Arts Administration

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Innovate. Create.

Articulate.

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Act

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For more information:Beth Scheckel - Graduate Admissions Coordinator

beth.scheckel@ttu.edu(806) 742-3601 ext. 236

PhD MFA MA

Theatre Arts

History/Th

eory/Criticism

Performance & PedagogyDr. Mark Charney, Chair

Resources like Art Cube, a recycling hotline of sorts for the film and entertainment industry, are built on that idea. Designers also need to connect with each other, Werle says. Think not only of how your piece works for you, but also how parts of it might travel on to another designer. “Try to think of luan and foam as materials of last choice,” Werle says. These are two of the most environmentally harmful products used in large amounts for theatre productions.

5 Join the Broadway Green Alliance. It’s free! If you are ready to take it a step further, request

the free kit from the Alliance, establish a Green Captain, and start working on your next show. At the university level, all you need is a faculty advisor and a student with an interest in greening your production.

6 Set up recycling bins in convenient locations. Many hands make light work when it comes

to sorting at the top end of the recycling chain, and people are more prone to do it consistently if it is in the location where it makes the most sense to recycle.

7 Get reusable water bottles for the production

team and performers. Let’s stop the plastic

bottle madness in this world. Have you seen pictures of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch lately? Take a look, and you will be up-cycling a mason jar or buying a nice stainless steel bottle within a day.

8 Use rechargeable batteries. Run microphones and other battery-powered items in the theatre

on rechargeable batteries. It will save you in the long run and keep some pretty toxic things out of the daily show trash.

9 Track and publicize your green efforts. Celebrate your green experiment by tracking

what you do. Publicize your green efforts. Blog, tweet and just plain communicate what you are up to. It gives your college or theatre a sense that you are working for the greater good and may even spur others to go green.

10 Get and stay in the green loop. Continue to inform yourself. Pick up a copy of Ellen E.

Jones’ new book, A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre. It includes tips on assessment and offers green ideas for those working in areas from the administrative office to the scene shop and all points in between.

- Robert O’Leary

10 Ways to Make Your Theatre More GreenGreen Resources:

Broadway Green Alliance www.broadwaygreen.com

Pulp Art Surfaces pulpartsurfaces.com

Film Biz Recycling www.filmbizrecycling.org

Julie’s Bicyclewww.juliesbicycle.com/theatre

Earthship Biotectureearthship.com

A Practical Guide to Greener Theatre by Ellen E. JonesFocal Presswww.focalpress.com

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 15

W

10 Contemporary

PlaywrightsYou Should Know

When someone says “great American playwright,” who do you think of? If the names of Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O’Neill, August Wilson, Lorraine Hans-berry, or David Henry Hwang come to mind, of course you are right. But there are newer generations right behind them. Drawing on my 20 years’ experience as a professional dramaturg focusing on new plays and leading the literary departments of major regional theatres, I set out to create a short list of of writers whose names might be added to that list in the future. I looked for playwrights whose work embodies a mix of styles and approaches and who come from a variety of geographic areas, cultures and ethnicities, offering something of interest to students, artists and educators of widely varying tastes. This article will offer you 10 names. Some may be new to you, some not. Some are native Southerners, some not. Two have been finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. One received a “genius grant.” All are active professionals with significant credits to their names. So if you’re looking to expand the universe of plays you produce in your theatre, present on your college campus, teach in your courses, or recommend to colleagues and students, this article should offer you an excellent start.

Two Great Passions: Literature and Eavesdropping

Topher Payne, winner of the Elizabeth Osborn New Play Award this year, is no stranger to awards. Nearly every periodical in his home city of Atlanta has named him best playwright at some point in the past five years. Mississippi native Payne writes crowd-pleasing comedies such as Lakebottom Prime, Beached Wails and Perfect Arrangement, involving “boozy Southern matriarchs, garden clubs, catfights, sister bonding and beauty parlors,” but he also writes about revolution with no holds barred. One of his two 2013 world premieres, Angry Fags, explores the revenge impulse in a drastically unbalanced justice system. In his Osborn acceptance speech, Payne noted, “We do it because we share a belief that the right story told to the right people at the right time can change the world!” Payne’s work can be found at topherpayne.com.

b y M e g a n M o n a g h a n R i v a s

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Discovery, Defiance and Love

Born and raised in Decatur, GA, Lauren Gunderson earned her MFA in dramatic writing from New York University and is taking U.S. theatre by storm. Her play I and You was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and won the Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award in 2014. Long fascinated by the competition between the life of the mind and the will of the heart, especially in the lives of women, Gunderson notes she always aims for “Holy Sh*t Theatre. You can’t fake making your audience feel.” Some of Gunderson’s plays focus on forgotten or unrecognized geniuses – 19th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt in Silent Sky, “degenerate” artist Rudolph Bauer in Bauer, and Emilie La Marquise du Chatelet in Emilie. Other plays bounce off Shakespeare (Exit, Pursued by a

Bear; Toil and Trouble; and We Are Denmark) or spring from fully original stories (I and You; Rock Creek:

Southern Gothic). Gunderson’s plays are published and licensed by Samuel French and Playscripts Inc., and her work is represented by Kate Navin at the Gersh Agency Theater Department.

Comics! Gaming! Puppets?

Originally from Arkansas, Qui Nguyen is a writer, fight choreographer, and self-described “all around pop-culture nerd.” He’s also co-artistic director of Vampire Cowboys, the Obie Award-winning troupe in New York City. Nguyen packs his plays with spectacle, such as the climactic battle between a woman and a five-headed dragon in She Kills Monsters, the climactic battle between the galaxy’s last two surviving humans and alien forces in Fight Girl Battle World, and the climactic battle between Shakespeare’s leading ladies and a horde of zombies in Living Dead in Denmark. From that list, Nguyen’s background as a fight director and teacher of stage

combat will come as no surprise. The winner of a 2013 Sundance Theatre Lab Fellowship, two GLAAD Media Award nominations and the Patrick Lee Award for Outstanding Off-Off-Broadway Show, Qui has begun exploring his Vietnamese family’s immigrant background in later plays such as The Inexplicable Redemption of

Agent G. His plays are published and licensed by Samuel French, Playscripts and Broadway Play Publishing.

Dark Fairy Tales for Grown-Ups

Steve Yockey is a Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia who went on to study playwriting at New York University, then relocated to the West Coast. Whenever Yockey starts a sentence with “What if…?” it’s best to buckle your seat belt and brace yourself for a wild ride. In Bellwether, a little girl’s disappearance opens a wound in a community that can only be healed by more bloodshed. Cartoon shows a commedia dell’arte troupe run amok when a stolen talisman unleashes chaos on the stage … and in the audience. And in Pluto, even the appliances get into the act, when a single mother tries to connect with her son, who won’t talk to her, and with the family dog, who won’t shut up. Many of Yockey’s plays are published and licensed by Samuel French. His work is represented by Mary Harden and Scott Edwards at Harden-Curtis Associates.

Adrenaline Rush

New York native Kristoffer Diaz never hesitates to put the unlikely on stage, from the roots of hip-hop in Welcome

to Arroyo’s to a keen exploration of ethnic identity and public meaning wrapped in a love letter to professional wrestling in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity, a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize. He then proceeds to make you fall in love with his creation, sweeping you away on the kind of powerful feeling that you might expect

Know a Playwright Who Belongs on This List?

Send your

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in a sports arena but rarely encounter in a theatre. His all-out farce The Upstairs

Concierge, premiering in the Goodman Theatre’s 2014-15 season, takes on the American obsession with celebrity in the setting of a family business. Diaz’s #freescenes project, described on his blog theheavylifting.tumblr.com, offers monologues, scenes and more – all material that actors can work with for free. In an online interview with Adam Szymkowicz, Diaz stated,“Exciting theatre, to me, celebrates community. That’s the only thing theatre can do better than film and TV. If you can’t create community in your work, go write for the screen.” Diaz’s work has been published by Samuel French and Dramatists Play Service. His work is represented by Derek Zasky at William Morris Endeavor.

Young, Gifted and Fearless

Katori Hall, who grew up in Memphis, has collected awards, degrees and plaudits that would impress anyone from anywhere. Her landmark play The Mountaintop, a fictional meditation set during the last night of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life, gathered up the Olivier Award for Best New Play after its world premiere in London, then came to Broadway in a production that starred Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett. Her work ranges from the gutsy comedy of WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! to the heartbreakingly clear-eyed Hurt Village, set in her hometown and the winner of the 2011 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Educated at Harvard, Columbia and the Juilliard School, Hall was named one of the first resident playwrights at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Her work has been published by Methuen Drama; more information is available at katorihall.com.

Tough and Tender

Aditi Brennan Kapil started out as an actor and director, then wrote plays. She has never stopped doing the former in order to excel at the latter. Drawing on the Indian side of her heritage (she’s of Bulgarian and Indian descent), Kapil this past year premiered Brahman/i: A One-Hijra Stand-Up

Comedy Show, The Chronicles of Kalki and Shiva, a set of plays collectively called the Displaced Hindu Gods trilogy, in which avatars of the deities appear in contemporary immigrants to the West. Among her earlier works, Love Person skillfully deploys English, Sanskrit and American Sign Language to explore how communication shapes understanding, while Agnes Under the

Big Top delicately explores the difficult lives of its five main characters as they intersect – or never meet. Raised in Sweden, Kapil now lives in Minneapolis. Her work is available for license through Samuel French and is represented by Antje Oegel at AO International.

Changing the Face of Theatre

Winner of the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius grant,” Luis Alfaro keeps one foot on the ground in Los Angeles and the other in his position as playwright-in-residence at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, standing like the Colossus of Rhodes over the edge of the continent. As inspired by Greek tragedies (his Electricidad connects with Sophocles’ Electra, and Mojada aligns with Euripides’ Medea, while Oedipus el Rey speaks for itself) as by his personal experience (St. Jude, which premiered this year), Alfaro discovered his writing path unexpectedly. He notes, “I started by writing about where I thought the new kingdoms were – the fast-growing California State Prison system and its alternate

18 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

societies. I was thinking a lot about young Latino men, gang culture and our ability to defy these destinies. But I ended up with a love story! What happens when your passion is larger than the world you live in?” Dramatic Publishing and Playscripts publish and license Alfaro’s work.

Funny, Sharp, Inventive

Playwright and novelist Madeleine George possesses many gifts – not least among them a way with a title. Who could resist a play called Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England? When she was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Drama this year, however, it wasn’t just for the title. That new play, The (curious case

of the) Watson Intelligence, looks at the power of technology to draw us together or push us apart – not just in the digital 21st century, but in the steam-driven 19th, and at other moments in history. One of the founders of the celebrated 13P company, George spearheaded the world premiere of her play The Zero Hour as part of the company’s mission to produce one new play by each of its 13 members, without putting them through the wringer of readings and workshops

first. Originally from Amherst, MA, George now resides in Brooklyn. Her plays are published by Samuel French, her theatrical work is represented by Seth Glewen at The Gersh Agency, and her novels for young adult readers are available on Amazon.com. More information is available at madeleinegeorge.com.

‘My Writing Is Like My Ministry’

Marcus Gardley, equal parts poet and playwright, grew up in Oakland, CA, and now teaches playwriting at Brown University. He is having a banner year – 10 productions of seven of his plays at theatres across the country. From the satire The

Box: A Black Comedy in New York to the passionate The Gospel of Lovingkindness spinning off the topic of gun violence in Chicago, Gardley’s extraordinary art combines fact and fiction, myth and stereotype, and his amazing command of language. His goal, though, is to heal. As he said in a recent New York

Times interview, “We have so many traumas and need so much healing in our communities. I want my work to be part of the healing process.” Methuen has published Gardley’s work, and he is represented by Susan Weaving at William Morris Endeavor. n

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Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 19

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Robert Plowman’s Plays Spring from Fearlessness

The PlaywrightGetchell Award

R obert Plowman, winner of the 2014 Charles M. Getchell New Play Award, has been writing

plays for over 20 years. They are intriguing plays with titles such as The Route 19 Roadside Choir of Dead Babies Invites You to Visit “The Fountain of Youth” Museum and Giftshop, Welcome to Burger Heaven, Radium City and I Was a Teenage Firestarter/Bedwetter from Mars. Readings and productions of his works have been seen throughout Canada and the United

States. A native of Toronto, Canada, he has been in residence at the Playwrights Theatre Centre’s

Playwrights Colony in Vancouver, BC, and the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH. In May

2014, he received an MFA in playwriting from Hollins University in Roanoke, VA. Kent R. Brown

interviewed Plowman in person and via e-mail in late spring 2014 after the staged reading of The Missing Link at the 2014 SETC Convention.

BROWN: Let’s start with the standard who, what, where and so forth. PLOWMAN: I was born in Toronto and have spent the majority of my creative life in Halifax [Canada]. BROWN: Any formal training as a writer?PLOWMAN: I graduated from Dalhousie University in Halifax with an English degree that, depending on your point of view, prepared me for everything or prepared me for nothing. There was a college theatre society, completely run by students, the largest society on campus. Just enough actors, just enough directors that we could all push each other.BROWN: And after college?PLOWMAN: I helped run The Chestnut Tree Theatre. We produced original work and older plays, and the diversity of our output reflected the varied interests of the company members. I wrote and directed. One of my original pieces was called Levitate Me, and it was generated through a combination of writing and ensemble creation. I also directed Chekhov’s The Bear

and Sam Shepard’s Cowboy Mouth. BROWN: Your play titles suggest realism is not your style of choice.PLOWMAN: Over time, I’ve come to appreciate that it’s a rare enough experience to see a play, or sometimes simply read a play, that changes my life. The question of style doesn’t really concern me if the work takes me to an understanding of myself

and my place in the world and increases my idea of what it is to be alive. My bent, most likely, will always be, well, not quite realism. I have a different set of aesthetics for the plays that I consider my own work. I think the most powerful thing about the medium of theatre is this collective dream we have as audience members and actors on the stage. For me, there is something really alive in creating a world that has never existed before the lights go up and does not exist after they go down.BROWN: You’ve been quoted as saying the theatre that excites you is theatre “that is fearless.” Can you push that a bit?PLOWMAN: I believe the process of engaging deeply with my own impulses, biases, dreams and fears, the parts of myself I distrust, the things in the world that trouble me, all of the tangle of thoughts and feelings in my brain that resist my best efforts to tidy them or find a reassuring moral, I think this process of finding a play within myself relies on fearlessness. It’s necessary to be fearless of judgment and failure. The contradictions, the things that don’t make sense, the things that

are embarrassing or silly, all of these I’m attracted to, in the belief that the parts of myself that can’t be easily explained are exactly the things that other people will relate to, that the inexplicable and unlanguageable parts of our humanity are peculiarly suited to being the subject for theatre. So, for me, fearlessness is the first step. BROWN: The Missing Link has an unusual backstory.PLOWMAN: Yes. The play was written for a class in my MFA playwriting program at Hollins University, called First Drafts, in which each assignment was to write a play within 72 hours, based on a series of prompts. BROWN: Which were?PLOWMAN: It had to be a two-act expressionist play, with narrator. The plot had to be taken from a story in that day’s newspaper. Two of the characters had to be modeled on different major literary characters. No more than five actors. One of the characters had to have a physical illness or deformity. One of the themes of the play had to be drawn from the Book of Proverbs.

SETC’s Charles M. Getchell New Play Award recognizes worthy new scripts written by individuals who live or go to school in the SETC region or by SETC members who live in or outside the region.

More info: Visit www.setc.org/getchell-new-play-contest

Are You a Future Getchell Award Winner?

Robert Plowman

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BROWN: The result is an episodic, non-linear coming-of-age play set in a fantastical carnival world. Grotesque, rich in menace and uncertainty. What was the personal impetus for the piece? PLOWMAN: I am interested in how imagination is both a sustaining thing for us and how it can also turn and become very dangerous – that imagination has a dangerous underside. When I was seven, eight years old, I received a chain letter. One of those that requires you to send it on to 12 people or bad luck will strike you? And for whatever reason, I ended up not sending it off. Time passed, and I remember being hooked by this fear of the consequences, by what bad luck might come my way. So much so that my mother

had to convince me that nothing would happen. And I think, what’s going on in The Missing Link, from my point of view, is that I was taking some of the stuff from my childhood, the sense of wonder, and seeing what might happen.BROWN: In Radium City, you ask the question, “Is there ever an end to wonder?” This might be said to be a defining energy behind much of your work. PLOWMAN: Most of our cultural rep-resentations of what it is to be a human being – by which I mean the mass media representations – are insulting. We live in a culture that profits by keeping us dumb. There’s a strong anti-intellectual bias in North America, even in the arts. And I think there’s something rare and

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A Plowman SamplerBelow are synopses of some of Robert Plowman’s other plays:

My Sex Rays Will Cover the Earth. This play was inspired by Wilhelm Reich, a disciple

of Sigmund Freud, who focused on the orgasm as the defining diagnostic feature of

a person’s psychological health. “It’s a classic mad scientist story,” says Plowman,

“involving the Food and Drug Administration and a book-burning purge.”

The Route 19 Roadside Choir of Dead Babies Invites You to Visit “The Fountain

of Youth” Museum and Giftshop. “In his quest for the Fountain of Youth, the

famed explorer Ponce de Léon encounters the Aztec goddess Coatlicue, mother of

miscarriages, and the pair begins a love affair that lasts through the ages...” Such is

the story that unfolds in the strange museum of a roadside attraction, hosted by a choir

of sinister and delightful dead babies, and featuring human sacrifice, meddlesome

gods and the end of the world – more than once.

The Common: for as long as you have so far. This piece is designed to be

experienced by a single participant who is given props, earphones and an iPod with

a 44-minute recorded commentary. The participant walks over now-developed land

that was once part of the Common, Canada’s oldest urban park, while listening to

Plowman’s blend of city myths, local fears about crime, and actual historical events.

The Mnemonist: A Tale of Espionage. Created with LoHifi Productions, a Canadian

company specializing in found-object puppetry and performance in nontraditional

theatre spaces, this is a Cold War spy story set in Ottawa. It examines the question

of identity in a world where everyone is a foreigner, an immigrant, a person in search

of a home. A bit of Hitchcock by way of Kafka.

The Matador. A love triangle in the bullfighting ring involves the matador, his lady friend

and, of course, the bull. This dark comedy with songs and dances was inspired by the

Spanish word duende, meaning, in part, a sense of imagination – a dark creative force.

22 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

wonderful about plays that are concerned with characters who have intellectual passions. This isn’t a question of characters being smart or witty, or any of that. For instance, The Missing Link is a play where the characters may be naïve and not very self-aware in our contemporary terms. However, they still confront moral and ethical questions; they are still shaped by their internal lives, their dreams and ideas.BROWN: Your creative aesthetic seems to replace “what’s going to happen next” with “look how it’s being made to happen now.” There is an emphasis on the narrative tools being used to reveal the puzzle that is being solved because these narrative tools are being utilized. PLOWMAN: The suspension of disbelief that’s at the heart of theatrical storytelling has a deep connection with the desire for play we all experience in childhood. I point my finger and it is a gun – and it’s immediately clear to all my playmates that it’s a gun. In the same way, if the storytelling connection between performers and audience is true, then the play can be as fleet, as magical, as inventive as the minds of its makers. I say, “Look, the Eiffel Tower!” and everyone in the audience sees the Eiffel Tower behind the characters.BROWN: What about the conventional notion of suspense?PLOWMAN: I don’t find suspense a particularly interesting tool. Of course, there’s the kind of suspense that all good stories have, such as engaging the audience in the desire to know what happens next. However, the suspense that’s concerned with withholding knowledge from the audience doesn’t hold much appeal for me. In this play, there are many kinds of knowledge that are denied Marie – mysteries she will never ever learn in the course of the story – but the audience always knows as much as she does. Since it’s a play concerned with childhood, it was important that the story continually lives in the present.BROWN: Your audiences can’t comfortably sit back and wait to see what happens

next. They must actively track the multiple contours of your world. What skills do you expect audiences to bring with them to engage with your vision?PLOWMAN: I suppose it goes to the mystery of how any theatre creator cultivates, first, a circle of fellow artists who get it, and next, an audience who gets

it. I write the work that I would like to see. I find immense pleasure in seeing theatre that surprises me and does things I didn’t know were possible. I’m attracted to the unspeakable, the numinous, the mysterious parts of our humanity. Sometimes I’m told that my plays are poetic, and it’s true the language I use is often heightened or at least separated from our day-to-day vernacular. A world in which language operates slightly differently than we’re accustomed to opens up the possibility that other rules also operate differently than we’re accustomed to. BROWN: Bob Moss says the job of the artist is to reveal the truth. What is “the truth” in The Missing Link?PLOWMAN: The Sideshow of Wonders is, at first, full of magic, but is later transformed into a dangerous and tawdry place. However, I don’t think the Sideshow is best looked at as a metaphor where x = y, and it stands for, say, “adulthood” or “the power of the imagination.” Nor do I think the shift from “magical land” to “dangerous place” is presented in the play as the final verdict on the meaning of the place. I think there’s a clash of ideas within the play over the nature of storytelling and the meaning of “growing up.” It’s this clash of ideas that I seek to embody in my writing, to lead an audience through a certain landscape of thoughts. In fact, the difficulty in finding external “truth” may be part of the journey for Marie in the play. n

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Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 23

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lighting design/techstage management

FOR PRODUCTION:

The PlayGetchell Award

ACT ONECAST OF CHARACTERS: NOTES ON STAGING:

Email Robert Plowman at:robertplowmanplaywright@gmail.comRobert Plowman © 2014

MARIE OF ROMANIA: A 12-year-old tomboy.FLETCHER HASTINGS: Her uncle. A dreamer. Mid-40s.THE MERMAID/THE FORTUNE TELLER/HELENE: A performer. Mid-30s.THOMAS: The saddest 9-year-old boy in the world. Will not live to see 10.JOHN WILKES BOOTH: A wax figure with movie-star good looks. (The actor playing John Wilkes Booth doubles as Father and The Man.)

SETTING:

SCENE I (Then: 1932. Fletcher teaches his niece, Marie, the art of being a sideshow barker.)FLETCHER: Step inside!MARIE: Step inside!FLETCHER: Right this way!MARIE: Step inside!FLETCHER: All for the price of a nickel!(Now. Old Marie remembers:)OLD MARIE: All for the price of a nickel. It was my education.Once you stepped inside The whole world Was yours for the taking.(The signs begin to light up: DR. VARANASI’S SIDESHOW OF WONDERS. NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. ENTER THE ROGUES GAL-LERY.)

WHERE: Dr. Varanasi’s Sideshow of Wonders. Marie’s bedroom. Outdoors. A seaside (or lakeside) resort town that has seen better days. 1932.WHEN: Then and now.

The principal scenic element for the play is to be the illuminated signage of Dr. Varanasi’s Sideshow of Wonders. It is gaudy and perhaps a little worn (blown bulbs and so on), but playful and genuinely inventive.Often, memories emerge suddenly out of darkness and then are swallowed once more. In all cases, the staging ought to strive for a fluid movement between scenes, and the literal use of set pieces (beds, windows, giant crates) should be avoided.The role of Marie need not be played by either a 12-year-old or a 90-year-old. Nor should age be indicated in a cartoonish fashion. A simplicity and plasticity of presentation will be most effective.

THE MISSING LINKb y R o b e r t P l o w m a n

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FLETCHER: Thrill to the Wonders of History come to life!In our Wax Museum The Greatest Villains of the Ages Plot their Diabolical Devilry!You will See their Murderous Folly!Witness the Proceeds of Sin – Up Close! Ladies, take care not to approach too near…These villains may leer at you from the shadows.(In lights: MURDER MOST FOUL.)OLD MARIE: Wax figures were poised with pistols at the ready.Posed with an axe raised high in the air.Lizzie Borden in her nightdress Hovering in the moment just before her fame.Nero, I admired for his chin and the cut of his robe.The fiddle, however, so I learned,Was not the genuine article. It would not play.And John Wilkes Booth was The first man I ever fell in love with.Chiefly for his eyes. FLETCHER: Next, to the Hall of Mirrors!This is a maze to Astound and Delight!Get Lost in your own reflection!OLD MARIE: After the Hall of Mirrors was the Penny ArcadeAnd after the Penny Arcade was the very best part:The Palace of Science.FLETCHER: Here are the Greatest Marvels of the Animal KingdomHunted down from the Four Corners of the GlobeAt tremendous risk of Life and Limb.Behold, the Kraken!(In lights: DEVIL OF THE DEEP.)OLD MARIE: A huge oil painting depictedA great seven-masted schooner in the clutches of the Kraken:A sea creature of innumerable tentacles And fierce, sub-marine strength.Next, in a glass case hung an enormous white pelt,The hide of the Russian Yeti.(In lights: THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. Here, Fletcher assumes a funeral air.)FLETCHER: A moment of silence, please, for the men who died,Murdered at the hands of this MONSTER,In capturing the only specimen of Yeti ever ex-hibited.(Pause.)OLD MARIE: The crowds would OOH and AHHAnd THRILL to wonders Not so wondrous in themselves perhapsBut made magical in my Uncle’s telling.I remember: The rhinoceros horn…FLETCHER: Those who suffer an infirmity may stop…And touch the horn…And see if you are not, indeed, among those who shareIn its Fabled Healing Power. OLD MARIE: … and the gorgeous Mermaid…(In lights: SWEET SIREN OF THE WAVES.)FLETCHER: The curves of a woman, the gills of a fish!Enchantress of the seven seas!

She sings sailors to their watery tomb!OLD MARIE: … and the fearsome Monkey’s Paw.FLETCHER: Careful not to cast a wish in its presence!You might not want your wishes to be granted!(End of scene.)

SCENE II(Marie and Thomas. A field. Dusk. He pulls behind him a red wagon, carrying a burlap sack.)THOMAS: Psst!MARIE: What?THOMAS: Psst!MARIE: What is it?THOMAS: Do you want to see?MARIE: What is it?(Thomas picks up the sack from the wagon.)THOMAS: I don’t think I’ll show you.MARIE: Thomas!THOMAS: Want to see?MARIE: Yes!THOMAS: Alright then, I suppose.(He takes from the sack a large mason jar with fireflies inside. In lights: FIREFLIES.)THOMAS: I caught ’em in a jar! Look at ’em go!MARIE: Can I hold it?THOMAS: Promise to give it back.MARIE: Yes.THOMAS: Alright then, I suppose.(Marie dances with the jar of fireflies raised above her head. She sings like a music box.)MARIE: La la la La la laTHOMAS: La la laMARIE: La la la(A change: Her uncle helps her into bed. She’s still singing.)MARIE: Why is father sad?FLETCHER: He misses your mother very much.MARIE: I miss her too.FLETCHER: Of course you do, dandelion. Everyone who knew your mother Loved her. (A change: Another dusk. The field. Marie and Thomas.)MARIE: I want to see your hand.You promised you’d show it.(Thomas hides his right hand.)THOMAS: First, tell me the story again.MARIE: My mother was royalty. Her blood was royal blood (And my blood is royal blood too). And she was called a Grand Duchess And when people spoke to her they would say Very pleased to meet you, Grand Duchess, And they would curtsy and kiss her hand Like so. Now you try. (He curtsies and kisses her hand.)THOMAS: Very pleased to meet you, Grand Duchess. MARIE: That’s good. She lived in Russia which is a country in Europe. And her family all died.

(In lights: PRINCESS ANASTASIA OF THE ROMONOV FAMILY. ALL THE OTHERS SLAUGHTERED.)MARIE: And people said she was dead too But she wasn’t. She was spirited away!And no one knew where she had gone. She ran away and didn’t stop And ran and ran Until she met my father. (A change: Another night. Another bedtime story.)FLETCHER: They had the love affair of the century Your parents did! (In lights: THE LOVE OF THE CENTURY.)FLETCHER: For, you see, in his veins coursed the blood of royalty too! Our father’s father’s father’s father – (Did he ever tell you this? No? Impossible!) – was the rightful heir to the French throne – (Do you know what an heir is? Very good.) – who was imprisoned all his life in a high tower In a filthy little cell And do you know what’s worse? Do you?On his face they set an iron mask And on that mask a lock So that no one who saw himWould ever know who he really was.(pause)His rescue was long and involvedA story for another dayBut the point is this: Your parents loved as only Kings and QueensCan love. And he mourns her now with all his heart.(pause)Goodnight.(He turns out the light.)MARIE: Is my blood the blood of royalty too?FLETCHER: Of course it is, dandelion. Blue blood in your veins.You are Marie of Romania.(In lights: ALL HAIL QUEEN MARIE. Marie regards the lights: at first critically appraising them, then with satisfaction.)(End of scene.)

SCENE IIIOLD MARIE: At twelve years oldI knew all there was to know.I knew the books in the BibleAnd the countries on the mapAll by heart.I knew how to tie knots And how to get rid of leechesAnd I knew why cats howled at night.I knew my father paced the floorsAfter I had gone to bed.I would wake in the night and hear himAnd wake in the morning to the same footstepsSo I knew he didn’t sleep.And we’d say grace at the tableOften he wouldn’t touch his foodHe’d just put his head in his hands.And I knew that this was called mourning.And I knew that mother wasn’t really

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In the groundWhere we had put her body.Still sometimes I went there to visit.And even though I knew she wasn’t thereI felt better.And now thanks to Uncle FletcherI was learning other mysterious thingsThey never taught in school.(She comes into the Fortune Teller’s tent. A crystal ball and a turbaned gypsy lady. In lights: SUBTLE SECRETS OF THE GYPSY.)FORTUNE TELLER: Give me your hand.(She studies Marie’s hand intently, then gasps.)FORTUNE TELLER: Look!MARIE: What is it!FORTUNE TELLER: Do you see?MARIE: What do you see?(In lights: THE FUTURE IS WRITTEN.)FORTUNE TELLER: All of the secrets of your future Are written on your hand.Do you want to learn All that your life will bring?(End of scene.)

SCENE IV(Another dusk. The field. Marie and Thomas.)MARIE: You promised.You promised.You promised.THOMAS: I never. Let’s go see the Mermaid.MARIE: You always want to see the Mermaid.It’s like you think the Mermaid’s your mother.We can’t see the Mermaid, Thomas, she’s sleep-ing now.THOMAS: In that case, why don’t we –MARIE: Promise breaker! Promise breaker!THOMAS: Alright then.(He holds out his right hand. Marie marvels at it. The hand and arm are quite shriveled. In lights: A SHRIVELED LIMB.)MARIE: Was it always like this?THOMAS: I suppose.MARIE: From when you were a baby?THOMAS: It’s just the way that I was made.MARIE: It’s skin and bones, like a dried-up skeleton.THOMAS: No.MARIE: Dried up like The Monkey’s Paw.THOMAS: No.MARIE: Dried up like a little old Monkey’s Paw!I could make a wish on you!THOMAS: Oh!(Thomas pulls his hand away.)THOMAS: That wasn’t very nice.MARIE: I was only kidding, Thomas.Gosh! I was only fooling around.(She makes a funny face, trying to make him laugh. He doesn’t respond. She makes another funny face. He runs off.)(A change: Another day. They watch the Mermaid in her tank. Through the convex lens of the port-hole, she appears to be sitting on a rock, deep underwater. Fish swim around her.)THOMAS: See! She’s part woman... and part fish.

(In lights: SWEET SIREN OF THE WAVES. The Mermaid flips her tail and runs her fingers through her hair. She’s clearly the same woman as the Fortune Teller, but the illusion is complete for the children. Thomas and Marie watch with delight. The light, as through water, washes over them.)(End of scene.)

SCENE VOLD MARIE: ThenOne night I remember, I awoke to the sounds of an argument.Two voices.A man and a woman.I crept to the bedroom door.The man’s voice was my uncle’s…But who was the woman?I cracked the door to try and see.(Marie watches giant shadows of the argument cast on the wall. In lights: NOT FOR CHILDREN. Marie overhears: The Argument. Indecipherable. But seething with the possibility of dangerous, grown-up knowledge.)THE MALE VOICE: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::THE FEMALE VOICE: ###################THE MALE VOICE: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::THE FEMALE VOICE: ################### not again not again YOU PROMISED!BOTH VOICES: Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!(The shadows disappear.)OLD MARIE: I snuck back to bed And shut my eyes as tight as can be. And pretended to be asleepIn case anyone should check on me... Until I was. And the next morning it was likeNothing had happened.(The next morning:)FLETCHER: Hello, dandelion! How’d you sleep?MARIE: Like a log!I kept rolling all night.(She cracks herself up.)FLETCHER: Queen Marie? I’m going to tell you a secret…(He winks)The secret isYour uncle is cooking something up.(He goes off, whistling.)(End of scene.)

SCENE VI(A meadow. A beautiful summer afternoon. Fletcher spreads a blanket on the hillside. Helene – the Fortune Teller and the Mermaid in her off hours – carries a picnic basket. She has flowers threaded in her hair. Marie is suspicious of this whole occasion. In lights: THE ADULTS ARE ACTING STRANGE AGAIN.)HELENE: How idyllic!How beauteous!You see?You can leave your wonders and amusementsFor an hour or soFor a picnic…

Hm?And they will still be there when you return.(Fletcher is uncharacteristically awkward. At a loss for words.) FLETCHER: Well! Here we are!HELENE: (to Marie) Your uncle so loves his world ofMirrors that make you thin andMirrors that make you plump.MARIE: And so do I!HELENE: Ah, you do?MARIE: It’s the greatest thing in the world, Uncle,What you’ve done.I think it’s my favorite place in the worldI don’t ever want to leaveAnd I’d like to run it some dayFLETCHER: I’ve always said, people like to be amazed!MARIE: – and, and, and the Mermaid Is… So beautiful!HELENE: Is she?Thank you.(Helene sees that Marie clearly hasn’t made the connection. In lights: OH, THE NAIVETÉ OF YOUTH.)HELENE: But don’t you know, my dear?(Fletcher signals to Helene not to tell her.)FLETCHER: (… no…)MARIE: Don’t I know what?FLETCHER: (… no…)MARIE: Don’t I know what?(Helene simply throws up her hands and laughs.)HELENE: Ask your uncle then.Ask Dr. Varanasi himself.MARIE: (to Fletcher) Don’t I know what?Tell me!(Marie is getting cross. Helene laughs.)(End of scene.)

SCENE VII(The Wax Museum. Marie studies John Wilkes Booth. In lights: A DARING CONFESSION.)MARIE: I don’t think I want to grow up, John Wilkes Booth.I don’t see the advantage. What I’d likeIs to stay just as I am today. But for timeTo keep going forwards. That would be very pleasant.The alternative seems barbarous. Shall I Weave flowers in my hair, and powder my noseAnd laugh, gaily, at nothing at all? I have a sensible head on my shoulders,Mother said so. And I’m made for important thingsLike helping my Uncle run this Museum!What do you think, John Wilkes Booth?JOHN WILKES BOOTH: Now, consider: a museum, as I see it,Only looks in one direction, and that is To the past. Whereas a girl, a young lady, Such as yourself, Marie, she might look in Any direction she pleases. Let the compass spin. (John Wilkes Booth never says what Marie wants to hear, but she is continually charmed by his nonsense.)MARIE: Oh, you talk such nonsense, John Wilkes

THE MISSING LINK by Robert Plowman

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 27

Booth.(Thomas comes in, not very quickly, but nevertheless out of breath.)MARIE: What is it Thomas?THOMAS: It’s… It’s…MARIE: Slow down, Thomas. What is it?THOMAS: Men came. In a big cart. It was a team of horses. Your uncle. For the Museum. I was watching ’em.A crate bigger thanAny crate I ever saw.MARIE: Show me!(A change: They sneak down to the basement of the Sideshow. In lights: DOWN IN THE CELLAR. Fletcher is illuminated by flickering gaslight. He stands before his prize. The children watch him. He paces and talks to himself.)FLETCHER: … step inside step inside right this way…Ask yourself: can you put a priceOn amazement? Can you count the valueOf expanding your horizons? Would you quibbleOver pennies in order to purchase true wisdom?I offer you a periscope into a cruel and foreign landA land before timeA land before the beasts were civilizedAnd I offer all this for the low price of A nickel and a dime.(The children gasp at the high price.)FLETCHER: Who’s there!(He takes up the hatchet, lying nearby.)FLETCHER: Who’s there! I can hear you breathing. Come out, you!MARIE: Why, it’s only us, Uncle.THOMAS: I’m sorry, sir. We snuck in.MARIE: Thomas told me there was a delivery.Something special. And we came to see.FLETCHER: Children. Come closer. THOMAS: Are you fixing to hide me, sir.MARIE: Thomas, he won’t hide you.FLETCHER: I don’t hold with the switch, Thomas.MARIE: Don’t be a scaredy cat, Thomas!FLETCHER: Come closer. (A change:)OLD MARIE: Isn’t that funny? Some parts of memoryHow they don’t always line up, one with the other.It is as clear as a bell to me, like it happened yesterday.The two of us, me and Thomas, crouched downAnd spying on my Uncle. Then him calling us out.That part is clear. And I remember what came next.But in what came next Thomas isn’t there anymore.Perhaps he just ran on home. That must’ve been The way it happened.(A change: In the basement of the Sideshow. Fletcher and Marie.)FLETCHER: Come up beside me, child.It’s right that you’re here beside me.(pause)

Did you know that your uncle fought in the War?Well it’s true. And I came home With metal in my leg. Wasn’t a heroic thing that got me sent homeSome of war may be heroic, I do believe.This was not. This villa we capturedAnd were using as barracks, see,One day the munition room went up,Don’t know why, it went up just like thatAnd I was knocked flat on my face.Whether it was flying glass I don’t knowBut my body was all cut to ribbons. I woke upAnd didn’t know what had happened.Well, when I healed –(Fletcher starts to take off his shirt.)FLETCHER: – see, when I healed, the gun powderLeft its mark on me. It looks like a strange tattoo.Doesn’t it? Like real Egyptian hieroglyphics.(Marie looks at her uncle’s chest, all spider-webbed with blue lines.)FLETCHER: I am a man at home with addressing crowds,But it’s more difficult when a person speaksOf a person.I suppose I get all twisted with my meaning.(pause)I think this world is full of wondrous things, dandelion.Did I come back from the war a broken manAll covered in scars? Is that what I am? Hm?Or am I The Man That’s Blue All Over!(pause)This Museum is my way of saying to folks,This is perhaps bigger than you think.I think the world is full of wonderful things, dandelion.Everywhere I look it seems there’s something wonderful.(pause)But this – This!I am just tickled pink. I thank my lucky stars.I wanted to show you first of all. First! Before anyone!Are you ready?(There’s a shipping crate. Fletcher takes a crowbar and pries off the lid. Lifts it. Marie peers inside.)MARIE: What is it?FLETCHER: That is a million dollar featured attraction.Bona fide. Guaranteed. Your jaw will drop. (Marie looks closer. Recoils at the smell.)MARIE: What is it?(In lights: HALF-APE! HALF-MAN! ONE NICKEL AND ONE DIME! THE MISSING LINK!)(End of scene.)

SCENE VIIIOLD MARIE: The next day there was a line around the block.There were reporters. Flash bulbs exploding.It seemed to me like life was starting over.The Missing Link, Uncle called it, was set in a room of its own.The first day it was still in its crate,

The crate tipped up on one end.Blocks of ice were piled around to keep the tem-perature lowEven in the heat of July.And the crowds filed past all dayFrom ten o’clock till eight in the eveningWith just a half hour supper break And a sign that said Be Back Soon.Within a few days, the supper breakWas a thing of the past.Within a few days my Uncle had knocked out a wallAnd added a velvet rope With men posted at either door to keep the crowds movingAnd otherwise beautified the exhibit,Adding an artist’s representation Larger than Life, as he would say, In Oils Depicting the Missing Link fighting the fearsome sabertooth.Thomas and I wandered through The Hall of Mechanical MarvelsNow abandoned by its usual patronsIn favor of rarer delights.With three pennies between usWe disputed which machines’ handles we should pull.(A change: The Hall of Mechanical Marvels. Marie and Thomas.)THOMAS: Mother said if I don’t behaveThe Missing LinkWill come and catch me.MARIE: Thomas, you know the Missing LinkIs a mummified creature that’s been dead thousands of years.Don’t you?THOMAS: But can’t a mummy come out of its tomb And hunt you down if you steal its treasure?MARIE: That’s true, but there is no tomb hereAnd no one’s stolen anyone’s treasure. THOMAS: I suppose.MARIE: Have you stolen anyone’s treasure?Have you?THOMAS: … no…MARIE: So you have nothing to be afraid of.THOMAS: I suppose.(They consider the various machines of the Penny Arcade.)MARIE: I want to play “Love Ends Badly For the Wicked.”THOMAS: I want to play “The Masque of Red Death.”MARIE: I want to play “Overcrowded Tenement Inferno.”THOMAS: Oh, that’s fine with me, I suppose.(Marie puts a penny in the machine and Thomas takes the first turn watching.)MARIE: Last night, when everyone went homeUncle let me sit and watch the Missing LinkFor one quarter hourAll alone!By myself!I am memorizing its features.THOMAS: That sounds scary.MARIE: My turn.

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(Marie looks into the viewpiece of the arcade machine and gasps with delight at what she sees. She steals a glance at Thomas.)MARIE: Are you still thinking about stolen treasure?Are you?THOMAS: … yes…(A change:)OLD MARIE: I thought, well that settles it.There’s no going back to school now!And what? Study history? This is history!I imagined from now on I’d live at the SideshowNaturally start to learn the tradeHow one goes about traipsing around the globeAnd netting these rare and dangerous creaturesAnd bringing them back to put on display.And father of course he would visitAs he would want to see these beastsAs much as you or I.And he would be ever so proud.(A change: Reprise:)FLETCHER: Step inside!MARIE: Step inside!FLETCHER: Right this way!MARIE: Step inside!FLETCHER: All for the price of one dime –MARIE: – and one nickel.(A change:)OLD MARIE: And this will be my life. From this day forward.And quite a good one. I imagined.(End of scene.)

SCENE IX(The Fortune Teller’s booth. Marie rushes in.)MARIE: Tell me my future.(The Fortune Teller smokes a cigarette and regards her critically. It’s possible that the Fortune Teller has had a few drinks. Or more than a few.)FORTUNE TELLER: I told your future yesterday.How much future can one girl have?(Marie holds out her hand. The Fortune Teller relents and reads her palm.)FORTUNE TELLER: Oh!MARIE: What?FORTUNE TELLER: Oh!MARIE: What do you see?FORTUNE TELLER: Great things… and ter-rible things…Happiness… and misfortune…Laughter… and sorrow…Birth… and death…Love… and fear…All things wait for you in your future.(This is a brush off. But Marie doesn’t get the hint. Marie is amazed. And troubled.)MARIE: What terrible things?What misfortune?And... death?FORTUNE TELLER: All things die, liebling.(Dropping the pretense, the Fortune Teller produces the bottle from under the table and drinks.)MARIE: I don’t believe you.That doesn’t make any sense.Everything is going so well.

FORTUNE TELLER: For who?MARIE: For who?FORTUNE TELLER: For who? MARIE: Everyone. For everyone.Have you seen them standing in line?They – They –All of them pay a nickel and a dimeTo see the Missing Link.And they’re amazed!FORTUNE TELLER: Perhaps the crystal ball lies…MARIE:That doesn’t make any sense.Why should there be misfortune?FORTUNE TELLER: (a wicked grin) Perhaps you are cursed.(In lights: PERHAPS YOU ARE CURSED. Marie gasps.)FORTUNE TELLER: Perhaps. Perhaps no. Who can say?MARIE: Why would I be cursed?FORTUNE TELLER: Ask yourself this:Have bad things already started to happen?MARIE: What bad things?(The Fortune Teller gestures. Marie holds out her hand. The Fortune Teller reads her palm. Recoils in fear.)FORTUNE TELLER: Ach!MARIE: What?FORTUNE TELLER: Go! You must go! Go now!MARIE: What do you see?FORTUNE TELLER: If you do not believe in bad luck...Ask the beautiful Mermaid.(End of scene.)

SCENE XOLD MARIE: These things I remember of Dr. Varanasi’s Sideshow:I remember the tin ceiling of the lobbyAnd the chandelier converted from gaslight to electric.And dancing down the floors in my bare feetThrough the pools of dirty water after mopping.I remember the ticket taker licking her thumb To peel off tickets. And I remember the seventeen stepsCovered in metal that led to the Mermaid’s Cave.I’d stand at the bottom and throw an Indian rub-ber ball And have it come back at me. I rememberPressing my face against the giant eye Of the underwater window to her worldHow the glass was worn a funny sort of smoothFrom so many hands wanting to touch.And this day when I came down the seventeen stepsTo the Mermaid’s Cave there was no one there.No one pressed against the glass.No Mermaid swimming behind it. It was a cement floor –Especially Reinforced to Support the WeightOf One Thousand Tons of Water, my Uncle would say –And I sat down on the cement floor… and waited.(Marie sits and waits. The light, as through water, washes over her.)

(A change: It’s dark now. Marie has fallen asleep. She wakes to see the Mermaid peering at her, from the other side of the glass. Stillness. The Mermaid, smiling, turns and disappears. Then she reappears, further away, sitting on the familiar reef.)MARIE: Where has everyone gone?Doesn’t anyone come to visit you now?Are you alone all day?But you’re a queen of the ocean!How long does it take for someone to notice something?And what if something happens and no one no-tices ever?(The Mermaid flips her tail. In lights: 1ST MIS-FORTUNE.)MARIE: It must be true, what the gypsy woman saidBad things have begun to happen andNo one even noticed till now!(The Mermaid’s voice crackles through a loud-speaker that Marie has never seen before. Her voice sounds full of bubbles and very far under-water.)THE MERMAID: You mustn’t be so serious, darling.MARIE: What?THE MERMAID: For the love of God, you’re only twelve years old!(End of scene.)

SCENE XI(Marie sits in a tree outside of Thomas’s bedroom window. She raps on the glass.)MARIE: (sotto voce) Thomas!THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) What?MARIE: (sotto voce) Come to the window.THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) I can’t.MARIE: (sotto voce) She spoke to me.THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) Who?MARIE: (sotto voce) Open the window!THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) I’m in bed.MARIE: (sotto voce) I didn’t know she could speak.THOMAS: (off; sotto voce) Mother saysMARIE: (sotto voce) I know your mother says Not to get out of bedShe told me so herselfWhen I knocked on your front doorNow open the window.(Thomas comes to the window in pajamas, looking just slightly more sickly than usual.)THOMAS: I don’t feel good.MARIE: Have you a fever?THOMAS: I don’t think so.MARIE: The Mermaid spoke to me.THOMAS: Oh dear. What did she say?MARIE: She said that there’s a curseAnd bad things are going to happen.THOMAS: Oh dear. What bad things now?MARIE: Like misfortune And sorrowAnd death.THOMAS: That’s true. Those do happen.MARIE: You look terrible.THOMAS: Maybe it’s part of the curse.

THE MISSING LINK by Robert Plowman

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 29

(Marie gasps. It makes a terrible sort of sense. In lights: 2ND MISFORTUNE.)MARIE: Go back to bed. Hurry on back to bed, Thomas.You need to rest and get better right away.THOMAS: Mother says –MARIE: I know what your mother says. You need to rest and get better right away.THOMAS: I don’t feel good, Marie.(A change: The Fortune Teller’s tent. Marie and the Fortune Teller.)MARIE: The rhinoceros horn!FORTUNE TELLER: Its healing powers might help your friendBut who will help the Mermaid?MARIE: The Monkey’s Paw!FORTUNE TELLER: It grants only three wishesAnd when the wishes come true You wish they hadn’t.If you want to lift the curseYou know what you need to do.Can’t you feel the bad luck spreading?Like a disease that you carry.Think it over as long as you likeAnd we’ll see what other misfortunesBefall you In the meantime.(End of scene.)

SCENE XIIOLD MARIE: I went to bed without supper that nightFeeling a terrible premonitionOf things to come.I awoke without a sense of where I was.The room looked strangeI thought, you’re only dreaming,But I wasn’t. Again, for the second timeI awoke to an argument in a far-off room.My Uncle, whose voice’s natural volume wasA roar, who never said an unkind word to anyoneNot in my presence: It was his voiceI was sure of it, saying Words I had never heard beforeThough I felt confident I understood their mean-ing –(The bedroom. That night. Marie overhears: The Argument. Indecipherable. But seething with the possibility of dangerous, grown-up knowledge. A siren song to her:)THE MALE VOICE: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::THE FEMALE VOICE: ###################THE MALE VOICE: ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::THE FEMALE VOICE: ###################OLD MARIE: – and then a cry and a thump and things falling,A crash, something breaking, a woman crying,I cracked open the door to try and see.(Two shadows, enormous, on the wall. The man holding the woman up, speaking in soothing tones.)THE MALE VOICE: … just for a little while…THE FEMALE VOICE: … please, please…THE MALE VOICE: … no, no, just for a little while…THE FEMALE VOICE: … please…

THE MALE VOICE: … it’s only for a little while…THE FEMALE VOICE: … please…THE MALE VOICE: … the Mermaid’ll go awayAnd later on, you’ll see, she’ll return.Just for a spell…OLD MARIE: I closed the door to make the shadows stop.(A change: The passage of time. The world has become peculiar.)OLD MARIE: Like seeing a ship far off in the harborAnd having no way to gauge its sizeI felt this premonition And couldn’t measure it –No reference point! –Until it was so closeI could seeIt was not simply “large”It was a monsterThe size of everythingJaws openSet to swallow me.(pause)I lay there saying, Help… help… help me…But I was hardly making a sound.(pause)I went to the door.(When Marie opens the door: the shadows on the wall are locked in a dance-like tangle. Dangerous and sexual. He growls; she throws back her head and laughs. Marie closes the door and the shadows disappear.)OLD MARIE: I lay in my bedAnd realized a number of things all at once:(In lights: THERE’S BLOOD BETWEEN MY LEGS. I’M DYING. 3RD MISFORTUNE.)(End of scene.)

SCENE XIIIOLD MARIE: I rememberWhen my mother was aliveI would say,I rememberWhen I was only eighteen monthsAnd you would bathe me in the sinkAnd I remember watching Sparrows in the yardOut the windowAnd laughing.And mother would sayOf course notNo one remembers thatNot at that age.You’re remembering me telling you.Oh no, I’d say, I remember. I do.And she would insist andI would insist, and who’s to say?All these things I say I said When I was twelveAnd these memories of things said to meAre more distinct than what I did this morning.I feel no distance between the desire of that girlTo know why her father was unhappy

And myself. The question haunts me in the same wayNot as regret for something done or never done butIn the burning need for something happening now.And as a child, yes, I never asked my UncleWell, who was this woman in his life? –For it was no mystery. Do you see?What if I were to ask him now?(Fletcher comes on.)MARIE: Well?FLETCHER: Hm. Mm-hm. Yes. Well, it’s peculiar.(Fletcher chuckles. Clears his throat. Shuffles his feet. Pulls out his pockets, like a magician, to show there’s nothing inside. Hums and haws.)FLETCHER: And that’s the long and the short of it.(Fletcher goes.)MARIE: I intend to be as untroubled nowAs I was then For the pieces of this story that I knewIn my twelve-year-old wisdomDid not concern me.Even nowI am the girlLying in her bedWho believes That she is dying. (End of scene.)

SCENE XIV(The bedroom. The terrifying night. Marie tosses between dream and waking nightmare. Lit by moonlight through the window. Someone stands over her in the darkness. It is the Fortune Teller.)FORTUNE TELLER: Have bad things already begun to happen All around you?And what further misfortunes await you In your future?Once one bad thing happens One bad thing leads to anotherAnd another and anotherUntil all the world is Filled with misfortune.I want to play “The Unluckiest Girl Alive.” (As though she put a coin in an arcade machine, a huge diorama springs to life behind the Fortune Teller.)(In the diorama: A smiling girl eats a lollipop. The dog beside her catches on fire. The firemen who arrive catch on fire. The buildings catch on fire. People fall out of the sky, screaming. Giant spiders cover the face of the earth.)FORTUNE TELLER: If you want to make the bad things stop, liebling,You know what must be done.(The Fortune Teller disappears.)MARIE: Wait. Am I dying?(Now, the Mermaid appears before her. The Mer-maid’s words still sound as though she is speaking underwater.)THE MERMAID: Oh darling! Yes! You are dying!Don’t be sad! We’ll meet againOn the bottom of the sea.

30 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

And we’ll ride on the backs of giant turtles.And dress in kelp and coral.You’ll be there with all the royaltyAnd your mother too!I want to play “The Laughing Princess.” (Another mechanical diorama: Amid the fish, swim a school of princesses. They all dance on the bot-tom of the ocean and are happy. Until the Kraken comes and eats everyone.)THE MERMAID: I don’t want to go.I’ll miss you, my darling.(The Mermaid disappears.)MARIE: I’m dying.Everyone’s dying.Everyone, everywhere.(Now, Helene appears before her.)HELENE: Don’t be foolish, no one’s dying.We’ll get you fresh sheetsAnd I’ll take good care of you.You’re only becoming a woman.(In lights: THE CROWNING MISFORTUNE.)(End of scene.)

SCENE XV(The next morning. Marie is not happy about the world. Fletcher is shaving with the straight razor, his face lathered with shaving cream.)FLETCHER: Queen Marie!Good morning!How are you?Don’t answer!No details!I feel bad, girl!Happy for you!But terrible!And I’m no help, you know that!I’m just what I am, and not much at that!Useless.And children?And girls?No, thank you!But you’ve never been a girl to me.And you’re no more a child than I am!Or less. Let’s be frank!And now, you’re no child now, no sir.You’re a woman. By gum!It’s a great thing!No details!Couldn’t be more sorry!Useless.Congratulations.Now we’ve had our talk and Never need to speak of it again.Shake?(Somewhere in this, he’s finished his shaving, washed his face, slapped on aftershave, pulled up his suspenders, and done up his tie. Fletcher and Marie shake hands. A little cool on her part.)FLETCHER: Walk with me to the Museum, dandelion?MARIE: Don’t mind if I do.(Without moving, they arrive at the Museum.)FLETCHER: After you, Queen Marie.Before we open todayWhy don’t you and I inspect

Our prize exhibit, hm?(Without moving, they arrive at the Missing Link exhibit. Fletcher opens the curtain and we see the Missing Link for the first time: It is perhaps four feet tall. Mummified. Looks like an ape. The light-ing for the exhibit conceals as much as it reveals. In lights: BEHOLD. THE MISSING LINK.)FLETCHER: Look at him!Look at the great beast!Can you see him roam the savannah?Hm? In search of prey? Yes?Child of apes! Father to man!Do you know: They parade past this beast Near one thousand every day And many emerge weeping. Men and women both!Scientists are writing me to inspect my claim.I make no claim. None! Just look at him…MARIE: Uncle, where did he come from?FLETCHER: You know this story, silly.MARIE: Remind me, then.FLETCHER: I was contacted.They found it.You see, the sand preserves the creaturePrevents the effects of time from –Decay and so forth –The party didn’t want to be named they –I’ve told this story over and overAnd it’s grown threadbare I’m sorry.In any case, you remember.MARIE: Uncle?FLETCHER: Hm?MARIE: Where is Romania?FLETCHER: Oh it’sYou knowOne of those kingdoms inIs it a country?Perhaps itI know it used to be aOh, the Black Sea andOh, the Carpathian Mountain pass, it’sAs a matter of fact, I’m not entirely –(He trails off. Marie leaves him. Engrossed in the Missing Link, Fletcher doesn’t notice her leave.)(End of scene.)

SCENE XVI(The Fortune Teller’s tent. Marie and the Fortune Teller.)FORTUNE TELLER: You see now?MARIE: I see now.FORTUNE TELLER: You understand.MARIE: I do.FORTUNE TELLER: Misfortune –MARIE: – breeds misfortune.FORTUNE TELLER: And the only way to end it –MARIE: – is to make things the way they were before.FORTUNE TELLER: Yes?MARIE: I’ll make Uncle get rid of – FORTUNE TELLER: No.MARIE: I’ll –FORTUNE TELLER: If you speak a word of this –MARIE: No?

FORTUNE TELLER: If you –MARIE: Then no.FORTUNE TELLER: To him or anyone.MARIE: Then –FORTUNE TELLER: Yes?MARIE: Then… I… will...(Pause.)FORTUNE TELLER: Give me your hand.MARIE: What does it say?FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand says…MARIE: Tell me.FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand…MARIE: What.FORTUNE TELLER: It says you are capable of anything.MARIE: But –FORTUNE TELLER: Of anything at all.MARIE: But –FORTUNE TELLER: That no one can stop you.MARIE: But –FORTUNE TELLER: That everything you want is yours.MARIE: It is?FORTUNE TELLER: Do it at night.MARIE: At night?FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand says.MARIE: What else?FORTUNE TELLER: Your hand saysMARIE: What –FORTUNE TELLER: It says, all the misfortune will end.MARIE: Will end.FORTUNE TELLER: Yes.MARIE: All of it.FORTUNE TELLER: Yes. Provided you tell no one.(FORTUNE TELLER takes out a leather pouch and unfurls it on the table: A hammer. A chisel. A saw.)FORTUNE TELLER: You see now?MARIE: I see now.FORTUNE TELLER: You understand.MARIE: All the misfortune will end.(In lights: ALL THE MISFORTUNE WILL END. Marie takes the tools.)FORTUNE TELLER: And do it at night.(Blackout. Only the sign remains.)(End of Act One.)

Read Act Two of The Missing Link

on the SETC website at www.setc.org/

the-missing-link

THE MISSING LINK by Robert Plowman

Fall 2014 x Southern Theatre x 31

The Prop Building Guidebook:For Theatre, Film, and TV

by Eric Hart

2013, Focal Press, www.focalpress.comISBN: 9780240821382Pages: 384. Price: $39.99 (hardback)

Words, words, words … [Hamlet II,ii] reviews books on theatre that have a connection to the Southeast or may be of special interest to SETC members. Scott Phillips, associate professor and chair of the Auburn University Department of Theatre, edits this regular column. If you have a book for review, please send to: SETC, Book Editor, 1175 Revolution Mill Drive, Studio 14, Greensboro, NC 27405.

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS . . . Editor: Scott Phillips

b y E r i n F r e e m a n

Erin Freeman is the technical director for the performing arts at UNC-Charlotte and a lecturer in technical produc-tion. She is also the properties master for the Ohio Light Opera.

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I have been enjoying Eric Hart’s blog on properties construction – with its easy

conversational style, historical anecdotes and factoids – since stumbling across it in

late 2009. His new book, The Prop Building Guidebook: For Theatre, Film, and TV, is just as useful and readable. It presents a clear and concise methodology for planning and constructing static properties, illustrated throughout by full-color photos. Starting with a succinct tour through the various types of properties we work with in the industry, Hart then delves into the methodology he uses in constructing properties. He wisely limits the scope of this volume while still providing a wealth of detail and examples from his and other professionals’ work. Appropriate for students and seasoned artisans alike, this

book brings together years of prop building techniques and research and presents it all in an approachable, user-friendly format. Hart focuses on the sometimes forgotten logic of all properties construction – What is it? What does it do? What doesn’t it do? – while also examining the pros and cons of commonly used methods and materials. By focusing on how we build static objects using common materials – instead of trying to write an exhaustive volume of specialty techniques, trick rigs, pneumatics, electrics and exotic props – Hart has generated an excellent primer text for students and amateurs just getting into the field. However, the book also is valuable as a reference text as one progresses in skill level, shifts to construction for film or TV, or just needs a refresher on how something might be planned and built. In addition to discussing construction and materials, Hart also covers the process of budgeting time and materials for a project – skills that are less tangible, especially when first starting out. He uses a conversational approach that takes into account more than just budget numbers and hours on the clock. Two additional chapters geared to students and young professionals – on portfolio development and formal training – are posted on the Guidebook’s website (www.propbuildingguidebook.com). As a professional props master and a university instructor, I have found this book to be both a wonderful addition to my reference library and an invaluable teaching tool. n

32 x Southern Theatre x Fall 2014

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