LAUGHING AT THE DEVIL: THE HUMOR
OF RED NOSES BY PETER BARNES
by PAULA JOSIE RODRIGUEZ, B.F.A.
A THESIS
IN
THEATRE ARTS
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS
Approved
December, 1998 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are several people I would like to thank for their motivation and assistance throughout my graduate career at Texas Tech University. I wish to thank my thesis chairperson. Dr. Jonathan Marks for his encouragement, faith, and guidance through the entire writing process. I would also like to thank Professor
Christopher Markle for his stimulating insights and criticism throughout the production of Red Noses. Special recognition goes to Dr. George W. Sorensen for recmiting me to Texas Tech University. This thesis would not have been possible without his patience and unwavering commitment to this project.
I would also like to thank the cast of Red Noses for their infinite creativity and energy to the production. Finally, I am gratefiil to my friend and editor Deirdre
Pattillo for her inmieasurable support, motivation, and assistance in this thesis writing process.
n TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION 1 n. ANALYSIS OF THE THEMES AND APPROACHES IN THE WORK OF PETER BARNES 10
m. PRE-PRODUCTION WORK FOR RED NOSES 26 IV. CREATIVE PROCESS AND PRESENTATION 39 V CONCLUSION 60 BIBLIOGRAPHY 68
m CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
During World War n, as Allied forces battled fascism and the annihilation of six million Jews had begun, a joke circulated among European Jews:
Two Jews had a plan to assassinate Hitler. They learned that he drove by a certain comer at noon each day, and they waited for him there with their guns well hidden. At exactly noon they were ready to shoot, but there was no sign of Hitler. Five minutes later, nothing. Another five minutes went by, but no sign of Hitler. By 12:15 they had started to give up hope. 'My goodness,' said one of the men, 'I hope nothing's happened to him!' ^
Hiunor about serious subjects, also known as black or gallows humor, has been bom of atrocities throughout history. Laughter at a somber subject, such as the
Holocaust, or, in more contemporary situations, racism and crime, seems taboo- even disrespectful. How can a person react to a tragic event with laughter? When choosing to direct the play Red Noses by British playwright Peter Barnes, I challenged myself, the creative team of designers, and the actors to incite the audience to laughter despite the grim nature of the play's milieu: the suffering and death of millions due to the Black Plague.
After the decision by the faculty to produce this play, my primary obstacle to overcome was my own doubt as to how the conservative audiences of Lubbock,
' Steve Lipman, Laughter in Hell: The Use of Humor during the Holocaust (Northvale: Aronson Inc. 1991) 16.
1 Texas would react to a play that so blatantly portrays Christian leaders as irreverent and inhumane in a time of great despair. Much of the humor was rooted within the sufferers of the plague, for whom no cure was available. In the 14* century, when the play is set, little could be done to subdue the devastating force of the disease. Painful yet inventive remedies were created as futile attempts to deter the disease.
Tragically, millions died stigmatized, neglected, and alone; fully one-third of the
European population died as a result of the plague. Barnes stretches the bounds of comedy, alternating between bathroom humor and political/religious satire. I feared that audiences would react with discomfort to Barnes's style, distancing themselves from the subject matter, for fear of appearing unsympathetic. This thesis production of Red Noses at Texas Tech University attempted to introduce Lubbock audiences to the works of Peter Barnes by involving them in a production that focused on the humor in the text combined with empathy for the subject matter.
Throughout the play Barnes attacks the audience with political diatribe, yet I chose to soften the rhetoric by focusing on the main storyline: a group of misfits uniting to bring laughter and hope to the dying. My directorial approach parallels
Barnes's writing style. I wanted the audience to watch, laugh, react, and learn without feeling preached to. This is not to say that I didn't want the audience to feel discomfort at times; rather, they should immerse themselves in the world of the play through the actions of the characters, wholly, without feeling threatened. For many years. Red Noses had been suggested to me by fiiends and colleagues as something I should do. I have always had a penchant for plays containing dark humor. In fact, I have directed two other plays that fall in the "dark comedy" category: The Marriage of Bette and Boo by Christopher Durang and
Marvin's Room by Scott McPherson. Both plays involve unpleasant topics: death, alcoholism, loss of religious faith, family conflicts. However, in choosing Red
Noses. I realized the need to challenge myself both personally and as an artist. I questioned my beliefs as a Roman Catholic. Could I direct a play that portrays the
Pope as a howling, power-hungry lunatic? A nun talking graphically about sex?
Through research I discovered that Bames's plays are deeply grounded in historical facts.
In researching the plays by Peter Bames, I was overcome by his ability to make creative interpretations of historical events while remaining historically accurate. In The Ruling Class he scathingly attacks the British government, the Tory
Party, and England's class system. In Laughter! Bames parallels the savageries of
Ivan the Terrible with World War II concentration camps. The epilogue of its Act
Two (Auschwitz) prepared me for the style of humor abundant in Red Noses: the pla> ends with two vaudeville-style Jewish comics, described as the Boffo Boys of
Birkenau, as they make their final appearance in the gas chamber:
Bimko: According to the latest statistics, one man dies every time I breathe. Bieberstein: Have you tried toothpaste? Bimko: No, the Dental Officer said my teeth were fine, only the giuns have to come out... They cough and stagger. Bieberstein: I could be wrong, but I think this act is dying. Bimko: The way to beat hydrocyanide gas is by holding your breath for five minutes. It's just a question of mind over matter. They fall to their knees... Bimko: Dear Lord God, you help strangers so why shouldn't you help us? We're the chosen people. Bieberstein: Abe, so what did we have to do to be chosen? Bimko: Do me a favour, don't ask. Whateverit was it wastoomuch... Hymie you were right,thi s act's dead on its feet...
They die in darkness. ^
Impressed by the courage of Bames to write such a horrific yet historical image, I completed reading Laughter! with a sense of hope, rather than the usual shame and anger at the crimes conmiitted. By using historical evidence and characters, Bames is able to give the audience a foundation of reality on which to layer the fictional insanity of his play.
What attracted me most to Red Noses was not the creative use of history, but the use of theatre in presenting the subject matter. I believed the play contained endless theatrical possibilities, both visually and emotionally. On a personal level, I was inspired by Bames's humanity and his plea for change within ourselves as a human race.
In the ensuing chapters, I will discuss the use of laughter as a means of dealing with pain, suffering, and loss. Bames effectively uses comedy to combat the
^ Peter Bames, Peter Bames: Collected Plavs (London: Heinemann 1981) 410-411. cmel inhumanities that have existed through the centuries. In Red Noses, many of the characters use theatre as an instrument to instill joy and htimanity. The Floties
(the followers of Father Flote), in particular, represent a group of misfits desperately trying to fit into a society that does not want them for reasons of physical appearance, class, intellect, etc. Characters such as Brodin, a soldier without a war; LeGme, a blind man; and Frapper, a stutterer, seek refiige with the Floties and find salvation by turning their disabilities into theatre. I never lacked motivation or belief in the
material I was going to work with, yet the Floties were my greatest draw to the script;
they persuaded me to select the play for production consideration.
My final inducement for choosing this play for production lies within the
similarities between the disease known as the Black Plague in 1348 and the
beginning of the AIDS epidemic in America. The handling of the plague victims
(primarily being ostracized by Church and family) reminded me of the hysterical
behavior toward HIV and ADDS sufferers during the 1980s. Although the world had
precious little information regarding the vims, so that ignorance of the subject was
understandable, this fact does not excuse the lack of compassion exhibited toward
people suffering debilitating illnesses ending in horrific deaths. While Bames wrote
Red Noses in 1978, prior to the AIDS epidemic, the similarities of the treatment of the victims remains uncanny; he recognizes this similarity as he states: "For if Red
Noses was written today - 1985 - it would be much less optimistic. The world has moved on in seven years, and not toward the light. Men and women can still be overcome by a sudden wave of compassion for the poor and sick but they quickly get over it. .. ."^
Emotionally, it affected me that as a human race, we fail to leam from history. Perhaps this is Bames's message to his audience: to remind us of prejudice and fear. Within the last five years the AIDS epidemic has entered into my life. Two of my childhood teachers have fallen to the disease. I continue to watch the effects of the disease on my friends. I felt that the play needed to be performed to remind others and myself about the need for understanding. 1 never wanted to create a production about AIDS; there are many excellent plays on the subject. Rather, I wanted the audience somehow to draw their own parallels, with a little push fi-om the director.
I submitted other plays that, in retrospect, seem more practical in terms of size and budget. However, I feel fortunate that the faculty chose this play, despite the challenges that presented themselves through the course of the production.
It would be difficult to discuss my approaches to directing this piece without briefly mentioning what the challenges would be. I mentioned earlier that one of the obstacles included Bames's grim subject matter and his use of gallows humor; however, more important were the logistical problems this production would entail.
Red Noses contains thirty-three characters (not including the minor ensemble roles).
Peter Bames, Introduction, Red Noses (London: Faber and Faber, 1985). My primary hurdle was to adjust the casting to include doubling, and even tripling, roles for nearly every actor. How does the less experienced actor convincingly portray more than one character? My approach to that problem was to incorporate a broad acting style, matching the extravagant style of Bames's script. Characters in the play are exaggerated, including a Pope who howls and an Archbishop who crows.
Challenging actors to strive for broad physical characterization, even to the point of the grotesque, would be difficult. However, the process of making the multiple characters distinct proved to be exciting to the actors as well as to the director.
After casting twenty-four actors, my second challenge concemed the theatre space I was going to work in. Staging this mammoth story with such a large cast in the intimate University Lab Theatre would force me to be resourceful, creative. The process used would be loosely inspired by the philosophies of composition foimd in the "Viewpoints" of Aime Bogart.
During my course of study at Texas Tech University, the introduction to the works of Anne Bogart had been one of my most valued experiences. Bogart's philosophy of movement revolutionized my own methodology of staging. Director
Tina Landau describes Bogart's method of "Composition":
Composition is the practice of selecting and arranging the separate components of theatrical language into a cohesive work of art for the stage. It is the same technique that any choreographer, painter, writer, composer, or fihnmaker uses in their corresponding disciplines.''
I came to the realization that I wanted the audience to view the play as a motion picture. Contemporary audiences seem to be much more visually oriented as a result of cinema and television. I did not want to emulate cinema, by any means; rather, I wanted to provide the audience with a variety of images that would somehow trigger emotions inside. Articulating the story of Red Noses would, I feared, be particularly difficult considering the verbal style of Peter Bames; his vocabulary and particularly British political humor would be very foreign to West Texas audiences.
Through effective and communicative staging, the audience needed to be able to follow the story whether they listened or not.
By using the aforementioned techniques and approaches, this thesis production was intended to engage rather than provoke the theatre audience. Beside the challenges previously addressed, I woiidered: How else do I keep the audience from being bored in a production that would exceed three hours in length? By reminding myself that Bames has written first and foremost a vehicle for laughter, I aspired to push the boundaries of dark comedy through performances filled with stirring visual images combined with honest acting. Peter Bames takes risks with his writing and encourages risk-taking in his productions and his audience. Bames
* Michael Bigelow Dixon and Joel A. Smith, eds., Aimc Bogart: Viewpoints (Lyme: Smith and Krause, 1995) 26.
8 describes his own plays as: "... extremely theatrical. They have huge passions, and extremes of emotion... everything is pushed to extremes of pain and cmelty, which is the very source of both the comic and the tragic."^ My mission remained to direct this production of Red Noses in an unpretentious manner.
If it was to be successful, an audience would examine why they laughed at the morbid misfortune of others, only to discover that it is their only physical release.
This style of comedy is not exclusively Bamesian. The audience may not think of
AIDS as an epidemic like the Black Plague, yet everyone has some personal sense of tragedy. In fact, we take for granted that this brand of humor prevails on television comedies: in "Hogan's Heroes" and "Roseanne," and in the classic stand-up routines of Leimy Bmce and Richard Pryor; but can the audience be expected to laugh at the death of millions of people? One Holocaust siu^^ivor, Terrence Des Pres, writes: "Is laughter possible in a literary treatment of the Holocaust?.... Yes, laughter is permitted .... Since the time of Hippocrates, laughter's medicinal power has been recognized, and most of us would agree that humor heals... ."^
The audience of this production of Red Noses were as helpless as the sufferers on stage; therefore they could only laugh with them in order to ease their pain.
^ Bemard F. Dukore, The Theatre of Peter Bames (London: Heinemann, 1981) 139.
6 LipmanT ,• , 7. CHAPTER n
ANALYSIS OF THE THEMES AND APPROACHES
IN THE WORK OF PETER BARNES
Peter Bames was bom in London on January 10, 1931. Bames's Jewish family evacuated London during Worid War n for fear of religious intolerance. This event may have precipitated the reciurent themes of religion and persecution which are foimd in the majority of Bames's plays.
Bames, a high-school dropout, began his career in entertainment as a film critic for the British journal Films and Filming, and quickly advanced to become a film editor for Warwick Films Ltd. Bames is primarily known in Britain as a writer for television, cinema, and radio. Some of his better known television/film works include The Professionals (1960); The Ruling Class with Peter OToole (1972); and more recently. Enchanted April with Joan Plowright (1991). In addition to his numerous teleplays and screenplays, Bames has written many radio plays for British radio. He has achieved popular and critical success vWth the collection of short plays, or 'duo-logues', known as Bames People. I-III.
His earliest plays were first produced in the United States. The Time of
Barracudas, produced in San Francisco in 1963, included performances by Laurence
Harvey and Elaine Stritch. In 1965 Bames had begun to experiment with parody and history with the one-act play Sclerosis, an attack on British colonialism surroimding
10 Cyprus's stmggle for freedom during the 1950s. This production received modest critical success but never ran in London, due to stage censorship. With British theatre audiences, Peter Barnes has never received the popular and financial success of some of his post-World War II contemporaries, such as Joan Littlewood and John
Osborne. In the United States he remains even lesser known. His plays have never been produced on Broadway, and have achieved only limited exposure in regional theatre.
His achieved his first critical and financial success with his second major work. The Ruling Class, a darkly satiric look at Britain's aristocracy, first produced at the Nottingham Playhouse on November 6,1968. The play's title refers to the British aristocrats who mle the House of Lords, and thus society. Bames describes his motivation for writing The Ruling Class: "I cared about the abuses and vices I was attacking. So much so that I was fiill of hate for them ... I was taking the mling classes as a symbol of what I was really attacking, which was something deeper than just blood sports."^
The inciting action occurs when the Thirteenth Earl of Gumey accidentally hangs himself attired in a tutu. His only heir is Jack, his institutionalized son, who believes himself to be God. A variety of incidents occur involving greed and the stmggle for power among the British aristocracy. The play climaxes in Act 11, in one
^ Malcolm Page, International Dictionarv of Theatre and Plays. Vol. 1 (Chicago: St. James Press, 1992) 63.
11 of Bames's more effective stage images: a scene where the House of Lords is
depicted as a collection of cobwebbed corpses; the stage directions read: "... two tiers of mouldering dummies dressed as Lords and covered with cobwebs are pushed on either side. Smothered in age-old dust, three goitered LORDS with bloated
stomachs and skull-like faces crawl on stage .. ."* (A, xi).
By the end of the play. Jack is transformed into an exemplary earl: one of the mling class. While Jack has ceased to believe he is God, he now believes he is Jack the Ripper and begins to murder savagely. The penetrating images of God, the aristocracy, and murder reflect Bames's commentary on Britain's mling class, "whose freedom, insanity and power leads to decadence."^ Bames never hides his political opinions; in fact he chooses to illuminate them through theatrical means. None of
Bames's other theatrical work has matched the critical and financialsucces s of The
Ruling Class. Theatre critic Harold Hobson describes the firstperformanc e of the play:
... the play stmck me like a revelation. Pmdently I had expected nothing, and overwhelmingly I was given all: wit, pathos, exciting melodrama, brilliant satire, double-edged philosophy, horror, cynicism and sentiment, all
Peter Bames, Collected Plays (London: Heinemann, 1981) 117.
^ Philip Bames, A Companion to Post-War British Theatre (Totonia: Bames and Noble, 1986)26.
12 combined in perfect unity in the theatrical worid of Mr. Bames's extraordinary and idiosyncratic creation.'°
One characteristic of British theatre is the radical nature of its playwrights, from Shakespeare and Ben Jonson to the more contemporary Bames and Caryl
Churchill. Bames's plays are riddled with political speeches. He refuses to allow his audience to be complacent, to view his theatre as passive entertainment. In that respect, Bames considers the Jacobean playwright Ben Jonson the greatest influence in his writing.
After the success of The Ruling Class. Bames turned his talents to adapting several of Jonson's plays, including The Devil Is an Ass. Bames pays tribute to
Jonson by writing comical, political plays, and using "high theatricality." Bames writes:
I find Jonson close and sympathetic for his voracious appetite for words, his ability to create monsters, his moral conscience and the distinct discipline of his intelligence. He pays the audience the compliment of expecting them to use their brains; he has something to say and they must pay attention. I admire his lack of sentiment, the polished surface.... I love the bmtality. He was never crippled by ghastly good taste. The one-word motto over our writing desks is "More'. Jonson makes me laugh, which helps. ^'
Critics often compare Bames's works to those of Ben Jonson. Bemard F. Dukore writes:
*° Harold Hobson, Introduction, Collected Plavs. by Peter Bames (London: Heinemann, 1981)3.
'^ Bemard F. Dukore, The Theatre of Peter Bames (London: Heinemann, 1981) 140.
13 Substitute Bames for Jonson and the tribute fits. The appetite for language, the creation of monsters, the moral conscience, the intelligence, the demand that the audience use their intelligence, the unsentimentality, the large and bold designs...'^
It is no surprise that Peter Bames defies Realism in his work. It contains challenging images for any design team or director. One particularly horrific and emotionally stirring scene occurs in his play Laughter!. The setting transforms from a Nazi departmental office to a gmesome image of a gas chamber: '\.. Up Stage
Center, a vast moimd of filthy, wet straw dummies; vapour, the remains, of the gas, still hangs about them. They spill forward to show all are painted light blue, have no faces, and numbers tattooed on their left arms. "'^
In Red Noses. Bames calls for lightning-fast scene changes that shift among a variety of locations in Auxerre. Settings range fromth e town square with golden butterflies hovering above to a murky, indeterminate swamp to the glorious papal palace of Avignon. Bames believes in pushing theatrical convention to its extreme, intellectually and emotionally: "... everything is pushed to extremes of pain and cmelty, which is the very source of both the comic and the tragic."^'*
Broad theatrical images are only one characteristic of Bames's work. Set against a historical event, Bames's passionate writing attempts to educate its
^' Dukore, 140.
^^ Peter Bames, Laughter! (London: Heinemann, 1978) 63.
'^ Dukore, 139.
14 audience, as its characters combat indifference, hypocrisy, and prejudice. In
Auschwitz he describes the necessity for remembering history by speaking through one of the characters. The Nazi Cranach declares: "Actions are based solely on past actions, precedents ... it is therefore essential we keep accurate records. That is why everything has to be written down They tell us what's been done, what we can do, what we have to do and what we are."'^
Bames attempts to connect vydth the audience by using what is familiar to them: major historical occurrences. He juxtaposes present-day dialogue, music, vulgarity, and sociopolitical references as anachronistic devices to bridge the gap between the past and the present. This is apparent through most of his works, including adaptations of such writers as Jonson, Feydeau, and Wedekind. Bames fills
Red Noses with music-hall references: jokes, sketches, songs. In Scene One, Father
Flote attempts to ease the pain of five plague victims. He uses the song "Life Is Just a
Bowl of Cherries." Scene Three finds a dance team, the one-legged Boutros brothers, dancing to the tune of "When You're Smiling."
Peter Bames writes colorful and highly complicated characters, each nuanced with likable and hideous traits. Jack, in The Ruling Class, is sympathetic at first because he appears as an irmocent victim of mental illness. The audience should pity the cmel treatment he receives at the hands of his uncle; however, Bames does not
•^ Bames, Laughter. 28.
15 allow the audience to remain sympathetic when Jack cmcifies himself in a strange comedic moment. Another example of this multifaceted character is his transformation into a worthy member of the mling class while concurrently becoming a murderer. Bames blames Britain's social system for the need to use upper-class characters to embody his political message:
I do not write about ordinary men and women. The variety and enormity of the world and its people and their infinite possibilities make belief in the ordinariness of ordinary people a blasphemy The earth contains multitudes of beings unique in their creative energy for good and evil. So many Trojan Helens called Ada, so many Leonardos called Fred. Genius is not the exception but the mle. But the radiant light lies shuttered by fear, helplessness and the wicked triviality of day to day living. It is plain we have always needed another, better, social system to let it all shine out. ^^
Bames has, in fact, chosen to write about the common man in Red Noses.
This is the story of a man, Flote, who seeks both salvation from the plague and spiritual guidance/direction in a time of chaos. Through Flote's prayers, the audience discovers that Flote has indeed suffered. Flote finds salvation by becoming a monk after losing his wife and children to the plague. However, in a world that blames God for the plague, he discovers that there is very little love left in the world. His greatest challenge would be to provide the suffering millions with a distraction, some dignity, and hope. Flote's only weapon to combat misery is laughter. By recmiting several characters into his service, including two blood-thirsty soldiers, a wanton mm, a mute
'^ Peter Bames, Introduction, Bames People HI (London: Faber and Faber, 1986).
16 covered with bells, a spying priest, and five mentally or physically challenged misfits, he creates a "brotherhood of joy," known as the Floties.
The play contains a number of adversaries who try to thwart the efforts of the
Floties. Archbishop Monselet and Father Toulon fear that the Floties will sway the public from the practiced example of fearing God and suffering for redemption.
Monselet orders Toulon to become a member of Flote's army to insure that no act of heresy is committed.
The Flagellants provide another thorn in the side of the Floties. Grez, the
Master of the Flagellants, competes v^th the Floties for the public's attention. The
Floties seek God's approval through laughter and joy, whereas the Flagellants seek penance through self-inflicted pain. The Flagellants, along with the corpse-robbing
Black Ravens, seek to destroy the Floties to achieve their own personal goal.
Flote's quest in the first act to mount a production of Everyman similarly follows the stmggle of many theatre practitioners: from raising the public's interest through recmitment and auditions (to become a Flotie); to locating the appropriate performing space (Goldmerchants Square); to financing (by the Pope); to opening night in fronto f skeptical audience of prostitutes, merchants, and grave robbers. At the end of the first act, the Floties are a success at making a cynical, pessimistic crowd happy. In the Floties' production, the character of Everyman defeats Death through a game of dice. Everyman encourages the audience never to submit to
Death. (Death has a double meaning in this production ofEvervman: he is both a
17 character and a symbol for the plague.) By the end of Act I the actors and audience have changed. The audience has been given a bit of hope, and the Floties have found much more than a theatre company; they have also found a home.
In Act n, the play grows darker and more pessimistic when the pestilence ends. The clowns lose Sonnerie, Master Bells, to the plague. Rochfort, the soldier- tumed-Flotie, betrays his fellow clown Brodin, and murders him. The greatest change occurs in the Pope; for fear of losing power, he proclaims the Floties anathema. The public tum against the clowns who had given them such joy in a time of great sorrow. The remaining Floties hold onto their beliefs as they dance through their execution in triumph.
Bames usually includes an epilogue in his plays, and Red Noses is no exception. As snippets of dialogue from the play are repeated, the Floties are reunited on their voyage to meet their Creator. Father Flote has the final line in the play: "God, coimt us in."
The play, originally titled Red Noses/Black Death, was written in 1978 and produced in 1985. In the Introduction, Bames poignantly writes about the fickleness of humankind, which is found throughout the play:
The world has moved on in seven years, and not towards the light. Men and women can still be overcome by a sudden wave of compassion for the poor and sick but they quickly get over it, while the majority, it seems, find something deeply offensive about any transaction in which money does not change hands. Red Noses is a letter from a transfigured world, much like
18 ours, where statues come to life and human beings tum to stone. It's a letter wishing you good thoughts, but chiefly, good feelings. ^^
This play exemplifies Bames's use of satirical comedy to illuminate the audience on the themes of suffering and death, transcending history. He urges the audience to be more compassionate to each other.
Red Noses contains a spirituality that subscribes to no particular sect or denomination, though references to Christian Biblical themes are certainly apparent throughout the play. While Bames does not promote any one religion, he understands that people tum to spirituality in a time of crisis, particularly disease and death. The characters in the play resemble significant people in the Bible and in history: Flote and the Noses represent Jesus and his disciples; Rochfort and the Pope bear remarkable resemblance to Judas, Herod, and even Pontius Pilate. These characters mirror actual clowns, clergy, and laymen of the Middle Ages:
A particularly interesting feature of the Middle Ages are the ecclesiastical fraternities which were founded to combat the fear of death ~ for instance, 'The Company of the Fool' of Aarau [in Switzerland]... on the outbreak of great epidemics they cheered the hearts of the people by public masquerades and processions. '*
Those living in the time of the Plague were certain that the disease was punishment from a wrathful God. Bames uses members of some of the most extreme
'^ Peter Barnes, Red Noses (London: Faber and Faber, 1985) 8.
'^ Johannes Nohl, The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague Compiled from Contemporarv Sources (trans. C.H. Clarke) (New York: Harper and Bros., 1961) 123.
19 religious sects as figures for debate regarding the best method of redemption. The
Flagellants, historically a German-based religious order who believed in penance
through pain, are mocked throughout and convert no one. The constant ridiculeo f
their self-punishment in comparison to the public's adoration of the Floties cause
these religious men to attempt murder. The Flagellants pay the ultimate sacrifice for
their beliefs: execution by fire.
Father Toulon is represented as a dogmatic servant of God. He believes that
God wants obedience and fear from his subjects. While the Catholic Church seeks a
scapegoat, Toulon believes he has found the source of the plague:
Live Jews haven't caused it, dead Jews can't cure it. The plague's but the inflammation of our sins ... doing evil because it is evil... How do you know God is interested in our laughter and joy? ... Perhaps he wants our tears and suffering? Obedience is the firstvo w of religion The link between God and man, man and man, is fear. God wants to be feared not loved.... ^^
This theology totally negates the fundamentals of Christianity and other religions that stress peace, love and compassion. Flote responds:
If that is man, what's the good of saving him? But he is more and God is more. Hecanbemovedbyjoy as well as tears. And the Supreme Judge himself will tum aside from sad pleas and soul-breaking prayers to hear the imfamiliar sound of joy, perhaps he will forget His wrath, hearing his people praise Him in laughter. ^^
*^ Bames, Red Noses. 18-26.
2° Bames, Red Noses. 26.
20 The Pope is traditionally seen as the connection between man and God. The
Pope of the 1990s is seen as a loving, caring, sympathetic person. Bames creates a
14th century Pope drunk with power, joking, tossing out insults, paranoid, fearing that the Floties will overthrow him. Even more heretical is the Pope's monologue, in which he demonstrates his fear and vanity. The Pope shifts mood immediately, but is still never rational or in control. When the plague ends in Act II, the Pope is seen howling and scheming for power.
No character or subject is sacred in this play. The playwright pierces the most solemn moments with his dagger-like wit. One scene begins wdth the upcoming wedding of the prostitutes and the Gold merchants. The marriage is more of a business arrangement than an act of love: a wise transaction for the Gold merchants; a less profitable merger for the prostitutes. Bames never romanticizes these characters; rather, he heightens the theme of capitalism juxtaposed with the holy ritual of marriage. The scene shifts into a darker mode as the wedding is celebrated with the execution of the Ravens and the Flagellants. Once the Flagellants are bumed at the stake, Scarron, the anarchistic leader of the Black Ravens, continues to mock the establishment from the gallows: "I dreamed, dreamed wide of a different world, no will yielding to a superior will.... But I've seen the rich fall, the priests run, the mighty tremble and that's better than Christ's palmy triumph on an ass entering
21 Jemsalem."^' Bames tries to change society for the better. He urges the audience to act up and become revolutionaries, despite the consequences: "Talking of love isn't love. It's the acting of love that's love!"^
Bames retaliates against adversity and fear through the clever use of dialogue, slapstick, tasteless jokes, and music-hall songs. Critic Colin Gibson describes
Bames's methods as follows: "Laughter and mockery is at once his prime means of bringing delight to such dark instmction and another powerful satirical weapon.""
In Act I, scene 1, a dark, foreboding mood is immediately established as the unwanted plague sufferers are cast onto the stage, and the expository dialogue ensues.
Bames uses this scene as the set-up for the punch-line in the following scene, in which we see Father Flote and the Flagellants, each vying for guidance and acceptance through prayers. Flote becomes entangled with the Flagellants during an absurd beating initiation during which they try to recmit him. What begins as an earnest search for divine inspiration soon degenerates into a street brawl. The plague sufferers observe the ludicrous situation and begin to laugh, and the mood of the play immediately changes. Flote, in a moment of spiritual discovery, announces: "God wants peacocks, not ravens, bright stars, not sad comets, red noses, not black death.
^' Bames, Red Noses. 94.
22 Bames, Red Noses. 100.
2^ Colin Gibson, International Dictionary. Vol 2: Playwrights (Detroit: St. James) 64.
22 He wants joy."^'* In this moment, Bames establishes the course of action of the play.
To Flote, God's only objectives are love, laughter, and joy, not pain and suffering. By amusing the plague victims, he can bring courage and peace at the moment of death.
It is in the scene where Flote attempts for the first time to entertain the dying that the play becomes darkly satirical. Father Flote tells several tasteless jokes, including one to a dying woman. Madam Bonville: "Did you hear about old Dubois?
He told the marriage broker he wouldn't marry the girl without a sample of her sexual powers. 'No samples,' said the giri, "but references he can have'.. ."^^ After one dose of laughter, the woman dies peacefully in his arms. The death is made more poignant by the dead woman's dying husband, Bonville, as he thanks Flote: "My thanks. Father
Flote, it's easy finding someone to share your life, but who'll share your death?"^^
The man then tenderiy dies in Flote's presence. Peter Bames deftly creates a moment that could be maudlin, but instead changes gears immediately, with the prompt entrance of the corpse-bearers. The audience is not allowed even a moment to grieve for these characters, though they've just begun to care for them.
Another moment of dark comedy occurs later in the first act, during the attempted rape of a nun. Sister Marguerite. The rapists taunt and insult the woman
2'* Bames, Red Noses. 13.
2^ Bames, Red Noses. 15.
2^ Bames, Red Noses. 15.
23 and, in a comical twist, begin to fight to the death among themselves over who gets to rape her first. Rather than focusing on the horrors of rape, Bames shifts the bmtality to comedy; the nun protests to the rapists that she never got raped. Bames attacks the sanctity of the chaste nun by presenting a nun who is lusty and violent at the same time.
The first act is filled with uncomfortable yet laughable moments. During the audition scene, Bames brilliantly creates moments which invite the audience to laugh at the handicaps of others. These characters are simultaneously funny and tragic. In a time of plague, these characters are homeless, poor, and hungry, seeking refuge by joining the circus. Bames never fully lets the audience off the hook, forcing them to take note of their ovm behavior. The playwright describes this style of theatre: "The aim is to create ... a comic theatre of contrasting moods and opposites, where everything is simultaneously tragic and ridiculous. And we hope never to consent to the deadly servitude of naturalism, or lose our hunger for tme size, weight and texture."^^
I believe that the playwright asks the audience for compassion for more than a few hours at a time. It is not enough to empathize with the sufferers of any malady:
Bubonic plague, AIDS, poverty, discrimination. Through the use of comedy, Bames asks all of us to make a change for the betterment of all mankind.
2^ Gibson, 64.
24 In the world of the play, life must be furmy if you are going to survive with
your humanity and spirit intact. Peter Bames uses war, famine, and pestilence as
tests of the human spirit and compassion. Similarly, George Meredith in "An Essay
on Comedy" wrote: "Comedy teaches us to look at life exactly as it is, unduUed by
scientific theories It teaches us to be responsive, to be honest, to interrogate
ourselves and correct our pretentiousness. "^^
2* Wylie Sypher, Introduction, Comedy (Garden City: Doubleday, 1956) ix.
25 CHAPTER m
PRE-PRODUCTION WORK FOR RED NOSES
My greatest challenge was formulating a directorial approach which would remain faithful to Bames's ideas and themes. Because my objective was to direct a black comedy that encouraged the audience to laugh, think, and empathize, I needed to research the use of humor in other tragic situations, aside fromth e Black Plague.
Especially since Bames includes numerous historical symbols, it proved cmcial that I examine and apply these elements into the production design, the staging, and the acting. His concepts would strongly determine the theatricality of my approach, the design elements, and eventually the casting.
I began my approach by examining the objective of the characters in the play: to survive the plague by any means necessary. The Floties choose to spread mirth and joy in an effort to ease the pain of inevitable death. I examined my own objectives as a theatre artist: why I choose this form of artistic expression. I feel that
I create theatre as a way of bringing people together, as entertainment, and as a teaching tool for children; however, unlike the mission of the characters in Red
Noses, my work in the theatre has never been a matter of life or death. Through
Steve Lipman's book. Laughter in Hell: The Use of Humor during the Holocaust I found parallels between the world of the play and reality: both realms using humor as a tool for survival, as catharsis, and as a psychological necessity.
26 By using humor and holding onto faith, victims and survivors of the concentration camps formed a resistance to the atrocities surrounding them. One
Auschwitz survivor, Emil Fachenheim, remembers: "We kept our morale through humor. "2^ Gallows humor (stemming fromth e German word Galgenhumor) is described as "the fatalistic wit of the condenmed, the last quip before the inevitable meeting with the hangman, the guillotine, or the barrel of a rifle."^° Gallows humor was foimd in the secret passing of jokes between camp prisoners, in cabarets, political cartoons, and in the theatre. Jacob Boas, a camp survivor, recalls: "Of all the diversions none please the inmates more than the cabarets.... Things were not as hopeless as they seemed. For weeks on end, the hit songs and jokes of the latest review would be on everybody's lips."^'
Humor allowed the prisoner a sense of detachment. Whether they were laughing at their predicament, their appearance, or impersonations of camp officials, their spirits were raised; they were free of the camp, if only for a few moments.
The actions of many of the characters in Red Noses reflected various examples in Lipman's book. In the final scene of the play, Flote and Toulon impersonate the Pope and the Archbishop, using satire which reminded me strongly
2^ Steve Lipman, Laughter in Hell. (Northvale: Aronson, 1991) 8.
^° Lipman, 63.
^^ Lipman, 71.
27 of the camp cabarets of the Jewish prisoners. There were other examples in the book that inspired the staging for a cmcial moment in the production: the end of the plague. Lipman describes games where children would bury each other, mimic death by gas chamber, and impersonations of the Gestapo. From these examples, I recalled the game "Ring Around the Rosy," played by children from the middle ages to the present day. The game refers to the reddish ring-like inflammation of the lymph nodes found on the plague victims and the posy flower, which was sniffed in the belief that it would prevent the plague as well as deter the stench of the rotting corpses. I used this image of children playing in the celebratory scene in Act n, when the plague has ended. In this moment the Flagellants, Ravens, and Floties unite in joy. I wanted the actors and audience to experience a feeling of both innocence and sadness. I visualized the scene staged as a child's dance to the tune of "Ring Around the Rosy." The actors would form circles as they sing a song of unity. In both the play and the death camps, these victims use humor to demonstrate their hope for survival.
In 1348 Father Flote attempts, with his comedic talents, to restore compassion and faith in himianity. His dosage of humor is not limited to the streets of Auxerre.
His use of himior allows the sufferers to find a moment of Heaven within their Hell.
This is the same point Lipman makes throughout Laughter in Hell. Humor in the
Nazi death camps provided the prisoners a weapon against Hitler; to relinquish hope would equal admitting defeat.
28 Now that I had a clearer imderstanding of the objectives and tactics used by the characters in the play, I needed a greater understanding of the actual disease: the
Bubonic plague. The entire production company, led by the dramaturg, would study the causes and treatments of the disease, as well as the behavior of those it afflicted.
There are many theories surrounding the first appearance of the Bubonic plague. The most legendary story tells that a "flea riding on the back of a black rat entered the Italian port of Messina in 1347 The flea had a gut full of the bacillus.
Yersinia pests. "^^ Once the rat died, the infected flea would move immediately to find another host; any warm-blooded animal would do and humans were as vulnerable as any other mammal. Bames makes a reference to this legend throughout the first scene of the play. While there are frequent references to "plague worms," expository speeches by Dr. Antrechau and Father Flote lead the audience to understand that very little was actually known about the disease. Even mystical causes conceived by physicians and clergy are explored. Dr. Antrechau explains: "It arose in India when the sun sucked up, whoosh, the Great Sea, in the form of white mist which turned cormpt. Twill continue as long as the sun's in the sign of Leo, they say." ^^
^2 Charles L. Mee, Jr., "How a mysterious disease laid low Europe's masses,' Smithsonian Feb. 90, Vol. 20, Issue 11: 66.
^^ Peter Bames, Red Noses. (London: Faber, 1985) 11.
29 Many of the characters have their own concepts of the nature and purpose of the plague. Religious figures see the plague as a curse due to the sins of man. The
Ravens see the plague as a symbol of revolution, diminishing the lines between the upper and lower classes. The prostitutes, Goldmerchants, grave robbers and others see the plague as just another way to make profit. Whether the plague was brought on by parasites or misdeeds, these characters attempt to escape infection in outrageous ways. There are some characters who stand absolutely still, hide behind mirrors, or dress as women in the belief that the plague worms will miss them.
Others use snuff to expel the foul air. Many more sniff flowers or wear some sort of herbal charm to protect themselves.
Extreme measures and outrageous actions were employed in battling the plague. In Red Noses. Bames gives an example of the radical behavior of the time with the introduction of the Goldmerchants, Pellico and LeFranc, whose method of surviving includes public debauchery. They believe that having excessive sex with the plague-free prostitutes, Marie and Camille, will help them avoid infection. In
Goldmerchant's Square golden butterflies hover above as talismans believed to ward off the plague worms. This image was cmcial to both the acting company and the set designer. The audience must comprehend the outlandish efforts these characters make.
Originally, I envisioned a surreal setting for the play. I wanted the setting to reflect the irrational behavior of the characters. Exaggerated set pieces would be
30 used to exemplify the enormity of Bames's words, the universe, and the widespread nature of the plague. Chapter IV v^ll further discuss the ultimate choices made in the scenic design of the production.
The most disturbing reaction to the plague is found within the religious figures of the 13* and 14* centuries. Once again I wanted to stress the similarity of views between the fundamentalist Christian movement's reaction to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s and the position of the Roman Catholic Church during medieval times: that illness is a manifestation of sin. The theological constmct of God as vengeful rather than mirthful is the primary conflict between Flote and the other religious figures.
Well before the plague stmck Europe, the role of the Catholic Church in
Westem Europe had changed. When the Papacy moved from Rome to Avignon in
1309, it began to develop more secular interests; specifically wealth and power. With the arrival of the plague came a greater need for spiritual guidance. Some members of the clergy feared the plague to such extremes that they avoided giving last rites to the dying even if they were lying in front of the church. Others worked to lift the spirits of the dying through the creation of the Company of the Fool:
Fraternities of fools were formed to combat the fear of death among the public ... The "Company of the Fool" of Aarau under the patronage of the plague saint, St. Sebastian, and the Virgin Mary.... Unfortunately, no details concerning them have been preserved and we only know that on the outbreak
31 of great epidemics they cheered the hearts of the people by public masquerades and processions.^"*
In this way, the Floties distinctiy resemble the Company of the Fool. Although Father
Flote resembles both Saint Sebastian (who, like Flote, was executed by arrows) as well as St. Francis of Assisi, the characterization of Flote and Toulon would later be developed from the dialogue and actor interpretation rather than historical backgroimd.
To further develop the acting style of the show, I examined elements of medieval theatre, particularly the Feast of Fools:
. .. Medieval people, living as they did with their sin-cmshed selves, needed emotional outlets, and the need could not be suppressed.... In the Feast of Fools there was a great deal of merrymaking, dancing and singing. ... One way in which the people reacted was with the Dance of Death. Its pantomimic hysteria made people throw themselves to the ground play acting dead imtil someone kissed them back to life.^^
The play calls for the Floties to transform the "Dance of Death" into a dance of joy, while keeping the lyrics of the "Dies Irae" intact. Rather than strictly choreographing the scenes, I wanted the actors to develop their own dance of death through improvisation. Using the model of tiie theatre troupe STOMP, I would encourage the actors to improvise, using sound and movement as inspiration throughout the rehearsal process to elicit emotion which would carry over onto the stage.
^ Johannes Nohl, The Black Death- A Chronicle of the Plague (New York: Harper, 1924) 123.
^^ Walter Sorrell, Facets of Comedv. (New York: Grosset; Dunlap, 1972) 88.
32 In their desperate need to make people laugh, I envisioned the characters of the Floties to be fantastic in their look and their behavior. Sonnerie is described as being covered with bells, and he never speaks a word; images of Harpo Marx came to mind: mute, and oddly dressed in trench coat and top hat. I wanted to incorporate bits of Harpo into the characterization of Sonnerie. Most of the clowns in the play have some sort of disability that they use as an asset: blind Le Gme, the one-legged
Boutros brothers, and stuttering Pierre Frapper. Their use of their defects is the
source of several comedic moments.
Hunchbacked and dwarfed fools fascinated the people, since mental and physical deformity provided amusement in all countries from ancient times into the eighteenth century... .^^
The designers and I tumed to paintings found in art books to find a visual
style for the show. One illustration of Flagellants showed men with shaven heads,
marching and beating themselves, their heads and bodies covered in black cloaks,
each with a red cross on his naked breast and back. We established eariy in the
production process that the Flagellants and the Ravens would appear dramatically
different from the Floties. Color would be an important factor in the costuming.
Black would represent the more sinister characters in the play, while colorfiil
costumes would represent the joyfiil Floties. The costume designer and I also
'" Sorrell, 87.
33 discussed the costumes appearing purposely unfinished. Gathered from a variety of materials, the costumes would give the show a scavenged, well-traveled look.
With regards to the scenic design, the Floties's stage was a problem. Two major scenes called for an actual stage to be used: the performance of Everyman and the Nativity scene. The style of the performance platform was an important decision to make. My primary goal was to make the stage as transportable as possible because the Floties were a traveling troupe of actors. The scenic designer and I considered the idea of using a wagon that would transform for different scenes: stage, gypsy wagon, and gallows. This stage would contain various patchwork curtains and backdrops, perhaps held by the actors themselves. I wanted the look of the Floties' performance space to be primitive and somewhat amateurish. I did not, however, want the actual production of Red Noses to appear cheap and gimmicky. The application of these ideas and its effects will be discussed in Chapters IV and V.
Finally, researching this material would have been futile unless I had a way to translate it for the actor's use. I tumed to the book Anne Bogart's Viewpoints to shape the mise en scene.
Anne Bogart's work focuses primarily on the actor's body, using the principles of dance and kinesthetic response. Since I worried that Bames's dialogue could bore Lubbock audiences, I intended to keep the action lively on stage. I did not want to detract fromBames' s words, just enhance the audience's understanding through visual storytelling. Creating an aesthetically pleasing picture would be
34 difficult in a small black-box theatre. Red Noses requires many actors. I wanted as much space as possible to incorporate some of the Viewpoints of time and space; including tempo, kinesthetic response, repetition, shape, and architecture. Staging would be difficult if the performance space was cluttered with set pieces. These concerns would be commimicated to the design team.
The play's tempo became a cmcial element in the pre-production process. To avoid this production being slow, I would encourage a fast tempo throughout the production, to hold the audience's attention. I believe that comedy needs to be fast- paced if the jokes are to work. Slow speech and movement equals a lack of energy, which could be deadly in a play of this length. Varying the tempo within the actor would be a key element in my direction. Anne Bogart's Viewpoints refers to tempo as "the rate of speed that the movement occurs."^^ I would isolate moments in the show that would call for a slower tempo. The character's deaths, for example, could be one method of abmptly changing the pace of the show. By isolating that particular moment, the audience would feel compassion for the character.
This production demanded that the actors work as a unified machine. In the rehearsal process I would work on their kinesthetic responses to each other through
physical warmups and improvisation. Anne Bogart describes kinesthetic response as
^^ Viewpoints, 20.
35 "the spontaneous reaction to motion which occurs outside you."^^ If the company could achieve this connection early in the rehearsal process, then achieving an ensemble would be possible.
I wanted to utilize the Viewpoint of repetition within the staging of Red
NQSSS. Repetition involves the repeating ofa particular movement on the stage. This could be visually stimulating within processions or in the ritual movements of the religious figures.
Knowing that I could not fully stage the show until a ground plan was completed, I would use the Viewpoint of space: the spatial relationship between the actors and the architecture. I wanted the actors to experiment with the theatre's surroundings, particularly in their entrances and exits. 1 hoped to include much of the theatre's own stmcture in the staging of the production. The theatre has a wonderful catwalk that I hoped to use. It would serve as a perfect perch for the Ravens or perhaps a platform for the moment when Toulon plays God.
Applying the historical information and the Bogart concepts would be difficult since I was concemed that any attempt to present the piece with a focus on historical accuracy would appear passionless and boring. I could avoid a sterile production if I directed the play for laughs. I felt confident about my comedic directing skills, particularly in black comedy. I figiu-edtha t if the audience had
^^ Viewpoints, 21.
36 difficulty with Bames's language, I could at least provide them with enough comic bits and a visual spectacle to ease the discomfort ofa four-hour play. I was essentially giving up before I had even begun: resorting to old tricks rather than facing new challenges; so I returned to the source that would crystallize my approach, the play.
Surroimded by his martyred Noses, Flote chooses to tell a joke rather than renounce his convictions:
This reminds me of the condemned man who was being taken up the steps of the gallows and suddenly burst out laughing: 'You mustn't do that,' said the executioner, shocked. 'This is a solemn occasion.' 'Sorry,' said the prisoner. 'But I can't help it. You see, you're hanging the wrong man...' I've seen men die sitting, lying, dropping on their knees like bulls, but never standing on their heads. One must have sport even with death. ^^
This moment exemplifies the essence of black comedy. As potentially humorous as
the scene is, Flote is executed in a headstand; it is also simultaneously tragic. How
the humor is portrayed is important. I would not attempt the wacky Monty Python
style I had first envisioned, histead I would create a chaotic world filled with
eccentric characters that would hopefiilly induce the audience to empathy in addition
to laughter. The key to the approach of this play would be the isolation of the death
scenes. I would follow a style similar to the Floties': first, grab the audience's
attention through vulgarity and broad physical characterization; second, stop and
grieve for the sufferers.
^' Bames, Red Noses. 106.
37 The characters in Red Noses never treat death as a joke. It is the constant realization that death is surrounding them that leads these characters to act out.
These characters use comedy much as the victims of the concentration camps do in
Lipman's book. I believe Bames even hints at the directorial approach to this play in the words of Father Flote: "Comedy is fiinniest when it's most tme. Make it more real, realler than real. Otherwise you'll die the death."^^
40 Barnes, Red Noses 85.
38 CHAPTER rV
CREATFVE PROCESS AND PRESENTATION
Production of Red Noses officially began on August 28,1996, with the
"cattle-call" auditions on the University Theatre Mainstage. Actors were asked to audition with a monologue and 16 bars of music. To prepare myself for the audition
I read the play in its entirety, once more, hours prior to the audition.
As I read, I started to visualize what physical types would fit the roles I wanted to encompass a wide variety in terms of race, shape, and gender. I knew that
I wanted Flote and Toulon to be complete physical opposites; since the two characters have conflicting philosophies, I wanted to make them as physically distinct as possible. I wanted the company of clowns to look like a group of social misfits who just happened to come together. While I always imagined the Boutros Brothers as twins, I finally cast two actors who were very physically different. Bames's plays are filled with many such juxtapositions, which allowed me latitude to be creative with the casting.
The majority of the women auditioned with contemporary material that seemed to highlight their personalities rather than their acting range. Most actresses appeared quite confident with their selections, which made for strong performances.
I searched for actresses able to depict wide physical, vocal, and emotional ranges.
Though the performers were not asked to perform classical material, I did wish that
39 some of them would have demonstrated their ability to handle more complex language; I wanted to be dazzled, after all.
After the first audition I came to the realization that there was an abundance of talent, but the male actors lacked physical and vocal maturity. A majority of the male actors appeared uncomfortable at the audition, perhaps due to the cattle-call style. Very few actors appeared confident with their material or even while announcing their names to the directors. I became especially concemed with finding actors to play the roles of the Pope and Monselet, roles that needed to be filled by actors with the strength and maturity to embody these flamboyant characters.
Another dilemma was the casting conflict between my production and the first
Mainstage production. Cabaret. We would be competing for the same talented actors. This problem would be resolved at the final casting session.
The callback audition, held on Saturday, August 31, 1996, consisted of seventeen females and thirty males. I had the pleasure of seeing these actors demonstrate their acting range for three hours. Hoping to make this task easier, I asked the actors two days ahead of time to prepare the following:
a. Fifteen seconds of comic business to be performed: for example, pratfalls,
clowning, vaudeville, magic tricks, pantomime.
b. All actors be familiar with the orgy scene. Act I, Scene Two, pp.28-33.
c. Women be familiar with pages 34-35: Sister Marguerite's monologue.
d. Men be familiar with Father Flote's monologue on page 14.
40 e. Prepare to move and play; dress comfortably.
f If you have any hidden "freak" talent such as magic tricks, stilt walking,
tumbling, juggling, ventriloquism, clowning ... Now is the time to show it
off.
I felt that this information and the added time of preparation would benefit those nervous, perhaps imprepared, actors of the first cattle call. People audition very differently. Many actors excel in the monologue, others in improvisation and cold reading. This audition would give the actor an opportunity to perform in a variety of styles. I selected this type of audition to challenge the large number of male actors I called back.
The callback was chaotic due to the large attendance of actors and observers,
and the lack of a stage manager. We began the audition with a creative warm-up to
music. I asked one of the actors, Seth Marstrand, to lead the exercises. The actors
stretched and vocalized as they mirrored the leader. Due to my approach to this play,
I wanted to see which actors would be physically capable of strenuous movements. I
noticed that most actors would thmst themselves into the warm-up; however, a few
seemed very intimidated and therefore isolated themselves fromth e group. I hoped
that the warm-up to music would aid in building an ensemble and decreasing the
tension of the situation. I made note of the actors who worked well with others and
those who were timid, but I did not discard anyone solely on the basis of timidity,
knowing that many of the actors were new to this style of warm-up exercise.
41 The most memorable moments of the audition came with the comedic routines known as lazzi. I was curious as to what type of comic bits the actors were going to perform. I was looking for comic business that I could use in the production, but instead I was treated to a hilarious variety show. The acts included actors picking up money with their toes, rhythmically using parts of their body to perform a song, juggling, and contortion acts. The audience was even treated to one lewd act that earned groans rather than laughter. Most of these acts had the potential of being showcased in the production. As I watched the audition, I noticed a change happening with the actors. Rather than competing against each other, a spirit of unity formed. As the actors cheered and applauded one another, I knew I would find my ensemble.
The second part of the audition consisted of prepared monologues from the play. The monologues I chose fulfilled several purposes. The male actors performed a monologue from Act I, Scene I: Flote's attempt at humoring the plague victims.
The speech selected was suitable to all of the male roles because of the deft combination of comedy and pathos. These actors were asked to display a great range of emotions, tactics, and thought. I would judge from this monologue how the actor would handle Flote's niunerous emotional changes. I ranked the performances on a scale from one to ten, ten being outstanding. Most of the males ranked in the middle.
In comparison to the male audition, the women were stunning. It became apparent to me however that the role of Sister Marguerite needed a maturity that most
42 of the females lacked. The women were lovely, but too youthful in appearance.
Their performances were solid, intelligent, and emotional, but lacked the physical maturity of the character. Only two women in the group embodied the qualities of
Sister Marguerite. One captured Marguerite's humor; the other, her suffering. It would be difficult to choose which element was more moving. Both actresses had a great amount of performance experience and each exhibited the confidence and spirit foimd in the role.
I made the following observations during the readings: Many of the actors would imitate the first person who read. They would emulate the speech patterns and blocking and character choices of the first performer. Many of the physical and emotional choices that occurred in the warm-up and lazzi had disappeared when they were given a script. Also, many of the performers opted for safety in the reading rather than risk-taking. (I could have understood if they were involved in a cold reading, but these actors had two days to prepare.) I was very disappointed.
In retrospect, I see that the weakest moment of the callbacks involved the group readings. I assigned actors in groups to perform the Goldmerchants' scene in
Act I, Scene 2. This provocative scene contained sexual situations and dialogue. The scene calls for the four characters to simulate sexual intercourse in the middle of
Goldmerchants' Square. The Floties and the Flagellants enter the scene competing for the use of the square. The scene builds to a frenzy with all the characters until it abruptly stops with the sexual climax of the Goldmerchants. The results of these
43 readings were mixed. The stage was overly crowded, and actors had difficulty being heard through all the noise. Many seemed confused about the action of the script and who had the focus. Although I assigned the scenes in advance, many still appeared unfamiliar with it. I chose not to explain the scene in an effort to get the actors to improvise. As the actors began their scenes, I became concemed with the lack of space in the Lab Theatre. How was I going to control this particular scene and establish focixs? The scene calls for simultaneous and diverse actions from all the characters; who was the audience going to follow? This audition became a scene of survival of the fittest. The aggressive actors rose to the occasion, adjusting to the space. The timid ones kept themselves in the background. Obviously, I favored the
aggressive actors who made bold character choices and attempted to play action.
After grouping people according to ability and physical shapes, I realized that my
casting could go many different ways. These three audition styles (cattle-call, lazzi,
and cold readings) provided enough options for me to make my decisions.
Casting could occur only after I determined how to manage the double- and
triple-casting of roles. I had to determine which characters were on stage at the same
time and which ones would have to make quick changes within the play. After this
was accomplished, I came up with a primary cast list with altemate or secondary
choices in case of a casting conflict.
The casting session took place on Sunday, September 1, in the University
Theatre Greenroom. The other fall productions to be cast were Cabaret, A
44 Christmas Carol, and Tme West. Cabaret shared the same production schedule as
Red Noses, opening a few days after our closing. Since Red Noses had been selected to go to the American College Theatre Festival in November, the show would also conflict with A Christmas Carol. After a collaborative casting session that involved the sharing and forfeiture of a few actors, the four directors completed their casting.
Red Noses consisted of twenty-four actors portraying more than thirty roles. The company was comprised of the following actors: Flote, Adam Beckworth; Toulon,
Will Bigham; Marguerite, Deborah Martin; Sonnerie, Seth Marstrand; Pope Clement,
Kara Wooten; Rochfort, Todd Goodlett; Brodin, Al Castro; Bembo, Callie Moore;
Le Gme, Ryan Palmer; Boutros Brothers, Valentin Silguero and Darin Bell; the
Ravens, Micheal Bretman and Jim Jose; Camille, Catherine Crosby; Marie, Rachel
Greene; the Goldmerchants, Steve Carpenter and Scott Tipton; Monselet, Rod Vann;
Mother Metz, Becca Fields; Sabine, Julie Mitchell; Frapper, Josh Krause; the
Flagellants, Ryan Barbe and Michael Tuman.
Once a stage manager was assigned, the design team met weekly for production meetings to discuss ideas, concepts, and progress. I began the first meeting by describing my visual images, themes, needs, and general thoughts about the play. Without rehashing the research of Chapter Three, I specifically stressed my three main ideas about the production that would affect the design of the show. First,
I stated that the production should visually combine modem with medieval styles.
Second, I urged them to view the play as non-representational. I wanted to avoid the
45 play looking like a museum piece. Most importantly, I stressed that the technical needs should be easy to travel. Mobility is cmcial when entering a play festival. The set and costumes should be easy for the actors to move around in as well, seeing that the Floties do an abundance of moving around the stage.
To the scenic designer, Isabel Benitez, I stressed the need for the audience to expand their imagination with the set. I wanted to avoid replicating the world of the
14th century. The set should not overpower the actors or detract from the story on stage. The scenic designer and I discussed numerous technical problems found within the play. One of the challenges involved creating the Papal Chamber. The play specifically calls for the Pope to be seen through mirrors and sitting between two biuTiing braziers. In the Lab space, how could we hide the Pope through mirrors and still manage to let the audience see him? Another problem would be the creation of the stake and gallows used to kill the Flagellants and the Ravens in Act II. It must happen in view of the audience, since the characters continue speaking up until and through the execution. With confidence, I assured the production team that the actors would be able to overcome any technical limitations presented if we established the style of the play as non-realistic.
The costume designer (Kristi Mize) and I had similar ideas on how we wanted the characters to appear. Ms. Mize immediately discussed the combination of the contemporary with the historical. She wished to use nontraditional fabrics in the building of costumes while retaining the stmcture and line of the period. She wanted
46 to experiment with using plastic trash bags to make costume pieces and playing with garbage and other found materials. Due to the limited costume budget, we were not going to be able to build the costumes from scratch.
The costume designer also illuminated an image 1 had never thought of until that initial meeting. Her design concept was based on Flote's line, "God wants peacocks, not ravens, red noses not black death.'""^ She visualized begirming the show with costumes as dark as possible, then moving the color scheme to red and other vivid colors as the each of the Floties appeared. I thought that her concept was insightful, and that we should incorporate that idea into the other design elements,
especially lights.
The lighting designer, Tayva Pew, refrained from sharing her ideas until the
set design was completed. She chose, and I agreed, to isolate the deaths of the
victims with a special light, described as the "death light." She also agreed with me
on the use of surrealistic lighting to establish the mood of the play. She wanted to
vary the placement of the lighting instruments. Hanging the lights at severe angles
would cast an abundance of harsh shadows on the set and the actors. This eflfect
would, in essence, give the production a dark, shadowy, and somber appearance.
Though we both agreed on the necessary darkness of the show to establish the tragic
tone, I worried that the other design elements of the show would not be as visible if
^^ Bames, Red Noses. 13.
47 too much dark lighting was used. This became a conflict between the designer and me about who had final authority over the production elements. We eventually came to a compromise during the technical rehearsals.
I was fortunate to work with an experienced sound designer (Jim Bush) on this production. Sadly, he only became involved late in the process, after the actors and I had established live sound through rehearsal. I chose to forgo prerecorded music through most of the play except for necessary cues: church bells, arrows, and intermission music, for example. One of the tasks of the sound designer was to research a couple of songs that are specified in the script that I had never heard of,
"Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" and the medieval dirge "Dies Irae." As a company we decided not to use the music of the original production but, instead, to create the songs ourselves. Songs that became a part of the Dance of Death sequence were created by the actors. The chanting frenzy in the Goldmerchants scene developed from a soimd/movement wheel exercise inspired by the performance group STOMP.
This song-writing was led primarily by cast member Catherine Crosby. Mr. Bush contributed an idea that helped shape the production. He wanted to isolate the deaths with a specific sound in addition to the death light. This haunting sound, a cross between a synthesized gong and a church bell, would emphasize the death of each character, establishing a more serious mood.
The result of the collaborative process was, overall, successful. At first the scenery completely contradicted my initial intentions. Ms. Benitez had her own
48 deadlines to meet; therefore the model and constmction plans were due within the first week of production. I compromised with her on many elements. The design that was approved resembled the architecture ofa medieval castle. The original designs included a church tower that was deleted due to budget cuts. Her primary intention was to provide the actors with as many playing levels as possible. She assured me that parts of the stmcture were very flexiblean d could represent a variety of locations. The drawbridge became the stage for the Floties. Hooks within the drawbridge were used to hang an act curtain for the playlets. The set became a forest, a papal chamber, a town square, and the Floties' rehearsal space. Ms.
Benitez's design allowed the actors to utilize the vertical playing space, giving the production height and grandeur. I enjoyed the multiple levels, which avoided overcrowding the stage floor.
Even this large set design could not encompass all of the necessary scenic requirements but, eventually, the actors and I worked these out. For example, the
Ravens' gallows were created by hanging two hooks with nooses attached inside the doorway of the drawbridge. We hoped the audience would visualize the deaths of the
Ravens by hiding them from view. Rather than seeing the Ravens hang, as indicated in the script, we shut the doors to the gallows, and made the sound of the floor falling out. Another technical element that never materialized was the Papal chamber surrounded by mirrors. We experienced technical and financialdifficultie s creating the effect. Eventually we solved the problem and created an interesting and Gothic
49 image by placing the Pope higher than everyone else on stage. Collaboration between the actors and the set designer resulted in finding solutions.
I feel that the acting company adjusted well to the scenic design. The actors used the Viewpoints of space and architecture and adapted themselves to the set. The actors made adjustments as well as they could, but I was still dissatisfied with the set.
I continued to suggest that the set designer make adjustments; I recommended texturing the set with trash, spraying graffiti, and distressing elements of the set. In the end, whether it was due to lack of budget, time, or energy, the scenery still resembled a 14th-century castle.
Rehearsals with the actors were better than I could imagine. We began the rehearsal process with a read-through of the script followed by discussion. My first reaction to the actors' reading was to stress the need for clarification of words, including definitions and pronunciation. These difficulties with the language of the play continued and became tedious, delaying the read-through process. My second concern was the discussion of concept and what I had hoped to achieve. I simply shared with them several of the images 1 had, and asked that they bring with them to rehearsals a sense of play, their creativity, and their ability to take risks. Few questions were asked on the initial read-through. The actors seemed intimidated by the length of the script and wondered if their lines or scenes would be eliminated. At first I told them nothing would be cut, but after listening to the four-hour read- through, I decided that cutting would be necessary.
50 The actual rehearsal process was driven by the shortness of time and the length of the script. The cast was self-motivated, never allowing themselves to remain complacent, regardless of whether they were called to rehearsals or not. I immediately began to stage the show, all the while allowing the actors to discover their way through their roles. My major problem was: how would I fit all these people on this stage in a way that would tell the story in a creative manner? This did not mean that I excluded studying themes, plots, and other essential elements. I tmsted the actors completely, and I found myself immediately stopping and reworking scenes that lacked action and conflict. The actors would work outside of the Lab Theatre, where all the rehearsals were held. Actors would rehearse in the lobby, in the Greenroom area, and even outdoors. They would later show me the scenes they had worked on, lessening my own workload and actually getting ahead in the script. I did not have an assistant, but one would probably have helped in sharing the task of fine-timing and polishing.
Fortunately a cast member, Rachel Greene, agreed to serve as dramaturg for the production. Rachel provided much of the research for the company and prepared handouts, books, and pictures about the 14th Century and the Black Death. Through her work the actors had an additional person to tum to for background information.
This freed me to focus on what was occurring on the stage. Due to the fast-paced
rehearsal schedule, I had less and less time to discuss the play with the actors. I feel
51 that if the actors and 1 had spent more time researching, discussing, and discovering the play, additional levels of the performance would have been uncovered.
The choices the actors made in terms of characterization seemed appropriate through most of the rehearsal process. I urged the actors to exaggerate their characters physically even if it felt cartoonish. I always knew that the actors could tone down the characterization if necessary, but I felt they needed a broader style in the early stages to capture Bames's comedy. In retrospect, I feel that I withheld valuable analysis in favor of an energetic, creative piece of theatre. My fear was not that the actors would over-intellectualize the script, but perhaps that they would stop working aggressively. Most of these actors worked from their instincts, focusing on the action occurring in the scene. Their rehearsals were usually exciting,
spontaneous, and surprising. However, as the rehearsals progressed the performances
began to lack specificity.
These faults were illuminated for me during a rehearsal to which I invited
Professor Christopher Markle, Interim Head of Acting. I invited Professor Markle
after the second week of rehearsal, and after staging three-fourths of the play. I was
generally pleased with tiie staging and the acting, but I felt the play lacked conflict.
Professor Markle worked on individual scenes of the first act by focusing on each
actor's objective in the story. He worked with the actors playing the Ravens to
determine their purpose in the script. Prior to Professor Markle's visit, we
approached these characters as supernatural: neither human nor animal. Their
52 movements, due to my urging, were highly stylized, but lacking in any conflict with
the other characters. Professor Markle approached the Ravens as political anarchists.
He encouraged the actors playing the Ravens to think of the characters as
revolutionaries or 70's punks trying at all costs to change the worid around them.
This perspective gave the actors not only a super-objective, but a specific intention in
each scene. We eventually combined their objectives with stylized movements to
further develop the characters.
Professor Markle informed me that this production needed to be substantially more than inventive staging. The play lacked defined characters. Actors were playing stereotypes, rather than fully fleshed human beings. All the actors took part in the rehearsal with Professor Markle, either as participants or observers. This rehearsal breathed new life both into my direction and into the actors. I believe in bringing outside observers in to watch the work in progress. These observers help the director remain objective about what is happening on the stage.
The last two weeks of rehearsals flew by as I began to be more of an observer, taking notes. The play was evolving from a series of separate fantastical images to a more cohesive, linear story told by the dialogue. By participating in run-throughs the company could establish the pacing of the show and practice the transitions. I worried that the runthroughs would become boring or exhausting to the actors, but overall I think it proved beneficial. Runthroughs trained the actors to pace their energy through the course of the play. After each run, normally one act a time, I
53 would read the notes to the actors. After reviewing my notes I discovered that the most frequent critique involved the pacing of the show. My fear was that the play was becoming dangerously slow and self-indulgent. Bames writes beautifully passionate speeches, which any actor would relish performing. As the actors were becoming more comfortable in their roles, many began to lengthen their speeches through excessive pausing.
Just prior to the technical rehearsals. Dr. Jonathan Marks, Head of Directing, was invited to observe the work. After the rehearsal. Dr. Marks agreed that the length of the speeches was due to the pauses. However, he noted that the pauses were due to the actors' stmggling between the lines, rather than from within the line of dialogue. This was causing the actor to break up the speeches and slow down their cues.
Dr. Marks also uncovered a major problem that had remained undetected, though it became a cmcial element in the direction of Red Noses. Dr. Marks noticed a lack of individual laughter amongst characters. There needed to be laughter within the play. The laughter that existed seemed appropriate, but lacked individuality and sincerity. Characters need to react to the sound of laughter as well. Laughter, one of the principle objectives in this production, was missing from the play. The actors and
I discovered areas to focus on the laughter. On Dr. Marks's suggestion, we livened up Scene Four, the Papal visit. We treated the Pope as the greatest standup comedian in the worid, easily receiving laughs from his underiings. The Pope tells
54 some pretty off-color jokes, so the laughter needed to feel forced from the Floties.
This use of laughter developed another level in the Pope's character. Laughter would establish the Pope as an ally, rather than an adversary. Laughing needed to appear involuntary, even cathartic. Dr. Marks observed that the Floties follow Flote much as members ofa cult. They laugh at and obey everything he says. This idea confused me, as I associated the term cult leader with Jim Jones and Charles Manson; but we focused on Flote's charisma and his ability to bring joy to his followers, even if it resulted in their own deaths.
The majority of the cast enthusiastically worked through the notes and critiques. Only one actor had difficulty grasping the criticism; the actor playing the
Pope never moved beyond the initial readings at the call-backs. This actor changed very little during the rehearsal process, afraid to take bold risksfo r fear of appearing foolish. Despite encouragement from me and the other actors, she never tackled the physical work of the rehearsal process. I tried a variety of methods to break through the armor. I tried improvisation, use of props, and giving line readings, but nothing changed. I wanted this character to be irrational, almost mentally ill. The performance rarely changed, though I hoped that the actor would come alive with an audience.
Technical and final dress rehearsals went remarkably smoothly, considering the numerous technical demands. The actors were unable to try any new changes due to the stop-and-go nature of the rehearsals. In the final runthroughs, I was generally
55 pleased with the work of the acting company. My major notes dealt with the pacing
of the show, which I felt was still too slow. I impatiently resorted to my old high-
school theatre director's tactics of tapping my pencil and snapping my fingersi n a
last attempt to pick up the pace. After the final dress rehearsal, one of the actors
confronted me. He said my behavior was disturbing the actors' concentration. 1
explained my concerns with the length of the show. I wanted the actors to drive the
show with such energy that the audience would disregard the time.
The West Texas premier of Red Noses occurred on October 7, 1996. The
tickets for the week-long run sold out the first day. On opening night I spent the first
act observing the audience's reaction. I was extremely nervous throughout, making a
mental note of when they laughed and when they remained silent. I noticed that the
audience laughed in the appropriate comic moments, but their faces still expressed
deep listening. The actors themselves had an abundance of energy, probably due to
opening-night jitters. During intermission I eavesdropped on the patrons, hoping to
hear constmctive criticism. A few people left the performance at the end of the first
act. I was later told that some people thought the play ended after Act I. It never
occurred to me how the production seems like two different plays; at the end of the
first act there is a strong resolution of the conflict between Toulon and Flote that
seems to conclude the play. How could I tease the audience into believing there was more to come? After all, the aimouncement of the intermission was made in the program. I heard many people discuss the length of the play. They were curious as
56 to how much more could happen in the story. Students viewing the show as an assignment seemed concemed about the time. I went backstage to congratulate the actors on a strong first act, but encouraged them to drive the pace of the show.
Throughout the mn of the show, I observed the patrons during intermission. I realized that a lobby display was needed to give the viewer further background information. I wanted pictures and information concerning the plague, Bames's style of comedy, and even rehearsal photographs. I wished we had displayed renderings of the set and costumes. The parallels between the plague and AIDS could have been clearer with a display. This would have given the audience a greater insight into the process of creating this piece.
I was very pleased with the program notes written by our dramaturg.
Ms. Greene provided a clear and concise introduction to our production, with added insight into themes and our approach. I felt however that the pre-show lights were so dark that the audience had difficulty reading the program insert.
The general reaction to the week-long production was extremely positive.
Although the only major complaint involved the length of the play, the audience never appeared bored. I watched as the audience laughed and were emotionally moved by some of the play's moments. Large reactions included the first scene between Sonnerie and Flote, in which Sonnerie introduces himself through pantomime. I worried that the audience would not understand the mute character, but he was usually a crowd favorite. The audience also responded favorably to the
57 voyage to Avignon. I wanted the audience to believe that traveling was happening, through very limited space. The actors connected their bodies into one unit, moving in a circle and pantomiming traveling through a forest.
One scene that received mixed reaction was the Floties' "last supper" scene.
In a brief moment of prayer, I directed the Floties to laugh and freeze as a flash of light appeared, simulating the flash ofa camera. I wanted the image of the supper to resemble Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting. I worried at first that the audience would not make the connection, so I immediately repeated the action, ft resulted in a strained, almost nervous laughter fromth e viewers. I asked a few audience members about their reaction to the moment. Some thought the moment came from the classic painting, but were afraid that the light flash was an accident or a malfunctioning light. The reaction was always a little odd at that moment.
The ending of the play brought some confusion. I chose not to use a curtain call at the end of the performance. I felt that the Floties' arrival in Heaven provided such a sense of closure that a curtain call would diminish their triumphant moment.
Consequently, the audience was uncertain if the performance had finished. At the suggestion of Dr. Marks, I added the curtain call for the final performance to see if it made a difference. The audience seemed relieved to have a moment to show their appreciation to the company.
Since the production was traveling to the American College Theatre Festival, the show never a had a sense of closure. My focus immediately shifted to preparing
58 for the theatre festival. Through the run of the performance I had noticed many moments that needed improvement; I hoped that while the company had several extra weeks off to examine their performance they would make the adjustments and changes as needed. I encouraged the actors to take time to reflect on their performance and continue to make discoveries. I also had the added difficulty of adjusting the staging from an intimate theatre to a large proscenium space. The scenic designer and I were concemed about the transferring of the enormous set to the contest site. Due to the other productions occurring on the Mainstage and Lab
Theatre, we were left without a rehearsal space. I was very excited about transporting the show for many reasons: because of the competitive nature of the festival, the opportunity to change and improve the show, and the prospect of experiencing the reactions ofa new audience and new feedback.
59 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
In order to evaluate the director's process in Red Noses, it is necessary that I discuss our company's preparation for the American College Theatre Festival
(ACTF). Directors are rarely afforded the occasion to remount a production, so I took this opportunity to evaluate the feedback I received during a post-mortem discussion of the production by the Department of Theatre and Dance.
The critique session was open to the actors, the designers, the director, and the departmental faculty and staff. Faculty present included Dr. Jonathan Marks,
Head of Directing; Professor Christopher Markle, Interim Head of Acting; Dr. Dean
Wilcox, Head of History and Criticism; Professor Diana Moore, Dance; Professor
Joan St. Germain, Costume Design; and Professor Fred Christoffel, Head of Design.
Dr. Marks began the session by asking the production team to discuss their approaches to the play. This was followed by questions and commentary fromth e faculty.
Professor Diana Moore commented positively on the use of movement in the play and the creative storytelling that occurred within the actors' bodies. Professor
Christoffel seemed impressed that the company had captured the political nature of the play, but felt that the transitions and pacing were overall unimpressive and could
60 have been improved. Most of the positive comments revolved around the staging and the energetic portrayals by the actors.
The most critical commentary was directed toward the actors portraying the
Ravens. The majority of the faculty seemed confused by their characterization.
Professor Markle stressed that the actors did not play their objectives to their fullest potential; he wanted to see them as anarchists. As the director, I felt responsible for how the actors portrayed their roles. I felt that the actors had followed my directions and subsequently were being chastised for it. Suddenly, other faculty members began to focus on the Ravens. The actors had worn black tights, capes and masks; one critic found the masks and the iridescent patches on the capes distracting; some discussed the costuming of the Ravens as appearing too supematural and inconsistent with their characterization as anarchists. The costume and scenic designers were being criticized by the same people who had approved their designs in the early design process. At that moment, the mood of the critique changed from constmctive to destmctive, and the bulk of the criticism fell upon the two actors playing the
Ravens.
Other comments about the direction concemed the length of the performance, the superficial portrayals of the religious characters, and the lack of insight into the politics of the play. I responded to the comments by reiterating one of my original statements of my approach to the play: to tell the story through movement, comedy, and energetic performances. As a result of the critique session, I decided to focus on
61 the analysis of the play and its characters during our preparation for the American
College Theatre Festival.
While preparing for the festival, I cut approximately forty-five minutes of the show by eliminating a few minor characters and shortening several scenes. I wanted the production to be competitive, and did not want excessive length to hamper its chances in the contest.
Once the production closed, the majority of the cast members became involved in other fall productions. This made it difficult to coordinate a rehearsal schedule with the entire company. Due to a lack of rehearsal space in the theatre building and the absence ofa set or props, the company was forced to work outdoors and in small classrooms. Considering the limitations, I focused on acting problems within each scene of the play. I placed particular focus on the following characters:
Pope Clement VI, Monselet, the Ravens, and the Flagellants. After reviewing my notes and the faculty feedback, I realized that these scenes were the weakest in the production. The Ravens worked at becoming more antagonistic toward the Floties.
Through verbal and nonverbal improvisation, we began to make progress. We began to make the transition from screaming to more controlled, methodical anger filled with a political purpose.
The actor playing the Pope desperately wanted to add dimensions to her
character, focusing on the character's sense of humor, intelligence, and fears. The
actor rehearsed the role through pantomime in an attempt to break up the speech
62 patterns to which she had grown accustomed. We attempted to add variety to her performance through improvisation. We also worked on adding more humor to the stoic Flagellant characters in an effort to make them more complex. Minor improvements were made in these rehearsals, despite the absence of many cast members.
Rehearsals with the entire company prior to the American College Theatre
Festival were very few. The company had one rehearsal to practice the set-up and strike of the enormous set. One concem we had was that the set-up of the scenery would take too much time, leaving the actors and technicians very little time to prepare for the performance. The scenery was not designed or constmcted to travel with ease. I was concemed that the scenery would deter our chances of advancing in the ACTF contest, since the production to be selected would have to travel easily and inexpensively.
On the day of the performance the rehearsal ran extremely well. The entire company worked cooperatively and diligently. The actors renewed their excitement in performing the play.
The performance began with energy and passion but, after the entrance of the
Pope, it began to unravel. The actor playing the Pope panicked and frozeonstage .
Then she began to improvise most of her lines. I became very worried that the actor had become ill, or that an accident had occurred backstage. The actors sharing these
63 scenes gained control of the situation, but I could not help but wonder if the critic and the rest of the audience had noticed.
At intermission 1 discovered that an accident had occurred to the actor portraying Brodin; he had injured his ankle and was hopping on one foot backstage. I considered canceling the show at intermission, but the actor insisted on performing without a bandage. The audience was oblivious to the actor's injury. This act of bravery took on special significance to the entire company, particularly during
Brodin's death scene. Though the actors were particularly proud of this performance, the audience's overall reaction was less than enthusiastic. I did not know if they were bored, confused, or offended by the performance.
After the performance I was required to attend a meeting with the other competing directors, the purpose of which was to critique the directors and to nominate a production for the Directors' Choice Award. The Red Noses critique was virtually non-existent. I was asked to discuss my selection of the play as well as my concept, choices, and problems. While I spoke frankly about the process, particularly the choices I made with the casting and staging, the other directors did not seem interested in what I had to say; they offered neither critical commentary nor praise.
Everyone seemed exhausted and more concemed with voting than discussing the production process. The winner of the Director's Choice Award was West Texas
A&M University for their production of The Homage That Follows, which eventually advanced to perform at the Kennedy Center.
64 Our company was privileged to receive an oral critique by the invited ACTF adjudicator, who was full of praise for the style of the show, the director's concepts, and the actors' performances. He mentioned the difficulty of the language, Bames's politics, and the complex but well executed combination of humor and pathos in the performance.
The company as a whole felt very positive after the critique and the reception of their performance. Red Noses garnered the following recognition: Critic's Choice
Award; Excellence in Directing, Costuming, Scenery, and Lighting; and three Irene
Ryan Acting Nominations. The company felt satisfied and hoped to advance to the
Regional level. Unfortunately, in December, we received word that the production would not advance any further.
While I was disappointed that we did not advance, I was fortunate to receive more feedback than is usually given for most thesis productions. This allowed me to reflect on the failures as well as the successes of my directorial approach.
With this thesis production I had challenged myself to direct a more complex play than I was accustomed to. Prior to Red Noses I had directed only one-act plays lasting no more than an hour in length. (I would joke with the production team about how I was making up for lost time by directing this three-hour epic.) By directing
Red Noses I set a number of goals that I feel I accomplished. For the first time I was
forced to work within a limited budget. This enabled me to use my imagination to
solve the problems of staging a large cast in a very small space. I had been
65 introduced to the work of Anne Bogart in graduate school and attempted to apply her theories to this play.
I also worked with a mostly collaborative design team for the first time.
Certainly there were disagreements over design, but overall the team worked together to create a visually spectacular play. When I saw the set at the American College
Theatre Festival, I realized the design had finally found its home. The set demanded a larger space. On the new stage, the set design possessed the grandeur and spectacle needed for this production.
I was also challenged by working with some of the most talented actors in the university. Prior to working with these actors I had only worked with high-school- aged children. I was accustomed to directing these children with a heavy hand.
These university actors approached their roles independently and creatively. This allowed me to focus my energy on the staging and the technical elements. These actors were always open to my direction, even in tense situations. They created characters that fit into my original concept, playing their characters with energy, passion, and intelligence.
My intention with this thesis production was to affect and change the public's views on how we treat people who are less fortunate than ourselves. If there is one
lesson in Red Noses it is that our duty is to treat everyone with compassion. Bames
uses theatre to propagate his views on humanity. He asks the audience to change and
actively fight the injustices of society. I gave Lubbock audiences a production that
66 was visually and emotionally moving, though somewhat lacking the dark, political edge of Bames's writing. I have come to the conclusion that my duty as the director is to conmiunicate the play through creative storytelling, not by coercing the audience to revolution. While audiences arrive at the theatre with their own history and experiences, I hoped this production would induce them to care about the characters as much as I did. Sadly, I believe there are few plays and fewer productions that can ever achieve that. Revolutionary playwrights such as Peter Bames can only continue writing these plays with the hope that someone will read and produce them. Future directors of Bames's provocative plays can only aspire to portray these stories through tmth and perhaps a bit of magic.
67 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bames, Peter. Bames People HI London: Faber and Faber, 1986.
- - -. Laughter!. London: Heinemann, 1978.
- - -• Peter Bames: Collected Plays London: Heinemann 1981.
Red Noses. London: Faber and Faber, 1985.
Bames, Philip. A Companion to Post-War British Theatre. Totonia: Bames and Noble, 1986.
Dixon, Michael Bigelow, and Joel A. Smith, eds. Anne Bogart: Viewpoints. Lyme: Smith and Krause, 1995.
Dukore, Bemard F. The Theatre of Peter Bames. London: Heinemann, 1981.
Gibson, Colin. "Peter Bames." International Dictionary. Vol 2: Playwrights. Detroit: St. James.
Hobson, Harold. Introduction. Collected Plays, by Peter Bames. London: Heinemarm, 1981. 3.
Lipman, Steve. Laughter in Hell: The Use of Humor during the Holocaust. Northvale: Aronson Inc. 1991.
Mee, Charles L., Jr. "How a mysterious disease laid low Europe's masse." Smithsonian 20 (1990): 66.
Nohl, Johannes The Black Death: A Chronicle of the Plague Compiled from ContemporarvSources. Trans. C.H. Clarke. New York: Harper and Bros., 1961.
Page, Malcohn. "The Ruling Class." International Dictionarv of Theatre and Plavs. vol. 1. Chicago: St. James Press, 1992.
Sorrell, Walter. Facets of Comedv New York: Grosset; Dunlap, 1972.
Sypher, Wylie. Comedy. Garden City: Doubleday, 1956.
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