If death ever takes a holiday, that holiday is in October, and Halloween. This is
when Rochester’s theater season will grow dark, with three stage presentations in
particular.
The Company Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has an
Oct. 13 through Oct. 29 run at The Temple Theater; “Frida… A Self Portrait,” runs Oct. 17 through Nov. 12 at Geva Theatre Center; and local playwright Samantha Marchant’s “And the Four Last Things” runs Oct. 26 through Nov. 4 at the Multi-use Community Cultural Center.
“We’re all leaning into the weird,” said Marchant, whose decidedly un-weird
daytime job is working as an executive assistant and office manager with the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
Written and performed by Vanessa Severo, who is from Kansas City, “Frida… A
Self Portrait” is the story of Frida Kahlo, whose paintings could be seen as
surrealistic, or perhaps realistic; that line isn’t always well-defined. The Mexican
artist’s body of work was indeed bodies: specifically, hers. A body wracked by
polio as a child and wrecked in a bus accident as a teenager. Kahlo’s art is often
strange, and sometimes disturbing.
Marchant’s vision in “And the Four Last Things” is played out by an angel, the
devil, and a dead man (who does, indeed, have speaking parts). A prolific
playwright – her résumé includes a previous piece performed at MuCCC –
Marchant describes “And the Four Last Things” as a blend of the nightmarish
paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and … Dr. Seuss? She quotes the children’s writer:
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer
than You.”
She points out that the stage directions include the phrase “beautifully grotesque”
and calls the work “appropriate for October and Halloween time, but it’s not a
horror play.”
And, Marchant concedes, to pile on the incongruities, her show is maybe a dash of Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It is an exploration of what might – a fantastical ‘might’ – happen following death. Dark humor abounds: the corpse is a dead music critic (not taken personally by this writer). “I think it’s a reflection back on what he was working toward in life,” Marchant said, “having that 20-20 vision now that he’s dead.”
And shouldn’t the mission of theater include 20-20 vision?
“It’s definitely questioning authenticity in life and art, and what makes something
matter to someone else,” Marchant said. “Authenticity is searching and hope.” In death, her characters see authenticity.
Contrasts also help define The Company Theatre’s production of “Romeo and
Juliet.” Director Carl Del Buono speaks of the story as a chiaroscuro, “the contrasts
of light and dark, life and death, love and hate.”
In this production of “Romeo and Juliet,” Del Buono does concede that a little
modern music – and flashlights – might sneak onto stage. But for the most part,
The Company Theatre is “trying to avoid wearing anything too anachronistic, like
Converse or Doc Martens,” he said. “Everything’s going to have sort of a lush,
velvety, highly saturated, jewel tone texture to it."
And swords. Lots of swords. Early rehearsals for the play include practice in more
contrasts, swordplay and dance.
The Temple Theatre plays a role as well. “It looks like The Globe,” Del Buono
said, referring to the iconic London theater that once played host to Shakespeare’s
works. “Ornate, polished wood. Built-in balcony. It almost looks Renaissance.”
Del Buono sees “Romeo and Juliet” as death, but it is the death of immaturity and
childhood. “They get what they need to become adults,” he says. In death, they are
“taking ownership of their personhood.”
The story opens with the Montague and Capulet families in the midst of an ancient
grudge. Through the deaths of the young couple, “those wounds are kind of healed.
And the two families actually come together at the end, and forgive each other and
find common ground."
It’s Shakespeare, evolving into Greek tragedy.
“I think that there’s hope to be found in their deaths,” Del Buono adds. “It’s tragic,
but that’s why we pay attention to stories like ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ like Orpheus and Eurydice, and ‘The Iliad’ and the Trojan War and the fighting over Helen.
Achilles and Patroclus.”
And again, out of darkness comes light.
“It gives the living kind of a gift,” Del Buono said, “and lets us know that we need
to cherish the people around us.”
Jeff Spevak is the senior arts writer for WXXI/CITY Magazine. He can be reached at (585) 258-0343 or [email protected].
when Rochester’s theater season will grow dark, with three stage presentations in
particular.
The Company Theatre’s production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” has an
Oct. 13 through Oct. 29 run at The Temple Theater; “Frida… A Self Portrait,” runs Oct. 17 through Nov. 12 at Geva Theatre Center; and local playwright Samantha Marchant’s “And the Four Last Things” runs Oct. 26 through Nov. 4 at the Multi-use Community Cultural Center.
“We’re all leaning into the weird,” said Marchant, whose decidedly un-weird
daytime job is working as an executive assistant and office manager with the
Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.
- PHOTO BY MIKKI SCHAFFNER.
- A scene from "Frida... A Self Portrait."
Self Portrait” is the story of Frida Kahlo, whose paintings could be seen as
surrealistic, or perhaps realistic; that line isn’t always well-defined. The Mexican
artist’s body of work was indeed bodies: specifically, hers. A body wracked by
polio as a child and wrecked in a bus accident as a teenager. Kahlo’s art is often
strange, and sometimes disturbing.
Marchant’s vision in “And the Four Last Things” is played out by an angel, the
devil, and a dead man (who does, indeed, have speaking parts). A prolific
playwright – her résumé includes a previous piece performed at MuCCC –
Marchant describes “And the Four Last Things” as a blend of the nightmarish
paintings of Hieronymus Bosch and … Dr. Seuss? She quotes the children’s writer:
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer
than You.”
She points out that the stage directions include the phrase “beautifully grotesque”
and calls the work “appropriate for October and Halloween time, but it’s not a
horror play.”
And, Marchant concedes, to pile on the incongruities, her show is maybe a dash of Jimmy Stewart in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It is an exploration of what might – a fantastical ‘might’ – happen following death. Dark humor abounds: the corpse is a dead music critic (not taken personally by this writer). “I think it’s a reflection back on what he was working toward in life,” Marchant said, “having that 20-20 vision now that he’s dead.”
And shouldn’t the mission of theater include 20-20 vision?
“It’s definitely questioning authenticity in life and art, and what makes something
matter to someone else,” Marchant said. “Authenticity is searching and hope.” In death, her characters see authenticity.
Contrasts also help define The Company Theatre’s production of “Romeo and
Juliet.” Director Carl Del Buono speaks of the story as a chiaroscuro, “the contrasts
of light and dark, life and death, love and hate.”
In this production of “Romeo and Juliet,” Del Buono does concede that a little
modern music – and flashlights – might sneak onto stage. But for the most part,
The Company Theatre is “trying to avoid wearing anything too anachronistic, like
Converse or Doc Martens,” he said. “Everything’s going to have sort of a lush,
velvety, highly saturated, jewel tone texture to it."
And swords. Lots of swords. Early rehearsals for the play include practice in more
contrasts, swordplay and dance.
The Temple Theatre plays a role as well. “It looks like The Globe,” Del Buono
said, referring to the iconic London theater that once played host to Shakespeare’s
works. “Ornate, polished wood. Built-in balcony. It almost looks Renaissance.”
Del Buono sees “Romeo and Juliet” as death, but it is the death of immaturity and
childhood. “They get what they need to become adults,” he says. In death, they are
“taking ownership of their personhood.”
The story opens with the Montague and Capulet families in the midst of an ancient
grudge. Through the deaths of the young couple, “those wounds are kind of healed.
And the two families actually come together at the end, and forgive each other and
find common ground."
It’s Shakespeare, evolving into Greek tragedy.
“I think that there’s hope to be found in their deaths,” Del Buono adds. “It’s tragic,
but that’s why we pay attention to stories like ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ like Orpheus and Eurydice, and ‘The Iliad’ and the Trojan War and the fighting over Helen.
Achilles and Patroclus.”
And again, out of darkness comes light.
“It gives the living kind of a gift,” Del Buono said, “and lets us know that we need
to cherish the people around us.”
Jeff Spevak is the senior arts writer for WXXI/CITY Magazine. He can be reached at (585) 258-0343 or [email protected].
