Life On the Wicked Stage: Act 2

Eerie Similarities Between John Brown and Terry Jones Give Me Pause

Back when Terry Jones first showed up in the news I remarked that he had an eerie resemblance to, another self-styled man of the cloth who caused more than a small share of mischief, John Brown. If you don’t know who John Brown is, shame on you. But here’s a quick primer. John Brown was an abolitionist believed in his cause ferociously. So much so that he and his sons and followers killed others for their cause in Kansas. His raid on Harper’s Ferry in 1859 was intended to spark a rebellion that would lead to the end of slavery. The raid failed. He was captured and later executed and many, including myself think he was the spark that let the final fuse that led to the American Civil War. Unless you’re a barbarian you can’t question the rightness Brown’s beliefs about slavery, although judging his actions is another matter for debate. I did just that in a play I wrote about that called Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse and to tell you the truth, the questioning and the debating makes the word truth a tough concept to grasp. That’s inconvenient I know, but we just don’t like complexity.

As Terry Jones enters the stage again, this time carrying through with his plans to burn a Koran, we’ve seen that his actions have led to a violent reaction in Afghanistan in which some were killed. Jones so far remains unrepentant about his actions and doesn’t think he’s responsible for the violence and the deaths. His steadfastness and self anointed righteousness reminds me a lot of John Brown’s. Perhaps even more so than his physical countenance. He looks a lot like John Brown before the beard.

That’s a scary prospect because Brown’s actions prove just how far someone who has convinced himself that he is doing God’s work can carry himself and those that follow him. Of course in Brown’s case he’s acting out against those that are equally obsessive about how they must carry out God’s wishes.

I’m guessing here that this latest episode sparked by Terry Jones won’t just come to a fade out ending. I’m hoping that he doesn’t become as historically infamous as Brown did for whatever he thinks he’s doing, but we may have already past that point. Curiously, John Brown and his actions are often glossed over when it comes to American history. I believe strongly that we do so because we don’t want to believe that his violent acts are an integral part of our collective American character. But then along comes a Terry Jones and we’re forced to see that part of ourselves again.

Koran Burning Pastor Reminds Me of John Brown

I've refrained from blogging about Pastor Terry Jones and his Koran burning desires on September 11, simply because I felt the effort didn't need any more recognition than the other gazillion nut cases efforts to grab attention in the world on any given day did.

But now that he's become the number one news item everywhere, I guess that's beside the point. Every time I see a picture of Mr. Jones, I'm reminded of John Brown, especially some of the images of him clean shaven. Of course that's probably because I spent so much time researching and writing about Brown years ago. I'm not comparing the causes here because they can't be compared, but I'm looking at the personalities and the drive. Both supposed "men of God" seem(ed) hell bent on proving their point regardless of the outcome. Both stories prove just how much extremism can carry us into dangerous corners once we loose the bonds of reason.

While John Brown's actions and what they meant are certainly debatable from legal, political, and moral standpoints, I can't see where Jones has much credence beyond his probably somewhat unintentional success in becoming a world wide media circus. He's inflaming an already tense set of passions to the point where someone will get hurt. This guy has created a dance with the devil that we're all going to be witness to one way or the other. Whether or not any Koran gets burned, he's already achieved his aim to a large extent, and we'll have to live with that as well. Let's just hope that witnessing the insanity this has already become and continues to threaten will be the worst any of us is exposed to. Somehow, I doubt it.

Sherlock Holmes Coming Down to the Wire

There's nothing more fun than watching good actors sink their teeth into good material. That's what I get to feast on every day in rehearsals for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure that begins performances on October 10 at Wayside Theatre. John Alcott is a going to be a frightfully good Sherlock Holmes and watching him and David Maga develop the Holmes/Watson relationship is a, well, just pure joy. Of course just watching John Alcott go from playing John Brown to Sherlock Holmes is a treat in and of itself.

Here's a link to some early pre-opening press on the show and while it lays out what we're about, the article can't begin to convey the richness of this show. We move into the theatre this weekend to start rehearsing on stage and I'm getting anxious to get out of the rehearsal room and on to the boards.

Hope you're making plans to see this one.

Sherlock Holmes Diaries

We kick off rehearsals for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure today at Wayside Theatre and amidst everything else we've got going on at the moment, I'm looking very much forward to the calm that comes over me when we walk into the rehearsal room. This piece walks a fine line, and we'll spend the next few weeks discovering it, and then figuring out whether or not we can walk it without falling off. This week is a tough one because we're still running Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse. It closes this weekend and then next week, we're full tilt boogie into Sherlock Holmes land. We'll get the show roughed in with blocking this week, and see what we have by Sunday.

I'm looking forward to this.

Get Ready for Belle Boyd Civil War Spy

Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse isn't the only play we're working on that focuses on the period surrounding the American Civil War. Lee and Brown has two more weekends to run (please come and check it out.) But Wayside Theatre's Education Department is accomplishing amazing things with is Emerging Artists in Action production of Belle Boyd: Civil War Spy.

Belle Boyd only has a four performances this weekend, and we're doing them at Lord Fairfax Community College (thanks for accommodating us LFCC!) The performance are Friday at Saturday at 7:30pm and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30pm.

Not only is the subject matter fun and thrilling as it focuses on a young female who spied for the Confederacy during the Civil War, but how this production is assembled is equally amazing.

The play was written by a team of four teenagers and is performed by all teens as well, under the direction of our Education Director, Sarah Blackwell. These kids researched all summer and then put the play in gear.

Call me biased, call me proud, call me whatever, the play and everything about it is remarkable and is an experienced you shouldn't miss. These young writers did a superb job and the cast has really risen to the challenge.

Speaking of challenges, our design team, did as well. Due to our financial woes, we had to cut all production expenses for this show, but our artists came up with some amazing visuals to help these young people tell the story.

I do hope you can come and see Belle Boyd: Civil War Spy this weekend. You'll enjoy the play, but watching and listening to the young talent is an inspiration that can fill you with hope for the future.

Here's a link to a local article on Belle Boyd: Civil War Spy.

The Day the Bad Guys Won

Just having my buddy John Alcott around on the anniversary of 9/11 brings back memories of that day eight years ago. John was here working on our production of Art that year and that day. We, and everyone associated with the theatre then lived through that day together as we pretended like we were focusing on work, when we had the energy to pretend. John is playing John Brown in our play, Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse. John Brown is a character who we like to ignore in American history, because like Bin Laden, he’s a terrorist, but he is an American terrorist. He brought down the wrath of the Lord on the town of Harpers Ferry, got caught, and was executed. But his demise sealed his ultimate victory in that he succeeded where those who hid behind politics, money, and power, ultimately failed. His raid, his capture, and his execution, brought more attention to the immorality of slavery than ever before and shook the foundations of every institution the country stood upon. Things were never the same in America after John Brown. Things will never be the same in America after 9/11.

As we commemorate that horrible day, I can’t shake the feelings that I have about that day and also about what came after. I’ve said here on these pages many times that the bad guys won, and not just because of the chaos and death that they visited on us that day. The result of that day changed everything about this country and shifted our focus in such bizarre ways, that it is difficult to tie it all back to cave dwellers with a powerful vision of bringing down the most powerful country on the planet.

Lee and Brown: Good Reviews Starting to Roll In

We should see several reviews over the next few days for Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse at Wayside Theatre. The first one came in this morning from the Northern VA Daily and it is a good one. Here’s an excerpt:

Crocker brings the two principals together, after the commotion of the raid and its suppression, to spar in a low-keyed way about the contradictions of their convictions. The scene is both poignant and absorbing.

Check out the full review here and make sure you plan to see the show.

 

Lee and Brown: Bringing Guns to the Theatre

Don’t let the headline of this post alarm you. Although I once had a professor who said that “you’re not doing real theatre unless folks show up with guns to stop you from selling tickets,” I don’t think that’s what the folks who showed up in period ‘attire’ and accessories had in mind at the opening of Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse at Wayside Theatre.

Our production is a big part in the beginning of the multi-year celebration for the Sesquicentennial Observances of the American Civil War that start this year. John Brown’s raid lit the fuse that let to that explosion and events commemorating the raid are a big part of the kick off. We’re honored to be doing the play in that context, and folks who care a great deal about the history of those events are very excited about the play.

So, we had several ladies and gentlemen who decided to deck themselves out and wear their ‘attire’ to the opening night of the play. I found it is called ‘attire’ and not a costume when I made the faux pas of thanking them for wearing their costumes to the event. Hey, I’m a theatre guy and everything is a costume to us in this biz. But, nonetheless, the gentleman with the period rifle attracted quite a bit of attention out front of the theatre and in our concession area before the show, and also at the reception afterwards. He politely checked his fire arm during the play, and I got to remind the audience that they weren’t at the theatre for a Town Hall meeting, even if some of them were armed. 

Lee and Brown: We're Open

I’m not sure when I’ve been this exhausted after an opening. Usually it takes me a few days to recover from the intensity and stress that invades out lives in the run up to an opening night. Maybe it was because in addition to my director and producer hats I was also wearing my playwright hat this time around. But I think a good deal of the exhaustion I’m experiencing had to do with what happened in the hours before we opened Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting The Fuse at Wayside Theatre.

We felt very good about the show after the two previews. Even with the changes we had made in this new edition of the play, we didn’t feel a need to come in and rehearse much before the show. I felt it was more important to give everyone a few hours extra of down time to recoup some energy.

I got into the theatre about 3pm. I had made a few tweaks to the multimedia slide show that runs throughout the production. And I wanted to make sure that if any other tweaks were necessary, I had time to do them. When I fired up the computer and the projector it was obvious there was no signal between the two. So, I rebooted everything and gave it a go. Still no luck. Not really sweating this, I knew we had other computers on hand capable of powering the slides, so I grabbed one and powered it up. Voila, we had a connection. But not so fast. The image looked very dim and the color was off.

Lee and Brown: First Audiences Today

Men, get on your arms. We will proceed to the Ferry. You know what we are about.

That’s what John Brown says to his men on the night that they launched their raid on Harpers Ferry. It seems like an appropriate call today as we head into our first interaction with audiences as well.

When we debuted the world premiere of Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse in 2004 at Wayside Theatre, none of us knew what we had. It was a brand new play, sprung from my mind, and mid-wived to life by a capable production team and cast. Our capabilities have increased tremendously this time around, and is by and large more solid than that first one. That’s not taking anything away from those men who earlier did the journey. They did an excellent job, but this group is a bit more mature in what they bring to the table. The intellectual and passionate arguments crackle with a new fire in this new version, and the action seems much more intense this time around.

I keep going back and forth on whether or not this is another world premiere or not. I’ve made enough substantial changes to the script to warrant the label, but I’ve got a bias here that can’t be overlooked in making that call. Regardless, the play is indeed improved. It feels meatier, stronger, sleeker, and in a good way much, much, much, more complex.

We had a few folks watching the final dress rehearsal last night and they really got caught up in the story. Some were retired military and some were young people from our Youth Ambassadors Guild. Both extremes commented on how powerful the story was and how rich the characters were. The surge of the first act really swept them up, and as the arguments of the play take hold in Act 2, you good hear a pin/pen drop in the theatre. I know because I dropped mine and watched heads turn in disgust.

So, we’ll do the play in front of strangers today. We’ll see how they respond. We’ll make some adjustments. And then we’ll throw this beast at the world with the opening night performance tomorrow. It is going to be a weekend, that’s for sure.