At a panel on the relationship between playwrights and regional theaters, ATL artistic director Marc Masterson pointed out that about 20 regional theaters now have new-play initiatives, compared with just a handful 10 years ago. Representatives from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage, New York's Public Theater, the Denver Center Theatre, and ATL detailed their programs, which include script development workshops, readings, and full productions. In addition, at one of the many networking parties, Freddie Ashley—artistic director of Atlanta's Actor's Express, which focuses on new plays—said that while corporate sponsorship is down for his theater, subscriptions are up.
Shorter Is Better
If there was any trend in the plays presented at this year's festival, it was shorter is better. Of the seven full-length works, only two ran for more than 90 minutes and included an intermission. Otherwise, there was a mix of traditionally structured plays, freeform collaborative creations, and one site-specific comedy featuring the theater's 22-member Apprentice/Intern Company.
The most satisfying of the conventional pieces was Scott Organ's two-hander "Phoenix," an update of the 1963 movie "Love With the Proper Stranger," in which pregnancy turns a one-night stand into a complicated relationship. After a casual hookup with the somewhat nerdy Bruce, traveling nurse Sue discovers she is expecting. Despite their mutual insistence that they don't want a relationship, Bruce pleads to be present when Sue visits an abortion clinic. To add to the plot, the clinic is in Phoenix, the site of Sue's new job, and Bruce lives in Portland, Ore. Studiously avoiding clichés, Organ combines snappy dialogue with pointed observations to create a comedy-drama about a familiar situation with unexpected results. Actors Suli Holum and Trey Lyford found the tender vulnerability and quick wit in this seemingly mismatched pair. Many successful Humana plays have found their way to New York—including "Extremities," "Crimes of the Heart," "Dinner With Friends," and more recently "Becky Shaw" and "This Beautiful City"—but it's usually a year or two after the ATL showing. "Phoenix" must be setting a record: Its New York debut will be April 10, in an Off-Broadway production by the Barrow Group.
Deborah Zoe Laufer's "Sirens" seeks to mine similar observational-comedy veins, but Laufer uses fantasy elements to extract her realistic conclusions. Blocked songwriter Sam is facing a midlife crisis, feeling no passion in his work or his marriage, while his wife, Rose, yearns for more romance. When a mythical siren calls to him during a second-honeymoon cruise, husband and wife must re-examine their priorities. Despite the play's sitcomy tone, Laufer offers pointed commentary on finding your bliss. By the way, "Phoenix" and "Sirens" have plenty of material for auditions and scene study classes.
On the more serious side, Lisa Dillman's "Ground" tackles the hot-button issue of illegal immigration. Set in a New Mexico border town, the play examines the government's crackdown on undocumented workers and its effects on a group of ranchers and laborers. No one is a hero or villain; these are just people trying to get along as best they can. But Dillman stoops to soap-operatics: a long-absent daughter returning to take over her dead father's pecan farm, a Latino protagonist working for the border patrol, the inevitable extramarital affair between them, and a hokey ending involving a tragic accident. The six-member cast gave the material a needed jolt of verisimilitude, and Liza Fernandez stood out as a slightly ditsy, pregnant housewife desperate to make ends meet.
Dan O'Brien's "The Cherry Sisters Revisited" tries for a mix of comedy, drama, and social commentary, but the result is a mishmash of forms. Based on the real careers of five talent-free siblings who stormed the vaudeville circuit in the 1890s, the play wants to be a hard look at the passion for fame at any cost. Like screeching "American Idol" rejects, the Cherrys achieved a degree of notoriety for being so car-crash terrible you couldn't help but watch them. But we never really find out why they continue to brave booing, vegetable-hurling audiences. Sister Effie (a hypnotic Renata Friedman) serves as narrator and hints at her passions in a darkly Brechtian song about love and money, but most of the play settles for laughing at the ladies rather than explaining them.
Unconventional Efforts
The unconventional works met with varying results. "The Method Gun," written by Kirk Lynn and created and performed by the Rude Mechs of Austin, Texas, alternately baffles and dazzles. "Fissures (lost and found)," the collaborative effort of six playwrights associated with Theatre de la Jeune Lune of Minneapolis, eschews character and story for a fragmentary examination of memory.
"The Method Gun" is a sort of mockumentary on the excessive techniques of fictional acting teacher Stella Burden. Set before, during, and after the nine-year rehearsal period for a bizarre revival of "A Streetcar Named Desire" performed by only the minor characters, the play features parodies of self-indulgent acting exercises and reflections by company members, which alternate with monologues by an actor dressed as a tiger, who symbolizes the unpredictability of life that's missing from most conventional theater. "Wouldn't you rather see 'Death of a Salesman by a Tiger'?" the feline asks. The final deconstruction of "Streetcar," performed between swinging light bulbs, is a stunning coup de théâtre, but its purpose is unclear, and the lampoons of acting class are too inside-baseball for a general audience. Nevertheless, of all the Humana plays this year, "The Method Gun" stands out for its daring and originality.
"Fissures (lost and found)" rambles through a series of Oliver Sacks–like anecdotes delivered by four young actors. The disconnected pieces fail to evoke any response beyond mild amusement or slight recognition. They come together at the end when a fifth, unbilled older character (played by Dominique Serrand, the director and one of the playwrights) enters. He delivers a final monologue connecting all the loose strands of the play with a heartbreaking melancholy.
The site-specific "Heist!," conceived and created by playwright Deborah Stein and director Sean Daniels, is a parody of action films like "Ocean's Eleven," "Topkapi," and "How to Steal a Million." Twenty-two members of ATL's Apprentice/Intern Company led the audience through various locations in a downtown Louisville art gallery, as an elaborate plot to steal a priceless painting unraveled. Brett Ashley Robinson as a goofy socialite, Michael Cox as an insane German magician, and Robbie Tann as an overly enthusiastic police commissioner provided the most laughs. This zany prank of a show was a lot of fun, but its specificity renders future productions in other cities unlikely.
The four one-acts, winners of the National Ten-Minute Play Contest, were Gamal Abdel Chasten's "Let Bygones Be," a thoughtful look at the long-term effects of technology; Diana Grisanti's "Post Wave Spectacular," a one-joke comedy about post-feminism; Dan Dietz's "Lobster Boy," a creepy and haunting solo play, performed with understated intensity by Trey Lyford; and Greg Kotis' "An Examination of the Whole Playwright/Actor Relationship Presented as Some Kind of Cop Show Parody," a hilariously self-explanatory riff on play development.
The one-act program was preceded by the presentation of the American Theatre Critics Association Awards for new work. The M. Elizabeth Osborn Award, for an emerging playwright, which comes with a $1,000 check, went to Jason Wells for his play "Perfect Mendacity," which premiered in May 2009 at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Fla. The winner of the $25,000 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, for the best script first presented outside New York City, was Bill Cain's "Equivocation." The runners-up, Donald Margulies' "Time Stands Still" and Karen Zacharias' "Legacy of Light," each received a citation and $7,500. "Equivocation" premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in April 2009 and later played Seattle Repertory Theatre, L.A.'s Geffen Playhouse, and Manhattan Theatre Club. "Time Stands Still" premiered at the Geffen in February 2009 and recently ran on Broadway as part of MTC's season. "Legacy of Light" debuted at Arena Stage in May 2009.
Zacharias' award was accepted by Arena Stage artistic director Molly Smith, who explained that when Arena commissioned the play, Zacharias was pregnant with her third child, had no new ideas, and thought her creative life was over. But she went on to pen four new plays. "So," said Smith, laughing, "it is possible to have a family, be a playwright, and live outside New York City."
The Humana Festival's plays are published annually by Playscripts. Actors may send pix and résumés, along with a cover letter, to Casting, Actors Theatre of Louisville, 316 W. Main St., Louisville, KY 40202, or email auditions@actorstheatre.org. Equity principal auditions for ATL's upcoming season will be held April 26 and 27 in Louisville by appointment only and on April 29 and 30 in Chicago. Equity auditions will be held in NYC in December, dates TBD.