Spirited Meeting of Minds in Scott Carter's DISCORD at the Station Theatre

The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord is not what you might call an accessible title, but it does sum up Scott Carter's play quite neatly. In an unspecified afterlife that looks like a plain old room with a table and three chairs, three great men ponder why they're there, if there is a God (or a Holy Trinity) and what the Word of God really means. Each of them, we're told, fashioned his own Bible in his time. Stuck together, they have a great deal of trouble -- or discord -- putting their deeply held beliefs together into some sort of Gospel.

As a Los Angeles Times reviewer put it, this play is "the dramaturgical love-child of 'Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds' and Jean-Paul Sartre’s 'No Exit.'"

Given the idea at the center of Discord, it's hard not to think of Meeting of Minds, the talk show on PBS in the late 70s and early 80s that put together panels of actors playing historical figures. On any given episode, you'd find folks like Attila the Hun, Emily Dickinson and Galileo pulling up chairs, with their discussion guided (and kept entertaining) by host Steve Allen. Scott Carter has given Discord that same feel and energy, with a lot more at stake for the trio he's trapped in Purgatory. They're not just having a chat, they're trying to find a way out. And in the end, faith, truth, fame, fortune, hypocrisy... They're all on the table.

As Dickens, Jefferson and Tolstoy attempt to create a version of the Gospels that works for all three of them, they fall into discord and disagreement right from the start. They can't even agree on what the fundamental basis of God's creation is. Dickens says it's all about the Word, while Jefferson falls on the side of reason and Tolstoy dismisses them both, passionately arguing on behalf of the spirit. By the time each has stated his position, Tolstoy is down to only three words left of the entire Bible.

That all may sound talky or dry, but Carter's script has plenty of spark as it plays out in Urbana's Station Theatre. Director Lindsey Gates-Markel and some helpful captions from lighting designer Jesse Folks define the action nicely, and actors Gary Ambler, David Barkley and Steven M. Keen succeed in creating distinct, pithy portraits of three very different men. Keen's Jefferson is more formal and analytical, Ambler's Dickens is expressive and showy, and Barkley's Tolstoy is overflowing with earthy intensity. If each represents an idea, they're also men when push comes to shove, with regrets, weaknesses and frailties.

It's a neat trick to take something with very little plot and make it seem so active. Kudos to Gates-Markel and her talented cast for mining the conflict and the humor so well.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The original schedule for the Station Theatre's production of The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord called for the show to finish up its run this week. The Station website and its reservation page now indicate that this week's shows have been pushed back two weeks and will take place on Wednesday May 18, Thursday May 19, Friday May 20 and Saturday May 21.

Just to clarify: No shows this week. No shows next week. Shows May 18 to 21. If you would like to make a reservation for the newly scheduled week, please visit the Station's main page and click on "Make a Reservation" or call 217-384-4000 for their box office.

A Little Bit About Lindsey Gates-Markel and Her Role in OR,

Last week I talked to director Kay Bohannon Holley about her upcoming production of Liz Duffy Adams' breezy, boisterous historical romp Or, which opens on Thursday night at Urbana's Station Theatre. Holley's star, playing the role of Restoration playwright Aphra Behn, is Lindsey Gates-Markel, who has taken on some very different roles during her time with the Celebration Company. Gates-Markel has been Eurydice in Sarah Ruhl's play of the same name, Suzanna, the quirky newlywed who has a dangerously close connection to her adoptive brotherin Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw, and most recently, Hamlet. Yep. Hamlet. That's Lindsey as Hamlet on the Station Theatre's poster for their production.

Lindsey is also a writer, editor and all-around interesting person. This is only the tip of the iceberg of questions I need to ask her! But we started with Or, and this is what I found out...

Playing Aphra Behn is certainly different from playing Hamlet, which I think was your last role at the Station.

Hamlet meant great satisfaction at the culmination of a high-pressure role and loads of work. I actually signed on for Or, while Hamlet was still running, with the trust that it would be a lighthearted, sexy jaunt under Kay’s nurturing direction. And so far, Or, has been exactly that experience, with many lovely additional flourishes.

Do you have a favorite role? Is there a particular kind of character or play you are most attracted to?

I started acting with intent when I was thirteen and have stumbled alongside local theater seasons since, but I don’t pursue much interest outside of performance and patronage. I don’t keep up with new scripts or have a list of ideal roles in mind. Meanwhile, live theatre performance has turned out to be the most transformative habit of my life. I’m secretly very shy, and maybe because of that, performing is a compulsion I've indulged since I was very small. Theatre is an exercise in emotion and stories and balance. I learn more about life and other people and the human experience through it. So, at the risk of sounding too Pollyanna, every role is a dream role. I’ve been very lucky.

Tell me about the play Or,. If I’m putting this together correctly, it involves Restoration playwright Aphra Behn, the king, Nell Gwynne and spies. As well as Behn trying to get some work done in the midst of chaos. And kind of mixed with some modern twists. How would you characterize the play?

The play is ultimately about Aphra Behn running full-bent after a golden theatrical opportunity, one she knows will launch her legacy into that of “the f*cking immortals,” and Charles II, Nell Gwynne, and her former partner in the spy game, William Scot, bursting in and bringing delightful distraction with them. It’s fast-paced, clever, bold, and not a little bawdy. And Or, is one rare instance where female empowerment and sexiness aren’t mutually exclusive. In fact, that sexiness is really borne of the women in the play reveling in their freedom to ask for exactly what they want, both in and out of the bedroom.

How would you describe the real Behn versus the Or, Behn?

Lucky for me, very little is known for sure about the real Aphra--she’s indeed considered the first professional female writer, she was indeed a royal spy, she did indeed work with William Scot (whose father was part of the group who prosecuted Charles I and was later hanged for regicide when Charles II was restored to power), and she did indeed spend time in debtor’s prison, which is where the play opens. Much of the rest is a blank page, and filling it in has been pure fun.

However you look at it, Aphra Behn had to be pretty amazing to forge ahead and make a career for herself as a playwright (and a female playwright at that -- inconceivable!) during this period in English history. What do you think makes her different?

Aphra says early on that she “crave(s) glory.” It’s so often the role of women to soften ourselves, to quiet down, to delay our desires and shrug off our talents. Deflecting and downplaying our joy becomes such a habit that we expect it even from ourselves. Kay recently mentioned the word “monomaniacal” in reference to Aphra, and that’s been my mantra ever since. Yes, Aphra wants to screw around with other interesting and passionate and talented people; she wants to help her friend in his moment of crisis; but above all, she is wildly desirous for glory and recognition and heroism. She wants to write. So it’s my exhilarating job to keep that brass ring hung way up high and to keep that spirit pumping through me every second.

As I said to Kay Holley, I think Liz Duffy Adams is a newcomer with a fresh and distinctive voice. What are your biggest challenges in working with Adams' words?

The main reasons this little play is tough are also some of the reasons it’s wonderful--because of the farcical nature and because Adams dabbles so much with mixing time periods. There are sections written in iambic pentameter; there are parts where the “fourth wall” bends a bit. Our delivery swings between presentational and intimate. From a technical perspective, I’m lucky in that I only participate in a little of the door-slamming and in none of the backstage quick-changes--there are several moments where one of my castmates disappears and then returns several seconds later as a completely different character. I don’t envy them that, though it’s delightful to watch from my steady onstage perch.

Have you worked with Kay as a director before? What about the rest of the cast?

This is my second time being directed by Kay, the first being Becky Shaw last season, which also featured Mathew Green. Working with Kay, from day one, is uniquely transformative. She’s so emotionally intelligent, such an empath. And she starts the process with implicit trust in her actors, so we’re really cut free to progress as quickly as we want or as carefully as we need.

I mention Mathew because I’m consistently amazed at how clearly our characters appear out of the ether when we’re working on a scene together, under Kay’s direction. It’s some kind of theatrical alchemy for me. He moves with complete purpose from the word go and never plays a scene by rote. Engaging with him onstage sharpens my instincts. You’ve got to be alert to keep up.

And I’d be absolutely remiss if I didn’t mention Stephanie Swearingen, a relative newcomer to the Station and a devastatingly adorable Nell Gwynne (and several other characters). Stephanie was tasked with venturing out of her comfort zone in this production, and now she’s just doing a bold Mexican hat dance over that line every night. It’s my pleasure to be onstage with her and to witness her progress.

Oh, and that Gary Ambler is okay, too. He’s a cute kid, lots of promise.

Thanks, Lindsey! I can't wait to see Or,!

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And that is just a little bit from the very intriguing Lindsey Gates-Markel. I feel like we barely scratched the surface and like Aphra Behn, there's a lot more to find out. In the meantime, we can all get over to Urbana to see this play about a fascinating woman, written by a fascinating woman, directed by a fascinating woman, and starring another fascinating woman. Don't you just love theatre?

The Post-Modern Female Hamlet? She's Coming to Urbana's Station Theatre

The Station Theatre is getting down with their very own version of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, starting November 1 at the renovated railway station on Broadway in Urbana. You can tell from the neon pink poster above this is no ordinary Hamlet. No, that's not Ophelia you see. That's Lindsay Gates Markel, director Mathew Green's choice to play Hamlet in his production (and adaptation) of the play at the Station.

This will certainly not be the first wildly different Shakespeare we've seen around here, not even the first one at the Station. Karma Ibsen's Southern Zombie Midsummer Night's Dream comes to mind. Looking for new angles and risks fits the Station and its in-your-face mentality.

So why did Green choose a female Hamlet? And why is he adapting the text? Here's what Mathew has to say...

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Mathew Green

The notion of directing Hamlet first occurred to me about six years ago. I was performing in David Lindsay Abaire’s Rabbit Hole at the Station, and my stage wife and emotional sparring partner was Lindsey Markel. During one of our rehearsals, I found myself thinking that Ms. Markel (now Gates-Markel) would make an excellent Hamlet. I don’t recall what was going on that particular evening that might have triggered such a thought, but as we thundered away at each other every night, playing articulate, deeply wounded people who cannot reconcile their reality with the way life was supposed to turn out, the Hamlet inkling took hold.

Over the next few years, as I acted and directed in various plays at the Station (often with Lindsey), I tweaked the idea. Traditional, or contemporary? Full text, or adaptation? Play Hamlet as a man, or flip the gender entirely?

Gradually, as I worked out the myriad kinks, I began to mention the idea to other actors and directors, and I was gratified to receive an overwhelming amount of interest and support. Even with this boost to my creative ego, however, the notion was still just that: a notion. The Station hadn’t produced a Shakespearean piece in many years, and, since there was no shortage of the Bard’s work being performed in the Champaign-Urbana vicinity, there didn’t seem any great hurry.

Cut to last Spring, when Lindsey and I were once again acting opposite each other, this time in Gina Gionfriddo’s play Becky Shaw. Once again, we were in each other’s faces, night after night, this time playing a very different pair of verbally dexterous but emotionally fractured people. The lingering, pestering thought of attempting Hamlet resurfaced, and finally the timing seemed perfect. The selection committee for the Station’s 41st season would soon begin taking submissions, and it had just been announced that – miracle of miracles! – none of the other local theaters’ seasons would include Shakespeare.

“This is my chance,” I told myself, and so I set to work adapting the most intimidating play in the English language to fit the Station Theatre’s space and my own personal storytelling style. I had guidelines for myself to which I adhered strictly: First, I would respect the language and neither paraphrase nor modernize the playwright’s words. Second, I would make judicious cuts to the script in order to bring the running-time down to a coherent but brisk length. And third, I would make this play accessible to young audiences while presenting a Hamlet that would be acceptable to lovers of traditional Shakespeare.

I have always enjoyed the juxtaposition of Shakespearean text in modern (or unusual) settings; this always speaks to me and reinforces the idea that Shakespeare’s work is timeless and universal. Love is love, after all, greed is greed, revenge is revenge. Plus, it seems to me that placing the action of the play in a contemporary timeframe, if done well, is itself a step toward accessibility. And so, my Prince Hamlet exists in a time that is very much like our own, a time in which to be young and royal is to be a celebrity of sorts, and in which tragedies and indiscretions have a way of becoming public fodder. (Prince Harry in Vegas, anyone?)

The types of characters on display in Hamlet are so recognizable in our culture: the power-monger, the lovestruck waif, the hangers-on, and especially the privileged, brooding dilettante. How many television shows currently focus on indecisive, capricious, sulky brats who seldom want for anything but attention? And these shows label themselves as “reality.”

The question that must be answered, it seems, is that of Hamlet’s gender, given that the actor portraying the doomed prince is demonstrably, compellingly female. For me, the central issue of the play is that of a son’s duty to his father. By extension, the problem of being a son is being a man. Hamlet’s indecisiveness and inability to act have always thrown his masculinity into question, and I think that’s why so many women – throughout the history of the stage – have portrayed Hamlet. I honestly can’t say whether my decision to cast Lindsey influenced the direction I went with my interpretation of Hamlet, or whether the direction I wanted to take Hamlet instantly reinforced my selection of Lindsey. Regardless, I have the Hamlet I always envisioned – fiercely intelligent, emotionally complex, with just the right amount of Kanye West. We don’t hide the fact that Lindsey is a woman, but we don’t change the fact that Hamlet is meant to be a man. I can understand where audiences might need a second to wrap their heads around that, but I don’t imagine they’ll need much convincing once the play begins.

As for the rest of my cast, all I can say is that I have assembled such a powerful ensemble. From my Claudius and Gertrude (Lincoln Machula and Carolyn Kodes-Atkinson) to my Polonius (David Barkley) to my Laertes and Ophelia (Aaron Clark and Katie Baldwin) and beyond, I have put together a cast with one important concept in mind: Nearly any of these characters could easily be the subject of his or her own play. Therefore, the actors playing the characters have to be, in a way, the main characters of their own stories. Everyone has to be a lead.

Directing a play with this kind of reputation and scope is daunting, and I have been blessed with great collaborators in my cast. Our Hamlet is a lean, muscular sort of play with tremendous emotional stakes, thrilling language, and the kind of creative flourishes and raw nerve for which the Station is well known. As I write this, we are close to opening the show and giving an audience the opportunity to see how the pieces of this strange puzzle fit together.

HAMLET
a play by William Shakespeare
directed and somewhat adapted by Mathew Green
Nov 1-4, 7-11, 14-17 at 8pm
$10 on Wed, Thurs, and Sun
$15 on Fri and Sat

SPECIAL OFFER – On Wednesday, October 31 (final dress rehearsal) and Friday, November 2, high school students get in FREE. On ANY OTHER NIGHT, for the entire run of the show, high school students get in for just $5!!

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Thanks, Mathew. Definitely intriguing. I'm not a Hamlet purist by any means, but still... I may have to see this one to figure out if it works for me. Not sure I like the idea of indecisiveness and inability to act making Hamlet seem more feminine, but maybe Mathew can tell us more about that and clear up the misconception.

So there you have his concept of Hamlet. Are you convinced? Will you head over to the Station to check it out?

Modern Love Is Messy in the Station's "Becky Shaw"

Gina Gionfriddo is another of the rising playwrights with a "Law & Order" connection. Like Theresa Rebeck, one of the most prominent "Law & Order" playwrights, Gionfriddo has also seen her work performed at Actors Theatre of Louisville as part of its Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Gionfriddo's "After Ashley," about a father and son dealing with the fall-out (and the spotlight) that comes after a terrible crime rips apart their family, was a big hit at the 2004 Humana Festival, making Gionfriddo a finalist for the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award and the John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award.

After "After Ashley," Gionfriddo made a splash with "Becky Shaw," her second Humana play, in 2008. "Becky Shaw" also got a New York run after its Louisville success, with the lovely Annie Parisse (who has a Law & Order connection of her own) in the title role, and the play made Gionfriddo a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. .

Given that the play is about flawed people in pursuit of love, strained finances, social classes and dubious parenting, the title of "Becky Shaw"  definitely conjures up Becky Sharp (conniving social climber) in Thackeray's "Vanity Fair," with perhaps a little George Bernard Shaw (dryly funny social commentary on the mating game amidst the upper classes) on the side.

Gionfriddo's script is pointed and funny at some turns, murky and a little scary at others, as her plot veers off in unexpected directions and her characters continue to reveal layers we don't necessarily expect. In Kay Bohannon Holley's production for Urbana's Station Theatre, I was especially taken with the blind date scene, after newlyweds Suzanna and Andrew, still in the blissful in-love-with-love stage, fix up her adopted brother, Max, with Andrew's new co-worker, Becky, in what is instantly clear was a very bad idea.

Max is a dark and cynical financial planner who loves nothing more than verbally eviscerating his companions. He depends on his wit and intelligence, as well as the fact that he grew up in Suzanna's patrician Southern household to give him a patina of class, to put others in their place. And his blind date, Becky... Is no match for that at all. She is awkward, a little odd, poor, and working as an office temp. She doesn't have a car. She doesn't have a cell phone. She doesn't know how to dress or what to say or what other people's jokes mean. Becky is just plain wrong.

But Max takes her out, anyway, and they are mugged, setting into motion a series of increasingly complicated events. If at first it seemed that Max could eat Becky for lunch, well, Becky has some weapons of her own. Plus there's the small fact that Max is kind of in love (or as in love as it's possible for him to be) with his adopted sister, Suzanna; that Suzanna's mother, Susan, is difficult and cantankerous, too; that Andrew's savior fixation is also less than healthy; and that Becky's black hole of neediness may just be a big ol' con game. Oops.

Holley's staging gives this "Becky Shaw" a sense of urgency and crisp pace, with good interaction and conflict among all five characters. As Suzanna, the somewhat flighty woman in the middle of all the various relationship combinations and permutations, Lindsey Gates Markel never loses sight of her character's through line, pulling us along as well. Mike Prosise matches her well as Andrew, the teddy bear who just wants everyone to be happy, with Joi Hoffsommer adding an amusingly acerbic note as Susan, the fading aristocrat who keeps a boy toy but won't talk about money over dinner.

If Suzanna is the center of the play's universe, Max and Becky are massive solar flares sending heat and sparks all over everybody else. They're both mercurial, manipulative and verbal, in very different ways, and Mathew Green and Martha A. Mills negotiate that difficult terrain nicely.

Jadon Peck's scenic design is also a big asset to the production, with one higher level stage right for hotel rooms and a series of living rooms center stage on the floor. The triangular backdrops (rotated to change the scene from a small apartment to a crummy place and then a posh home) are particularly effective. The "soundtrack" compiled for the show is also spot-on for modern-day romance angst; it's apparently invited so many comments that the folks at the Station have shared the playlist at Rdio and Spotify.

I can't say I fully understand what Gionfriddo was trying to say with "Becky Shaw," but it is definitely a play you'll be talking about after you see it, as you try to puzzle out for yourself who the real villain is, who's lying when, who feels what about whom and why, and which relationships are worth saving. Very intriguing stuff.

BECKY SHAW
By Gina Gionfriddo

The Celebration Company at the Station Theatre

Director: Kay Bohannon Holley
Producer and Assistant Director: Katie Baldwin
Stage Manager: Bradley Ashby
Set Designer: Jadon Peck
Lighting Designer: Samuel Kearney
Costume Designer: Erin K. Miller
Properties Designer: Greta Miller
Sound Designer: David Butler

Cast: Mathew Green, Joi Hoffsommer, Lindsey Gates Markel, Martha A. Mills and Mike Prosise.

Remaining Performances: March 10-11 and 14-17 at 8 pm

Running time: 2:20, including one 15-minute intermission

For reservation information, click here.