An interview with director Shawn LaCount

Anne G. Morgan, Dramaturg: What initially drew you The Overwhelming?

Shawn LaCount: The Overwhelming was one of the most captivating scripts I had read in a long time. Due to the play's structure, its historical themes and the fact that it is mystery and a thriller- I found myself deeply engaged and unable to put the script down. I knew immediately that Company One had to produce it.

AM: What attracts you to the characters and relationships within this story? How do you hope an audience will identify with them?

SL: I find the characters and relationships in The Overwhelming to be real, complex, and quite familiar. J.T. Rogers has created a play that is clearly based on real people and issues. Over the course of the play I sympathize with characters at some points and get frustrated with them at others, much like I do with the people in my own life. This is a testament to the strong writing. I think audience members will identify with different characters and hopefully this will cause some interesting discussions after the show!

AM: Why do you think this is an important story to tell? How do you think this is relevant to today's audiences, 15 years after the genocide?

SL: Although The Overwhelming is set in 1994 immediately before the Rwandan genocide, I really don't see it as a play about the genocide. The play is about nationality, trust, loyalty, conviction, and family. In many ways, the relationship between Jack and Linda resembles the internal struggles of 1994 Rwanda itself. The concept of genocide or holocaust to most Americans is mind-boggling. How could things anywhere ever get so bad that one group of people decides to annihilate another? It is a difficult question, but as Joseph explains to Geoffrey, "It is not hatred that drives" such horrific events, "but fear." I always think the concept of "fear" makes for good drama. People act in the most fascinating and often irrational ways when they are faced with their biggest fears.

AM: This play is set against a very specific historical background. How does influence your approach?

SL: When directing any play, it is of the utmost importance to search for truth through integrity. If you are representing a historically accurate place with real people, it becomes even more important to do your homework and not make assumptions. However, the idea of truth is subjective. The beauty of a play like this one is that 1994 Rwanda sounds like a very different place depending on who is speaking about it. The play tries to look at the situation with the Tutsi and Hutu on a level playing field, but, at the end of the day, I don’t believe that it is possible to have a neutral standpoint on issues of life and death.


AM: What did you anticipate being challenging about telling this story and how have you approached that in the rehearsal process?

SL: This is a very complicated play with lots of information in several languages and many, many characters. As a director, I was worried about telling a clear story that would keep an audience engaged right through the end. Luckily, we have a great team working very hard on the production; from actors to designers to our dramaturge – we have many wonderful collaborators!

AM: What ideas and concepts have influenced your collaborations with the designers? What were your goals for the creation of the physical world of the play?

SL: The entire design team for The Overwhelming has made a concerted effort to keep the staging and the world of the play simple. Our aim has been to clear the way for the most fluid and exciting story possible with very few effects or theatricality. The play wants to feel like a mystery and a roller coaster ride at that same time. Audiences will likely find themselves on the edge of their seats by the time the lights go down.

Piecing it Together

Hello all!

Max here, coming at you again from THE OVERWHELMING rehearsal hall. We have just finished working through all the scenes for at least a second time, and everyday the show is coming together more and more. What's really exciting is that all the actors are off-book and have now formed a very intimate kinship with the text, allowing us to really delve into the story of the play. In addition, whereas before when we were working and running individual scenes, we are now starting to piece numerous consecutive scenes together and even running large chunks of the play at one time. With this, we are now really starting to see how the story of the play as a whole will unfold in our production. The challenge now for the actors and for the director is to find the overall arc and pace of the play. Earlier in the rehearsal process, we focused our attention on the arc of each individual scene. The actors were required to examine where their characters were in the beginning of a scene, where they were at the end of that scene and, most importantly, how they got there. Now, the real challenge is taking all these small arcs and bringing them together to create the arc for the whole play. A big component of this, for the actors at least, is figuring out how to shift emotionally from one scene to the next. In this play, with each scene comes a new time, place, and situation, and the actors must be able to bring their characters along with that, some even having to change into entirely different characters in a matter of only moments. It's a tall order, but our actors are already attacking the challenge head-on.

Another exciting part of our current stage in the rehearsal process is that we've begun to include some technical elements, including sound, props, and set pieces, into scene work. With a show as complicated as this one with regard to the story and technical demands, it's really important to bring in these elements as early as possible, so that the actors and creative team can get a feeling for what will work and what won't. What's always interested me is how even the most seemingly inconsequential prop can be the catalyst for lengthy deliberation among the actors, director, and stage management. An audience member might think that the fact that an actor has a wine glass in one scene is not really a big deal. Yet, much thought goes into how that prop will get on stage, how it will be used, and how it will get off stage in time for when the scene shifts to an entirely new location and time in which that prop is no longer appropriate. Of course, in the end, these technical shifts occur seamlessly, their difficult nature never unveiled to the audience. Some of my favorite memories in theatre are being backstage during a show, when the audience is watching what seems like a simple and easy transition, and yet backstage countless stage hands are running around in a fury in order to maintain that the audience is always none the wiser.

That's about all for now. This week we are going to be running the show the whole way through, and we'll really see what we have on our hands. No doubt it'll be exciting!

Over and Out,
Max

Alycia Marucci, a frog?

Hello again everyone!

Another week down, and I am happy to report that we have made great progress since I last posted. This week has been subject to run-thru's and long work lists of very specific moments. Its working out very well though, the scene between Sayoko and Junpei in college changed a lot this week, and now the moments in that scene are clearer than ever.

I got to play Frog this week! Well, sort of. Mike was not in rehearsal on Monday, so we worked around most of the Frog and Narrator moments, but we had to work a couple of transitions with music, so it was necessary to know the specific timing of the onstage frog to narrator quick change, which means of course that I was asked to put on an overly large mens green jacket, white gloves and the narrator hat. It was pretty hilarious I think, the jacket pretty much swallowed me. I also always feel badly when I have to stand in during scenes, because usually all of the actors are forced to adjust to the fact that I am much shorter than their usual scene partner. If I could I would remedy the situation by wearing super awesome platform shoes, or boots or something, but alas, I am not equipped with such luxuries.

We have the weekend off of rehearsal for the fourth of July, so we will be 4 days away from the show after Wednesday night's run-thru. Usually something falls apart when you take that many days off from a show, so we will see what happens. I am hoping though, that enough has solidified in the last couple of days, and we worked moments specifically enough so that everyone will be able to fall back into it when we come back from the break...and before we know it we will be in tech! I love tech, its my favorite part of the rehearsal process because it moves both the fastest and slowest of all the rehearsals throughout the whole production process. More to come next week!

Alycia

Grace Geller: Take Two

What’s scary about boiling Brussels sprouts? I have no idea, but there’s something creepy when Frog compares inflicting ‘physiological terror’ on Big Bear Trading to boiling Brussels sprouts. This is one of my many favorite moments in “After the Quake.” Murakami is a beautiful author. His words paint an elegant story that has been masterfully translated into a play by Frank Galati.

Despite the shudders Brussels sprouts now give me, “After the Quake” is not about terror. As we’ve been working through the production process there have been many discussions about the element of ‘fear’ in the play. The play hinges on nightmares surrounding the 1995 Kobe earthquake. But, as the title states, it is a play about what happens ‘after the quake.’ It is a play about how people deal with fear – from widespread death and destruction to personal insecurities. The play depicts universal problems and showcases the best of people. There is hope for every character, from the lonely honey bear Masakichi to the central character Junpei. There is hope that everyone can face their fears.

We have a little under a month left and we’ve already started doing runs of the show. Last week we incorporated the musicians into some scenes. Music is a HUGE element to “After the Quake.” The musicians will constantly be on stage and act almost like another character, helping to drive the show. Music is also vital to help the audience understand the progression of the play, as it switches between time, place, and character rapidly. Although I knew all this from reading the play (and seeing all the music cues), it was a shock to hear the musicians actually there working with us in rehearsals. I had grown accustomed to all those awkward moments. But now, music really brings the show together; it fills in pauses and creates charming moments.

Working on the show so far has been a truly rewarding experience. I am able to talk with Shawn (the director) and Liana (the dramaturg) during each rehearsal and then watch my comments effect the scene. I’ve also been working individually with some of the actors before each rehearsal, helping them with character work and their objectives for long monologues. I feel like I’m really a part of the rehearsal process.

I’m off now to start “Norwegian Wood,” one of Murakami’s novels. You should watch the video trailer and get your tickets for this amazing play.

I’ll write again soon!

* Grace

Words with Jon Popp

Yo, what up. This week, instead of your regularly scheduled programming, we have a little treat - an EXCLUSIVE interview with Jon Popp, playing Lee Harvey Oswald. J-Popp has a busy schedule these days, not only rehearsing for the upcoming production, but currently closing out an extended run of THE HISTORY BOYS.

Here's what he had to say:

1) Where are you from originally?

JP: I was born and raised in Gloucester MA, home to the Perfect Storm, St. Peter's Fiesta, and a dying fishing industry.


2) Favorite song?

JP: Easy. Theme song to Gummy Bears. There was a phase in my life when I used to pretend that everything I drank was gummy berry juice which made me bounce really high...later I came to realize that it was just alcohol.


3) Favorite movie?

JP: I'm going to have to pull the dork card with the original Star Wars trilogy. I associate those movies with a period in my childhood where my imagination was on fire...my bed frames transformed into X-wings.


4) What first got you into theater?

JP: My 3rd grade class adapted the story of Little Red Riding Hood and The 3 Little Pigs. I played one of the big bad wolfs. I had a big pre-teen crush on the girl playing Little Red Riding Hood and I think somehow the wires got mixed up. My love for this girl blossomed into a love of theater....love-at-first-bite type thing.


5) As an actor, what are your favorite kinds of stories to tell and roles to portray? What do you enjoy conveying to audiences?

JP: I love stories that easily allow the audiences into their worlds with little resistance. They want to be transported and any show that is capable of doing so has that magic that is just so appealing to me as an actor. In this regard, strong comedic roles with lots of warmth and heart fit this type of story well for me. I find it much easier to engage with the audience if the tension and conventional walls of theater are broken with a few laughs.

6) What's it like playing the infamous Lee Harvey Oswald?

JP: When I told my mom I was playing Lee she cursed me out and said that she was not coming to see it. She has since changed her opinion, but her initial reaction was striking. It's amazing how one person can bring up such strong emotional responses from people. This guy really did have a major impact on people's lives, not just in this country, but an actual global impact. The research has been interesting, mainly because there are so many conspiracy theories to weed through.


7) Why do you think it's important for this play to be done now?

JP: Our nation is in such a state of economic and political turmoil that this upcoming election has become more important than ever. I think it's extremely important to reflect on the past and think about how the consequences of the actions of a small select group of people managed to shape an entire nation.


8) Throughout the course of ASSASSINS, the audience gets the chance to meet these people directly before, during and after their assassination attempts. If you had the chance to meet with Oswald after his assassination of President Kennedy, what would you say to him?

JP: I happen to believe in some of the conspiracy theories that mark Oswald as a patsy, so most of my questions would be focused on who else was involved and exactly how high up the chain of command the assassination plan went. I'd also like to ask him about Marina, his estranged wife. I'd like to see how much his unrequited love was a real motivating factor.


Well there you have it. Much love and thanks to Jonathan for the interview. Look forward to more cast interviews and interactions in the future!

-Nik