Polarity Ensemble Theatre Blog

by Darren Callahan, photos by Emily Granata

Would you trade places with Tom Jones? On paper, he seems to lead a charmed life. But look a little closer. “The common answer might be ‘yes,’ but I wouldn’t trade places with him,” says actor Marcus Davis. Davis plays the title character in Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s 2012 stage production of Tom Jones. “Tom may have women throwing themselves at him, but every time he gets involved with one, someone seems to be looking to stab him or beat him to a pulp.”

Despite that, the treatment Davis has had in the press has been anything but cruel. In a three-star review, the Chicago Tribune said: “Davis’ choirboy features make for a wholly believable Tom.” The Chicago Reader raved: “Marcus Davis and Alex Fisher are fresh-faced and likable.” In a four-star review, Chicago Stage Style said: “Marcus Davis embodies the more-sinned-against-than-sinning Jones (reminding me of the naively sexy Hugh Grant at his best).” Read reviews.

So how does one uniquely portray a rake, a roustabout, a Man About Town – particularly one known to centuries of readers via Henry Fielding’s classic novel (adapted for Polarity by playwright David Hammond)?

Davis has learned that when someone watches a play, they register what happens as though it were real life. Having the audience come along for the ride, with sympathy for Mr. Jones and all his travails is at the forefront of Davis’ and director Maggie Speer’s minds.

“Every character I do is also an opportunity to learn about myself. The thing that I’ve loved about working on Tom is discovering his pure altruism. His brother treats him like a second class citizen, and still Tom’s sympathies for him are genuine and remain so until the end of the story. There’s so much cynicism in the world today; I enjoy the relief of creating a world where the few who are honest win out in the end.”

But, really – Tom is a bit of a bastard, isn’t he?

Davis may not agree, but he gets to the heart of it when he acknowledges his fellow actors. “First, I’d be remiss not to give a nod to the women who have to put up me and throw themselves at me. They’ve all been good sports. Second, all the people that have fights with me in the show have been fantastic. Stage combat is a big thing for me, and it’s especially when you’re working with good partners, which everyone has been.”

Speaking of ACTION! SEX! DRAMA!…

For a detailed and involving show, with a large cast and ambitious staging, it’s important to keep one’s energy up. “I think everyone underestimates how much energy they have,” says Davis. “Any runner can tell you that they stop feeling tired at a certain point. Not to say my task is as grueling as a marathon, but shutting off the brain and letting the body just do what it knows how to do is the same in both activities. Besides, an audience is a more potent source of energy than any caffeine or B vitamin I’ve had.”

Tom Jones provides Davis a strong vehicle to flex his comic and dramatic muscle, but when asked about any concern of comparisons with past Tom Joneses, particularly the iconic film performance by Albert Finney in the 1963 Tony Richardson version, he replies, “To make a truthful character, actors have to be truthful to themselves. That actually takes care of most of the job when it comes to setting their interpretation apart. I have a unique experience that I bring to the table. If I’m true to myself, then the very things that set me apart as a person will hopefully also be the very thing that makes my performance unique.”

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Tom Jones performs at 1500 N. Bell Street in Wicker Park through April 29. Tickets are $19. Senior discount tickets (age 65 and older) are $15, and student discount tickets are $10 with valid ID. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Seating is general admission. Click here to purchase tickets online or call the box office at 800-838-3006.

by Darren Callahan

Star Wars. Drupelets. And a little show with the clever title of FupDuck. These are just a few of the dozen recent shows that Lene Hardy has stage managed. If you didn’t know, being a stage manager is like being a bass player – you’re always gigging. Stage Management is a special talent. It requires attention to detail, responsibility, ability to influence and please a great number of various personalities, and it requires most of all a love of theatre. Lene Hardy has those qualities in spades.

With Polarity Ensemble Theatre of Chicago’s spring 2012 production of Tom Jones, adapted from the Henry Fielding novel by playwright David Hammond and directed by Maggie Speer, stage manager Lene Hardy brings her best game, including her skills at prop design. So let’s learn more about this fascinating contributor.

Oh, and Captain Neat-o Man. We mustn’t forget him.

If you don’t know how all the roles of theatre fit together as a perfect working machine, perhaps we should start with what a stage manager does. This often unheralded role is actually one of the most critical to a smooth-running production. Often the director can’t be there at every show, so a dependable stage manager is hired. This person is the liaison between the director and the backstage crew, which includes the actors. Present at every performance, the stage manager (or SM for short) keeps the schedule, the logistics, and most of the director’s entire vision intact for every performance. It’s a demanding job for something with little spotlight. Starting in the 17th century, the role was defined and has been leveraged at countless performances over hundreds of years – the SM is a tradition that goes as deep as roles in costuming, design, or stage combat.

Chicago theatre is always clambering for talented SMs. “I came to be SM after the position was advertised on BackstageJobs.com,” says Ms. Hardy. “The posting had a link to the theatre’s website, which helped me get a feel for the theatre as well as the play. I’m new to Chicago and eager to contribute to the theatre scene, so I e-mailed over my resume and met the director for an interview within the week.”

Like finding a bass player who can also sing, Lene was quite the discovery for this production of Tom Jones. She is also the properties master, or the person who designs, acquires, and keeps track of all the necessary objects used within the production. Hardy explains: “When I took on the stage management position, a props master still hadn’t been found. I volunteered since I think the mechanics of props should be worked out early in the rehearsal process instead of coming as a surprise later. By this token, I’ve assembled props for a lot of the shows I’ve stage managed. I’ve worked with productions in the past that get started with just a director, the cast, and me, with the expectation that designers will be found later. In these cases, most of the designers found are also me. Sometimes even having a props master, the rehearsal props I bring in end up being in the final performance. The task can be daunting at times, but I do enjoy the creative aspects of construction, as well as the knowledge that I alone shoulder the responsibility, and if a prop is not finished I have no one to blame but myself.”

For Polarity’s production, Hardy is certainly not alone. To realize Fielding’s immense novel, there is a large cast of 17 actors, who represent even more characters.

“Communication can be difficult,” she admits. “No matter how articulately a statement is worded, the more people hear it, the more chance there is that it will be misunderstood. A lot of my job involves relaying information, which sometimes means asking five or six people the same question and getting answers that seem almost deliberately contradictory.” Hardy compares it to the class game of ‘telephone’ – where a phrase or idea is round-robin’d to determine what’s lost in translation. Hardy is the operator. How to handle this challenge?

“I try to break down the actors into various lists: who needs rehearsal clothes, identify schedule conflicts, even who has to be at what rehearsal. Despite the number of scenes with crowds or large groups, there is a great deal of rehearsal time devoted to principle characters, and it’s a bit tricky coordinating when people will be needed and when their time is going to waste.”

This enormous effort by Hardy is doubled with her props role. The process of prop construction is ongoing. This is particularly true of the props used in stage combat: a cane, a stick, two swords, and three rifles. Here, Hardy is helped immensely by the fight choreographer, a talented costume designer, and the actors themselves. Often, actors are left awkwardly grabbing or getting rid of a prop that hinders more than helps, but this will be cleared up when the blocking is solidified and the set is complete. “Our chief media is paper, a material I enjoy. Each article must contribute to the landscape while remaining functional, with attention to practicality and, more importantly, actor safety.”

Hardy is beholden to the wishes of director Maggie Speer. When handling a specific vision, Hardy’s job is to support all that happens around her, and drop as few (if any) balls of the hundreds in the air at any given time.

As the production moves headlong towards its opening night, the excitement and suspense is something that requires superhero nerves to control. Maybe someone like Captain Neat-o Man! I hate to leave the reader on the hook, but I tell you this – go see Tom Jones, appreciate the fun, the passion, and the craft of the production, brought to you by a great Chicago ensemble. Then, after the performance, sneak backstage and shout, “Ms. Hardy!” The woman who answers will know the identity of Captain Neat-o Man. Guaranteed.

“A week has not gone by without a member of the company making a brilliant point that never would have occurred to me,” laughs Hardy. “And just when it looks like approaching disaster, I am surprised by the generosity and enthusiasm that makes this a truly engaging ensemble.”

Tom Jones performs at 1500 N. Bell Street in Wicker Park through April 29, 2012. Tickets are $19. Senior discount tickets (age 65 and older) are $15, and student discount tickets are $10 with valid ID. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Seating is general admission. Click here to purchase tickets online or call the box office at 800-838-3006.

by Darren Callahan

Playwright David Hammond has waited patiently for twenty-five years to realize his perfected adaptation of Henry Fielding’s classic novel Tom Jones. “I wrote the first version in a great hurry, as a last-minute replacement in the repertory of the now-defunct Valley Shakespeare Festival in California. I arrived to direct a production that had been canceled due to rights issues, so we brainstormed about what to do, and I agreed to adapt Tom Jones.”

Luckily for Hammond, Fielding’s 18th century novel, The History of Tom Jones, A Founding, was one he knew very well. Mr. Jones’ navigation through high- and low-society, with its exploitative streak of bawdiness, was a defining novel of English literature for centuries after publication. Along with War & Peace, it is a story Hammond has read and re-read more than any other work.

In three days, Hammond had written enough pages to begin rehearsals. The speed of the writing, while exhilarating, had also left Hammond feeling the material deserved a more measured approach. “The show was a hit and we did a successful tour, but I knew that some of that first adaptation was smoke-and-mirrors. There were places where I’d patched things together or glided over inconsistencies and missing circumstances, but the arc of the thing, and its spirit, somehow captured Fielding. All that summer, I kept telling myself that I would get back to the script and push it through to real completion.” Little did he know it would be decades before he could again find time for Mr. Jones.

With its spring 2012 production of Tom Jones, Polarity Ensemble Theatre of Chicago continues its mission of producing new works (such as Ghost Watch, The White Airplane, or Kabulitis) alongside classics (A Streetcar Named Desire, Hamlet, and recent 2011 DCA Storefront hit production of Peer Gynt.) Hammond recalls, “The old script sat in my files until a year ago when, out of the blue, two different theatres called asking about the rights. One of the theatres was Polarity, where Maggie Speer, who was my student at the American Conservatory Theatre thirty years ago, is Managing Director. Maggie called my agent in New York asking about the play. She didn’t know at the time that I was the playwright, because I had written that first version, as I wrote everything I did in those days, under a pen-name. Similarly, although Maggie’s name rang a distant bell in my mind, I couldn’t figure out how I knew her. It was quite a moment when we finally met up by email and identified each other!”

Polarity has a solid reputation for respectful insights on rewriting, as evidenced by their annual festival The Dionysos Cup, where new plays receive a high-quality showcase. Hammond leveraged the new interest in Tom Jones to finish his initial vision. “I asked if they could give me a month to rework the script one final time before sending it. They happily agreed, and I pulled out the script and Fielding’s novel. It felt like going home. I had a deliriously happy month working on it. The original structure still held, but I was able to solve things I had avoided the first time around, clear up some loose ends that didn’t really match, further define characters, follow through on details of circumstances, and make an altogether more organic and cohesive work out of it.”

Hammond also brought into the play more of Fielding’s wry humor. The third-person narration of the novel being a challenge, Hammond spent considerable time on retaining the original version’s energy while sharpening the dialog and tightening elements of plot. The novel is over three-hundred thousand words (longer than the last Harry Potter novel!), so to create a tighter, stronger, and funnier version than first existed was a call to arms for the experienced playwright.

“I think the trick was to capture the multiple levels of conflict in the story,” adds Hammond. “There are so many elements: the personal nature of Tom’s and Sophia’s journeys, the different but equally colorful worlds of town and country, the contrasts of wealth and poverty, decadent sophistication versus youthful innocence and idealism, society versus the outsider. And there are also levels of morality: are we answerable to some hierarchical code, not only here on earth but in the eyes of heaven? Are human beings basically good or basically evil? Are weaknesses of the flesh forgiven if the heart is basically well-intentioned? Does God view us with a twinkle in his eye if He knows we try our best? And how do we find a way to live productively and not torture ourselves if we take a wrong step? I think Fielding thinks there’s good in everything if we take things with an occasional grain of salt.”

David Hammond has written adaptations of works by Euripides, Moliere, Beaumarchais, Chekhov, Ostrovsky, Gay, Wedekind, and E.T.A. Hoffmann, as well as several original plays. Hammond has taught on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Yale School of Drama, and the American Conservatory Theatre Advanced Training Program and is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Dramatic Art at UNC-Chapel Hill. He currently teaches for the American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard and is Professor of Theatre Studies and Arts Division Chair at Guilford College.

Tom Jones performs at 1500 N. Bell Street in Wicker Park. Previews begin March 20th, with press opening on Thursday, March 22nd and a Gala Premiere Night Friday, March 23rd. Tickets are $10 for previews, $19 for regular run, and $35 for Gala Premiere Night which includes a post-show reception. Senior discount tickets (age 65 and older) are $15, and student discount tickets are $10 with valid ID. Showtimes are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Seating is general admission. Click here to purchase tickets online or call the box office at 800-838-3006.

David Alex’s play, Adrift, has been selected by Albuquerque’s Fusion Theatre for its 2012 “New Works 4 New Mexico” staged reading series. Adrift was included in Polarity’s 2008 Dionysos Cup Festival. Alex praises the Dionysos Festival’s “creative dual reading and talk back format as an integral part of new play development” and thanks Polarity Ensemble for its continued support of new work by local writers.

by Darren Callahan

Clay Sanderson makes his Polarity debut with Peer Gynt. Recent credits include Jeff in Brigadoon with Light Opera Works, Officer Lockstock in Urinetown at Circle Theatre, and Frederick in Noises Off at Theatre at the Center. He has also appeared in productions with Oak Park Festival Theatre, City Lit, Bailiwick Repertory, Festival 56, and Wagon Wheel. He can next be seen in The Light in the Piazza at Theo Ubique. He holds an MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University.

But – this is the real question – has he ever played a frickin’ troll?

“Well, I’m always looking for my next show, and I saw the audition notice on the League of Chicago Theatres website. I had heard of the play and knew it was a classic, and Polarity is a good company so I signed up for a slot. I got called back for The Troll King and managed to not screw it up, and here I am!” he declares.

I had to ask if, when he was a small child, did he ever dream of playing a troll?

“Can’t say I did,” he replies. “However, I did play ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ at a piano recital once.”

Ah, dreams, so easily fretted away. So how did he build a character based on mythology – did he focus on the troll or the human characteristics?

“I was originally under the impression that the trolls were going to be green creature-type things, but at the first read-through (director) Jeremy Wechsler told us we were to be ‘humanoid’ — not human, but like, perhaps mutant humans. An inbred mining community.”

I asked if he had ever seen C.H.U.D. He had not.

“At first I wasn’t sure what to do, because for months I had been thinking I was going to be playing more of a monster — a kingly monster — and was going to use the same voice I had come up with for the callback. So I had to revamp my entire approach. But with the help of Jeremy’s direction and an idea brought up by Meg Elliott, who plays my daughter, to use Southern accents (since we’re making the setting America by way of Norway), I was able to come up with what I hope is a pretty interesting character.”

So, now I’m super excited to see this troll costume – I picture fangs, maybe a crazy nose, something to make Rick Baker proud – you know, the works.

“Our special effects are our acting!”

Crap.

Well, I’m sure it’ll still rock it. I don’t think there’s been a troll on stage in Chicago in at least, what, three seasons? I’m not counting critics. Wait, did I say that? So, Clay, any particular thoughts about the effect this wacky Ibsen will have on an audience?

“I think that anyone who is familiar with Peer Gynt will agree that it is a challenging play. It is epic in its scope and theatricality, and is like a big Thanksgiving feast with many different courses. Some sections of the feast might be hard to swallow, but I think we can guarantee that you will leave the theater feeling full and satisfied.”

Let’s eat!

Production Details

Peer Gynt ran at the DCA Theater’s Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago’s downtown theater district, from November 15 through December 18, 2011.

by Darren Callahan

Paul Gilvary, composer and musical director for Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s production of Peer Gynt, had a significant challenge – how best to realize Director Jeremy Wechsler’s vision for the Americana influences while staying true to the Norwegian mythology of Ibsen’s rarely done classic. The solution: folk music.

Folk music, a 19th century English phrase, has been characterized by the late 20th century Woody Guthries and Bob Dylans, and parodied in films such as Christopher Guest’s A Mighty Wind. But, at its core, folk music is about the roots of a culture, the smaller experiences of common men and women in the context of nothing but their own lives and fortunes. This fits perfectly with the aesthetic of Peer Gynt, a play based on various blends of Norwegian style, story, and absurdism. “I was playing this type of music when I was a teenager in the 70s,” remarks Gilvary.

Aided by two stellar musicians, Christopher Gagnon on violin and Teddy Stuebi on guitar and banjo, Gilvary, on bass, blends acoustic instruments, percussion, and leads the cast in several rousing numbers. Some of the music is traditional, while other songs are original compositions by Gilvary. “The songs, original and otherwise, pass through the director’s filter,” says Gilvary. “Jeremy also selected the song we play going into intermission.” Don’t That Road is a traditional song that closes the first act in rousing chorus of the full cast and effectively passes the baton from Bryson Englelen’s “Young Peer Gynt” to Richard Engling’s second act “Old Peer Gynt.”

Regarding the director’s influence on the music of the production, Gagnon adds, “Paul received some input from Jeremy. But from my perspective, as is often the case in theatre, the director has an idea for what he wants, but it’s up to the musical director to try to interpret that and translate it into something that makes musical sense. Artistic directors don’t always speak the same language as musicians — and vice-versa — it’s one of the things that makes doing music in theatre both challenging and rewarding: coming to understand how the music and the artistic vision for the play can meet in the middle and result in something that lifts the production without drawing focus from it.”

Two other indelible numbers are placed within the production. Sung by Erica Bittner playing “Young Solveig” is an original composition that sweetly moves the story forward while highlighting the band and Bittner’s striking voice. And, towards a lamentable rough spot of Peer’s life, a promenade of singers belt out a Gospel song, Glory to Thee, while moving across twenty-foot-high risers above the audience.

Regarding the band’s history, Gilvary tells it like this: “Chris and I played together for a production at Strawdog Theater. Teddy and I worked for a show for Silent Theater. With Chris, we played in a band for the play Old Town. Teddy and I were part of a jazz trio for The Set Up where we performed original music. I hand-picked both of these guys because they have talent and are both pleasant to work with.”

With 40 minutes of pre-show music, the three musicians have the opportunity to connect as a band playing a set, and not exclusively as the background for the dramatic action of the play. Before needed at cast rehearsals, the band had opportunities to work out stuff in Gilvary’s studio. “Once we joined the cast, the time to rehearse is scarce. This is always the case when you make music for plays.”

“I’m very happy with how it gelled,” adds Gagnon. “We had good chemistry right from the first rehearsal, and our various talents seem to complement one other nicely.” In fact, the band’s considering continuing to play together even after the close of Peer Gynt. But, strike while the iron (and the band) are hot and see Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s production of Peer Gynt.

Production Details

Peer Gynt ran at the DCA Theater’s Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago’s downtown theater district, from November 15 through December 18, 2011.

by Darren Callahan

Okay. You got me. I’m obsessed. I love trolls. There, I said it. Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s production of Peer Gynt has trolls. Gots ‘em in spades. I’m thinking: I need more trolls. Troll Hunter kept me going for a little bit in my post-Peer buzz. Then came Troll – the Michael Moriarty schlockfest from the mid-1980s. So I moved on to Troll 2, which I heard was bad, knew was bad, and delivered in bad, bad, bad spades. Alas, the joke is on me….Though called Troll 2, they’re actually Goblins. Son of a…

But.

How to redeem oneself after watching Troll 2? I mean jeepers. That’s a bad movie.

By watching “Best Worst Movie,” of course!

BWM is an excellent 2009 documentary following up with the cast and crew of 1990’s Troll 2. For many years, Troll 2 held the lowest rating in the IMDB database – zero stars. But slowly, over the last decade, it has eeked out a more respectable 2.3 stars (out of 10), based solely on the rediscovery by fans as one of the most satisfying terrible movies ever made.

Directed by Michael Stephenson, who played the little boy “Joshua” in Troll 2, BWM starts out as lighthearted self-effacement, but evolves into an affecting portrait of Hollywood dreams destroyed.

The focus is on George Hardy, who played the strapping hero in Troll 2. In many ways, he’s the real-life doppleganger of Eugene Levy’s fictional dentist-turned-actor from Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest’s funny mockumentary about small-town stagecraft from 1996.) Safe and respected as a dentist, the filming of the documentary brings out Hardy’s hubris – big time. At first amused by the cult stardom, then bragging about it, Hardy soon becomes addicted to, and ultimately disillusioned by his limited fame.

A star of a bad movie is still a star and, at first, the film’s fans greet Hardy with overwhelming respect. As he moves across country from horrorfest to horrorfest, the invited guest at fan screenings of Troll 2, he repeats his character’s signature lines ad nauseum.

It’s interesting to see the story of a man with only one success. The director, some of the other stars – they moved on, either to TV or plays or bit parts in movies, or they’ve moved on to greener pastures and look back on the filming of Troll 2 as a strange confluence in their lives. But Hardy, clearly a good man and probably an excellent dentist, seems to have a hole in his life that remains unfilled.

It’s easy for a documentary to pick a story, follow it, perhaps groom it. Was Hardy ripe for this and Stephenson saw a narrative opportunity, stoking the fire? Or are some trips down memory lane a bad idea? You judge for yourself.

At least I got my fill of Trolls for the week. Won’t last, though. I can tell. I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more troll. If you’ve got the same itch, definitely check out Peer Gynt!

For more on “Best Worse Movie,” visit:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1144539/

P.S. As I write this, I’m also watching 1977’s “The Car,” a movie that was given a Golden Rasberry for one of the worst, yet entertaining movies ever made. And, guess what’s playin’ the soundtrack? A song from the opera of Peer Gynt. See, everything is connected. I feel very Zen about this troll thing.

Production Details

Peer Gynt ran at the DCA Theater’s Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago’s downtown theater district, from November 15 through December 18, 2011.

by Darren Callahan. Photos by John W. Sisson. Jr.

Having two actors inhabit a single character is not a new phenomenon.  Having two actors who play the same role and actually like and respect each other, now that’s news!

When Richard Engling, who portrays “Old Peer Gynt” in the current Polarity Ensemble production of the Ibsen classic at the DCA Storefront Theatre, was asked if he was jealous of Byron Engelen, who plays “Young Peer Gynt,” he just laughs.  “He’s really a splendid, charismatic actor. Very talented. Very good-looking!”

Of course, the resemblance is striking, but it’s the unified performance that makes a complete Peer Gynt.  Engelen, who appears in the first half of the play, passes the baton to Engling, who plays Peer later in life.  “I think Richard has sportingly taken upon himself the burden of mimicking some of my mannerisms and tone,” says Engelen.

“But Old Peer has been built more onto Young Peer than anything else, which I think is the most logical approach.  And easiest for me, too, because I am inherently lazy.”

As Polarity’s Artistic Director, Engling has only acted occasionally in the ensemble’s productions.  It begs the question, what led him to this role?  “I begin Peer at the height of his powers. He’s extremely wealthy. He’s an international player. He wants to be the Emperor of the world, and it almost seems he has the possibility of doing that — at least in his own mind.  Then a series of disasters befall him.  It’s quite a wild ride. As an actor it really intrigued me.”

For Engelen, the greatest challenge was being so present in the first act and not at all in the second.  “It’s a little harder to understand the character’s journey and how you are setting up the journey for the second actor when you aren’t really involved in the rehearsal process for the entire second half of the play.  I just had to trust Richard would tie the two together, which he’s done really well.”

With a large ensemble and much collaboration, the process of piecing together Peer Gynt has been energizing for the entire cast.  Says Engling, “The rise and fall of Peer Gynt is very much like the arc of America’s fortunes. America rose from a scrappy trickster to an imperial power and now things are looking pretty shaky.  We are wondering what’s next.  There is a certain way in which Peer Gynt holds up a mirror to the American psyche. Particularly the American male psyche.   So it that way the production has some intellectual depth.”

Engelen agrees: “People play off each other’s energies and ideas, and in a play with such epic situations and tones, it’s really good to have a large cast to help paint that picture.  We also were very open to having fun with the scenes, and (director) Jeremy Wechsler is great in not only giving you free range to play, but also in giving you excellent suggestions to bring more fun to the scene.”

As the two went into opening night, they considered what they would hope to be the audience’s experience.  Engelen sums it up best.  “I’d really like for them embrace the spirit of fun and the larger than life aspects of the play, as well as the honesty and gravity of some of the more serious scenes.  If we’re doing our job, this should be a journey with really high highs and some deep lows.  They should feel free to laugh at Peer and also pity him, to be impressed by his imagination and appalled by his denial of reality and truth.”

Engling revealed another personal source for his characterization. “In the end Peer has to face up to what his life has been. I thought a lot about what my father experienced at the end of his life for some of those scenes. After the show, opening night, my brother Jim told me:  ‘Some times when the light hit your face, I didn’t know if I was looking at you or at Dad.’ So I guess that part of it worked.”

Peer Gynt performed at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago’s downtown theater district, from
November 15 through December 18, 2011. Performances were Thursdays -Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 3pm.

by Darren Callahan

“Multiple troll-courtiers, troll-maidens, and troll-urchins.” This is a real description from the cast of characters of Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s Peer Gynt, translated by Pulitzer-winning poet Robert Bly. I’d talk about Polarity’s awesome production at the DCA Storefront in the downtown theatre district, playing through December 18. Or maybe spill some details about award-winning director Jeremy Wechsler’s long obsession to bring the rare Ibsen play to the Chicago stage. But what I really want to talk about…

…is TROLL HUNTER.

Have you seen it? TROLL HUNTER? It’s a movie from earlier this year. Played the Music Box for a couple weeks. I missed it then, but just caught it on television recently. Spoiler alert: title says it all. It’s about a guy who hunts trolls. For the Norwegian government. In secret. People think he’s hunting bears, but then a curious crew of documentarians stumble upon the hunter’s true mission.

What the hell is Norway’s obsession with trolls?

Trolls. Freakin’ trolls. Big trolls, big as houses. Small ones under a bridge. Ones that can smell a Christian. Ones that hate sunlight. Ones that attack your car and ones that eat your first cameraman. Wait, I’ve said too much.

Though TROLL HUNTER — the first film ever paid for by the Norwegian tourist bureau (I assume because they hate tourists) — is not a great film, it’s still a hoot. I actually much preferred last year’s MONSTERS, which had a similar vibe, but more human roots (ironic, I know, for a film called MONSTERS; but I suppose a film called HUMANS would probably do less box office.)

Andre Overdal, the film’s writer and director, is a first-timer who has clearly seen a Jurassic Park or two. From swiping car attacks to forest chases, this thing is certain to be remade in a Hollywood mold. But would it be trolls, I ask? Trolls do seem so very Scandinavian. Somehow the image of Bigfoot chasing you seems a little silly. But, then again, I bet a Troll chase scene probably looked pretty odd on paper, too. As a matter of fact, much about the film will look déjà vu to anyone who’s seen a monster movie in the last fifty years.

But you can’t deny the awesomeness so seeing that first troll, which doesn’t hit for thirty minutes and then arrives in spectacular three-headed style. It makes me wonder what the Troll King will look like in Polarity’s Peer Gynt. I mean, DCA is a big space, but not TEN STORIES big. But, as the troll hunter himself puts it, “Every one of them is different.”

TROLL HUNTER TRAILER!

Peer Gynt performed at the Storefront Theater, 66 E. Randolph St., in the heart of Chicago’s downtown theater district, from
November 15 through December 18, 2011.

by John Olson

As a 17-year-old American visiting London, Jeremy Wechsler saw a production of Ibsen’s Peer Gynt at Britain’s National Theatre and has never been able to get the play out of his head since. “I was amazed by the scope of it,” he says,” but also by the way it broke my image of Ibsen. I knew Ibsen for the social realism of Hedda Gabler and A Doll’s House, so the poeticism and mythology of Peer Gynt was really unexpected for me.” Peer Gynt takes Norwegian legends and folklore and builds them into an epic legend of a man’s search for his identity; involving nearly 50 characters, 40 scenes and blending fantasy with reality – the real and the surreal. Wechsler had long wanted to direct a production of it and tried to get one mounted in 1995, but says, “It was just too big of a show to do. The size of the cast and technical requirements made it too expensive for companies operating under union contracts, and its demands are beyond the resources of most non-Equity companies. When Richard Engling approached me about directing it for Polarity at the DCA Storefront Theater, I thought this might actually be the opportunity to do it.”

Peer Gynt is in many ways a natural for Polarity Ensemble Theatre, given its focus on new interpretations of classics (as well as productions of new plays). Artistic Director Richard Engling had a connection to the new adaptation of the piece, having met its adapter, the poet Robert Bly, through Bly’s work in the men’s movement. With sixteen actors in the ensemble, there was no trouble casting the 40 roles (with some multiple casting), but the company’s home theater in the Josephinum Academy was simply too small for this epic. However, when Polarity was chosen to stage Peer Gynt in the much larger and better equipped space of the DCA Storefront Theater at 66 E. Randolph, all the pieces fell into place.

The challenges of staging Peer Gynt are nothing new. In fact, the play’s first production wasn’t mounted until 1876, nine years after it was first published. It’s been acknowledged that Ibsen wrote the play without regard for the theatrical stagecraft of his day. Wechsler says “Ibsen’s influences on Peer Gynt were opera, not the theater of his time.” The action moves almost cinematically between time and space, between the conscious and the unconscious. It was Ibsen’s last play to be written in verse, a form which Bly’s adaptation uses as well. Despite these differences from Ibsen’s best-known plays, Wechsler says, “Peer Gynt is sufficiently idiosyncratic among Ibsen’s play that anyone seriously interested in his writing has to pay attention to it.” The Polarity Ensemble production, running through December 18 at the DCA Storefront Theater, will be one of the rare opportunities to see this significant piece by one of the acknowledged “fathers of modern drama.”

Read more about it at http://petheatre.com/peergynt.html.

by John Olson

At first glance, Peer Gynt seems very different from Henrik Ibsen’s later and more frequently produced plays (among them A Doll’s House, Hedda Gabler, and An Enemy of the People), which are known for their realism and social criticism. For one, it’s written in verse and moves from reality to fantasy – borrowing liberally from Norwegian fairy tales rather than being firmly grounded in the stage realism which Ibsen pioneered. Still, director Jeremy Wechsler contends it not only remains emblematic of Ibsen’s later plays in its criticism of 19th Century European society, but is equally biting about our present culture. “What Ibsen’s plays share,” Wechsler says, “is an examination of the stories we tell ourselves as a culture, and a questioning of the validity of those stories. Peer Gynt, though based on a fairy tale, is concerned with a man’s struggle to cope with his family’s belief that it is his destiny to become wealthy, whatever the cost. It resembles Ibsen’s later plays in its challenge of the social mores of the time. Peer is told by his family that he is exceptional and must achieve great financial success, but by the end of the play he learns that he’s just like everyone else. And what does he do now that he has this knowledge?”

Wechsler believes Peer Gynt has parallels to America today and the concept of “American Exceptionalism.” He says, “In an era when the US is deeply in debt to foreign countries and unemployment is at historically high levels, can we still view America as a global leader? And if we’re not the global leader, then what are we? When our cultural expectations are taken away, what do we do – form a new cultural expectation?”

Another parallel to today is in Peer Gynt‘s questioning the morality of the “wealth at any cost” belief system. Gynt, throughout his journeys, amasses a fortune (before ultimately losing it), but he hurts a lot of people in the process. This echoes current criticisms by participants of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and others that charge America’s financial industry with generating massive profits through predatory practices at the expense of the masses.

The societal pressure to succeed in material terms has been particularly focused on men, Wechsler says. Ibsen’s treatment of this cultural expectation is amplified in the translation by Robert Bly that will be performed for this production. Bly, as not only an award-winning poet, but a leading writer of the men’s movement was particularly well suited to ask “what does it mean to be an American male?”

Though Ibsen changed the face of theater, his sharp social commentary hasn’t changed human nature or behaviors. His insights remain relevant nearly 150 years after they were written, and as translated into contemporary American idioms by Robert Bly, their applicability to today will be apparent to audiences of this new version and production of Peer Gynt.

Read more about it at http://petheatre.com/peergynt.html.

by Darren Callahan

Keith Anwar’s Kabulitis had a long and exciting trip to the stage, one guided by the steady hands of director Lavina Jadhwani, who is also Artistic Director of Rasaka Theatre Company and Richard Engling, Artistic Director of Polarity Ensemble Theatre, who also served as the show’s script dramaturg. The script had been in development with Polarity since being selected for the 2010 Dionysos Cup Festival of New Plays, in which it took top honors. Working together, the two companies have brought the script to a unique and original full production for the Chicago stage.

In an interview from her Chicago home, Ms. Jadhwani spoke of the play’s challenges and her tactics for delivering.

“For me, the play is about the character of Mildred and her family’s struggle to figure out how best to support her, while simultaneously try to determine what sort of connection they want to maintain with their past in Kabul, especially in the wake of 9/11.”

Mildred, suffering from late-life dementia, struggles with the good-hearted, but off-target suggestions of her son, who lobbies his mother to move from her home into a full-time care facility. Mildred refuses to go. Confused by the identities of her granddaughter and an Afghani girl taken from her decades earlier, and haunted by ghosts in her basement, she is constantly reminded of her past. Decades before, she lived in Afghanistan as the Western wife of a progressive Afghani husband. With these waves of regret and the instability of the present, the play is a maze of Mildred’s shifting psyche.

“It’s interesting that the play is called Kabulitis,” says Jadhwani, “because the central storyline is very much about Mildred and her son, negotiating their relationship in the wake of her diagnosis.” As a result, we see the flashbacks to her time in Afghanistan (and particular the portrayal of the Mullah and the villain Da’ud) through the lens of her memory. The design team and the director worked together closely to create a world that would be most accurate to the character’s memory and experiences.

Jadhwani was attracted to the character-driven focus of Keith Anwar’s semi-autobiographical story. Though the material is bound to be considered “educational” – meant in the best sense, in that it reveals the deeper struggles of mid-century Afghanistan, a tense time for sexual equality and progressive politics, and puts what we know into sharp relief with Afghanistan today. However, despite the history lesson, the play uncovers the universal connection in the micro-struggles of a family. “I find that a lot of the humanity in the play comes from the humor and finding the moments to laugh in the face of adversity,” continues the director. “So we are leaning in to that, whenever possible.”

Playwright Keith Anwar passed away shortly after completing the final draft of Kabulitis. Therefore, Richard Engling has served as the script’s dramaturg. “He has been a great resource for any questions I’ve had,” Jadhwani says. “On a few occasions, this has resulted in small rewrites, but for the most part the script remains as Keith wrote it.”

Kabulitis is produced by Polarity in association with Rasaka with a multi-ethnic cast and a global story. When asked about the difficulties of directing this kind of collaboration, Jadhwani replies, “There’s a wealth of dramaturgical material to explore, the actors are working with elaborate back stories and navigating difficult dialects, and the design team has the challenge of creating an environment that can span half of the globe and over 60 years.”

Polarity Artistic Director Richard Engling comments on the collaboration: “We wanted the very best possible production for Keith’s play. Working with Rasaka and bringing in Lavina to direct seemed to me a natural choice for digging deeper into the cultural aspects of the script. Whenever we do a new script, our goal is to make it the definitive production. We want to bring out the playwright’s vision to the greatest degree possible.”

At the end of the day, Jadhwani’s approach to the work goes beyond the cultural to the specifically human. She focuses on creating clear relationships between characters, compelling moment-to-moment work in the individual scenes. This work included establishing clear “rules” of the world (especially in a play the features so many flashbacks and memories), and building a strong arc for the piece.

When asked about the enormous challenges of casting – for multi-cultural, to a wide range of ages – Jadhwani admits the process took over a month to complete. In the end, though, she achieved standout performances by all. “I am extremely proud of our cast, their talent, and their level of professionalism, so I consider that time well spent!”

Theatre and film have inter-twined for more than a century now.  Theater artists were some of the first people in front of and behind the camera – just after the inventors made the technology a reality.

Since the zoetrope, people have looked for real people to take the place of cut-out figurines, to trick the eye into believing movement, but also to have them believe emotion.  And now, in the modern age, from the glimpse of long-dead Gene Kelly dancing like I’m sure he never intended to whatever the hell James Cameron is trying to do with face replacement in Avatar, despite our best efforts, real people cannot be replaced.  And those people usually start on stages.  There’s a few “straight to movie stars” out there – your John Travoltas, your Kevin Costners.  But for the most part, everyone starts on the stage.  Just like rock bands start in bars.

Polarity Ensemble Theatre’s been a great home to theatre artists for many years now.  But theatre snobs they are not.  They have a rich connection with film and media that I’ve always admired.  From the stunning trailer to their original work, The White Airplane, to the uber-cool stop motion trailer for last year’s Ephemera to the projected films on the back-screen of Long Day’s Journey Into Night.  Don’t forget the documentary-style teaser for this season’s Kabulitis, or the filmed versions of scenes, such as those for Ghost Watch, and Long Day’s Journey…

Jim Luning, creator of the trailer for Ephemera, is a renowned documentary filmmaker.  His Route 66: Ten Years Later is an entering extension of a previously published photo-laced coffee table book.

Recently, Sarah Grant, who was one of your android escorts in Ephemera, was cast in Under the Table, a horror film directed by Darren Callahan.

Callahan also directed Polarity’s Death & Devils, a play featured in the 2010 Dionysos Cup Festival of New Plays.  “I saw Sarah in a relatively small role in Ephemera,” says Callahan, “I just thought she played it fully.  She was really invested in it.  She didn’t bring unusual attention to herself, except in the exactness of the performance, but she stood out to me.  And, well, I just happened to be casting something right then where she would be perfect.”

Callahan’s horror flick originated on the stage as well – as a festival piece at Chicago’s PROP THTR.

It also features Stefin Steberl, Ashley Ann Woods, and Kristy Scheuer — all veterans of Polarity.  The film was produced by John Klein of Glass City Films who, along with partners Cole Simon, Mike Molenda, and Matt Oliva helped create the Ephemera Video Diaries, three amazing behind-the-scenes mini-docs about the Polarity production.  If you haven’t seen them, you should:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Vy-Y6NOZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3V-cM4iGOP8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn84Round1w

People collaborating, interesting work being done, preserved, discarded, ignored, praised – it’s all part of the marriage of film and theatre.  And Polarity is the preacher.

by Aoife Carolan, Cultural Dramaturg

Kabulitis is set, in part, when the playwright’s Afghan father, M.H. Anwar, returned to Afghanistan with his American wife in the 1940s, during a period of great upheaval in Afghan history. After the abdication and exile of the progressive monarch, Amanullah Khan, in 1929, Afghanistan endured a prolonged and difficult state of transition as different tribal leaders battled for power. Nadir Khan, who had been Amanullah’s Minister of War, finally triumphed, founding the Musahiban monarchy, Afghanistan’s last royal family. After Nadir Khan’s assassination in 1933, his son ascended to the throne at nineteen years of age. His uncle Hashim Khan took on the role of Prime Minister for the next two decades and effectively ruled on his nephew’s behalf.

Hashim Khan established the Musahiban’s reign by prioritizing border stability and military strength. He abolished Amanullah’s Soviet policies, which had sought to improve the rights and education available to women, and grew closer to Germany. Afghanistan benefited greatly from increased trade, training and friendship with Germany before World War Two but remained neutral to appease Britain and the USSR and stave off the ever-looming threat of invasion. Amidst this external pressure, progress within Afghan society ground to a halt as Hashim Khan relied on religious law to govern the people.

“[Hashim Khan] sedulously curried the toleration of the khans and mullahs, particularly among the dominant Pushtuns, by excluding foreign influences, reining in modernization and acceding to tribal prerogatives at the local level. The ulema (Islamic clergy) enforced Koranic law throughout the country. During this period, young men who returned to Afghanistan from their studies abroad armed with notions of forging a unified republic to lead Afghanistan into the modern world ran up against a mud wall of resistance.” [Keith Anwar, Afterword, Memories of Afghanistan]

M.H. Anwar was called before Hashim Khan regularly to defend his wife, who refused to wear the chaderi or live in seclusion. Eventually, it was clear to the Anwars that their efforts to introduce new ideas were not being heard and their safety was becoming increasingly threatened. They were finally forced into exile in 1943.

In the 1970s and 1980s, after the collapse of the monarchy, a civil war and the Soviet invasion, Afghanistan began to make some serious progress with women’s rights under a Soviet-supported Communist Party government . These reforms gave women, the opportunity to work and greater control in issues of health, marriage and education. But the brutal Soviet occupation, which had killed over a million Afghans, tore the country apart and created the conditions for religious fanaticism and terrorist groups. Another grueling civil war led to the fall of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan and the seizure of power by the Taliban regime, a militant Islamist group notorious for their brutality and terrorism, in 1996.

The Taliban maintained the policies the Mujahideen, a union of seven parties of fundamentalists, had put in place as the interim government during the civil war. They had systematically dismissed all female public figures, television presenters and civil servants and closed down the schools for girls. The laws and prohibitions they put in place, based on their interpretation of Sharia Law, were more severe than any other regime in Afghanistan’s history or any other Muslim state. They also established a Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice which mandated that “Women do not need to leave their homes at all, unless absolutely necessary, in which case they are to cover themselves completely; are not to wear attractive clothing and decorative accessories; do not wear perfume; their jewelry must not make any noise; they are not to walk gracefully or with pride and in the middle of the sidewalk; are not to talk to strangers; are not to speak loudly or laugh in public; and they must always ask their husbands’ permission to leave home.” [Hafizullah Emadi, Politics of the Dispossessed: Superpowers and Developments in the Middle East, p. 44]

Most of Kabulitis is set in January 2002, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. For the Anwar family, who were deeply invested in the social progress of Afghan society, the Taliban’s reign in Afghanistan would have been a tragic obliteration of their hopes for its people. The subsequent war between their two countries would have surely been a sad and conflicting affair. Afghanistan is a country always in flux, which has not yet been privileged with the stability and independence necessary to found and nurture a united society.

Read more about Kabulitis.

by Darren Callahan

Charles C. Palia Jr. is one of those Renaissance men who excels at everything… musician, artist, playwright – his life in the theatre has had varied and exciting permutations. Mr. Palia, resident tech director and member of Polarity’s Board of Directors, has made his latest contributions – the set design for Keith Anwar’s original drama for stage, Kabulitis.  The show has its press opening Thursday, September 22 at 8:00 pm followed by the Gala Premiere Night Friday, September 23 at Polarity’s resident space, Chicago’s Josephinum Academy in Wicker Park, where the company has produced 8 plays and 3 festivals since 2009. Mr. Palia has been one of the talents behind the curtain to bring these works to life, including authoring and designing 2009’s The Society of Adventurous Women.

For Kabulitis, Palia’s set design had to accommodate both the present and the past. That’s been done before, and done well. However, what if the past is war-torn Afghanistan – an arid country vividly described in Anwar’s compelling story? To achieve this displacement, the walls have been constructed as translucent with decorative screens and motifs behind them. The basement ceiling is reminiscent of a bazaar. Remarks Palia, “The basement ceiling is reminiscent of a bazaar with jeweled lights. The lights are new – very arts and crafts. So going to Michaels and finding colored glasses, transparent jewels and other goodies to make these lights that glow during flashbacks was fun and new!” All the while, Palia makes sure these choices are in harmony with Anwar’s story.

 

Kabulitis concerns a white, American woman now in her 80′s and suffering from dementia. She has memories of her life with her husband, an Afghani. These memories are so vivid that she believes her husband and relatives live in the basement, fueled by her imagination. She relives moments from her past that are extremely difficult — such as trying to leave Afghanistan before the birth of her son, but being blocked by an unscrupulous government official. Flashing-forward, her now-grown son lobbies his mother to enter an assisted living facility.

Palia continuously reinforces this story with his design choices. “Whenever I design a set I read the script and take notes. I buy a small sketch book and start drawing initial thoughts and impressions. Next, I research Afghanistan homes, Afghanistan interiors, Afghani decorations, and so on. The ones I like I put in a notebook. Then I keep going through the notebook and sketching ideas.” Having never traveled to the Middle East, Palia had to rely on both research and his own inspiration. “The breakthrough for me was an Afghani interior that had horizontal stripes of different colors. So I came up with these stripes in burgundy and dusty rose with white woodworking trim. The light-colored dusty rose panels are translucent. I needed a screen pattern to place behind the set. Interestingly, I came across some inexpensive poultry fencing! In the basement I actually did a three dimensional series of arches from another internet design that are silhouetted behind the brick and concrete muslin wall. The bazaar idea was easy for the basement since I used something similar to that for a production of Necessary Targets. I’ve been designing for a long time, but I’m always surprised by the results and ask myself, ‘Where did I ever come up with these ideas?’”

When asked about the techniques used to transport the audience from place to place, Palia avoids reinvention and, like the main character of Kabulitis, puts an emphasis on past experience. “What’s new is actually old! I haven’t used muslin in years! I didn’t want to make the translucent panels out of scrim because it’s too transparent. Then I remembered that when I used muslin covered flats (well before the invention of luaun) we had to staple cardboard to the backs to keep light from bleeding through. Sometimes we painted them black, but that needs to be done before you paint the fronts.”

 

Kabulitis
is directed by Lavina Jadhwani, Artistic Director of Rasaka Theatre Company, an ensemble dedicated to providing a platform for the artistic expression of South Asian artists. Polarity is working in association with Rasaka on this production to achieve the authenticity and perspective necessary for the script. The script was revised by Anwar shortly after its production in Polarity’s 2010 Dionysos Cup and just before Anwar’s death from liver cancer at age 58, in July 2010.

“It’s very exciting to see the different ethnicities in Kabulitis and the journey they take us through,” adds Palia. “I’d love to rename the Polarity and Rasaka theatre groups and call them Tapestry Theatre!”

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

Charles C. Palia Jr. (Scenic Designer & Technical Director)
Charles is a retired teacher of theatre, speech and English. Currently, he is on the Polarity Board of Directors and is the Resident Technical Director. Charles has a B.S. degree from I.S.U. in Communications, an M.A. in Theatre Arts and an M.A. in Educational Administration from Northern Illinois University. He is a free-lance designer and a former member of United Scenic Artists. For Polarity, he has designed Ghost Watch, The Society of Adventurous Women (which he also wrote), and now Kabulitis. He was Technical Director for Polarity’s Long Day’s Journey into Night. For fun, Charles plays lead guitar in the classic rock group “Union Jack” and bugle in the Chicago Royal Airs Drum and Bugle Corps.

Story courtesy of Polarity company member, Darren Callahan.