A Documentary Onstage

by Mark Weinberg

FIRES IN THE MIRROR, part of Anna Deavere Smith’s “On the Road: A Search for American Character” series, is a profoundly moving and very human exploration of the terrible events that took place in the Crown Heights neighborhood of New York in 1991. In her introduction to the play, Ms. Smith wrote, “My sense is that American character lives not in one place or the other, but in the gaps between the places, and in our struggle to be together in our differences.” By juxtaposing the actual words of 26 different characters, the play reminds audience members that while none of us can separate our perception of events from the context of our own lives, we must at least make an attempt to understand each other.

The title of the play might suggest that each of us mirrors the world as we see it, often distorting reality in the process, but the performance of it in a theatre, during which each actor plays multiple characters who often see things very differently, offers a site of and an opportunity for reflection where, as one reviewer put it, “the passions and fires of a specific moment can be examined from a new angle, contemplated, and better understood.” The angles at the intersections of experiences, of lives, and of ideas informs every element of MCT’s production of FIRES, from the set to the assignment of roles.

In this way, looking at an event from multiple points of view, FIRES combines the journalistic technique of interviewing subjects with the art of interpreting their words through performance. This style of Documentary Theatre, or Verbatim Theatre, has a long and rich history, extending at least to Erwin Piscator and Bertolt Brecht’s development of Epic Theatre in Germany in the 1920s. Both playwrights used non-realistic theatre techniques to present critiques of dominant ideologies. As in Epic Theatre, the characters in FIRES are not presented as part of a realistic story, speaking as if the events shown to the audience are happening for the first time. Rather, the characters are story tellers, and it is the audience’s task to put the pieces together to make meaning.

Documentary theatre began in the U.S. during the Great Depression. The Federal Theatre Project, originally funded by the U.S. government to employ out-of-work actors and other theatre-makers, developed Newspaper Theatre. During its performances there was no attempt to hide the fact that the actors were representing (not impersonating or living as) the characters. Their performance techniques were meant to comment directly on reality, not to create a fictional place. Information became key, and the audience became the protagonist through what has been called “a rhetoric of fact,” although one could argue that the presentations were designed to present the facts in a certain light. It is not surprising that the government found such presentations subversive and stopped funding the theatre. In Brazil, Augusto Boal’s Newspaper Theatre productions even led to his imprisonment and torture.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ritz-Theatre-Power-1937.jpg

When we look at Newspaper Theatre, and at FIRES IN THE MIRROR, it is easy to see the importance of social and political crises to the playwright’s decisions about content and the performance aesthetic. It is not surprising then that Documentary Theatre became significant again in the late 1960s, when the Civil Rights, Feminist, and anti-war movements, spurred on by overt racism, sexism, and the Vietnam War, compelled a new generation of theatre makers to find techniques to comment on social crises and injustice. Often organizing as collectives, groups like the Living Theatre (PARADISE NOW), Bread and Puppet Theatre (using 12 foot tall puppets to represent corporate America), El Teatro Campesino (performing agitprop plays for farmworkers on the back of trucks), and the San Francisco Mime Troupe (performing plays such as FRIJOLES about economic policy in Golden Gate Park) in the U.S., and The Theatre Workshop’s OH, WHAT A LOVELY WAR! (a musical ostensibly reporting on World War I, but really commenting on contemporary events) in England used highly theatrical presentations of information and opinions to challenge “dominant media and state narratives around economic and social oppression, democracy, equality, and the rule of law.” Simultaneously, author/activists like Daniel Berrigan in THE TRIAL OF THE CANTONSVILLE NINE and Peter Weiss in THE INVESTIGATION used court transcripts to create dramatic accounts of the trial of Catholic anti-war activists and the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials respectively, exploring contemporary clashes between power, justice, law, and morality using the actual words of others.

One can see the movement towards “Verbatim Theatre,” developing plays from the real lives, experiences, and words of actual people-as-characters, as having two branches. One branch is autobiographical in which the artist is source, character, and performer. In plays like Tim Miller’s MY QUEER BODY, Spalding Gray’s SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA, and Holly Hughes recounting of her trial in front of the Supreme Court as one of the NEA Four, the performer’s emotional interpretation of their own experience of reality shapes the narrative and the performance. Closer to home, the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative is creating powerful plays out of their own experiences of oppression to share information and demand change.

The other branch focuses on the interpretation by the performers of the words of other people. Moises Kaufman’s THE LARAMIE PROJECT, which presents the actors as both interviewers and the people they interviewed, is a powerful exploration of homophobia and violence. Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen’s play THE EXONERATED, composed of interviews with individuals who have been released from death row, is designed to create empathy with those who have suffered and to raise questions about the death penalty. Still Point Theatre Collective in Chicago is currently developing a piece by interviewing people involved in the illicit drug trade about their lives.

http://www.annadeaveresmith.org/category/about-anna-deavere-smith/

Anna Deavere Smith is one of the most lauded documentary/verbatim playmakers. FIRES IN THE MIRROR and TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992 (about the Rodney King riots, trial and verdict) have been performed hundreds of times and have set a high bar for this style. Her web page describes her newest endeavor THE PIPELINE PROJECT. Its centerpiece is her play NOTES FROM THE FIELD: “Based on interviews with hundreds of individuals, the play shines a light on the lack of opportunity and resources for young people living in poverty and often suffering with regard to their physical and mental health, and how these circumstances often lead them into the criminal justice system. ‘The Pipeline Project’ also seeks to extend the conversation on these pressing issues beyond the theater into America’s communities through audience discussions, public convenings, and other events.”

Rather than tell us what to think, her plays and projects are an invitation to confront contemporary events and issues of social justice. She honors the individuality of her characters while challenging the societies and cultures in which they live to change. Her plays are emotional calls for empathy, understanding, and action. At the intersection where two directors, two actors, and 26 characters met, MCT’s production of FIRES IN THE MIRROR hopes to stimulate audiences to continue the conversation.

For more information, see http://www.annadeaveresmith.org/. 

Keycards & Comedy: A Conversation with Director Ryan Schabach

by Marcella Kearns

Ryan Schabach has technology on the brain.

“I’m thinking about the play all the time,” he confides. “It’s like software running in the background, constantly updating itself.”

He and I are strolling in Red Arrow Park, under the shadow of City Hall. We’re looking for shade so we can discuss his upcoming work at the helm of UNNECESSARY FARCE, the first production of MCT’s 45^th season. It’s a serendipitously appropriate backdrop—the play follows an accountant and police officers’ undercover hunt to catch an embezzler of city funds.

“Keycards,” he says suddenly. He’s fully present, but I can see the program running, the wheels turning as he walks. He’s operating on fifteen levels at once as we find a bench and settle in. “Right now,” he explains, “I’m thinking about how there are a hundred keycards in this play! I need to track them. We all need to know who has what keycard when. We need to know how long it’ll take to grab a keycard and get through three doors.”

Preparing to direct any piece means combing over an astonishing amount of detail. For Ryan, that includes determining exactly when FARCE takes place, as the script requires specific technology—a video camera behind a ficus, videotapes, a “big brick of a cell phone,” and, yes, that host of hotel keycards.

That’s not all. Playwright Paul Slade Smith has upped the ante on the formula of a bedroom farce with this piece (yep, read “undercover” as a double entendre). Most feature the convention of comic near misses through slamming doors, usually around six; FARCE sports eight. Many classic farces’ characters have the feeling of caricatures; they’re painted with broad strokes. With FARCE, Ryan shares, there’s something extra, something earnest about the heroes of the play. “This is new territory for me,” Ryan says. He’s worked with MCT as an actor, fight choreographer, and playwright, but he’s about to make his directing debut for the company. “I’ve spent so much time on the boards looking and listening out. The director’s job is to be an audience member, to look for clarity of moments. I’ve just got to see if the math works out here,” he adds, laughing.

Given the challenges of this particular play, from its design to that comedy math, he’s confident about how to achieve clarity in rehearsal: working precision and pacing from the beginning. “In order to give my artists the best footing from which to develop the play, I need to start with what is the one thing actors have to be confident on. In this situation, it’s space, surroundings, tempo, pace. We’re going to work on character, yes, emotional values, and more, but first we need to find out when a door slams. That informs the rest. With comfort will come the chance to deepen in.”

I’m not surprised by his reply: Ryan’s one of the most gifted and precise comedians with whom I’ve ever worked. He’s inventive, buoyant, and kind in the rehearsal hall. I ask him about his love for comedy, and he practically glows with his devotion. “Comedy is the hardest of all the genres,” he declares. “It’s taken most of my time and dedication to this craft. I could spend a lifetime figuring out these clown roles. A million lifetimes.”

I detour, jumping on the notion of time. Farce is an ancient form, constantly reinvented with each new generation of audiences. I want Ryan’s take on its thriving in our culture: “Why comedy, why farce? Why don’t humans ever get sick of farce?”

“An innate need to laugh,” he replies, and gazes out at the park. Joggers and Harleys pass us east to rendezvous at Bastille Days. Business-attires ending their days loosen ties and cut corners on crosswalks. Downtown Milwaukee in July is swimming with sunlight and a festival mood. For all that, there’s more to this portrait of a summer afternoon, more to this place than we can speak on in an hour. Yet, Ryan manages to address it as he hits at the heart of this vocation.

“We already live in a world that has a lot of suffering in it,” he reflects. “What if we use comedy to achieve change? What if we say, ‘Let’s laugh at this terrible situation’? In the audience, I may realize ‘Oh, I need to change this.’”

He elaborates. “What theatre does best is that it allows for empathy. Comedy, when produced well, allows the audience to have an involuntary physical reaction. We laugh. When that happens, it makes us instantaneously reflect. It opens our hearts, souls, selves. With that involuntary reaction, we have recognition. We see characters, real characters, in a ridiculous situation, and we think, ‘I’ve been there.’ We laugh, we gasp, we think, ‘I got out of it. Oh! I hope they get out of it!’ Theatre, comedy, allows us to have hope. To believe in hope.

“As opposed to whatever the opposite of comedy is called… tragedy? No, not tragedy...”

We both set to thinking.

“Defeatism,” he decides. “We see a betrayal, a darkness onstage, our empathetic reaction is going to be ‘that’s how the world is.’ You’re defeated.”

Ryan speaks generally in this moment, but I think back to something he’s said early in our conversation—that we, as artists, have a responsibility. I smile. What comes to mind in that moment is a real groaner, but I can’t help but think it: necessary farce.

Here’s to the clowns, Schabach. I can’t wait to see them. Keycards and all.

On Civil War and Civil Discourse: A Reflection on BEN BUTLER

by Robert S. Smith

Despite the Civil War ending over 150 years ago with a Union victory, events in Charlottesville, VA and debates over Confederate statues affirm that indeed the cultural wars spawned from the conflict remain with us today. BEN BUTLER provides a timely, historically significant drama that echoes the persistence of what W.E.B. DuBois coined, “...the problem of the color-line...” While this play captures the set of negotiations that informed the decision that ultimately secured a Union victory – that is, welcoming black people into the war effort so they too could fight to end slavery - the themes of the play ask critical questions about race and race relations in this country.

African Americans have provided valiant contributions to every military conflict that earmarks United States nationhood. From the Revolutionary War forward, Black people have fought and died for a country that, from its inception codified race-based slavery, later recognized Jim Crow segregation, and still fails to resolve racial inequalities in many arenas. From the Colonial Era through the Civil War, the impetus to fight was always freedom and emancipation. After the abolition of slavery, African American participation in military conflicts hinged on the belief that fighting for one’s country would lead to socio-political and socio-economic equality. While many have documented and heralded these patriotic feats and acts of heroism, public awareness of these contributions remains desperately low. The Civil War, however, was a particularly important fight given what was at stake. Despite the incessant denials of Union leaders, led by President Lincoln, African Americans knew the Civil War was a fight over slavery and therefore over their status as people. BEN BUTLER provides a glimpse into the decision that ultimately gave the Union army its greatest weapons; 4 million people who had intimate knowledge of the enemy, and a tireless commitment to throw off the shackles of slavery for good. This exchange between Shepard Mallory and General Butler highlights the historic moment:

MALLORY. General, all I’m saying is that we’ve been trained to build fortifications. We can do that facing north or we can do that facing south. The uniform and the gun and standing alongside your troops, well, that part is up to you.


BUTLER. You are delusional. Do you know that?

MALLORY. We can stay here and help to kill Virginians or you can send us back where we will help to kill you. We want to stay here and help you kill Virginians. That doesn’t seem too delusional to me. That’s just good sense.

Prior to the full welcoming of African Americans into the war effort in 1863, a Union victory remained elusive. The addition of African American servicemen, and Black women in various roles, eventually helped secure a Union victory.

But wartime participation was never a guarantee of full citizenship, especially during the Civil War. In fact, in 1861 African American status before the law was dictated by the pernicious Dredd Scott decision in which it was determined that black people were not and never had been considered citizens of the United States. Contrary to collective imaginings about enslaved people, they were certainly aware of these legal developments and understood that the ending of slavery necessarily included citizenship. Much like the War for Independence, or even WWII as a war against fascism, wartime service was a direct indication of one’s commitment to the nation and therefore ought to include fundamental rights. BEN BUTLER recognizes the ways African Americans navigated the Civil War with an eye on the prize of full citizenship, which to them was synonymous with freedom.

MALLORY. So, I am not a slave and I’m not a free man….What should I say I am?


BUTLER. Why do you have to say you are anything? I don’t walk around telling people I’m a Presbyterian. Just keep your mouth shut.

MALLORY. Yes, sir. I will do that, sir. And thank you, sir.


BUTLER. “Thank you”? For what?


MALLORY. Thank you for, well, for interpreting the law and applying it in such a good way to this particular situation. Thank you, sir.


BUTLER. You really have nothing to thank me for. Your situation is not improved over what it was when you were at Sewell’s Point.


MALLORY. Maybe things aren’t a lot different than they were. But they’re a little different. Just a little. Just a little bit better. When you are counting on favors from white men, I’ve learned not to expect too much.

This exchange also reminds us of the tension between a people daring to be free citizens, and another people who cannot imagine them free, nor as equals before the law. One of the core challenges presented by race and racism rests in the negotiation around Black identity. And it is in this nexus between race and identity where W.E.B. DuBois’ classic work remains so poignant. The legendary scholar wrote, “...the Negro is...born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, - a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world....One ever feels his two- ness, - and American, a Negro: two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body....” This “double-consciousness” where Black people traverse two worlds, one as Black Americans, the other as Black people who live in America, has been protective and made space for revolutionary undertakings. It is witnessed in the performative acquiescence that kept slave owners unaware of slave resistance and revolts; in the formation of Black institutions that softened the blow of Jim Crow and also served as anchors during the Civil Rights Movement; and even in the cultural productivity that hid the nuances woven into Negro spirituals, or in the brash, social commentary of hip hop lyricism. Throughout the play, Mallory has to craftily mask his revolutionary self to keep Butler at ease. The fugitive slave had learned this performance throughout his life as a bondsman. Yet, despite having to perform he nonetheless manufactured a reservoir of human dignity. This nuance is captured here by legendary author Ralph Ellison in his haunting work Invisible Man, “I am not complaining, nor am I protesting either. It is sometimes advantageous to be unseen, although it is most often rather wearing on the nerves.” A similar commentary is found in this exchange between Butler and Mallory:

BUTLER. Mr. Mallory, may I ask you a question?


MALLORY. You’re the general. Seems to me you can do pretty much anything you want. Isn’t that the way it works?


BUTLER. Most of the time.


MALLORY. So ask me.


BUTLER. Are all Negroes like you?


MALLORY. (Takes a moment to consider how he should answer.) Yes, sir. Every one of us is exactly the same. I’m glad you noticed that.


BUTLER. You are making sport of me.

MALLORY. No, sir. I’m just letting you know that once you’ve met one Negro, there is really no point in meeting another one. Don’t even waste your time.

BEN BUTLER uses history to force us to consider our nation’s past, and how its remnants shape our present. It revisits the Civil War, when the nation was nearly torn asunder, and in doing so reminds us of the toll paid along the paths of liberty and democracy. It dares us to remember that African American contributions were central to winning the Civil War, out of which the 13^th, 14^th and 15^th Amendments were born. It requires us to consider the meanings and preservation of identity in the face of daunting attacks on one’s true self. And in our city, like many other cities across this nation, BEN BUTLER dares communities to embrace the distinct wounds that are the progeny of our nation’s failings with racial equality.

Robert S. Smith is the director of the Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach at Marquette University.

Embracing Uncertainty: BEN BUTLER in Rehearsal

by Mike Fischer

“There is a law. The law is clear. Fugitive slaves must be returned to their owners.”

So says General Benjamin Franklin Butler to runaway Virginian slave Shepard Mallory. Mallory is seeking refuge in the Union fort Butler commands in the heart of Virginia. Less than 24 hours earlier, Virginia had formally seceded from the United States. 

As playwright Richard Strand suggests in his play BEN BUTLER, things aren’t nearly as “clear” for Butler as he’d initially imagined. Butler may later say to Mallory that “everything is fine like it is.” But throughout Strand’s play, both the law and life itself prove otherwise, springing surprises that will forever alter the script Butler inherited – while making him a pivotal player during one of the most significant dramas in all of American history.  

With a hefty assist from Mallory, both Butler and his adjutant – Lieutenant Kelly – eventually open their hearts to the prospect that they might play their scenes in that history differently. Strand approached his play with a similarly open mind. “It is hard for me in retrospect,” he said during a March 2016 interview in American Theatre magazine, “to be sure what I had in mind when I wrote the play.”

For trained lawyers like Butler, soldiers like Kelly – and, yes, theatre artists like Strand – moving forward often involves summoning the courage to be uncertain or even lost. Straying from the path opens one to new ways of seeing. It frees the mind of the rituals and conventions that lead us to trace increasingly narrow circles. And it’s integral to how the phenomenally talented Michael Cotey approaches directing, as he’s making clear once again in directing Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of BEN BUTLER.

Multiple Choice(s) . . .

I spent time with Michael and his cast during the second week of BUTLER rehearsals. 

Michael Cotey (left) and the cast of BEN BUTLER:
Marques Causey, Drew Brhel, Chase Stoeger,
and David Sapiro.

The cast’s initial three days of invaluable table work – during which they’d explored the historical background to Strand’s play, as well as what makes their respective characters tick – were now behind them. Full runs of the play – during which the cast starts from the top of the show and works all the way through to the end – were still ahead of them. 

The rehearsals I attended occupied that unsettling but also exciting middle period during which actors were first on their feet, immersing themselves fully in each scene while playing with everything from where they moved to when and how Mallory nudged Butler and Kelly toward a moral awakening. 

Does that awakening happen for both men all at once, like an epiphany? Or did they – like most of us whose nagging conscience natters away at us even as we stubbornly continue to sleepwalk – gradually stumble toward a new dawn?

In challenging his actors to answer such questions, Michael urged them to exercise what Keats once referred to as “negative capability”: opening their minds to the many ways one might play a scene, without prematurely feeling compelled to choose one of them. Actors understandably want to lock down how long they hold a beat, how to inflect a line, and when to move in on a scenic partner; at some point they must do these things so that a production can cohere. 

But just over one week into the rehearsal process, Michael was in no rush for his actors to get there. Doing so risked overlooking possible solutions to a scenic problem – just as Butler risked missing a legal and practical solution to the dilemma posed by runaway slaves if he assumed he already knew all the answers. 

Butler, like the actors embodying this story, needed to take time to ask questions. Was he just going to interpret history? Or would he be an agent who might change it? 

. . . And Alternative Histories

During the two full days I watched rehearsal, Michael repeatedly sidestepped his four actors’ attempts to pin down how they should play a particular moment. 

“Just try something,” he said to them, more than once. Pick a place to stand or move, he’d suggest, without specifying the specific line where it should happen. He and his cast played with adding comic bits – in a script that includes a generous helping of humor – which he freely admitted he might later take out. Michael encouraged the cast to use as much of the stage as possible, while conscious that at some point they’d need to make definitive choices involving direction and space.  

“Everyone right now should be trying all the choices that come to them and seeing how they play out,” Michael said to me during a pre-rehearsal chat in MCT’s conference room. 

“Actors sometimes stop themselves midstream and then back up because they’re afraid of making the wrong choice and are trying too early to make the right one,” Michael continued. “I want actors right now to be making choices that may feel wrong, but that then cascade into other choices we might have otherwise never known are possible. And even if one makes a choice that ultimately doesn’t make sense, it can help us figure out what the right choice is.”

Michael emphasized that as a director, he himself regularly makes midstream adjustments, as he tries to practice what he preaches to his actors: remaining open to the hidden possibilities within a script. A moment. A performance. A life.

“You think you know what you want, but then you see your actors rehearsing the play and you learn more about what the play is,” he said. “You’re also learning how the actors in your cast work, and what’s the best way to speak with each of them about what you see. 

“I often feel full of BS in the early stages of rehearsal, because I know I’ll adjust what I’m saying and how we’ll proceed, based on things I see in the room. That’s why, in the first few weeks of rehearsal, I don’t like giving my cast an ultimate destination or saying ‘this is what you’ve got to do.’ I want them to figure some of that out for themselves. I want us to figure that out together.”

Much as Butler does, with the help of Shepard Mallory and Lieutenant Kelly. 

For what’s true in Michael’s rehearsal room is also true of the characters these actors play in BUTLER: By recognizing that history is contingent and messy rather than preordained, we can better appreciate and more fully inhabit each minute of the present, while leaving ourselves available to the full potential of the future. 

“So many possibilities,” George says at the end of Sondheim’s SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE. For “every second of time,” as Walter Benjamin once wrote, could be “the strait gate through which the Messiah might enter.” One just need open’s one eyes. And see.

MCT Board Member Profile: La Toya Sykes

by Max Seigle

1. WHERE ARE YOU FROM?

I was born in Chicago, then moved to Mendenhall, Mississippi and came to Milwaukee when I was in 6th grade and have never left. My family lived in the Harambee, Franklin Heights and Washington Park neighborhoods and I graduated from Washington High School. From there, I enlisted in the Army and served my tour based in Hanau, Germany. I served as an equipment parts and records specialist, and had to make sure all the weapons had ammunition and computer systems were functioning properly. 

La Toya Sykes with students from Our Next Generation

I returned to Milwaukee and began my higher education receiving an associate’s degree in liberal arts and sciences from Milwaukee Area Technical College. I went on to Concordia University to earn a bachelor’s degree in management and communications. I completed a master’s degree program at Springfield College with a major in human services and minor in community psychology. 

2. HOW DID YOU LEARN ABOUT MCT?

I learned about MCT from current board member Mickey Ripp. In collaboration with my work at Our Next Generation in Milwaukee, Mickey invited a group of Our Next Generation students to attend an MCT show and expose them to a part of the city’s culture they had never experienced before. The show was LOBBY HERO and the students loved it! Afterwards, they were treated to a talkback program with the actors and production staff. It was such a positive and amazing experience that I felt I had to do some work with MCT and that was part of the reason why I joined the board.

The other part was artistic director Michael Wright and managing director Kirsten Finn. They are so open, honest and transparent — you can ask them anything. They are also really good at articulating what a show is about in “real world” terms and selling their product to diverse audiences.

3. WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO BRING TO THE TABLE AS A NEW BOARD MEMBER?

I hope to bring a more diverse population of theatregoers to MCT. I work in a part of Milwaukee where families often budget more to go to the movies and not the theatre because they think it’s too expensive. I want to let them know that seeing a play can be affordable and you won’t “break the bank.” There are so many things that companies, like MCT, do to bring in patrons, like “pay what you can” nights and a variety of subscription packages at different rates. I want my community to become season ticket holders — we just have to get the message to the masses!

4. FAVORITE MCT PLAYS YET?

So far, my favorite play has been SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE JERSEY LILY. It was very entertaining and had a lot more laughs than I anticipated. I also really enjoyed the pace of the production. I brought some of my students from Our Next Generation (third to seventh-graders) and the play kept them engaged the whole time! When we were on the bus getting ready to leave, one of the actors from the show was heading out and came on board to say hi and the kids thought that was so cool! It was the icing on the cake for that visit!

Students from Our Next Generation after a matinee performance of
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE CASE OF THE JERSEY LILY.

5. WHAT DO YOU DO PROFESSIONALLY?

Since 2014, I have served as the President and CEO of Our Next Generation (ONG) in Milwaukee. It’s a nonprofit youth organization with after-school programming during the school year and camp in summer time.

We offer Homework Club which is ONG’s oldest and most time-tested method of academic intervention and relationship building.  Our award-winning Outbound Learning Program combines the academic support and one-on-one mentoring of Homework Club with opportunities to expand students' horizons beyond their own neighborhood.  We bus students to participating corporate and community partner sites, where they meet employee and community member volunteers. This gives students the opportunity to see the possibilities!

We also offer art and literacy programming that most students don’t always get in school anymore. When they came to MCT, they found out that the theatre is a rich space with so many roles to pursue — actors, writers, production staff, administration and more. Over the course of the year, we touch about 1,000 youth and their families. One of the things I love about the opportunity to lead this organization is that, often times, the children are introducing their families to something new and positive in the community based on their experiences at Our Next Generation. 

Before Our Next Generation, I worked for the YMCA of the USA. I ran a college access program in 40 states and created cohorts of professionals to come together to help students find pathways to higher education.

6. WHAT DO YOU DO FOR FUN? ANY HOBBIES?

I love food! I like to go out and try different restaurants and cuisines around Milwaukee.

I love to travel, too. Over the last few years, I’ve been afforded the opportunity to do more travel and visit new places in the world. Last year, I traveled to cities in 10 countries, including Hong Kong in China, Thailand, Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, and Israel. Thailand was probably one of my favorites — the food was great and the people were really friendly and welcoming. When I was there, I had a chance to experience some of the communities more intimately and see how the natives live and eat and just get a whole different level of appreciation there. I love sharing my travel experiences with family and friends and introducing them to parts of the world they’ve never been to. I want to show them that if you work hard, you can play hard, too!

7. WHERE TO EAT BEFORE A SHOW?

I love Mason Street Grill downtown, that’s one of my favorite spots. Emperor of China on Brady Street has really good Chinese food. Five O’Clock Steak House is my favorite place to get a steak in town and they make fantastic homemade desserts. They are not only “bananas” with the steak but “bananas” with the dessert, too!

8. FAVORITE WISCONSIN SPOTS

I like taking getaways to Wausau. The city has a nice small-town feel with great food and a great space for “R and R.” You can really clear your mind for the road ahead.

I really like the Fifth Ward area in Milwaukee. It’s wonderful to see how the neighborhood is changing with new restaurants and revitalized spaces.

I’m a big sports fan and I’m excited about the new Fiserv Forum. I love living in a city where we have so many professional sports and the level of access is really good to get tickets.

I’ve really grown to enjoy what Milwaukee has to offer, and it’s even better now as an adult being able to sprinkle in different entertainment options, like shows at MCT.

9. ANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS YOU ARE A PART OF THAT YOU ENJOY AND WANT PEOPLE TO KNOW ABOUT?

I serve as Vice President of the Zonta Foundation Board, an entity that exists to raise and disburse funds to organizations who share our mission of empowering women and girls through service and advocacy. I also serve on the President’s Advisory Board at Carroll University.  I am a member of African American Ladies Empowered to Grow Opportunities (A-LEGO) and the Milwaukee – WI Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

10. BACK TO MCT: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE PEOPLE IN THE AREA TO KNOW ABOUT THIS THEATRE COMPANY WHO MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH IT?

I would tell people first that MCT is just a darling place to be. There is not a bad seat in the house.

You don’t have to dress up, you can just come as you are and you’ll find the staff is very friendly.

The plays are amazing. These are New York-style shows produced right here in our backyard. The artists are so at point in their craft.


I also tell people that coming to an MCT show is a great date thing to do but coming as a group is a lot of fun, too!

Hot Ice, and Wondrous Strange Snow...

by Marcella Kearns

STRANGE SNOW. When I hear the title of Stephen Metcalfe’s play, I think of war. And comedy. An odd juxtaposition on the surface, but other than the surface reasons — that the play features veterans of war and verbal wit — here’s why: The same phrase appears near the end of William Shakespeare’s comedy A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, a play packed with juxtapositions of opposites and extremes. 

Metcalfe draws his inspiration for the title, he says, from the possibilities and gentleness of snow. (See Michael Wright’s director’s notes when you come to the performance!) Nevertheless, the connection to MIDSUMMER is undeniable and, to me, endlessly evocative.

A tenderer take on Theseus and Hippolyta, as they,
like our protagonists, forge their path through strange snow...

War and comedy. Both SNOW and DREAM open after a conflict and dip into the potential for love. At the opening of DREAM, Theseus, Duke of Athens, addresses his intended, the Amazon queen Hippolyta, with a stark acknowledgment of what has transpired prior to the action of the play: “I woo’d thee with my sword,/ And won thy love doing thee injuries...” (1.1.16-17) He has taken her to Athens without her consent, but plans to wed her “in another key,” shifting the tenor of their initial encounters to “pomp” and “reveling.”

Hippolyta doesn’t have much to say in the first scene. Indeed, some productions of the play have introduced her as a prisoner, clearly unwilling—caged, cuffed, or at the very least staring daggers. Others have from the start softened Theseus’ words and her portrayal to imply that history is history, her assent is assured, and their conflict now is only how to interact with each other in this new “key,” as spouses. 

The beginning of this play, for Theseus and Hippolyta, is aftermath, an attempt at a different path. An extreme shift, like many others: deep young love and passion flipped to disgust and hate, and vice versa, due to fairy mischief. Artisans trying their hands as artists. Fairies altering the very seasons of the earth with their own ferocious conflict. (Anyone recently encountered a 65-degree temperature swing in a day?) 

Most notably in this vein, when Theseus calls for entertainment at his wedding, the piece he chooses is one performed by men of Athens — the tragic story of lovers Pyramus and Thisbe. Why does it catch his attention? The company of performers’ description promises “very tragical mirth.” How can those two things coexist? “Merry and tragical?...” he exclaims. “That is hot ice, and wondrous strange snow!” (5.1.58-59)

There’s that phrase. Hot ice, strange snow. What apparent opposites can coexist.

Listening to rehearsal for STRANGE SNOW across the hall tonight, I hear it. Actor Marques Causey seems to be developing Davey, a Vietnam veteran, as generally soft-spoken (in part, perhaps, due to the character’s constant nursing of a hangover), while Ken Williams’ Megs, fellow veteran, roars with life and urgency. (I even hear him singing as he strides down the hall to his rehearsal call.) 

Within each of these characters a paradox exists: Megs, pouncing voraciously on any joy, welcoming word, kindness, or company, is prone both to utter gentleness and sudden, almost unconscious violence upon himself. Davey pushes company away in one second and runs headlong towards it in the next. 

As Krystal Drake plays her, Davey’s sister Martha, rounding out the cast of characters, defies expectation by accepting a beer for breakfast when she appears to be the most buttoned-down of all. She chooses to embrace rather than shrink from possibility, even as she calls herself a coward. And she sometimes unaccountably, but courageously, stays present for Megs and Davey rather than walking away.

All of them, both within themselves and in relation to one another, are walking paradoxes. Frozen and thawing both.

Martha (Krystal Drake), Megs (Ken T. Williams) and Davey (Marques Causey)
each grapple with the paradoxes of their lives in STRANGE SNOW.

Listening, curious, I find myself this rehearsal night considering what else they share. For some, common ground lies in their history with one another. Megs and Davey claim membership in a fraternity which only those who have been to war can ever know. They share, moreover, a specific wound and loss from their tour in Vietnam. Siblings Martha and Davey, on the other hand, have known the same steep family expectations, pain, and alliances. No surprise on those counts.

For Megs and Martha, however, and the renewed acquaintance of Megs and Davey, this story offers what Shakespeare’s comedy offers: that history has the potential to be history. 

Not something to forget — on that note I wish to be very clear. I refer to history that can be held in memory without forever freezing the character who’s traversed it. Not unlike Theseus’ wish for his marriage to Hippolyta, however flawed or hopeful any production paints the portrait of that relationship, life for these three in STRANGE SNOW continues. And with it, the potential, at the very least, for something new.

Here’s to the seasons altering.

STRANGE SNOW runs Feb. 22 to Mar. 17 at the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre, 158 N. Broadway. Now through Feb. 23, you can take advantage of our Hot Ice Presale and SAVE 25%! Use the code "Hot Ice" in person, via phone at 414.291.7800, or through our online box office.

Meet the Cast of STRANGE SNOW!

compiled by Matthew Reddin

In STRANGE SNOW, by Stephen Metcalfe, a single spring day changes the lives of three lonely individuals -- each isolated from the world by their own personal traumas. Right now, director C. Michael Wright and our cast are working hard in the rehearsal hall to bring these characters to life -- but we're going to take a moment to remind you where you might have seen these three actors before!

Marques Causey as Elegba in THE BROTHERS SIZE.
Photo by Paul Ruffolo.

MARQUES CAUSEY (Davey)

Marques Causey is returning to the MCT stage after appearing in THE BROTHERS SIZE last season as Elegba, and in 2009's PICNIC as Bomber. A native of Milwaukee, Marques received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He has since worked with many theater companies in the area including Renaissance Theaterworks, Forward Theater, First Stage, In Tandem Theatre, Children's Theater of Madison and Door Shakespeare.

In STRANGE SNOW, Marques will play Davey, a Vietnam vet who's struggling to put his memories of the war behind him.

Krystal Drake as Leading Player in PIPPIN at Skylight
Music Theatre. Photo by Ross Zentner.

KRYSTAL DRAKE (Martha)

Krystal Drake is making her MCT debut in STRANGE SNOW! Her most recent appearance in the Broadway Theatre Center was in PIPPIN at Skylight Music Theatre, where she was the Leading Player. Additional credits include: NUBIAN STORIES (Nuba) at Renaissance Theaterworks, THE MIRACULOUS JOURNEY OF EDWARD TULANE (Ensemble) at Children’s Theatre of Madison, THE BED (Ensemble) at Theatre Lila, and BLACK NATIVITY (Mary, Ensemble) at Black Arts MKE & Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Krystal cultivated her craft at UW-Milwaukee where she earned a degree in Theatre, and has also studied acting in Los Angeles at the renowned Ivana Chubbuck Studio.

In STRANGE SNOW, Krystal plays Martha, a high school teacher who tries to care for her brother Davey and finds herself surprised by an instant connection with Megs.

Ken T. Williams as Houston in OCTOBER,
BEFORE I WAS BORN. Photo by MarkFrohna.

KEN T. WILLIAMS (Megs)

Ken returns to MCT after previously appearing in both the staged reading and mainstage production of OCTOBER, BEFORE I WAS BORN, in the role of Houston. He's also acted in MCT's Young Playwrights Festival Showcase. In addition, Ken has worked with some wonderful local companies including Renaissance Theaterworks, First Stage, Optimist Theatre, In Tandem, Windfall Theatre, Summer Stage, Alchemist Theatre, Cornerstone and Bunny Gumbo Productions.

In STRANGE SNOW, Ken kicks the story off as Megs (aka Joseph Megessey), Davey's fellow veteran who knocks on his and Martha's door to take them out for the first day of fishing season.

STRANGE SNOW runs Feb. 22 to March 17 at the Broadway Theatre Center's Studio Theatre. For tickets, call 414.291.7800 or visit milwaukeechambertheatre.com.

Dissecting Directing: Thoughts from YPF 2018-2019

by George Marn & Marie Tredway, compiled by Matthew Reddin

One of the things we love most about our Young Playwrights Festival Showcase is the opportunity we’re able to give to emerging local artists. It’s not just Milwaukee actors who benefit – our directing and design teams are also packed full of talented theatre artists.

Two of those artists are Marie Tredway and George Marn, the director and assistant director (respectively) of THE DIVINE KOMEDY, one of the three plays featured in the Showcase. As they went into tech rehearsals this week, we asked them to share a bit of what they’ve been thinking in the rehearsal room, and what they’ve learned about this piece and about directing. We’ve condensed their responses below – George’s thoughts in blue, and Marie’s in red – to give you a brief fly-on-the-wall glimpse behind the scenes.

These past few rehearsals have been both eye-opening and rewarding, as we've gotten the chance to really fine tune the character moments and tone of DIVINE KOMEDY. I'm always so grateful that we have the cast that we do, and that they've already put in so much work with memorization and character choices. We've added fight choreography, sound cues, and further refined the work we've done at the beginning. Normally I'm not used to having this much time to polish a piece that I'm working on.

I agree with you, George, about our stage of polish versus preparation. Even with such a short allotted rehearsal period, the DIVINE KOMEDY cast is in a great place because of their work put in outside of rehearsals. Their memorization and character intentions are so solid that we can usually fine-tune in rehearsals: fleshing out multi-dimensional characters and working on giving important moments levels. 

That's where some of my questions have come from in the past few rehearsals. Since we're long past working on blocking or memorization, Marie and I having been giving notes on full runs for a while now. I've noticed that I take lots of notes and sometimes I think I'm being too "nitpicky" when I give notes. Do you think being overly specific in notes can be a problem? And when giving notes is it possible to give too many? Sometimes I worry that I might overload our cast. 

I personally don't think specificity is a hindrance. Some people may see it as nitpicky, but the more detailed and thorough a note is, I think it helps an actor. Too many notes at once is a little overwhelming so what I try to do is focus on specific things during a working (start/stop) rehearsal. 

For example, last week I wanted to focus on intentions and objectives. “What is your character trying to change in the other person?” “What's your tactic?” “How does it switch?” So most of our work and notes focused on that. 

Last night we worked on integrating our sound cues helping fill in the different circles of our world – how does Hell differ in Circle Two than in Circle Seven? So my notes included: “How do we use the cues to help visualize and what does that mean for the actors?” We also worked on specific moments in the play – playing up comedic bits, finding the peaks and swells of monologues. 

How far in advance do you plan out your challenges and goals for your actors versus responding to issues in the moment? I really enjoyed the specific rehearsals we had for fight choreography and intimacy.

I try to have a rough outline in my head. For example, I wanted to get blocking out of the way the first session. Then within the first week, I wanted to choreograph all our movement phrases. So I think it's important to have a general plan but because theatre is such a fluid process that's always in flux, plans have to be flexible, depending on what you feel the show needs. Is it missing nuance? Do we need to work on objectives? Do we need to finesse one moment? Gauging how a rehearsal went for the night and utilizing it for planning the next couple of rehearsals is what I usually do. 

Intimacy exercises in particular is something that I like to do a little later on in the process, once the actors are more comfortable with each other and we can focus solely on relationship as opposed to filling out the general framework of first rehearsals. 

MCT’s Young Playwrights Festival Showcase runs this week only: January 10 to 13 at the Broadway Theatre Center, 158 N. Broadway. Tickets are available now at 414.291.7800 or our online box office.