A Midsummer Night's Dream's Ray Dooley

Photo by Jon Gardiner

If you've been with us before, then you likely already know Ray Dooley's work. This season marks Ray's 25th anniversary as a company member of PlayMakers.

In our current production of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ray plays three different parts, Philostrate, Snug, and the legendary Puck. Portrayed as Theseus's (Zachary Fine) chief-of-staff, Ray characterizes Philostrate as part muscle, part concierge.

Zachary Fine as Theseus, Arielle Yoder as Hermia and Ray Dooley as Philostrate
Photo by Jon Gardiner

Snug is a member of the mechanicals, amateur actors who present the unwittingly hilarious play-within-the-play. When Snug, who is prone to panic attacks, is cast as the lion, he ends up being more of the cowardly variety, "a gentle beast."

Photo by Jon Gardiner 

Of course, it is his Puck that drives the play and spins the rest of the characters into their dizzied states. Ray refers to him as "a country spirit," rooted deeply in the folklore of Shakespeare's time. Helpful or harmful, he embodies mystery and superstition to explain why things happen beyond our understanding when we step away from society into the wild unknown.

In developing his character, Ray drew inspiration from the John Milton poem L'Allegro. Filled with pastoral images of nymphs and goblins full of joy and mischief among the birds and trees and citing even Shakespeare himself, it is evident Milton had the very Puck in mind when writing it. We have all sides of him, from the unbridled and fanciful:
     Haste thee nymph, and bring with thee
     Jest and youthful Jollity,
     Quips and Cranks, and wonton Wiles,
     Nods, and Becks, and Wreathed Smiles
to the hard-working and dutiful:
     Tells how the drudging Goblin swet,
     To ern his Cream-bowle duly set,
     When in one night, ere glimps of morn,
     His shadowy Flale hath thresh'd the Corn
     That ten day-labourers could not end,
     Then lies him down the Lubbar Fend,
     And stretch'd out all the Chimney's length,
     Basks at the fire his hairy strength

Ray Dooley as Puck and Zachary Fine as Oberon
Photo by Jenny Graham

Among the most formative moments within the rehearsal process were "essence pieces" that director Shana Cooper employed. Actors were given a separate space to develop their own 10-15 minute scenes which gave them room to explore their characters more deeply as well as their relationships with others beyond Shakespeare's text. They used props, everything from ladders to flower petals to buckets of snow. What they came up with helped strengthen their understanding of their roles, and some bits even ended up on stage, such as Puck's playful ladder-balancing act to depict his transformative abilities.

Photo by Jon Gardiner

It is amusing to draw a parallel between Ray's description of Puck as a shape-shifter and Ray's own work on our stage during this production. Slipping in and out of three different roles with three different costumes is no easy feat. Some of his costume changes are so quick they need to happen onstage in mere seconds with the aid of carefully rehearsed lighting cues. In fact, there are times, such as during Bottom's (Julie Fishell) return, when he is actually wearing all three costumes at once. Don't look, but Snug has Philostrate's hat tucked under his arm!

Photo by Jon Gardiner

We'll explore more deeply Puck's devotion as servant to his master Oberon (Zachary Fine) in our next post later this week when we sit in on a conversation between Zach and Ray about their onstage and offstage relationship.

In the meantime, don't miss your last chance to catch A Midsummer Night's Dream! The show closes this Sunday, December 7, so Click Here get your tickets today.

About "Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike"

ARIELLE YODER as Nina (standing), JULIE FISHELL as Masha, CHRISTIAN DALY as Spike, JEFFEY BLAIR CORNELL as Vanya and JULIA GIBSON as  (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

As Christopher Durang points out, Anton Chekhov’s work appears both under and on top of the text of his Tony Award-winning play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. There are numerous parallels, quite beyond the three siblings and their neighbor Nina’s names, to Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, The Three Sisters, The Cherry Orchard, and Seagull. At the same time, however, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is quite clearly Durang not Chekhov. 

Where Chekhov gives us a deeply perceptive human comedy, Durang romps through the lives of his characters with a different sensibility. It is a U.S.-based gusto and brio that draws heavily upon contemporary culture both for its laughs and its poignancy. Durang understands Mark Twain’s comment that “the source of all humor is sorrow” and carefully roots the ridiculous aspects and actions of his characters in a deep comprehension of the Dark Night of Their Souls. Durang also understands Chekhov’s statement, “men dine, they just dine—and in that moment lives collapse, and worlds are destroyed,” with its profound insight that the truly important events in our lives happen without our noticing them. We live them, we don’t comment upon them.  It is only years later, perhaps lying on the analyst’s couch, that we begin to comprehend the confluence of our own actions, attitudes, and emotions that created those moments and their repercussions.  

JEFFREY BLAIR CORNELL as Vanya and ARIELLE YODER as Nina. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

What Durang creates in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike is a contemporary, funny, dysfunctional family with--like all families--its own particular rhythm.  In the process the play investigates what it is to be human, what it is to be in a relationship, what it is to be in a family, what it is to have meaning in your life.  Perhaps the most fulfilled life is the one in which a person is capable of stopping: sitting and watching the elegance and stillness of Durang’s blue heron perched majestically on one long leg as it surveys the pond and searches for its next meal.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be performed at PlayMakers September 17, 2014 - October 5, 2014. For tickets, call 919.962.PLAY (7529) or visit our website.

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike: dress rehearsal

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike opens this Saturday! Here are some photos from the dress rehearsal last night.

 JULIE FISHELL as Masha and CHRISTIAN DALY as Spike. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

JULIE FISHELL as Masha. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

 ARIELLE YODER as Nina, JULIE FISHELL as Masha, CHRISTIAN DALY as Spike (standing), JEFFEY BLAIR CORNELL as Vanya and JULIA GIBSON as Sonia (in background).  (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

ARIELLE YODER as Nina, JULIE FISHELL as Masha and CHRISTIAN DALY as Spike. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

JEFFEY BLAIR CORNELL as Vanya, ARIELLE YODER as Nina and JULIA GIBSON as Sonia. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

JEFFREY BLAIR CORNELL as Vanya and JULIA GIBSON as Sonia. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

 KATHRYN HUNTER-WILLIAMS as Cassandra. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

KATHRYN HUNTER-WILLIAMS as Cassandra and JEFFREY BLAIR CORNELL as Vanya. (Photo by Jon Gardiner)

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will be performed at PlayMakers September 17, 2014 - October 5, 2014. For tickets, call 919.962.PLAY (7529) or visit our website.