Peter and the Starcatcher: Catch it Quick for 'An Awfully Big Adverture'

Peter and the Starcatcher's "awfully big adventure" has audiences, young and old, cheering. Here's what some of the reviews have said about this magical theatrical treat:

Left to Right: Ray Dooley as Lord Aster, Schuyler Scott Mastain as Captain Scott, Jeffrey Blair Cornell as Alf, and Mitchell Jarvis as Black Stache, Photo by Jon Gardiner

CVNC.org
“a moving and exhilarating production just in time for the holidays”

The News & Observer
“a deliriously fun ride”
“a wild romp full of vivid characterizations, clever technical tricks, hilarious puns”

Triangle Arts & Entertainment
“super fun, super-silly entertainment”
“incredible fun and funny”

The Daily Tar Heel
“a funny, bittersweet play that will make you want to never grow up”
“appeals to every member of the audience, both young and old"

Triangle Arts & Entertainment (Triangle Review)
“engaging and exciting, shedding new light on a familiar story”
“a winning production”

The Herald-Sun
“the ideal theatrical experience”
“humorous adventure with lively storytelling and delightful stagecraft.”

INDY Week
"an all ages origin story for Pan"
"tranport[s] the orphans - and us - to Neverland"

Evan Johnson as Peter and Arielle Yoder as Molly Aster. Photo by Jon Gardiner

Journey with us to Neverland before this ship sails away on December 12th.

Click here or call the Box Office at 919-962-7529 for tickets to Peter and the Starcatcher!

Scenic Designer McKay Coble: Making a Magical Neverland

Through her intricate design of Neverland, scenic designer McKay Coble aims to transport the audience back to their childhood where magic feeds off itself and imagination. She wants to remind adults what it was like to be an imaginative kid and create something complicated out of nothing. "I want them to look at the set and go 'Oh, I had a tree house like that, I had a fort. I’ve picked up a switch, and it was a sword.'"

Source: My Modern Met: The ultimate children's pirate bedroom

The design process was much different for this play. McKay first began by looking for common denominators in how children envision and imagine becoming a pirate. "I started looking at treehouses, ropes, ships and all the elements that going into the imaginative world where one might be a pirate. I also looked at found object art where you’re holding a spade and suddenly it becomes a bird."

Sometimes a draft is made, then a model is built. In this production, sketching and modeling were done at the same time since the play is so active. With a large company of 13 cast members, all of whom are constantly doing something, McKay worked closely with the rest of the team to create actions on top of each other and build a world where anything can happen.

"I wanted this set to do a lot of things. It has mermaids, flying, birds, and cats; it has one of everything. The play has lots of opportunities for special effects, and that's a challenge. The set has tons of props and it does everything- it spins and it flips. The technology PlayMakers has sets it apart from the other places where I’ve designed. The technology that we practice and teach is probably some of the best in the country. Our production shops are not afraid to do anything, and they can do anything. We challenge one another and stretch our abilities. There’s very little I can think of that they can't do, so I’m not limited. I can think about people flying and magic without having to worry that we can’t do it- because I know we can."

From right to left: Source: Hub Pages, unforgettable tree houses; Enchanted Forest BC; McKay's sketch of the set

When McKay, who loves the story of Peter Pan, heard that Brendon Fox was directing, she knew she wanted to be a part of this production. "[Brendon] has a mind that runs 500 miles an hour and it's invigorating. Sometimes it feels like you're on a runaway train, but you're always headed in an imaginative direction." McKay says one of the best parts of working with Brendon is that he doesn't come into a show with any preconceived ideas; he works with the team so that one idea triggers another.

Source: Arthur Rackham's "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens"

She and Brendon worked closely together while designing the set, looking at many of Chris Van Allsburg's books, as well as illustrations from Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. This research manifests its oldness in the set indirectly. "I can look at the original work by J.M. Barrie and a million images of Neverland, but for me it's not about that Peter Pan, it's about how he becomes Peter Pan."

To McKay, this is the highlight of our production - the collaborative effort and imagination of the team in creating her vision of how Peter Pan comes to be. "It's the kind of piece where everybody puts out ideas whether they have to do with their particular niche or not and everything works together through constant communication."

Bring a sense of wonder and imagination and join us for Peter and the Starcatcher November 18 - December 12.

Click here or call our Box Office at 919-962-7529 for tickets.

Cohesive Contrasts: A Closer Look at McKay Coble's Scenic Design for An Enemy of the People

An  early sketch of McKay's design.

An Enemy of the People takes place in a Norwegian town circa 1950. McKay Coble's scenic design puts the audience directly in this specific setting by utilizing contrasts between a stark, industrial water feature and an inviting family home.

In order to reflect the action of the play, her design incorporates muted greys alongside brighter colors to symbolize the pessimistic versus the optimistic. On one hand there's the idealistic Dr. Stockmann, morally prepared to do the right thing. On the other is his brother, Peter, repressing the truth for the sake of money and self-interest.

McKay explains, "There's this nugget of idealism with Dr. Stockmann and his family, which I've tried to portray as a sunny, warm, cohesive environment where everything fits together. Their comfortable home contrasts with a grey outside world that threatens to fall apart at any moment."

The Stockmanns' charming 1950s home. Photo by Curtis Brown.

McKay's aim is to create a space in which truth can unfold. Her detailed design allows the actors to discover their reality. And, as always, she's gone above and beyond, fine tuning to be accurate to the time period and support the work of the ensemble onstage.

Look for childhood photos of cast members adapted to fit the era, and notepads, not left blank, but filled with stories to keep the actors engaged in their craft! Details like this are indicative of McKay's meticulous approach to design and her ability to give the actors a realistic space to create, discover, and live in the moment.

Some truly remarkable elements of McKay's scenic design are the set transforms as plot and characters evolve. A monumental transition occurs when the Stockmanns' cozy living room fades into the background and a newspaper office rises to become the focal point. This transition parallels the shift of public opinion away from Dr. Stockmann and in favor of his conniving but impeccably dressed brother, Peter.

The transition from the Stockmann home to the newspaper office. Pictured: Benjamin Curns and Gregory DeCandia. Photo by Curtis Brown.

The water feature surrounding the Stockmanns' home proves to be a stand-out piece of the production. Because water is so integral to the plot, McKay felt it was a necessity to the scenic design. And the moat-like segment of the set is not just there for looks, it serves an important purpose. When the action shifts away from the Stockmanns' home to the office of the town newspaper water begins to fall from piping in the ceiling, changing the mood of the play from happy-go-lucky to ominous and eerie, causing the audience to question what's to come.

Just as his brother, the newspaper, and the townspeople turn on Dr. Stockmann, so does the water. Following a one-sided debate, Dr. Stockmann is bombarded by an unsavory crowd that removes grates from the edge of the set, scoops water from the trough, and throws it in his face. This moment in the play serves as a snapshot of the troubles yet to come for the Stockmann family.

McKay felt the water could represent the truth that's being kept hidden from the townspeople. She explained, "The truth could not be contained, just as the water could not be contained."

The mob entering the Stockmann home. Photo by Curtis Brown.

The feasibility of destroying set pieces presented a challenge to McKay. Once Peter announces that Dr. Stockmann is to be labeled "an enemy of the people," the unrelenting mob takes its aggression out on the Stockmann home. They enter with weapons, and when they're done what was once the safe nest of this loving family appears leveled and torn apart. McKay's design set the stage as the actors embody a whirlwind of destruction, creating a shocking scene that propels the story to climatic heights.

See McKay Coble's fantastic set for yourself. Book your tickets for An Enemy of the People - onstage through March 15!

Click here for more info or call our box office at 919.962.7529.

Director Tom Quaintance on creating a true "Enemy of the People"

Tom Quaintance, director

Although An Enemy of the People was written by Henrik Ibsen in 1882 and adapted by Arthur Miller in the 1950s, director Tom Quaintance believes it is as relevant today as it was for those eras. With characters that grapple with corruption, the influence of money, and the power of the media to shape public opinion, Tom says this play "feels like it could have been written yesterday."

The plot follows Dr. Stockmann, played by Michael Bryan French, who tries to alert citizens when he discovers an underwater spring feeding the successful town spa is threatened by toxic waste poisoning. His brother Peter, played by Anthony Newfield, serves as Chairman of the Board of the spa. He works against his brother, feeling it's in the town's best interest to conceal Dr. Stockmann's findings.

In our current age of leaders with questionable ethics, nonstop surveillance, and unverified media sources, the story of Dr. Stockmann could not be more pertinent. Tom explains:

"It is the story of science versus politics. It is the story of a whistleblower. It is the story of how money influences everything. It is the story of how the media shapes how we view the world. In today’s increasingly divided society, where people increasingly only hear the news and the spin they want to hear, it is an important play."

With the show holding many themes, Tom has collaborated with scenic designer McKay Coble and costume designer Patrick Holt to create a production that evokes the truth and realism Arthur Miller sought to portray when adapting the play.

McKay Coble's scenic design model

Tom describes the costumes as extraordinary. He says Patrick's "control of the color palette and specificity of cut and style tell each character’s story."

McKay's detail-oriented design complements the natural exchanges of the dialogue and allows the actors to discover their own truths within the space. Tom calls it, "both strikingly realistic and beautifully abstract."

Although the play is set in the 1950s, the scenic design utilizes a surrounding water feature inspired by a modern treatment plant. This is purposeful, "to invite the audience to consider the contemporary relevance of the play."

Bottom line: Tom believes An Enemy of the People is timeless and "a critical play for 2015."

An Enemy of the People is onstage February 25-March 15. Do not miss this critical play!

Click here for more info or call our box office at 919.962.PLAY (7529).

Get There Faster: Our Pair of Visiting Actors Talks About IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Todd Lawson and Katja Hill in
It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

Returning to PlayMakers to play the role of Lana Sherwood in It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play has been both a pleasure and a challenge. It's Monday, our day off from the run, and it's startling how exhausted I am. With our busy schedule of eight shows this last week, resulting in two double-show days fraught with twice the amount of time wrangling elaborate victory rolls on my heavily gelled and ossified hair, the joy of acting has shown its flip side as quite a bit of hard work. It's impossible to do each show well without sufficient rest in between.

It may have something to do with the nature of the show itself. Frank Capra's famous film is episodic, with a seeming cast of thousands popping up in multiple locations that zoom in and out in quick succession. It's also longer than the runtime of our play, adapted by Joe Landry. Translating this vivid world to a single unit set of a theater -- with a shorter run time to tell the tale -- takes a great leap of imagination and careful choices. Our director Nelson Eusebio accomplished this task with a small cast of five actors, one foley artist, and a shrewd economy of staging with tireless attention to what is perhaps the least glamourous element of playmaking outside of the sheer slogging work of learning lines: those infernal transitions!

What's a transition? Well, that means any change from scene to scene. On any given page in Landry's script, we could be in the radio studio, heaven, Martini's bar, Nick's bar, the Building & Loan, 320 Sycamore, mean old Potter's office, Zuzu's bedroom, or half a dozen other places. And despite the beauty and careful detail of McKay Coble's art deco set, Burke Brown's magical lights, and Rachel Pollock's elegant, beautifully tailored costumes, we don't use much other than four chairs, a few microphone stands, and Mark Lewis's savvy sound effects to establish those worlds. The changes from moment to moment are very much actor-driven and therefore, subject to human error. And for a while there, it was usually mine. The success of it all depends on a nimble cast to zip through what our director calls "the tops and tails" of every scene. Without Capra's camera to direct the eye, any one of us could shake an audience's focus, attention and interest in a poorly wrought scene change. Staying ahead of the audience is vital, though extremely difficult with such a well-known holiday classic tale. 

For my part, the name of the game is always "Get There Faster!" In heels, no less. So much of playmaking comes down to utterly mechanical stuff that would bore most folks to tears if they had to sit through a cue-to-cue tech rehearsal.  No, it isn't sexy, but those matters present actors with countless opportunities to kill a show with their bare hands if they're not ready to pounce on the transitions. It's odd how this awareness has changed what I've learned to see as an audience member. The best directors are those who are able to be fleet-footed in the changes from scene to scene so that the show can literally get out of its own way, but few want to spend precious rehearsal time thinking such things through. Our audiences are fortunate that Nelson did. 

Katja Hill

Todd Lawson as George Bailey (center),
with Maren Searle as Mary and Brandon Garegnani as Clarence.

Hey there folks,

So I traveled down to PlayMakers Rep from Brooklyn, New York, on a chilly October day, not really knowing what to expect. I couldn't have asked for more. What a welcoming company and community.  The experience here has been amazing. I was thrilled to be able to play one of my favorite characters of all time, George Bailey. But, to then be surrounded by such talented and generous souls while doing it has been the icing on the cake. It truly is A Wonderful Life here in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. If you haven't gotten a chance to come see the play yet, I hope you come share my joy for this wonderful story in this wonderful place during this wonderful holiday season. Thanks PlayMakers and Chapel Hill.  Hope to see ya again soon.

Todd Lawson



IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY adapted by Joe Landry
November 28 – December 16, 2012
Directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III
JUST THREE PERFORMANCES LEFT!

A Studio Becomes Bedford Falls: Designing the Set for IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Scenic Designer McKay Coble on her set for PlayMakers' It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

The backdrop for It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play

I had mixed feeling about accepting this design assignment! While I grew up in a Miracle of 34th Street house, I married an It’s a Wonderful Life man. My husband Frank, is such a fan of the movie that it is a really big deal when we watch it. The house has to be decorated, smell like pine and cookies. I think the wind even has to blow in a certain direction before we are allowed to watch it. We all watch as a family almost like it is a ritual, and my now-college-age daughters have fallen under the same spell. It is a real part of our holiday. My girls vie for who will get to say Zuzu’s line about her flower.

Through McKay's sketches,
the set takes shape

I was ambivalent about whether I should be part of a project that my family would clearly see as alien but was then intrigued to see if I could get the same response from them through a live performance. I was also pretty sure that this would be a challenge for other It's a Wonderful Life fans, to see “their” story out of context. “Make Frank Cry” became the rallying cry for the production team as we tried to bring the classical tale to life with a fresh approach and with reverence for the iconic movie.

My idea started, as does the script, in the studio of a radio station. Using the mechanics of the studio I start to drop hints from the movie into the space. This ultimately changes the space from a studio to the layered world of Bedford Falls. I use iconographic images from the  movie and bring them in so the audience members catch them out of the corner of their eye. My favorite is the moon over Manhattan that starts to morph into the lassoed moon Mary draws for George.

Zu Zu Ginger Snaps

I also have some 1946 product placement at the front of the stage with an ad for ZuZu Gingersnaps. I never understood why George and Mary’s other kids had such regular names--Tommy, Janie, Pete---and then Zuzu.  I looked it up: it really is a gingersnap!

I loved working with Nelson, who was so creative in his use of props and staging to move us subtly from the black-and-white studio approach into the colorful world of It’s A Wonderful Life. I don’t like colorized movies. This time I think it works!

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY adapted by Joe Landry
November 28 – December 16, 2012
Directed by Nelson T. Eusebio III
SECURE YOUR SEATS NOW

Designing the world of "The Parchman Hour"

When audiences enter the theater to see The Parchman Hour, their eyes will probably go straight to the life-sized bus onstage.

"The bus became the real tag for me as so much of this story and the story of the civil rights movement involves buses," says set designer McKay Coble, citing the story of Rosa Parks, the strategy of the Freedom Riders and the bus-burning incident at Anniston as examples. But there's more to the set than the bus.

The scale model of McKay Coble's set design

Coble also says she incorporated T.V. sets into the design to highlight the discrepancy between the "lighthearted and a little sexy" vsion of "a bright new world" broadcast on television and the grim problems actually occurring in the '60s.
wikti
"We are using a clip of a Greyhound commercial (and it is one of many travel logs) that show a journey that was supposed to be representative of the trips folks took on buses in 1961," Coble says. "I think the photos of the Greyhounds we see used for the Freedom rides - particularly the one at Anniston - tell a very different story."

As many television sets were still in black and white in 1961, Coble set the majority of the play in the color scheme. "The play starts out in color and we lose it once we get to the prison," she says, citing the achromatic prison uniforms seen in Parchman and the mug shots of the Freedom Riders as examples of the black and white design elements.

Coble says that the return of color at the end reminds audiences "that the movement was forward - still with a way to go, though." The use of color was also inspired by the artwork of Charlotta Janssen, whose work Coble discovering when researching the world of the play.

portrait of Rosa Parks by Charlotta Janssen

"She has created remarkable collage and painted portraits based on the mug shots of the Riders that have become so iconographic," Coble says. "It is rich and deep and passionate- makes complete sense to me."

36 Hours, 25 Actors, 100+ Crew - It's Tech! Part 1

Previews begin Wednesday and that means - Tech! Also known in the theatre world as Hell Week and with good reason. Tech refers to the stage of rehearsal when the company moves into the actual theatre for the first time. This is first time anyone has acted on the finished (almost) set; light cues are developed now that the actors on stage and sound cues are run in real time. This is a grueling process - painfully slow - sometimes even going line by line, while the tech crew and the designers add all of their cues. Around here, Tech usually starts the Friday before previews and runs through Sunday night. All total, the NicNic cast and crew were in the building for upwards of 36 hours over the weekend. 

Another PlayMakers tradition is Sundown Supper. This is a dinner provided for the cast and crew by volunteers and PRC administrative staff. It always takes place on the Sunday of tech, because let's face it - everybody's too tired to go scrounge up dinner in the short break that they get. Because there are two parts to NicNic, there are two Tech weekends and two Sundown Suppers. The first, which took place on Sunday, had an English theme. A Shepherd's Pie cook-off to be exact. Below you'll see pictures from both the dinner and Sunday's tech. 

These are our Sundown Supper volunteers. These guys not only cook, they serve the cast & crew and help with set-up & breakdown. Our Suppers wouldn't be possible without them!

Co-directors Joe Haj & Tom Quaintance and assistant director Mike Donahue work out some staging logistics while the actors are still on dinner break. 

If you've been following the blog at all, you've seen McKay Coble's set develop from a rough sketch to finished sketch to model. Here's the real thing! It always amazes me how much it looks like the model! 

Even after 30 hours of rehearsal in two and a half days, actors' spirits seem to be high. Above we see Jeff Meanza relaxing with his iPod as he waits for the evening session to begin. 

Flor De Liz Perez and Jeffrey Blair Cornell

David Adamson and Matthew Murphy

Tom Q. is often on stage during this Tech process, to talk to actors, designers and stage managers about what's going on. 

Costume designer Jan Chambers takes advantage of a break in the action to make some adjustments to Jeff Cornell's costume. 

Joe H. discusses a transition with actors Jimmy Kieffer and Lenore Field. 

Check back tomorrow for more pictures from tech! Coming later in the week, a new post from Rachel Pollock!

First Rehearsal - The Joys of a Read-Through

We rarely take photos of first rehearsal, but when it comes to the biggest show in our history, exceptions have to be made. The first rehearsal is typically  a read-through, as you'll see here. 

This is our rehearsal hall, which is large enough to tape out the actual specs of the stage. With a set as amazing as McKay Coble's, the taping process includes a complicated color-coded system of tape, indicating everything from stairs to moving platforms. 

Co-directors Tom Quaintance and Joseph Haj confer during rehearsal 

(also company member Kenneth P. Strong and playwright David Edgar)

Playwright David Edgar joined the company for the first week of rehearsals

(also pictured stage manager Sarah Smiley)

Long-time company members Ray Dooley, Dede Corvinus and David Adamson

Associate DDA Chair and company member Jeffrey Blair Cornell, acting graduate student Joy Jones, and undergraduates Sarah Berk and Jeb Brinkley, and Allison Altman (recent graduate from UNC and the Department of Dramatic Art.)

Guest actor Justin Adams (Nicholas) prepares for the read-through

While the company was doing table work, everyone gathered in our rehearsal hall, however that phase was completed on Saturday and now they've divided into two spaces in order to double the rehearsal time. More pictures will be coming soon! 

Of Course There Must Be Costumes

So you've seen the CHART (if not, see video Casting Process with Joe & Tom -June). Costume pieces for a show the size of Nicholas Nickleby number in the hundreds! 

Costume designer Jan Chambers started with the color palette below and began sketching only to end up with hundreds of sketches. I've worked in this building for almost 10 years, so you'd think that the level of talent around me wouldn't really surprise me anymore, but it always does. First McKay's model and now this amazing costume process!

These following are research images Jan and co-designer Jade Bettin pulled to get a feel for the period.

Below you can see only a child's handful of the initial "rough" sketches she did as a jumping off point. These were done before casting had even been completed, but notice that many of them are done based on how the 150 roles would be divided among 25 actors. When you see a series of sketches on one sheet, Jan often assumed that one actor would be playing all those roles and sketched accordingly.

In the coming weeks, as we follow the costume process, you'll hear from Jan directly in a video she was kind enough to do for us. She'll explain how she tackles a production this large and talk more about the hours upon hours of sketching. You'll also get to see some of the completed sketches and a sneak peek at some of the costume pieces that have already been pulled. Stay tuned!

Next week, we'll hear once again from one of our most popular bloggers, PlayMakers Crafts Artisan Rachel Pollock!