Director of Marketing and Communications Steve Scarpa sat down with director and adapter Eric Ting to talk about his upcoming production of MACBETH[1969] at Long Wharf.

Associate Artistic Director Eric Ting, director of Macbeth 1969

Q: Could you describe the show’s concept?

A: At its heart MACBETH[1969] is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy, with a specific focus upon the experience of soldiers returning home from war.

The inspiration for the adaptation came from several places; in particular we were drawn to what is presently happening in our community and in our country with soldiers returning home from the long engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan; and how it resonates with some of the themes that we were examining in the play. People often forget that the second scene of Macbeth is actually a description of a horrific battle and the very next scene is two soldiers returning home victorious from that very battle.  We are exploring the challenges these two men – Macbeth and Banquo – face as they recover from the war and endeavor to return to the lives they left behind.

So, a couple of key choices were made. We chose to set it in 1969 during the Vietnam War. That was because we felt there was a much closer kinship between the Vietnam War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (as opposed to say the first or second World Wars) in terms of the national zeitgeist surrounding them. The Vietnam War gives us the historical distance through which we can explore the manner in which Shakespeare’s play speaks to the traumas of conflict.

A second choice was made to set the production in a hospital in middle America, in part because it evoked the symbolic crossroads suggested by the heath in Shakespeare’s play where Macbeth and Banquo first encounter the Wyrd Sisters—as a space where soldiers heal before re-entering the world, as a space between the war and home; but even more so because the hospital was as far removed from the war front as you can possibly get. That was really important to us, creating a space that was removed from war. Of course when you are in war, war is everywhere. But what happens when you are away from war, where does the war go? Do these soldiers leave the war behind them? Or do they, in fact, carry the war within them, wherever they go? If they do that, how does that internal war manifest itself in the external world?

A hospital is a sanctuary, a place of safety, peace, serenity, and healing; a place that is the antithesis of the battlefield. This location allows us to examine the repercussions of war through the individual and not simply in the vast landscape of the battlefield.

Q: Why did you decide to read the text in this manner?

A: Because theatre is such an immediate art form, it’s not uncommon to look for ways that classic texts speak to the contemporary experience, in this case of being a soldier. There is something about Macbeth that really seemed to resonate with the moment.

Banquo and Macbeth suffer from insomnia and bad dreams. They walk around sleepless late at night. There is paranoia and quickness to anger. These can all be considered manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder brought on by experiences in combat. At the heart of our consideration of this play is the idea that violence begets violence, which begets more violence. What we are looking at is the way war touches all of us, not only those that are engaged in warfare, but all who are connected to those engaged in warfare and those they touch, and even those who think they are free from it. We want to explore this idea that no one is immune—that the real trauma of war is this overwhelming burden of violence in our world.

Q: How else does this idea manifest itself in the work?

Upon returning, Banquo is severely wounded physically. Macbeth, perhaps less pronounced to anybody, is wounded himself, but psychologically. We don’t see the manifestation of that psychological damage till the death of his friend Banquo. Once Banquo dies there are a whole series of events that unravel – Macbeth sees the ghost of Banquo, he sees the witches and in the visit to the witches he’s given visions of the future. All of these supernatural events seem odd enough, but they grow worse and worse as the play progresses, spiraling out of control. I like to think it’s possible that William Shakespeare himself may have been observing the experiences of soldiers returning home from war in Elizabethan times and his observation of those soldiers translated into supernatural events.

Q: What have you learned in examining the issues of post-traumatic stress disorder in terms of this particular play?

We knew going into this that there would be a concern among some people that setting the play in 1969 during the Vietnam War would perpetuate the stereotype of the Vietnam veteran that comes home, unable to deal with his experiences, breaks psychologically and commits acts of violence … The most important thing for us is to humanize these soldiers by looking at the way in which these men upon their return were being asked to forget all of these experiences. They were being asked to suppress these horrific memories of battle and to wake up the following morning in their bed with their spouse, have pancakes and eggs and sit and read the newspaper as if they’d never been in a jungle, as if they’d never walked through a swamp, as if they’d never fired a gun.

Q:  Could you talk a little bit about how the choices in the adaptation were made?

A: Most productions of Shakespeare done today go through some kind of editing, some kind of cutting. They cut references that only speak to an Elizabethan audience member or sometimes they are cut for length. While we’ve edited the original text of Macbeth in such a way as to tell a very specific story, audiences will hear Shakespeare’s Macbeth. And if we do our job right, it will be in a way that they’d never thought to hear it, as if they’re hearing it again for the first time.

We were interested in examining our own national experience through a classic text. We believe at Long Wharf Theatre that theatre speaks to the human experience, the human condition. We also believe that the human experience is not tied down to any chronological moment, but is an expansive thing, one that spans the length of human history. What you come to understand is that the experience of these soldiers is not unique to this war, but rather it is the universal experience of all war. The same challenges that those soldiers returning from Vietnam faced on a daily basis were the same challenges that soldiers have been facing since the beginning of war itself, are the same challenges facing our men and women in the armed services today: how does one recover from an experience that so profoundly and irrevocably changes the way the world is seen?

Back in January 1978, when Richard Maltby, Jr. first started working on Ain’t Misbehavin’: the Fats Waller Musical, he had a stack of sheet music and a bunch of good ideas.

By February 1, he was in first rehearsal. By May 1, the show was on Broadway. By June 1, he had a Tony Award. “I thought that’s what show business was,” he laughed on Tuesday.

The show has been much imitated over the years, but never duplicated. “It’s the gold standard,” said Interim Managing Director Josh Borenstein.

Maltby said those other shows miss something inherent about Ain’t Misbehavin’. “They don’t steal the right things,” he said. There is a heart and unique personality about the piece – it can be viewed as a great entertainment, but there is more there for the taking. It is about the lives of artists in Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s. There are clearly drawn characters and a great story line, despite the fact that there isn’t a book for the show.

Above all, the show is a tribute to one of the truly great artists of his generation, Fats Waller.  We get to hear the actors rehearse the amazing music all day long, so here is a little taste of what we are hearing. Courtesy of YouTube, here is Fats himself singing a few of his greatest hits.

This Joint is Jumpin’

Honeysuckle Rose

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Members of the press on their downtime. Long Wharf Theatre's production of The Front Page.

We are always looking to get the word out about Long Wharf Theatre, our show offerings and the amazing artists who create the work on our stages.

Most people are used to looking for us in the newspaper. For a great example of this, check out the work of Donna Doherty in the New Haven Register – www.nhregister.com. Donna has interviewed all of the main artists who’ve come through our doors and covers everything from the new trap in the floor of the Mainstage to Gordon Edelstein’s 10^th anniversary celebration. However, there are other local media outlets, many of which are exclusively online, doing yeoman’s work covering Long Wharf Theatre and the arts in general. Here are just a few:

• New Haven Theater Jerk (www.scribblers.us/nhtj) Several months ago longtime New Haven Advocate writer Christopher Arnott went out on his own, starting a uniquely personal and informative blog about the New Haven theatre scene. Displaying comprehensive knowledge of the arts and a wide range of taste, Arnott covers everything from Long Wharf Theatre’s work to the plays small local groups do in storefronts and found spaces. It’s a great read.
• Behind the Curtain, Hartford Courant (www.courant.com/entertainment/arts/curtain/) Frank Rizzo has been covering the Connecticut theatre scene for decades. If it’s happening on professional stages in Connecticut, Frank’s got it. If someone famous passes through Connecticut, Frank talks to them. The website has his feature stories and columns, the ones that appear in print, as well as special content just for the web.
• Joe’s View, Connecticut Post (blog.ctnews.com/meyers/) Joe Meyers brings his own unique perspective to film, literature and theatre in this comprehensive blog. You can also find all of Joe’s print work listed on the website as well. There is also a nice companion blog, the Culture Cache (blog.ctnews.com/culturecache/), which has Long Wharf Theatre listings as well as a comprehensive list of all sorts of interesting arts goings on in Fairfield County.
• The Connecticut Critics Circle (www.ctcritics.org) This robust organization of critics from publications across the state band together on this site – think of it as one-stop shopping for Connecticut reviews. They also host their own awards cereme
• New Haven Review (www.newhavenreview.com/) These guys are relatively new on the scene, but led by Donald Brown and Bennett Lovett-Graff, you can read reviews of Long Wharf Theatre productions and other shows around New Haven, as well as essays on a wide variety of subjects. They also publish a fine literary journal and other books, have a radio show about literature and are one of the hosts of a local short story reading series.

And, of course, go to our website (www.longwharf.org) for a little bit of everything Long Wharf. We post video, dramaturgical information and other tidbits on our shows pages, and our blog The Loading Dock (where you are right now) has interesting stories about the behind the scenes work at Long Wharf Theatre.

Happy reading!

Notice the red line across the set? Audiences have been wondering just what it means. Jonathan Hogan, Simone Kirby and Ciaran O'Reilly in Molly Sweeney. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.

Audiences have been fascinated by the thin red line extending horizontally across the set for Molly Sweeney, running through October 16 on Stage II. This bit of stagecraft has elicited many interesting responses from people seeking to assign it meaning, said Artistic Resident Marissa Friedman.

Audience members have likened the line to a demarcation point between blindness and sightedness, the journey the lead character Molly Sweeney makes throughout the play. Other thought the line resembled optic nerves. Still others thought the line was reminiscent of a red Kabbalah string. “It has made for some really great talkbacks,” Friedman said.

Like any good piece of art, the red line is subject to interpretation. Director Charlotte Moore described the line as an abstract design element, one intended to unify three disparate places and characters. Initially she and set designer James Morgan tried several different colors, including grey, blue and white. “I wanted everyone to be seen at once,” she said. “I wanted them all to be in the same play.”

No matter the reason for the decision, Moore’s choice has helped deepen an already moving experience for Long Wharf Theatre’s patrons.

Jonathan Hogan, Simone Kirby, Ciaran O'Reilly: the cast of Molly Sweeney

One of the great Long Wharf Theatre traditions is that the morning of the first rehearsal, the entire company meets in a rehearsal hall and greets the actors and other guest artists who will be joining us for the run of the play. It’s a nice moment, where Long Wharf Theatre’s staff gets together in one place and signals their commitment to the process moving forward.

The cast and creative team of Molly Sweeney were met by the Long Wharf Theatre staff last Friday. “It is the opening of our season and we are out in full force,” said Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein.

Edelstein told the collective that he had been struggling to find the right play to start off the season and that Molly Sweeney was the last show to fall into place. “This is a play I love deeply,” Edelstein said.

He saw the Irish Rep production of the piece and was smitten. “I was bowled over by its beauty, delicacy, simple, great storytelling and its authenticity,” he said.

Charlotte Moore, the director of the play, brought greetings from playwright Brian Friel himself. Friel spent time at Long Wharf years ago, working with then-artistic director Arvin Brown on The Faith Healer. “He remembers Long Wharf fondly,” Moore said. “He is so happy we are here and working in this space,” she said.

Simone Kirby as Molly Sweeney

Charlotte Moore is no stranger to Long Wharf Theatre. Under the leadership of legendary artistic director Arvin Brown, Moore appeared as a performer in several productions including The Autumn Garden in the mid 1970s. “That was a terrific time. Going up on the train, learning your lines. Getting caught in the parking lot in the snow. You developed a bond with a lot of wonderful people. Being an actor in a first rate production is no small thing,” she recently recalled.

Moore makes a grand return to Long Wharf Theatre, this time directing the Irish Rep production of Molly Sweeney, by Irish master playwright Brian Friel, which takes place Sept. 14 through Oct. 16.

Molly Sweeney tells the story of a young woman, blind since birth, who receives the opportunity to see again. This medical miracle is fraught with consequences, rendering a complex and interesting tale. “Any Brian Friel play is appealing to a director. His writing is top notch and intriguing because of his beautifully layered language,” Moore said, who directed the production previously in New York City at the Irish Rep. “Molly Sweeney’s advantages are her inner fire and beauty. What she didn’t see she saw in her mind’s eye.”

Molly Sweeney deals with one of the Friel’s great themes: the perception of loneliness, a theme coursing through his greatest works, including Philadelphia, Here I Come! and Dancing at Lughnasa. “It is the theme going into the unknown,” Moore said. “I don’t know where it comes from. I think it is perhaps in Mr. Friel’s head and heart, a feeling of unknowable mystery and finding himself in a world that doesn’t help. The world is not generous. The search is always there – I love it. He rends my heart.”

Geoff Fox, the longtime meteorologist currently on the air with Fox 61 News, knows quite a bit about the Second City. He can tell you a bit about one of Second City’s founders, Del Close, an improvisational innovator. He can tell you that you are never ever supposed to decline an offering from a fellow performer.

“Wait, aren’t you supposed to be telling me these things?” Fox quipped to a member of the theatre staff.

Fox, WTNH’s host of “Good Morning Connecticut” Chris Velardi, and 960 WELI’s Vinnie Penn, will perform along with the company of The Best of the Second City during its run at Long Wharf Theatre July 15-19. Penn will perform on Wednesday, July 15, Velardi will take his turn on Thursday, July 16 and Fox will get his chance on Saturday, July 18.

For Penn, a published author, a standup comic and a long time beloved radio personality, performing with Second City is something he’s always wanted to do. “It is the realization of a lifelong dream not only to perform with this revered troupe but as a New Haven native to stand on the very stage I grew up watching so many wonderful productions on. I look forward to making an ass of myself on stage now, as opposed to simply on-air,” Penn said.

Velardi, a Branford native, is going to have to tap into his old high school theatre days from 20 years ago to get himself ready. “I’m looking forward to this. It’ll be fun to be in front of a live audience!” Velardi said.

Long Wharf Theatre has won three Connecticut Critics Circle Awards this season – Francesca Choy-Kee for best actress, Katie Down for best sound design (Agnes Under the Big Top) and Eshan Bay for best newcomer. Goodspeed led with four wins, followed by us with three, and Yale Rep and Westport with two each. Music Theatre of Connecticut, Ivoryton Playhouse, Downtown Cabaret, Hartford Stage, TheatreWorks and Elm Shakespeare Company each won a single award. Music Theatre of Connecticut won the Tom Killen Award. The ceremony will take place Sunday, June 12 at the Ivoryton Playhouse, which is being recognized during its 100^th anniversary season.

CONNECTICUT CRITICS CIRCLE

21^ST ANNUAL AWARDS

NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS

(winners are starred and in bold)

PLAY

“The Diary of Anne Frank” (Westport Country Playhouse)

“Gem of the Ocean” (Hartford Stage)

*“The Piano Lesson” (Yale Rep)

“A Steady Rain” (TheaterWorks)

“The Train Driver” (Long Wharf Theatre)

MUSICAL

“Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story (Ivoryton Playhouse)

“Everything the Traffic Will Allow” (Music Theatre of Connecticut)

“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (Goodspeed Musicals)

“I Do! I Do!” (Westport Country Playhouse)

*“My One and Only” (Goodspeed Musicals)

“We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (Yale Rep)

ACTRESS/PLAY

*Francesca Choy-Kee (“Agnes Under the Big Top,” Long Wharf Theatre)

Eisa Davis (“The Piano Lesson,” Yale Rep)

Laura Esterman (“Agnes Under the Big Top,” Long Wharf)

Dana Ivey (“Happy Days,” Westport Country Playhouse)

Judith Ivey (“Shirley Valentine,” Long Wharf Theatre)

Novella Nelson (“Gem of the Ocean,” Hartford Stage)

ACTOR/PLAY

Anthony Chisholm (“The Train Driver,” Long Wharf Theatre)

Harry Groener (“The Train Driver,” Long Wharf Theatre)

Edward Herrmann (“A Delicate Balance,” Yale Rep)

*LeRoy McClain (“The Piano Lesson,” Yale Rep)

Brian Murray (“The Old Masters,” Long Wharf Theatre)

Roger Robinson (“Gem of the Ocean,” Hartford Stage)

ACTRESS/MUSICAL

Kate Baldwin (“I Do! I Do!,” Westport Country Playhouse)

*Klea Blackhurst (Everything the Traffic Will Allow, Music Theatre of Conn.)

Jenn Gambatese (“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” Yale Rep)

Jodi Langel (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Downtown Cabaret)

Alexandra Socha (“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” Yale Rep)

ACTOR/MUSICAL

Lewis Cleale (“I Do! I Do!,” Westport Country Playhouse)

Sean Palmer (“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” Yale Rep)

Brian Sears (“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” Goodspeed)

Kris Stock (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” Downtown Cabaret)

*Tony Yazbeck (“My One and Only,” Goodspeed Musicals)

DIRECTOR/PLAY

Gordon Edelstein (“The Train Driver,” Long Wharf)

Gerald Freedman (“The Diary of Anne Frank,” Westport)

*Peter Lockyer (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” Ivoryton)

Eric Ting (“Agnes Under the Big Top,” Long Wharf)

Liesl Tommy (“The Piano Lesson,” Yale Rep)

DIRECTOR/MUSICAL

Greg Ganakas (“How to Succeed in Business . . . , Goodspeed)

Jacqueline Hubbard (“Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story,” Ivoryton)

Anne Kauffman (“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” Yale Rep)

Ray Roderick (“My One and Only, Goodspeed)

*Scott Thompson (“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,”

Downtown Cabaret)

Darko Tresnjak (“Carnival,” Goodspeed)

CHOREOGRAPHY

Kelli Barclay (“How to Succeed in Business . . . , Goodspeed))

*Kelli Barclay (“My One and Only,” Goodspeed)

Peggy Hickey (“Carnival,” Goodspeed))

SET DESIGN

Frank Alberino (“Agnes Under the Big Top,” Long Wharf))

Frank Alberino (“Shirley Valentine,” Long Wharf)

Scott Bradley (“Gem of the Ocean, Hartford Stage)

*John Ezell (“The Diary of Anne Frank,” Westport)

Eugene Lee (“The Train Driver,” Long Wharf)

Chien-Yu Peng (“A Delicate Balance,” Yale Rep)

LIGHTING

Christopher Akerlind (“The Train Driver,” Long Wharf)

*Travis McHale (“The Diary of Anne Frank,” Westport)

Stephen Strawbridge (“We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” Yale Rep)

Jennifer Tipton (“Autumn Sonata,” Yale Rep)

COSTUMES

Elicia Lord (“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot,” Connecticut Rep)

*Robin L. McGee (“My One and Only,” Goodspeed)

Devon Painter (“I Do! I Do,” Westport)

Ilona Somogyi (“Gem of the Ocean,” Hartford Stage)

David C. Woolard (“Divine Rivalry,” Hartford Stage)

SOUND

Broken Chord (“Gem of the Ocean,” Hartford Stage)

*Katie Down (“Agnes Under the Big Top,” Long Wharf)

Chad Raines (“Autumn Sonata,” Yale Rep)

ENSEMBLE

“God of Carnage” (TheaterWorks)

“Divine Rivalry” (Hartford Stage)

*Robert Eli, Steven French, Christina Pumariega, Noble Shropshire

in “Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps” (Hartford Stage)

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Downtown Cabaret)

DEBUT (TIE)

*Eshan Bay (Agnes Under the Big Top,” Long Wharf)

*Evan Jonigkeit (“High,” TheaterWorks)

*Aaron Moss (“The Winter’s Tale,” Elm Shakespeare)

THE TOM KILLEN MEMORIAL AWARD

Music Theatre of Connecticut

SPECIAL RECOGNITION

The 100^th Anniversary of the Ivoryton Playhouse