In June,
The Ghost Road Company brings
The Bargain and the Butterfly to Studio SCR. Combining science and fantasy, this haunting new play explores the delicate intersection of genius and madness. The Ghost Road Company is a theatre ensemble dedicated to the creation of new work for the stage, through a collaborative process. In this interview, learn more about their unique approach and how it led to the development of
The Bargain and the Butterfly from the show's director, Katherine Noon.
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| Katherine Noon |
The Bargain and the Butterfly was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's story, "The Artist of the
Beautiful." What specifically led to the play's creation? How was it decided
that this would be the next Ghost
Road production?
Initially it started with
artistic burn out! Ghost Road had just
come off a large project and I had nothing left creatively. I wondered what it was about with regard to some
people who seemed to have endless creative energy and were prolific in their
output. I began to research psychology
and neurology and kept coming up with the very narrow border that divides
madness from genius. I know this is
territory that has been well-trod, but I did find one interesting bit of information
about a new discovery concerning a variant on a gene. People with this variant have an equal chance
of being a genius or being schizophrenic. This led me to think about genetics and the imminent ability of parents
to choose genetic traits for their unborn children. And I wondered, if it was
possible, would anyone choose for their child to be a genius with the knowledge
that they were risking schizophrenia?
About this time I came across Hawthorne's short story, "The Artist of
the Beautiful;" a story about a young clock maker and his desire to make a
perfect clockwork butterfly that would possess perpetual motion and, by all
accounts, a soul. Achieving this would
require "spiritualizing the machinery." The
price he paid for "bettering" nature was that the mechanism required a part of
his own life force in order for it to be imbued with life. I began to draw connections between the
research into neurology and the short story with the ideas of invention, genius
and giving life to the lifeless even if it means that destruction lies in wait. I would add that there are also connections
to be made with "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley in both Hawthorne's story and
The Bargain and the Butterfly.
How
did the Ghost Road Company adapt the story into a play in terms of the the story,
the characters, and the scenic design?
Everything we do is
collaboratively created. The leader of
the process, in this case me, brings their ideas and research to the
group. The most important things that I
can bring to the process are the questions I am asking in the development
process. The company uses various, techniques to create new work including improvisation, group writing and
physically based methods for creating story and character. Because the creation of space is integral to making
the work, the company is always creating and re-creating the world of the piece
throughout the workshop process. Certain
things begin to repeat and those are the elements that stick. When we did an initial showing of the
unfinished piece, the basic scenic ideas existed in that presentation. The final set by Maureen Weiss was a more
designed and polished version of the original vision. Our sound designer, Cricket Myers, added a new
layer to the world by underscoring the piece with an abstract soundscape. This had the effect of bringing the audiences
into the interior world of the characters.
If we had our way we would always work with designers as part of the
development process, but often that is not possible due to schedules, financial
constraints, etc.
There were thematic elements
that interested us in the Hawthorne
short story such as spiritualized machinery, literally giving part of yourself
to a creation, and diminishing one's uniqueness in order to "fit in."
The main character in the short story is a
young man named Owen. In our version, we
made the central character a woman named Annie.
Instead of a perpetual motion butterfly, Annie is trying to give her
comatose twin brother, Owen, his soul. They
are twins: two sides of the same person. As the performance unfolds, lines become
blurred and one is unsure if what is being experienced is real or a figment of Annie's
imagination. In the original story there
is an absence of a mother for both the characters of Annie and Owen. The idea of an absent mother became integral
because it felt as if she hung over the world like a specter. It is her past actions that sets this world
in motion. Other strong elements
throughout the creation process were the ideas of genetic manipulation,
obsession and consuming knowledge—an idea we make quite literal in the piece.
How has the play evolved from where it started to where it's
at right now?
I would say more than anything
our audiences have shaped this piece. There is room in the work to take away from it your own ideas about what
is happening on stage. It is this
feedback as to what characters and ideas resonate for audiences that have had a
great influence on the work. When I was
first cobbling together the workshop material for a preliminary public
presentation, the piece felt like disparate vignettes that were heading in the
right direction. Feedback from the
audience at that point solidified what we knew and helped us clarify our goals
moving forward toward completing the work. The ending was the most difficult thing to come up with. We did not actually have an ending until a
couple of weeks before we premiered the show in
Los Angeles.
The other major element, of
course, is the creativity and input of the company. There are many tough rehearsals where things
may not be working, but the company sticks with the process and, we all wade
through the mire together in order to figure out a solution. It can be challenging to exist in a surreal
world and still make sense of the journey each character takes. The hours spent working through the details
with the ensemble contributed greatly to creating cohesion and a dynamic arc
for each story line.
What
were the most challenging obstacles to adapt the piece for the
stage, as well as perform it?
Time and space are the two indispensable things required in order to engage in ensemble-devised work. Unfortunately, those are the two things
hardest to come by. When an actor
engages in this work, they are committing a large portion of their lives to a
single project. It takes a special
person who is willing to settle into this process. Space is integral to creation. Because we are a transient company, we often
do not have the luxury of creating in the same space day in and day out. This piece was particularly difficult because
we would get established in one place and then need to move with all our
materials in tow. Economics plays a big
part in this and renting a space for long periods of time can be
prohibitive.
As far as the piece itself, I
think one of the most challenging aspects was pushing the work into a more
physical direction. Our work in the past
has been dominated by language and we wanted to find a physical vocabulary to
support the language. We spent time in
Poland
in a residency with Stadium Teatralne, a company in
Warsaw,
and that exposure really helped to move us in that direction. Shifting gears from the verbal to the
physical forced me to see the process differently because it caused me to work
in a less familiar way. Another
challenge was finding ways for the scientific inspiration and the
Hawthorne
story to merge. This meant treating both things like a
jumping off point. I don't consider this
an adaptation but a new piece. And because it was not technically an adaptation,
there was a lot more room to create but less of a structure to hang the ideas
on.
What
was the response like during the Los Angeles performances?
The response has been very positive. They come away
intrigued and surprised by the world they encounter in the piece. The most gratifying thing of all is what the
show sparks in each individual and how it touches them personally. It is exciting to see the play work on many
levels: personal, universal, literal and metaphoric.
For the Los Angeles performances, we
scheduled the shows in an unconventional way. Instead of spreading performances over 4 to 6 weeks, we did 12
performances in 14 days. I believe this
added urgency and created the feeling of a special event. The vibe in the audience was that they were
all in on a secret together.
What
prompted the idea to tour the show in
Poland?
We have been going to
Poland
for several years; we have a relationship
with Joanna Klass and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute in
Warsaw. Joanna has been instrumental in
connecting us with Polish Theatre artists, such as Studium Teatralne. We have also, under the auspices of the Mickiewicz
Institute and the Polish Ministry of Culture, done staged readings of Polish
plays in Los Angeles. We performed one of those plays at the Korczac Festival in
Warsaw
at the same time we took
The Bargain & the Butterfly to
Poland. All our experiences with Polish theatre have
been building to the time where we would be able to take our own work there.
Poland
has a
very deep theatrical tradition that is an integral part of its social,
political and cultural dialogue.
The Bargain & the Butterfly resonated
differently for Polish audiences than it did for
Los Angeles
audiences. I would say it was felt more deeply on both a
personal and cultural level, and because of our work with Studium Teatralne,
the Polish audience recognized the influences from their theatrical
aesthetic. The audience was almost
entirely Polish but there was no loss of understanding or nuance even though
there is a good deal of poetic language in the piece. I think what was most gratifying for
Ghost Road
was that
the piece held its own with other Polish theatrical works.
What
are GRC's future plans for the play?
We are currently in discussions
to take the show to the Ko Festival in
Amherst,
Mass.,
and Irondale Theatre in
Brooklyn. The trip to Irondale would also include an
exchange of development methods and training with the Irondale Ensemble. In
addition, we are applying to a number of national and international festivals
with the play. We are also currently in
development workshops for our newest piece based on the Oedipus story.
Anything else you would like to be quoted on, this is your moment.
Two things I always try to
remind myself of as I embark on something new:
- If it doesn't scare you at
least a little, then it probably isn't worth doing.
- Never wait to do something
until you're ready. You will never be
ready.
See The Ghost Road Company's The Bargain and the Butterfly in Studio SCR, June 12-15. Get your tickets today!
