Shakespeare & Company Back on Track
Les Liaisons Dangereuses To March 21
By: Charles Giuliano - Jan 16, 2010
Arriving this week for a noon appointment at Shakespeare & Company I was surprised to find the campus buzzing with activity. During the annual Acting Intensive, which was started some 32 years ago, with staff, teachers and participants there are some 100 people on site.
After the grim media coverage, last fall, of the company's debt of some $10 million this was not at all what one expected. Some pundits were poised to stick the fork in. It makes good copy. But there is every indication that being realistic, coming clean, and getting the word out has caused a slow, agonizing, but steady turn around.
The widespread negative coverage and finger pointing recall the Mark Twain quote "Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."
My assignment was to sit in on an hour of the ongoing rehearsals for the play "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" directed by S&Co founder, Tina Packer. The production starring Elizabeth Aspenlieder and Josh Aaron McCabe has a cast of 10. The show is the second winter production for the company which enjoyed great success last year with Aspenlieder in "Bad Dates." This season's play opens on January 29 and will run through March 21.
Following the rehearsal I joined Tina and Elizabeth in the Green Room to discuss the upcoming production. We also delved into all that activity on campus, the unique features of the company, and its broad reach. I have come to regard S&Co. as a theatrical family. There is always a warm feeling talking with Tina, Elizabeth, Tony Simotes, the current artistic director, actors and staff members.
There is a shared sense of mission, outreach, and commitment. Not only is S&Co a vital resource for the Berkshires, with its educational mandate and training for all levels of professionals, it is a national treasure. Its demise, last fall a real possibility, would be an enormous loss for the arts in America.
At the end of a long, often hilarious, always insightful encounter I asked Tina a blunt question "Are you out of the woods?"
There was a long and suspenseful silence. Tina grew quiet and thoughtful. She looked at me intently seeming to waver in measuring a response. My self confidence caved. Had I overstayed my welcome and perhaps gone over the line?
She answered very softly. Had I heard her correctly? I asked again to be sure. The first response had been a single word "Yes." She expanded that the second time to say "We are out of the woods."
But that was followed by disclaimers that it is way too early, months, before any formal announcements. The statement we agreed upon is "Things are turning around. Really in the past nine months we have worked with the bank to be financially responsible and continue to have a viable and successful business."
During our conversation I also speculated and asked about possible programming. Will Tina bring the controversial and successful Boston production of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" to Lenox? How about "Bad Dates?" It should have been a part of last summer's Diva Series but had technical problems. What about "Liaisons?" Will that also be a summer show in the yet to be announced Elayne P. Bernstein schedule?
The answer was a tentative yes to all of the above. With a disclaimer of working out a budget for the coming season. Last season's hectic schedule of 18 productions, which ends with "Liaisons," generated record ticket sales for the company. It is anticipated that there will be a tighter schedule this season. Simotes is focused on running a lean program, cutting corners, fund raising, and reducing debt, particularly the interest on long term loans.
That means a difference between a wish list of shows and a pragmatic bottom line of what the company can afford. Shows like "Virginia Woolf" "Bad Dates" and hopefully "Les Liaison Dangereuses" are proven hits with broad audience appeal. If they don't run this season they are likely to be scheduled in 2011.
It is anticipated that S&Co will greatly enjoy success with the phenomenal John Douglas Thompson returning to Lenox starring in "Richard III." For the past two seasons he starred in "Othello." In New York this year he received rave reviews from the New York Times and other critics for his title role in "The Emperor Jones." Last summer Thompson starred in two shows "Othello" and "The Dreamer Examines His Pillow." It is possible that he will appear in two productions this season.
The rehearsal was in its final hour when I found a seat in the Bernstein Theater. The scenes involved meetings between La Marquise de Merteuil (Aspenlieder) and Le Vicomte de Valmont (McCabe). They are involved in the conclusion of a deadly game. The challenge is for him to seduce a virgin. When he offers proof of the conquest the wager will be consummated in a single night of love. It is a sport between friends who may indeed love each other. In the scene which I attended he reveals to her that he may even love the innocent girl he has seduced. It is to have deadly consequences.
It was absorbing to see how the work developed through communication between Packer and the two actors.
Tina: "Ok there's a shift that happens here. 'I'm pleased to hear it.' Josh it's as if you want to take a step, but turn away, philosophical, another tenor entirely. Hold that Josh. Take it again. 'I'm pleased to hear it.' I want to see what happens if you get down there to that chair, 'Why are we compelled?' Lighten it a bit, slightly punish her, I want you to be not close but throwing darts from afar because she says you bungled it. She's stabbing at your manhood again."
Josh repeats the line "Why do you suppose we are only compelled to chase the ones who run away?" "So what's happening in your life?"
Tina laughs."Lizzie, you're playing the rules of the game a litany of how you did it. Very good Josh." Liz asks Tina "I think I have to insinuate more into his psyche. That kiss is a taste of what it might be. To burn that into him."
Tina "When he says what's the matter I want you to almost think of telling him a straight reply. Then take the new approach. A difference.
Tina " Ok good, good good good. Let's go on. PageÂ…"
When McCabe conveyed to her that he may indeed love the girl he has seduced there was a surprising reaction from Liz. She started to cry. There were real tears. I wondered what I was seeing. Was this acting or real emotion? Just what had triggered that response. Tina responded over my shoulder "Good Lizzie work with it."
As they wrapped up the rehearsal I asked Liz about what had happened. Was it real? The answer was "Yes, it was the emotion of the first moment when I realized I was losing him." As I took some photos she protested "I have just been crying." It seemed to me a decisive moment.
As we settled in the Green Room I started by expounding my view of 18th Century France and its Ancien Regime as "The Great Age of Women." The men ran France but the women, through their brilliant salons, ran the men. In the decadent process of courtly manners the women wielded real power. The great example of this was Madame de Pompadour who, through her influence as the mistress of Louis XV, gave terrible political and military advice. In the king's name she spent so lavishly that it helped to bankrupt France. She died of exhaustion, in 1764, and avoided the Revolution of 1789. Madame du Barry, another mistress of Louis XV, and rival of Marie Antoinette, was not so lucky.
The Rococo art and culture of the French court was rich, diverse, delicious and decadent. But an acquired taste. It is only through the aging process that I have come to appreciate Boucher and Fragonard as great artists. One has to look beyond social conscience, oppression, and cruelty to see the merits of the period. It is never possible to look deeply into the Ancien Regime without the hindsight of the inevitable French Revolution and its Reign of Terror. All of those charming and erotic cocks and coquettes would fall to the blade of the guillotine. It's what informs this play which is cut from that brocade.
The courtly women resided in gilded cages and uttered exquisitely plaintive songs. La Marquise de Merteuil is a signifier of this culture. They were well trained and gifted with many demands and skills in dance, music, literature, needle point, wit, style, the ability to please and entertain men. Flirtation and the pursuit of pleasure through affairs were developed as an art form. The novel of Pierre Ambroise Francois Choderlos de Laclos (1741-1803) "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" is the erotic masterpiece of the period.
It has inspired countless plays and films. One of the most stunning is the 1959 version directed by Roger Vadim starring a then young Jeanne Moreau and Gerard Philipe who died just eight weeks after finishing the film. There is the brilliant 1989 "Valmont" of Milos Forman and a 2003 film with Catherine Deneuve, Rupert Everett and Nastassja Kinski. Most Americans are familiar with the 1988 film, based on the Christopher Hampton play, with Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer. Another sumptuous treatment of the period is Sophia Coppola's 2006 "Marie Antoinette" based on the novel of Antonia Fraser. I also recommend Nancy Mitford's 1954 book "Madame de Pompadour."
As Tina explained "What you were watching right now, what I am trying to do in the scene, is the truth of the relationship, and their manners with each other. It is totally different when everyone else is there. The style of what you were watching is modern if you will. The truth of their relationship. Then they go back into the formality of manners of the day and how the court regulated society. What you see in other scenes is a different style. I am getting into a period and trying to break it down on two levels of reality. One when everyone is there with fans, curtseys, bows, forms of society, and another, how they behave with each other. It is different from when there are ten characters."
Elizabeth added "When we are together we let our guard down. Then they go back to form with other people present. Each time they separate they go back to form. They lie and deceive with half lies and half truths. They are so isolated and privileged."
This prompted Tina to state that "America is like that. There is the media's power and how it clashes with the rest of the world's mores. America is a society where most Americans never get outside and have no idea how they effect other countries."
I asked if this was the point of doing the play? Tina replied "It's one of the points of doing this play. There are lots of reasons. I chose the play because I wanted a lot of color in the dead dark of winter. It has witty and rich language but it is not Shakespeare. I didn't want to do a Shakespeare play but wanted one that Lizzie could be in. I wanted to use all the artist managers in company. People who are here working. It is good to use people already on payroll."
This prompted a discussion of all the people then on campus and the diversity of S&Co's programming. One of the most interesting of which is the Shakespeare in Courts project in which troubled kids are sentenced to perform in Shakespeare's plays.
Tina explained "They come up before a judge for sentencing and have an option to do a play. The probation officer considers how best to get them integrated back into society. Some prefer community service because they are so afraid of doing Shakespeare." The program is supported by private foundations, MCC, and different donors.
"There are a lot of people here now more so than ever before. It keeps the energy up in the dull winter. The passion is kept alive during the new winter time slot. The program of a month long acting intensive goes back 32 years."
As Tina discussed the diverse program it underscored the unique nature and mandate of the company. As she put it "We see theatre as a social organism. We want to interact all the time. We do not do education to make money, Lord knows. We want to interact because we think we have a lot to say."
Expanding on that Liz said "S&Co is a place of education for all levels of experience, ages, and walks of life. It happens across the country with workshops that are not just for actors, educators, and teachers. It's also for people expanding their world view. One of our critics came and sat in on Tina's session. He was a sports writer just getting into theatre. He attributes that to Tina. It became accessible to him where before there was always a road block. This company makes language understandable and Shakespeare becomes more accessible."
Why this particular play I asked?
"Like modern times for me" Tina said "Our behavior as a society is developed mostly through what is marketed through the media. It is how our consciousness and how we behave is developed. How we spend our time. It is a byproduct of a mercantile society to sell stuff; fast food, telly, video games. There are 40 million watching porn."
Of that staggering audience for porn it is estimated that just 10% consists of women. It is relevant that in the play the protagonists, male and female, are addicted to sex and the game of its pursuit. This cut back to a discussion of the play and its proto feminist mantra.
"The game, we have no power." Liz said. Referring to her character she elaborated. "Her motive is freedom. Women are condemned to playing. How did you manage to invent yourself as a woman? Women are obliged to be more skillful than men. You (men) can ruin us when the fancy takes you. She has lost him to another woman."
In his book on acting Olivier states that one must love the character you are portraying. I asked Liz if she loves the Marquise? "I feel empathy for her. She is damaged and I know what that's like. It is a life and death struggle through her insatiable need to be needed. An insatiable desire to maintain her power. The men can end your life in a word. We have to be very stealthy."
Tina added "It makes me angry how much mental energy it takes to circumvent what should be a basic right. Like slaves not being taught to read and write. Particularly to someone like me who loves to read. It's exhausting when one part of your brain is not developed. It's a real cruelty."
Despite the issues Tina and Liz discussed it is difficult to feel for the characters and their concerns. During the French Revolution they cut off their heads. Arguably, rightly so. Tina conceded "In the end they didn't look after everybody's rights."
Surely it will be an appealing and provocative production. But what are the risks involved with mounting it during the winter? Last year during "Bad Dates" they found how "desperate people are to get out, forget about winter, and be entertained. Because we had never done a winter show. We had nothing to compare it to. Last year we only sold center section seats as we were still under construction. Last year max capacity was 100 seats this year we have180 to sell."
An issue for Berkshire arts organizations has been developing the shoulder seasons. "From Sept to March when 'Bad Dates' closed we sold 2000 tickets. This year from September to January we have sold 2500 tickets. We have already exceeded last year's sales for that time period." Liz said.
"Last year at this time we had never staged a winter season. This year we are marketing aggressively but the form is out there. We are creating a tradition. I was the test pilot and guinea pig. Knock on wood it worked. The play moved on to Lowell and introduced S&Co to a Boston audience. I won the Eliot Norton Award and overall it gave the company more visibility and juice."
Yes, I commented, but what a mistake that it was not included in the three one women plays of the Diva Series. It would have been a perfect fit. The set proved to be too elaborate for the "bare pipe" productions and their quick changes. Those "sets" averaged just $300 each.
"We will not see 'Liasons' during the summer this year" Liz said. "Perhaps in 2011, but probably 'Bad Dates' all way through summer with a more flexible set." And what of all those dark nights last summer between the many productions?
"I fought against the dark nights" Tina said. "But we have a very limited tech crew to run the shows. We did a taste of Shirley (Valentine). I thought it would be overkill but a lot of people never saw it. It was ten years ago and you never saw it. That's also true now with Shakespeaer's women. A lot of people don't remember though it felt like a vanity piece. 'Women of Will' is a vanity piece."
It is anticipated, but not yet announced, that Packer will open the season in the Bernstein Theatre with her "Women of Will" a collage of Shakespeare's roles for women. And what about "Virginia Woolf?"
"We hope so" Tina said. "We are working on the budget and if we can't get that aligned with money allotted some of the shows we hope to perform will go into 2011. Martha beat me up so you have to be psychologically fit. It's very harrowing. The play is not completely a tragedy. Shirley Valentine is so optimistic we never feel she will go down. With Martha you feel she will go down all the time."
So, in the dead of winter, S&Co. is producing a new show and making plans for the coming season. Overall, things are looking a whole lot brighter than just six months ago. As I told Tina, like my Mom, she's a piece of work.