Arts Festival Spotlights Spoken Word
Second Weekend: T2's 'Irma Vep,' 'Bigfoot Love,' Ozark Writers, 24-Hour Plays
Last updated Thursday, September 6, 2007 10:54 PM CDT in Entertainment
By Becca Bacon Martin
THE MORNING NEWS
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FAYETTEVILLE -- Director Morgan Hicks has one piece of advice for audiences that want to investigate "The Mystery of Irma Vep": "Sit back and enjoy the ride."
"This show appealed to me because I am a sucker for a clever comedy," says Hicks, who is a co-founder and serves as managing director of TheatreSquared. "I'm also a film lover and really appreciate the show as a loving spoof of the mystery and horror movies that we all grew up on. I remember staying up way too late to watch late-night movies on the weekends and was always so thrilled with the drama of it all -- the plot twists, the rich characters and the unapologetic passion.
"'Irma Vep' plays on some of the oldest cliches in the book, but with a loving hand," Hicks concludes. "I also love a challenge, and this is a show that is completely unlike anything we've done at TheatreSquared so far."
In the 1984 farce by Charles Ludlam, two actors play eight outrageous characters as Lord Edgar returns to his spooky mansion in England with his naive new bride. As Hicks describes the plot, Lady Enid enters a realm of the peculiar, presided over by a portrait of Irma Vep, Lord Edgar's deceased wife.
In this weekend's TheatreSquared production, Jason Engstrom, a recent master of fine arts acting graduate from the University of Arkansas, and Jason Grimm, who has worked for Second City for the last eight years as a touring company member, musical director and teaching artist, promise to keep theatergoers watching as fast as they can.
Arts aficionados need to keep up that breakneck pace throughout the second weekend of this year's Fayetteville Arts Festival, which also includes Ozark Writers Live!, a showcase of regional authors and a celebration of Ozark culture; the premiere of "Bigfoot Love," an original script by Mark Landon Smith and Mike Thomas; seven plays for $7 by the Arkansas Playwrights Workshop; and another installment of the 24-Hour Play Festival.
"The Mystery of Irma Vep" takes the stage at 8 p.m. today and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios. Tickets are $22 by calling 445-6333 or online at www.theatresquared.org. The show continues Sept. 13-16 and 20-23.
Here, the director and actors discuss "The Mystery of Irma Vep":
Q. What makes Irma Vep appealing to actors, directors and audiences?
Engstrom: What is most appealing about this show for everybody is the pure insanity of it. From an actor's standpoint it is fun because of the challenge of it. There is really no time to stop and think about what is going on. This is also what makes it fun for the audience because it clips along so quickly and goes in so many crazy directions.
Q. How do you play a parody -- straight or tongue-in-cheek -- and why?
Hicks: I think you have to play a show like this mostly straight. The plot twists are funnier to me when each of the characters is well-drawn and not just a superficial caricature.
Grimm: Good parody is a mixture of both. If it's too off-the-wall, the audience won't have any reason to relate to or care about the characters. In my opinion, the best comedy always comes from a place of truth.
Q. What are the special challenges and rewards of this show?
Hicks: There are so many challenges. The show is a comedy, so you try to find the humor in every moment. It's also a much more elaborate environment than we've ever tried to create. The scenic designer, Shawn Irish, had to create a set that could be attractive but also works very hard -- with trick walls and trap doors and moving parts. I guess the biggest challenge is just finding a way to create eight separate characters with only two actors. There are about 50 character changes in the play, and our costume designer, Holly Payne, has had to create the most elaborate quick change plan I've ever seen. It takes precision to execute all of the changes in the split seconds they have in the dark backstage. It's choreography!
Grimm: Working with a small production team is always more fun for me. Every day we come to rehearsal, it's two actors, a director and a stage manager. We're able to play around and experiment more than we could if it were a cast of 30.
Engstrom: The biggest challenge is bringing a touch of reality to these insane, larger-than-life characters.
Q. What's your favorite line or scene in the show?
Hicks: I love all of the scenes, but I particularly love the subtle moments where we really see the heart of the characters.
Grimm: I love the action scenes. One moment I'll be chasing someone offstage with a meat cleaver, and the next I'll walk on with a dead wolf. How could you not love that?
Q. What do you hope audiences take away from the show?
Engstrom: For audiences unfamiliar with TheatreSquared, I hope they will see what this incredible company has to offer Northwest Arkansas.
Grimm: I think that as long as (an audience member) walks away with a slight pain in their side and a smile on their face, we'll have done our job.
Fayetteville Arts Festival
Weekend II
Today
4 p.m. -- George's Majestic Lounge 80th Anniversary Music Festival with Oreo Blue's Gary Hutchinson and Brian Crowne, Nace Brothers, Anthony Gomes, Jimmy Thackery and the Cate Brothers reunion. $15. www.georgesmajesticlounge.com.
8 p.m. -- An Evening with Ms. Young-Ah Tak, Walton Arts Center's Starr Theater. $45. 443-5600 or www.waltonartscenter.org.
8 p.m. -- TheatreSquared presents "The Mystery of Irma Vep," Walton Arts Center's Nadine Baum Studios. $22. 445-6333 or www.theatresquared.org.
Saturday
9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. -- Ozark Writers Live with Joan Shaddox Isom, Roy Reed, Terrye Robins, Radine Trees Nehring, Pat Carr, Suzette Haden Elgin, Donald Harington, Phillip W. Steele, Velda Brotherton, Tim Ernst, Nancy Williams, Marilyn Harris Collins, Kirby Estes, Martha Estes, J.B. Hogan, Sean Fitzgibbon and Barbara Youree, Fayetteville Public Library. Free. www.faylib.org.
1 p.m. -- Matinee performance by Ms. Young-Ah Tak, Walton Arts Center. $15. 443-5600 or www.waltonartscenter.org.
1:30 p.m. -- "Bigfoot Love," Ceramic Cow Productions, Nadine Baum Studios. Free.
2:15 p.m. -- UA music faculty showcase, WAC. Free.
3 p.m. -- Arkansas Playwrights Workshop's Seven by Seven, Nadine Baum Studios. $7.
6 p.m. -- George's 80th with Steve Kimock & Friends, featuring Porter-Batiste-Stultz, Mike Dillon's Go Go Jungle and The Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band, George's Majestic Lounge. $20.
7 p.m. -- Dance Coalition, WAC. Free.
8 p.m. -- TheatreSquared presents "The Mystery of Irma Vep," Nadine Baum Studios. $22.
Sunday
2 p.m. -- TheatreSquared presents "The Mystery of Irma Vep," Nadine Baum Studios. $22.
5-7:30 p.m. -- 24-Hour Play Festival, Nadine Baum Studios. $10.
6 p.m. -- George's 80th with Steve Kimock & Friends, featuring Paul Bararre and Fred Tackett of Little Feat, Outformation and Mountain of Venus, George's Majestic Lounge. $20.
For a complete schedule, visit www.fayettevilledowntown.org/faf.
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