ARTS+CULTURE
Montana Kaimin Wednesday, March 27, 2013
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CAMPUS
‘Pentecost’ sets the stage on fire
Complex play at UM asks questions with few answers Christopher Allen Montana Kaimin A collection of voices speaking different tongues attempts to make sense of international art, language barriers, and the influence of western culture all while trying to tackle the slippery question of who can own an idea. And that’s before desperate people start taking hostages. The University of Montana Department of Theatre and Dance is currently performing their production of “Pentecost,” a play by the critically renowned and politically divisive British playwright, David Edgar. A thoroughly ambitious production, the amount of issues instigated by this script offers plenty for audiences to chew on. But for those who temper feelings of intimidation enough to take a seat in front of the stage, the basic premise is easy to grasp. The director of the School of Theatre and Dance, Jere Hodgin, directed the play and served as part of the selection committee that chose to produce “Pentecost.” “We chose this play because it immediately takes us out of lovely Missoula, Montana, and takes us somewhere else,” said Hodgin. “It’s definitely relevant and helps us remember how myopic we can be sometimes.” Hodgin acknowledges that the languages and the socio-political themes explored
by “Pentecost” pose tremendous challenges for the department and the students. “The density of this play and the questions it raises and the few answers it provides shows us how destructive narrow thinking can be,” he said. One of the most challenging aspects is the myriad of languages, dialects, and accents the play demands of its actors. The entire crew had to prepare earlier than most productions, with some actors starting their language exercises a month in advance. John DeBoer, an associate professor at the School of Theatre and Dance, not only performed a major character in the play, but also served as the vocal coach for “Pentecost” and helped prepare the students by recording native and fluent speakers, each speaking with a different accent. Some characters have no English dialogue at all. “When you’re speaking a language with an accent, you’re essentially making a series of mistakes,” DeBoer said. “You’re speaking one language, but using the sounds of another.” This ties in some of the broader themes broached by the play, such as learning to recognize our own identities while seeing ourselves in other people. We may speak with different accents, but we can still hear each other in our sounds. “Everybody has an accent or a dialect that they speak,” DeBoer said. “And the first thing
Courtesy Photo/Terry Cyr UM Theatre and Dance actors perform a critical scene in ‘Pentecost’ during a dress rehearsal. The play finishes its run March 27-30 at 7:30 p.m. in the Montana Theatre. Tickets are $16 for students and $20 for the general public.
you have to do as an actor is give up yourself, and let go of the sounds of your voice.” “We want to be as accurate as possible, but we also recognize that most of the actors are students with limited time and resources,” DeBoer said. He invited all the members of the international community to come to see the show, so it’s on the students to perfect a foreign form. “Obviously, the attempt may not be perfect but hopefully still moving and entertaining,” he said. “I wanted the actors to start thinking in their language from day one,” Hodgin said.
“Rehearsals were conducted entirely within the dialect. Nobody was allowed to speak to me casually.” Adding an extra step to a role is a significant challenge for any actor. But rather than view this as an obstacle, Hodgin believes it adds an extra layer of depth. “It served as an incredible means of enriching the story-telling, because it couldn’t depend on just text. It had to depend on the physicality, and how and actor can say something.” “Really getting into the character is key,” said Madelyn Beck, a sophomore double-majoring in theater and journalism. She performed two roles in “Pentecost,” each speaking a different language. “When people are speaking, the meaning behind the words is often more important than the words themselves.” The story follows a local curator who discovers a cen-
turies-old fresco — a painting created as part of a wall — in the ruins of an old church in an unnamed Eastern European country depicting a painter with a style not thought to exist until 100 years later, and certainly not so far east. Believing she may have found evidence that would dramatically alter the Western art world, she enlists the help of a British art historian to help with her investigation. As the cultural and political ramifications of the fresco’s authorship become clear, government and religious interests become involved. The ideas represented by the fresco could rejuvenate ideas in a society with an uncertain future. Some might thinking that all the hubbub over a painting is a little dramatic, but Rafael Chacón, professor of art history and criticism for the UM, believes they’d be selling it short. See PENTECOST, page 8