Beautiful Star Dramaturgy Information

I was raised in one of those families that kept the dictionary in the kitchen so we could use it to resolve suppertime disputes. You know the type. Fussing over spelling, nuances of meaning, Latin origins. In my family the Bible was in the kitchen, too, as a ready daily reference for whatever issue might arise. I’m still an avid dictionary reader, but I hadn’t dipped into the Bible for a while.

That is, not until Beautiful Star. For several sleepless weeks in the fall of 2006, I found myself again at the kitchen table with a Bible and a dictionary, this time a rhyming dictionary, trying to come up with new and original songs about some very well-known old stories. The Bible does not offer a lot of detail about the thoughts or emotions of its characters, and because thoughts and emotions are the stuff of good songs, I had to make that part up. I wondered what Sarah thought about Isaac heading up the mountain with Abraham. I wondered what Lucifer was thinking when he decided to tum against God. I wondered about the innkeeper that turned Mary and Joseph away. And I wondered what Mary, knowing all she knew about her son’s future, would sing to him as a lullaby.

So it took seven days for the Lord to make the world, and Noah and his ark floated for forty days and forty nights. But it has taken us five long years to remount this show and I am so happy to be part of the Open Heart Community Fellowship once again! I have missed the congregation. Heartfelt gratitude to Faye Petree, Emily Damrel, Jason Hughes and David Goldenberg, bringing their hearts and considerable talents the music of Beautiful Star.

Director ’s Note One of the first things I learned about working in the professional regional theater is that Christmas comes early. While everyone else is still thinking about what to wear for Halloween, I’ve spent most of the last 15 Octobers of my life either in Victorian England with some guy named Scrooge, at Macy’s dressed up as an elf, searching a magical land for The Snow Queen or with the fine folks at a small Church in a fictional town someplace in the mountains I am proud to call home.

I have been fascinated by the English Mystery Cycles since I first discovered them in 1995. My first attempt to adapt them for the Appalachian region was in a play called Wondrous Love. It was long and unwieldy, and after the first and only reading of the play, I thought I was through with the Mystery Cycle.

But the Mystery Plays, full of faith and majesty, have stayed with me. The language, rich with alliteration and surprisingly real, has shaped all my subsequent writing.

But I knew I wanted to do more with them than simply restage them. I had to find a way to make the plays my own with a framework allowing us to know the people doing the plays. The church and the congregation I imagined was a fantasy of sorts.

It was the church I would like to stumble into on a winter’s evening. A spirit filled place, where everyone, wounded somehow, can be healed. And where everyone is accepted, believer or not, into a family. It gives me great joy to stumble into that church again, to find my old friends waiting, as joyous as ever with stories to tell.

Throughout the writing of the play, I thought a lot about my Aunt Shirley who decided in the mid-nineties that she would write and stage her own Christmas play in her basement. The cast was comprised of my family (all but me making their stage debut) and a few folks from her church. It was a three-year experiment in theatrical folk art. Every minute was crafted by Aunt Shirley with absolute love or the story she had to tell. And every year, there came a moment when the play transcended the basement of that 60s ranch house to become something bigger − something made out of faith. I imagine that moment happened sometimes too as the pageant wagons rolled through streets of medieval York and the fishmongers and shipwrights and carpenters performed their plays to celebrate their spirit. And it’s that moment I’ve come searching for again in this blending of Bible stories, medieval plays and contemporary Appalachia.

We’re thrilled to invite you back to the Open Heart Fellowship.

Welcome home.

GREENSBORO

Composer ’s Note

NOV. 27DEC. 24, 2015

During Medieval times, the presence of the Roman Catholic Church was palpable in personal and family life, politics, and business. With a thriving belief system coupled with the power and authority of the early church, religious-themed dramas gained in popularity. As a result, short liturgical dramas were presented in the church. Performed in Latin, the official language of the Roman Catholic Church in England, the plays featured short Bible stories such as Daniel in the Lion’s Den, the Ten Virgins, and Mary’s visit to an empty tomb.

During the thirteenth century, perhaps to produce more elaborate plays, various guilds began presenting Medieval Mystery plays outside of the church. The variant authors of Mystery plays uniformly discarded the language associated with the Church of England to favor the peoples’ common vernacular.

Originally in Latin, Mystery plays were a cycle of plays that covered a range of biblical accounts from the Creation of humankind to the Final Judgment of humanity. Dramatizing biblical events such as the Fall of Lucifer, the Creation, the Fall of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and Isaac, the coming of Christ, and the Final Judgment were common stories explored.

During Medieval times, Guilds were an important element of the city’s cultural and economic structure. During the tenth century, Merchant Guilds developed to protect personal property such as wagons, horses, and goods when traveling rough terrains. Similarly, a more specialized group of craftsmen formed Craft Guilds. Hence, bakers, carpenters, and cloth makers, for example, could join a specialized guild to receive protection and mutual aid. Committed to public service, it was not unusual for guilds to be responsible for producing an episode within a complete cycle. For example, the shipbuilders and the seamen might tell the story of Noah and the Ark, the goldsmiths might stage

Cailleau, Hubert: Valenciennes mystery play. Setting for the Valenciennes mystery play, miniature by Hubert Cailleau, 1547; in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

The Last Judgement, fresco by Michelangelo, 1533–41; in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome.

Three Kings, and the bakers might present the Last Supper. Artistically, through this integration, guilds were able to support their faith while also showcasing their trade proficiency.

By working collaboratively to stage standalone plays featured in a larger cycle, an entire community was involved in producing and marketing the Mystery play cycles. Hence, festivals became occasions for social interactions and reflection; during the feast of Corpus Christi, for example, staged Mystery cycles served as a reminder of the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In tandem with many festivals in the Middle Ages, the mystery plays thrived on bookends such as the Alpha and Omega, Genesis and Revelation, and the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Notably, characteristics of the episodic structure, which is the foundation of modern drama, can be uncovered in cycle plays. Well-known surviving full cycle plays from England include the York plays (a cycle of 48 plays), Wakefield plays (a cycle of 32 plays) and the Chester plays (a cycle of 24 plays).

Similar to Preston Lane’s Beautiful Star: an Appalachian Nativity, the plays were set during biblical times, yet featured modernized characteristics. In the York cycle plays, for example, the Biblical character Cain was portrayed as a Yorkshire farmer.

In addition to utilizing modern costumes, the Mystery plays also featured comedic story plots and spectacle to advance the narrative and make the characters more accessible.

The Medieval Mystery plays highlight collaborative storytelling, artistry, and community. Building upon this rich history, Triad Stage is proud to invite audiences to experience Beautiful Star: an Appalachian Nativity.

The prophet Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:16-17).

Amiens Cathedral - The West Facade Prophet Quatrefoils

‘Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene at the Empty Tomb’, artist unknown

During Medieval times, the presence of the Roman Catholic Church was palpable in personal and family life, politics, and business. With a thriving belief system coupled with the power and authority of the early church, religious-themed dramas gained in popularity. As a result, short liturgical dramas were presented in the church. Performed in Latin, the official language of the Roman Catholic Church in England, the plays featured short Bible stories such as Daniel in the Lion’s Den, the Ten Virgins, and Mary’s visit to an empty tomb.

During the thirteenth century, perhaps to produce more elaborate plays, various guilds began presenting Medieval Mystery plays outside of the church. The variant authors of Mystery plays uniformly discarded the language associated with the Church of England to favor the peoples’ common vernacular.

Originally in Latin, Mystery plays were a cycle of plays that covered a range of biblical accounts from the Creation of humankind to the Final Judgment of humanity. Dramatizing biblical events such as the Fall of Lucifer, the Creation, the Fall of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, Abraham and Isaac, the coming of Christ, and the Final Judgment were common stories explored.

During Medieval times, Guilds were an important element of the city’s cultural and economic structure. During the tenth century, Merchant Guilds developed to protect personal property such as wagons, horses, and goods when traveling rough terrains. Similarly, a more specialized group of craftsmen formed Craft Guilds. Hence, bakers, carpenters, and cloth makers, for example, could join a specialized guild to receive protection and mutual aid. Committed to public service, it was not unusual for guilds to be responsible for producing an episode within a complete cycle. For example, the shipbuilders and the seamen might tell the story of Noah and the Ark, the goldsmiths might stage

Cailleau, Hubert: Valenciennes mystery play. Setting for the Valenciennes mystery play, miniature by Hubert Cailleau, 1547; in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

The Last Judgement, fresco by Michelangelo, 1533–41; in the Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome.

Three Kings, and the bakers might present the Last Supper. Artistically, through this integration, guilds were able to support their faith while also showcasing their trade proficiency.

By working collaboratively to stage standalone plays featured in a larger cycle, an entire community was involved in producing and marketing the Mystery play cycles. Hence, festivals became occasions for social interactions and reflection; during the feast of Corpus Christi, for example, staged Mystery cycles served as a reminder of the life, sacrifice, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In tandem with many festivals in the Middle Ages, the mystery plays thrived on bookends such as the Alpha and Omega, Genesis and Revelation, and the Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Notably, characteristics of the episodic structure, which is the foundation of modern drama, can be uncovered in cycle plays. Well-known surviving full cycle plays from England include the York plays (a cycle of 48 plays), Wakefield plays (a cycle of 32 plays) and the Chester plays (a cycle of 24 plays).

Similar to Preston Lane’s Beautiful Star: an Appalachian Nativity, the plays were set during biblical times, yet featured modernized characteristics. In the York cycle plays, for example, the Biblical character Cain was portrayed as a Yorkshire farmer.

In addition to utilizing modern costumes, the Mystery plays also featured comedic story plots and spectacle to advance the narrative and make the characters more accessible.

The Medieval Mystery plays highlight collaborative storytelling, artistry, and community. Building upon this rich history, Triad Stage is proud to invite audiences to experience Beautiful Star: an Appalachian Nativity.

The prophet Daniel in the lion’s den (Dan. 6:16-17).

Amiens Cathedral - The West Facade Prophet Quatrefoils

‘Christ Appearing to Mary Magdalene at the Empty Tomb’, artist unknown

I was raised in one of those families that kept the dictionary in the kitchen so we could use it to resolve suppertime disputes. You know the type. Fussing over spelling, nuances of meaning, Latin origins. In my family the Bible was in the kitchen, too, as a ready daily reference for whatever issue might arise. I’m still an avid dictionary reader, but I hadn’t dipped into the Bible for a while.

That is, not until Beautiful Star. For several sleepless weeks in the fall of 2006, I found myself again at the kitchen table with a Bible and a dictionary, this time a rhyming dictionary, trying to come up with new and original songs about some very well-known old stories. The Bible does not offer a lot of detail about the thoughts or emotions of its characters, and because thoughts and emotions are the stuff of good songs, I had to make that part up. I wondered what Sarah thought about Isaac heading up the mountain with Abraham. I wondered what Lucifer was thinking when he decided to tum against God. I wondered about the innkeeper that turned Mary and Joseph away. And I wondered what Mary, knowing all she knew about her son’s future, would sing to him as a lullaby.

So it took seven days for the Lord to make the world, and Noah and his ark floated for forty days and forty nights. But it has taken us five long years to remount this show and I am so happy to be part of the Open Heart Community Fellowship once again! I have missed the congregation. Heartfelt gratitude to Faye Petree, Emily Damrel, Jason Hughes and David Goldenberg, bringing their hearts and considerable talents the music of Beautiful Star.

Director ’s Note One of the first things I learned about working in the professional regional theater is that Christmas comes early. While everyone else is still thinking about what to wear for Halloween, I’ve spent most of the last 15 Octobers of my life either in Victorian England with some guy named Scrooge, at Macy’s dressed up as an elf, searching a magical land for The Snow Queen or with the fine folks at a small Church in a fictional town someplace in the mountains I am proud to call home.

I have been fascinated by the English Mystery Cycles since I first discovered them in 1995. My first attempt to adapt them for the Appalachian region was in a play called Wondrous Love. It was long and unwieldy, and after the first and only reading of the play, I thought I was through with the Mystery Cycle.

But the Mystery Plays, full of faith and majesty, have stayed with me. The language, rich with alliteration and surprisingly real, has shaped all my subsequent writing.

But I knew I wanted to do more with them than simply restage them. I had to find a way to make the plays my own with a framework allowing us to know the people doing the plays. The church and the congregation I imagined was a fantasy of sorts.

It was the church I would like to stumble into on a winter’s evening. A spirit filled place, where everyone, wounded somehow, can be healed. And where everyone is accepted, believer or not, into a family. It gives me great joy to stumble into that church again, to find my old friends waiting, as joyous as ever with stories to tell.

Throughout the writing of the play, I thought a lot about my Aunt Shirley who decided in the mid-nineties that she would write and stage her own Christmas play in her basement. The cast was comprised of my family (all but me making their stage debut) and a few folks from her church. It was a three-year experiment in theatrical folk art. Every minute was crafted by Aunt Shirley with absolute love or the story she had to tell. And every year, there came a moment when the play transcended the basement of that 60s ranch house to become something bigger − something made out of faith. I imagine that moment happened sometimes too as the pageant wagons rolled through streets of medieval York and the fishmongers and shipwrights and carpenters performed their plays to celebrate their spirit. And it’s that moment I’ve come searching for again in this blending of Bible stories, medieval plays and contemporary Appalachia.

We’re thrilled to invite you back to the Open Heart Fellowship.

Welcome home.

GREENSBORO

Composer ’s Note

NOV. 27DEC. 24, 2015