THE METHOD GUN
Proud to support New Haven’s rich tradition of world class arts and entertainment for over 190 years.
FEBRUARY 23 TO 26, 2011 YALE REPERTORY THEATRE JAMES BUNDY, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR VICTORIA NOLAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND
WORLD PERFORMANCE PROJECT AT YALE JOSEPH ROACH, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR EMILY COATES, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR PRESENT
THE METHOD GUN WRITTEN BY KIRK LYNN DIRECTED BY SHAWN SIDES
CREATED BY RUDE MECHS Scenic Designer
LEILAH STEWART
Costume Designer
KATEY GILLIGAN
Lighting Designer
BRIAN H. SCOTT
Sound Designer/Composer
GRAHAM REYNOLDS
Projection Designers
LOWELL BARTHOLOMEE MICHAEL MERGEN
Production Manager/ Technical Director
MADGE DARLINGTON
Stage Manager
LOWELL BARTHOLOMEE
The Method Gun is a project of Creative Capital and has received creation support from the Multi-Arts Production (MAP) Fund, The Orchard Project Theatre Residency Program (orchardproject.com), the National Endowment for the Arts, the University of Texas Humanities Institute, The Harry Ransom Center, and The Long Center for the Performing Arts (2008 Premiere). Rude Mechs is supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts and the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division. The Method Gun was presented in the 2010 Humana Festival of New American Plays at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
THE CAST
(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)
THOMAS GRAVES as Carl Reyholt as Pablo / Paper Boy / Tamale Vendor / Doctor HANNAH KENAH as Connie Torrey as Colored Woman / Mexican Woman LANA LESLEY as Koko Bond as Negro Woman / Nurse E. JASON LIEBRECHT as Robert “Hops” Gilbert as Steve SHAWN SIDES as Elizabeth Johns as Eunice
SETTING
Yale Repertory Theatre, Present Day Stella Burden’s Company Rehearsal Room, 1970s New Orleans, 1940s THE METHOD GUN IS PERFORMED WITHOUT AN INTERMISSION. EACH PERFORMANCE WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A TALK BACK WITH THE ARTISTS.
WORKSHOP
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Audiences are invited to participate in an interactive studio session with members of Rude Mechs. Friday, February 25, 10AM–12PM Theater Studies Ballroom 220 York Street, Room 101 Co-Sponsored by Yale Theater Studies Program
THE APPROACH When Stella Burden left the US in 1972, her company continued her nine-year rehearsal process, using training techniques from Burden’s Approach, as well as others adapted from text books, other gurus, and—at one point—a high-school film strip entitled What Makes an Actor, all of which have been incorporated into the contemporary understanding of The Approach. The text reproduced here includes some of the research Rude Mechs unearthed in their investigation into the company’s training.
KISSING PRACTICE From Theatre: Art in Action, © Glencoe/McGraw Hill
Romantic scenes require careful rehearsal. They should be rehearsed privately with the director before they are attempted in rehearsals with the entire cast. There are four key parts to a successful stage kiss: (1) proper foot position; (2) correct body position; (3) exact time count; and (4) a smooth break. The script or the director will tell you what kind of kiss is needed in the scene—a motherly peck or a romantic embrace. The first part is getting into the embrace. The woman usually faces the audience with her feet about six inches apart. The man then steps toward the woman on the foot closest to her, puts that foot between her feet, and swings around so that they end up facing each other. Body position is the second part of a stage kiss. For most romantic kisses, little or no light should be seen between the couple. The woman should be facing the audience and the man should be facing her, his back squarely toward the audience. The couple should decide ahead of time which way they will tilt their heads—to the right or to the left. The couple does not have to make any actual physical contact at all; many professional actors do not. Correct foot and body position give the illusion of a real kiss. The third and most important part of the kiss is the count. A sweet romantic kiss lasts one second; a reasonably romantic kiss lasts two seconds; and a very romantic kiss lasts from three to five seconds. Anything over five seconds will usually cause the wrong audience response. Perhaps the most difficult part of the stage embrace is the parting or separation of the couple. First, it must be done with the same emotional value as the kiss established, usually a smooth, slow release. Second, it is important for the couple to maintain physical contact with the hands until the “break”—the actual separation. To do this, the couple slowly pulls apart while sliding their hands down each other’s arms. The break may occur at the forearms, or the couple may continue until they are holding hands. Then they may step away from each other, gently releasing their hands.
ABOUT RUDE MECHS Based in Austin, TX, Rude Mechs has created a mercurial slate of 23 theatrical productions that represent a genre-defying cocktail of big ideas, cheap laughs, and dizzying spectacle. What these works hold in common is the use of play to make performance, the use of theatres as meeting places for audiences and artists, and the use of humor as tool for intellectual investigation. Rude Mechs tours these performances nationally and abroad; maintains The Off Center, a performance venue in Austin for arts groups of every discipline; presents nationally-recognized artists; and runs Grrl Action, a year-round arts mentoring program for teenage girls.
CAST THOMAS GRAVES (ENSEMBLE) is a Co-Producing Artistic Director of Rude Mechs. As such, he has developed, performed in, and produced Cherrywood, Have You Ever Been Assassinated?, Decameron Day 7: Revenge, the Rudes’ re-enactment of Dionysus in 69 (William Finley), and recently made his first appearance in the Humana Festival of New American Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in The Method Gun. Mr. Graves is currently co-directing, with Lana Lesley, Rude Mechs’ new western operetta called I’ve Never Been So Happy by Kirk Lynn and Peter Stopschinski. Other performances in Austin include Rubber Repertory’s The Casket of Passing Fancy. Thomas holds an MFA in Performance as Public Practice from The University of Texas at Austin. HANNAH KENAH (ENSEMBLE) has been developing work and performing with Rude Mechs as a company member since 2008, including I’ve Never Been So Happy and Dionysus in 69. Other theatre: Voices Underwater, Guest By Courtesy (Salvage Vanguard Theater); 1+1+1, Work of Consequence (Hyde Park Theatre’s Frontera Fest); The Idiot Servants (Dell’Arte’s Mad River Festival); The Blind (Vortex Theater Company, NYC); With Claws and Beak (Workhorse Theatre Ensemble); and Accidental Death of an Anarchist (Vortex Repertory Company, Austin). Ms. Kenah holds a BA in drama from Dartmouth College and is a graduate of Dell’Arte International. In addition, she spent three summers working at the O’Neill Playwrights Conference. LANA LESLEY (ENSEMBLE) is a founder and Co-Producing Artistic Director for Rude Mechs and has worked as a collaborator, producer, and actor on nearly thirty original Rude Mechs productions, including Get Your War On and Match-Play. With Rude Mechs, Lana has performed at the Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Galway Arts Festival, Kiasma Festival, Szene Salzburg, Edinburgh Fringe (Winner – Total Theater Award for Best New Play by an Ensemble), Philadelphia Live Arts, UCLA Live!, Bumbershoot, the Walker Art Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Wexner Center
for the Arts, On the Boards, and DiverseWorks. With SITI Company, Lana toured their piece systems/layers to the Krannert Center and Utah State University. With The TEAM, Lana has toured their piece Architecting to BITE Festival, Culturgest, The Arches, and to Calgary. Lana is currently co-directing, with Thomas Graves, Rude Mechs’ new western operetta, I’ve Never Been So Happy (to premiere in April) by Kirk Lynn and Peter Stopschinski. E. JASON LIEBRECHT (ENSEMBLE) has been developing work and performing with Rude Mechs as a company member since 1999. Rude touring: Walker Art Center, Wexner Center for the Arts, On the Boards and Bumbershoot Festival (Seattle, WA), UCLA Live, Szene Salzburg (Austria), Woolly Mammoth (Washington, DC), Live Arts (Philadelphia, PA), Under the Radar (New York, NY), Kiasma Festival (Espoo, Finland), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), and Galway Arts Festival (Ireland). Off-Broadway: Lipstick Traces (Rude Mechs/Foundry Theatre), Get Your War On (Rude Mechs), Cowboy Mouth, The Unauthorized Moving Picture of John Dillinger (Hourglass Group), and Steve Earle’s Karla (Culture Project). Film: David Byrne’s True Stories, Matt Zollar Seitz’s HOME and The Bed Thing, and Spencer Parsons’s Chainsaw Found Jesus.
CREATIVE TEAM LOWELL BARTHOLOMEE (PROJECTION DESIGNER/STAGE MANAGER) has been developing work and performing with Rude Mechs as a company member since 2005, including I’ve Never Been So Happy and Get Your War On. Rude touring: Humana Festival of New Plays at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, Bumbershoot Festival (Seattle, WA), Under the Radar (New York), Kiasma Festival (Espoo, Finland), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), and Galway Arts Festival (Ireland). Off-Broadway: Get Your War On (Rude Mechs) and blah, blah, blah (Bayou Radio Productions). Other theatre: Up In the Old Hotel (Refraction Arts Project), Nightswim (State Theatre Company). Film: Holy Hell and My Name Is Buttons. Mr. Bartholomee holds a BFA from New York University. MADGE DARLINGTON (PRODUCTION MANAGER/TECHNICAL DIRECTOR) is a founder and Co-Producing Artistic Director for Rude Mechs. In the collaborative spirit of the Rudes, Madge has worked on almost every show the Rudes have made in some form or fashion including directing, acting, production managing, technical directing, stage managing, and designing. Of special note is her direction of the only known staged production of Shelley’s Prometheus Unbound. Recently, Madge co-directed the Rudes’ re-enactment of The Performance Group’s Dionysus in 69 with Shawn Sides. Madge is currently working on Delta Rhapsody, Nadine Mozon’s new one-woman show. Madge also co-directs Rude Mechs’ Grrl Action, a year-round arts mentoring program for teenage girls.
CREATIVE TEAM KIRK LYNN (PLAYWRIGHT) is a founder and one of six Co-Producing Artistic Directors of Rude Mechs. With Rude Mechs, Mr. Lynn has written and adapted more than a dozen plays including Lipstick Traces, Requiem for Tesla, and I’ve Never Been So Happy, winner of a National Endowment for the Arts New Play Development Award. Kirk also wrote Major Bang for The Foundry Theatre (NYC), with whom he is working on a new commission about “value” and its myriad meanings in America. Kirk received his MFA from the Michener Center for Writers and currently teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. MICHAEL MERGEN (PROJECTION DESIGNER) has been developing work and performing with Rude Mechs as a company member since 1999, including I’ve Never Been So Happy. As a performer, Mr. Mergen has toured with Rude Mechs to the Walker Art Center, Wexner Center for the Arts, CSPS 122, and DiverseWorks. He has created original video design for Rude Mechs on El Paraiso, and Decameron Day 7: Revenge (including a five-episode original soap opera called Harbor Cove), and directed a revival of Kirk Lynn’s Pale Idiot. Mr. Mergen is also co-artistic director for Bedlam Faction in Austin, Texas. GRAHAM REYNOLDS (SOUND DESIGNER/COMPOSER) creates, performs, and records music for film, theatre, dance, rock clubs, and concerts halls with collaborators ranging from Richard Linklater to DJ Spooky to the Austin Symphony Orchestra. As leader of the Golden Arm Trio, he’s released three critically-acclaimed CDs and performed throughout the United States and Europe. As co-artistic director with Peter Stopschinski of Golden Hornet Project, Reynolds has produced more than 50 concerts of world premiere alt-classical music. His music has been heard throughout the world on television, in films, and on radio, from HBO to the Cannes Film Festival, to the BBC and on NPR’s All Things Considered, Talk of the Nation, and Marketplace. www.grahamreynolds.com BRIAN H. SCOTT (LIGHTING DESIGNER) has designed How Late It Was, How Late; Lipstick Traces; Match-Play; Cherrywood; and Get Your War On with Rude Mechs. As a SITI Company member he designed American Document, a collaboration with the Martha Graham Company; Freshwater; WhoDoYouThinkYouAre; Radio Macbeth; Hotel Cassioepia; Death and the Ploughman; bobrauschenbergamerica (Henry Hewes Design Award 2004); War of the Worlds–The Radio Play; and systems/layers. Other recent projects include Titus Andronicus (The Court Theatre, Chicago); The Age of Iron, The Tempest, Hamlet, Richard II, Richard III (Classic Stage Company, NYC); Songs from an Unmade Bed (New York Theatre Workshop); and The Importance of Being Earnest (Arena Stage).
SHAWN SIDES (DIRECTOR/ENSEMBLE) is a founder and Co-Producing Artistic Director for Rude Mechs. With Rude Mechs, she has co-conceived, adapted, and directed a new work every year, give or take, since 1996, including Get Your War On and Lipstick Traces. Ms. Sides’s work has toured to Walker Art Center, UCLA Live!, Wexner Center for the Arts, Galway Arts Festival, Edinburgh/Aurora Nova, Szene-Salzburg, and Kiasma Festival (Espoo/Helsinki). She most recently co-directed The Provenance of Beauty by Claudia Rankine with Melanie Joseph at the Foundry Theatre and the Rudes’ re-enactment of The Performance Group’s Dionysus in 69 with Madge Darlington. She’s currently working with Kristina Wong and Katie Pearl on Ms. Wong’s next piece, Cat Lady. She is the Alpert/Hedgebrook Residency Prize recipient for 2010. LEILAH STEWART (SCENIC DESIGNER) is a freelance scenic designer and performance artist based in Austin, TX. Ms. Stewart has been designing with Rude Mechs as a company member since 2003. Her current projects include Hula, an independent feature film (production design); The Imaginary Invalid (scenic design); and Rude Mechs’ I’ve Never Been So Happy (scenic design). Recent stage designs include City of Angels and bobrauschenbergamerica (St. Edwards University), both of which were nominated for Best Scenic Design by the 2010 Austin Critics Table Awards. Ms. Stewart designed Dress Suits to Hire for The Split Britches Company (La MaMa) and Phoenix Fabrik for Daniel Alexander Jones (Pillsbury House Theatre). Her recent performance installations received commissions from Austin Scriptworks and the Fuse Box Festival. Ms. Stewart earned an MFA in scenic design from the University of Texas at Austin. Rude Mechs Exclusive Worldwide Tour Representation: ArKtype, Thomas O. Kriegsmann, President t 917.386.5468 f 212.749.7696 tommy@arktype.org arktype.org
WORLD PERFORMANCE PROJECT AT YALE STAFF Joseph Roach, Principal Investigator Emily Coates, Artistic Director Kathryn Krier, Production Manager
THE WORLD PERFORMANCE PROJECT (WPP) promotes research in performance studies across departments at Yale. An interdiscipline that draws from the arts, humanities, and human sciences (theater, drama, dance, visual arts, speech, linguistics, anthropology, sociology), performance studies defines as its objects cultural performances of all kinds, from theatrical presentations to rites of passage, and expands its frontiers anywhere significant performances are likely to take place, from Yorubaland to Disneyland. Working in partnership with departments and programs throughout the university, WPP presents performances, workshops, lectures and symposia with artists and scholars working in a spectrum of performance forms. Through these events, WPP fosters teaching, research, and publication on performance-related topics. Originally established with funding provided by a Distinguished Achievement Award granted to Joseph Roach, Sterling Professor of Theater, by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, WPP is affiliated with the Yale College Theater Studies Program and the Whitney Humanities Center at Yale. For more information about the World Performance Project please visit:
www.yale.edu/wpp
YALE REPERTORY THEATRE STAFF James Bundy, Artistic Director Victoria Nolan, Managing Director Jennifer Kiger, Associate Artistic Director
ARTISTIC Resident Artists
Paula Vogel, Playwright-in-Residence Liz Diamond, Evan Yionoulis, Resident Directors Catherine Sheehy, Resident Dramaturg Ming Cho Lee, Set Design Advisor Michael Yeargan, Resident Set Designer Jane Greenwood, Costume Design Advisor Jess Goldstein, Resident Costume Designer Jennifer Tipton, Lighting Design Advisor Stephen Strawbridge, Resident Lighting Designer David Budries, Sound Design Advisor Walton Wilson, Voice and Speech Advisor Rick Sordelet, Fight Advisor Mary Hunter, Stage Management Advisor Associate Artists 52nd Street Project, Kama Ginkas, Mark Lamos, MTYZ Theatre/Moscow New Generations Theatre, Bill Rauch, Sarah Ruhl, Henrietta Yanovskaya Commissioned Artists David Adjmi, Todd Almond, Hilary Bell, Adam Bock, Bill Camp, Lear deBessonet, Will Eno, Marcus Gardley, Kirsten Greenidge, Danai Gurira, Ann Marie Healy, Amy Herzog, Naomi Iizuka, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Dan LeFranc, Elizabeth Meriwether, Scott Murphy, Julie Marie Myatt, David LeFort Nugent, Lina Patel, Jay Reiss, Sarah Ruhl, Octavio Solis, Lucy Thurber, Alice Tuan, Paula Vogel, Kathryn Walat, Anne Washburn, Marisa Wegrzyn, Robert Woodruff Artistic Administration
Amy Boratko, Literary Manager Kay Perdue Meadows, Artistic Associate Maya Cantu, Artistic Coordinator Tanya Dean, Hannah Rae Montgomery, Literary Associates Tara Rubin, CSA; Laura Schutzel, CSA; Casting Directors Dale Brown, CSA; Merri Sugarman, CSA; Eric Woodall, CSA; Casting Associates Kaitlin Shaw, Casting Assistant Ruth M. Feldman, Director of Education and Accessibility Services Teresa Mensz, Library Services Assistant Josie Brown, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Artistic Director and Associate Artistic Director Laurie Coppola, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Directing, Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism, Playwriting, and Stage Management Departments Mary Volk, Senior Administrative Assistant for the Design and Sound Design Departments
ADMINISTRATION Suzanne R. Appel, Martha O. Jurczak, Associate Managing Directors Matthew Gutschick, Assistant Managing Director Michael Bateman, Caitie Hannon, Management Assistants Emalie Mayo, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Managing Director Katie Liberman, Company Manager Jonathan Wemette, Assistant Company Manager Development and Alumni Affairs
Deborah S. Berman, Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Debbie Ellinghaus, Senior Associate Director of Development and Alumni Affairs Elizabeth Elliott, Jennifer Harrison Newman, Associate Directors of Development Barry Kaplan, Senior Staff Writer Susan C. Clark, Development Associate Belene Day, Senior Administrative Assistant to Development and Marketing & Communications Reynaldi Lolong, Development Assistant Finance and Information Technology
Katherine D. BurgueĂąo, Director of Finance and Human Resources Denise Zaczek, Associate Director of Finance Cristal Coleman, Hanna Hejmowski, Ashlie Russell, Business Office Specialists Randall Rode, Information Technology Director Daryl Brereton, Associate Information Technology Director Mara Hazzard, Director, Yale Tessitura Consortium Toni Ann Simiola, Senior Administrative Assistant to Business Office, Information Technology, Operations, and Tessitura Laura Puopolo, Business Office Assistant Niti Mehta, Information Technology Assistant Marketing, Communications, and Audience Services
Anne Trites, Director of Marketing and Communications Steven Padla, Senior Associate Director of Communications Daniel Cress, Senior Associate Director of Marketing Rachel Smith, Associate Director of Marketing Susan Kim, Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Jennifer Harrison Newman, Associate Director of Marketing Sarah Stevens-Morling, Online Communications and Advertising Manager Marguerite Elliott, Publications Manager Lico Whitfield, Marketing Assistant Rachel Harris, Graphic Design and Production Assistant Janna J. Ellis, Associate Director of Audience Services and Tessitura Specialist Laura Kirk, Assistant Audience Services Director Tracy Baldini, Subscriptions Coordinator London Moses, Audience Services Assistant Sam Bolen, Amanda Culp, Courtney Engle, Tiffany Lin, Jeffrey Reinhardt, Emily Sanna, William Smith, Joanna Wilson, Box Office Assistants
Operations Diane Galt, Director of Facility Operations Rich Abrams, Operations Associate Paul Catalano, Arts and Drama Zone Superintendent VonDeen Ricks, Custodial Team Leader Marcia Reily, Building Attendant Lucille Bochert, Vermont Ford, Warren Lyde, Mark Roy, Custodians Theater Safety and Occupational Health William J. Reynolds, Director of Theater Safety and Occupational Health Jacob Thompson, Security Officer Ed Jooss, Audience Safety Officer Fred Grier, Customer Service and Safety Officer
Scenery
Don Harvey, Neil Mulligan, Technical Directors Alan Hendrickson, Electro Mechanical Laboratory Supervisor Eric Sparks, Shop Foreman Matt Gaffney, Sharon Reinhart, Master Carpenters Brandon Fuller, Ryan Gardner, Shop Carpenters Michael Backhaus, Kenyth X. Thomason, Assistants to the Technical Director Sound
Josh Loar, Sound Supervisor Paul Bozzi, Staff Sound Engineer Orlando Chavez, Assistant to the Sound Supervisor
PRODUCTION
Projections
Bronislaw J. Sammler, Production Supervisor James Mountcastle, Production Stage Manager Jonathan Reed, Senior Associate Production Supervisor Grace Pavuk, Senior Administrative Assistant to the Production Department
Stage Operations
Costumes
Tom McAlister, Costume Shop Manager Robin Hirsch, Associate Costume Shop Manager Mary Zihal, Senior Draper Clarissa Wylie Youngberg, Draper Deborah Bloch, Senior First Hand Linda Kelley-Dodd, Costume Project Coordinator Denise O’Brien, Wig and Hair Design Barbara Bodine, Company Hairdresser Linda Wingerter, Costume Stock Manager Electrics
Donald W. Titus, Lighting Supervisor Jason Wells, Linda Young, Head Electricians Jacqueline Deniz Young, Assistant to the Lighting Supervisor Painting
Erich Bolton, Projection Supervisor
Janet Cunningham, Stage Carpenter Kate Begley Baker, Properties Runner Elizabeth Bolster, Wardrobe Supervisor Charles Harbert, Sound Operator Amy Jonas, Assistant to the Stage Carpenter
FOR THIS PRODUCTION Palmer Hefferan, Sound Engineer Stephen C. Henson, Master Electrician Bona Lee, Stage Carpenter Brandon Curtis, Assistant Stage Manager Dede M. Ayite, Hsiao-Ya Chen, Delilah Dylan Dominguez, Justin Elie, Sunder Ganglani, Sang Hee Kim, Paul Lieber, Elliot B. Quick, Brian MacInnis Smallwood, Lindsey Turteltaub, Production Crew Art Priromprintr, House Manager
Cover and inside photos by Bret Brookshire.
Ru-Jun Wang, Scenic Charge Angie Meninger, Kathleen Zeranski, Scenic Artists Keri Kriston, Assistant Scenic Artist April Nichole Chateauneuf, Allison Jackson, Assistants to the Painting Supervisor Properties
Brian Cookson, Properties Master David P. Schrader, Properties Craftsperson Jennifer McClure, Properties Assistant Bill Batschelet, Properties Stock Manager C. Nikki Mills, Assistant to the Properties Master
The Method Gun February 23 to 26, 2011 Yale Repertory Theatre, 1120 Chapel Street
ConCeived and direCted by dean Moss in Collaboration with sungMyung Chun Co-produCed by gaMetophyte, inC. and Mapp international produCtions
KOREA/USA Special preview engagement! march 31–april 2 at 8pm
yalerep.org/noboundaries