Local playwright Ara Barlieb sounds the alarm
"The Watchers" October 10-19 at The Ice House
www.ckplayers.com
In a new play presented by Crowded Kitchen Players, a scenario unfolds that only a few years ago would have seemed little more than a cautionary tale. In light of recent events, however, the scenes and attitudes it depicts feel all too familiar.
The setting is a darkened, boarded-up playhouse. Masked officers whose mission is to capture and investigate anyone suspected of being an actor or involved in the production of theatrical events are questioning a woman in their custody. The suspect maintains her innocence, claiming to be simply a watcher, but her interrogators are not convinced. As the level of violence against the prisoner escalates, a second group of masked officers storms the theater, and the two raiding parties struggle for control of the situation. I asked writer/director Barlieb to answer a few questions about what inspired his work and what he hopes to accomplish with this production.
DS: The play has a fascinating premise with a twist at the end. What was the genesis of this idea?
AB: I am very happy with the idea that theater is the "true" reality in which we can find great comfort and security and learn great truths, while at the same time our miserable daily lives are the fiction. Like we're witnessing every waking morning when a new atrocity dominates the news headlines, and we have no idea what to do about it.
So, theater is the sanctuary we all love and prefer.
And the idea of that sanctuary now being under siege, censorship, withdrawal of funding, takeover of boards of directors, from the "fictional" world of politics and barbarity is terrifying and needs to be addressed with haste and vigor.
And the best way to accomplish that is to act it out on stage in front of an audience, don't you think?
DS: In The Watchers, not everyone is who they first appear to be. What were the challenges and opportunities in writing characters within characters?
AB: I don't think it was any challenge at all to write them, but I can tell you from conducting rehearsals that it's a never-ending struggle for the actors to play them.
DS: Was the goal always to use a meta-theatrical structure, or did the story come first?
AB: The conceit comes from the idea of theater as "the art of the empty space." So, our play necessarily begins with a bare stage that allows its world to emerge from the emptiness.
DS: The shift from one "reality" to a real-life confrontation is a major turning point. What do you hope the audience experiences in that moment?
AB: I guess this what we sometimes call our "moment of truth." Somehow the actors and the audience have to be able to feel the synergy of this shared moment in history, and along with that the urgency of "acting" upon that truth.
I hope this isn't as pretentious as it sounds to me right now. If the play IS real life, as we contend, then there's no time to waste. Throw yourself into the message and act upon it, together with the audience.
DS: Your synopsis mentions that the play is intended to be a call to action. How do you balance the need for the story to be engaging and entertaining with the political message you're trying to convey?
AB: I always feel compelled to learn from my own mistaken presumptions. For me, a good story wins my respect and further reflection when it takes me in a direction different from where I thought I was going. The jolt of that is usually entertaining and makes me the feel the experience and time were worth the ride, while at the same time making me want to examine what kept me staying with it to the end.
DS: The play's themes touch on some of the most pressing issues in our country today. How did you decide which specific topics, like the defunding of the arts and threats to colleges, to incorporate?
AB: Actually, the most important topic to me is the lack or loss of compassion that is required of the people who are carrying out the dictates that are threatening our way of life. Somehow, they are allowing themselves to give license to their own most unfortunate impulses to suffocate anything that is new and enlightening, in the name of resuscitating what is outdated and unhealthy.
DS: The protagonist isn't a single person but rather the entire group. What does it mean to you to show collective action as the primary form of resistance?
AB: Everything is just theater to me. I'm not particularly drawn to solo performance or even two-handers because those scripts lack the tension and energy of more bodies and more viewpoints bouncing around the stage. And I guess I just feel you need more vibrancy to effect change than a single protagonist can provide when a challenge is this overwhelming.
DS: You describe the play as "violent, dramatic, a little humorous, and hopefully engaging." The humor seems particularly interesting given the serious subject matter. Where did you find opportunities to inject humor into the script?
AB: Doesn't it seem that every challenge needs to be laughed at in order to get started with the business of addressing it? Someone throws a punch at you and splits your lip, you wipe the blood away, chuckle, and say, "I guess we're going to fight." That's my idea of black humor.
DS: What do you hope the audience will be talking about as they leave the theater? Is there a specific thought or feeling you want them to carry with them?
AB: I hope they're saying, "Nice! They said what had to be said, and they remained true to their natures in doing what had to be done. Now, let's go home and write our legislators."
The Watchers opens on Friday, October 10 and runs through the 25th in the Downstairs Theatre at The Charles A. Brown Ice House, 56 River St., Bethlehem, PA.
Show times are as follows:
October 10, 11, 17, 18 at 730PM
October 12, 19 at 200PM.
(No Shows on October 24-25-26 due to Bethlehem Halloween Parade)
Tickets 15$
General seating. Free Parking
For additional information, please email
call 610-704-6974 or visit www.ckplayers.com