In the spring of 2008, fate happened to place four MFA
candidates at the Brown/Trinity Consortium on the same night for their final
recital projects. Recognizing a shared aesthetic and desire to continue working
together. Thus, founding members Piper Goodeve, Elizabeth King-Hall, Scott Raker
and Haas Regen created The Immediate Family, an exciting new company whose work
is garnering attention in the notoriously overcrowded New York theatre community.
Their inventive new take on a classic legend, Perceval, will play a limited engagement in Providence this Labor
Day weekend following a successful run at the inaugural Westchester Square Arts
Festival in the Bronx.
While it may be a less well-known bit of Arthuritania, the
Perceval legend has long been an inspiration to artists. The story concerns Perceval,
a young Knight of the Round Table, who must recover the fabled Holy Grail
amidst the interference of a witch in order to heal a fisher king and restore
the poisoned kingdom. In spite of the grandiose setting and fantastical
characters, the story is essentially about a young man coming of age in the
face of a world that is impossibly corrupted. This universal theme has inspired
artists as diverse as Erich Rohmer, T.S. Eliot and Richard Wagner. The Immediate Family and playwright/company
member Haas Regen join elite company with their modern take on the Perceval
legend. Incorporating elements as diverse as opera and cinema into a thrilling,
actor-driven evening of theatre.
Speaking to company member Elizabeth King-Hall reveals a
great deal about the group’s process and their ability to tell this story. Her
role, the Troubador, was written specifically with her in mind as the
performer. She laughs that the character’s theatricality grew out of “voices
we’d do when we were drunk.” Such an intimate knowledge of one another’s
specific abilities gives the company the flexibility and freedom to create characters
tailored to the exact talents of their cast members. The most important aspect
of The Immediate Family’s working method is their delineation of authority.
While the cast features playwright Regen, King-Hall made it clear that his role
as a writer was left outside the rehearsal room: “Oh, the only thing he’d ever
remark on was my pronunciation of the French.” Guiding the process, then, was
company member Scott Raker. King-Hall effusively praises his unflappability and
calm under pressure. To illustrate her point, she shares a story about a phone
conversation with Raker. One night she called the director to discuss various
aspects of the production and he answered her in his usual measured tone.
Throughout the phone call, though, she could hear his wife asking him questions
in the background. Raker eventually told King-Hall that he would have to call
her back later as he had discovered a gas leak in his apartment and had been
dealing with it while talking to her. With such steady leadership, it’s no
surprise that the company is able to create such intense and exciting projects.
For her own part, King-Hall makes it clear that her process
is about creating action. She emphasizes that, though she brushed up on the
Arthurian legends in preparation but she stayed away from the temptation to
over-research the role. “I knew if I started intellectualizing it, the fun
would go out of it,” she says. Far from being a way of avoiding doing work,
this is a crucial—and often mishandled—step of the actor’s process. It is the
job of the playwright and director to handle the thematic and intellectual
content of the storytelling. The actor’s job is to bring the character to life
through the use of their voice and body. Overly intellectualizing the process
muddies the results and produces lifeless, boring theatre. The Immediate
Family’s background, then, and ability to trust one another to handle their
respective portions is a critical component of their aesthetic.
All this gives a picture of a young, dynamic company
committed to making thrilling theatre. Perceval,
featuring Elizabeth King-Hall, Michael Propster, Haas Regen, and Gillian
Williams, plays AS220 in Providence
from August 31st at 8pm, September 1st at 2pm and 8pm and
September 2nd at 2pm. Directed by Scott Raker and with music by
Mackenzie Shivers, all tickets are ten dollars. Don’t miss this thrilling and
unforgettable take on a classic tale.
