by Kirby Lindsay, posted 1 August 2011
Two weeks remain to see New Amerikan Theatre’s (NAT) production of August Schulenberg’s Riding The Bull, on Friday and Saturday nights, through August 13th, in the very intimate Upstage Theatre (4035 Stone Way North.) Directed by Richard Buckley, this darkly funny, prophetic and disturbing love story between a devout rodeo clown and a hell-raising rancher has something likely to offend nearly everyone – and Elvis!
Since she first read the script, in January 2010, Jen Anderson has struggled to bring Riding The Bull to the stage. “It felt longer to me,” she said, when counting the time she spent, “because I was hot and bothered to do it.”
On the other side, Carolynne Wilcox, a member of New Amerikan Theatre, admitted, “I didn’t particularly resonate with the script.” However, Anderson’s passion for the play, and her faith in the director, caused Wilcox to champion the play. After seeing the play performed, she admitted she was, “pleasantly surprised,” as well as enthusiastic about how, “Jen fricken rocks it up there!”
Producing Gritty Epics
An actress and playwright, Anderson also has her own production company, Work It, which staged performances of Shakespeare at the Fremont Troll for several years. As a producer, she acknowledged, she can get more original works, and her own works, staged – as well as see plays produced in new ways.
“I loved it,” Anderson enthused about her first reading of Riding The Bull, but her Work It Productions partner hated it. “The play can be offensive,” Anderson allowed. Another actor had recommended the work to her, saying she’d be perfect in the role of Lyza. When Anderson read it, she said, “I wanted to see a real fat girl do it.”
Written by an up-and-coming young playwright, audiences on the East Coast, where Schulenberg lives, had exposure to this work. With permission from Schulenberg, Anderson decided, “I’m going to shop it around.” She approached Wilcox, and NAT – their motto is ‘gritty epics presented on a meagre budget’ – who took a chance on the work, and also convinced Anderson to join the company.
Kirsten McCory, who serves as Artistic Director, founded NAT and brought on Telisa Steen as Managing Director. NAT started with production of a staged reading of All About Eve, in 2008. Wilcox, who works for Stone Soup Theatre as PR Manager (and will become a Fremont resident, again, in August,) related how she bonded with McCory when, “Kirsten and I were in a very bad, bad version of Macbeth together.” In the summer of 2009, Wilcox joined NAT as they produced an all-female version of A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.
The company, run by four women, has had a majority of women involved in their productions so far, but “we don’t discriminate,” Wilcox affirmed, rather, “we happen to know a lot of kick-ass women.” Last year, McCory, Steen and Wilcox wrote and produced the original work Stings Like Acid, which Wilcox ranks as one of the best works she has ever done.
Wilcox supported Anderson’s assertion that having a production company also allows her to present quality work. “As a theater artist,” she explained, “our work is inherently collaborative,” and so she would have to wait for her play to be chosen, or to be cast. “If you choose to self-produce,” she went on, “it is a lot of money, but you can be proactive, and do what you live to do.”
Bull Riding
In bringing another’s work to the stage, “I always feel a pretty strong responsibility to the playwright,” Anderson declared, “to do my very best, wanting to honor his work.” As written, Schulenberg’s play may offend in its addressing topics of faith, sex, death, and reincarnated livestock – also in its tumbles through closely held taboos.
The play’s in-your-face fat jokes challenged Wilcox, “for me, who still has a former fat girl chip on my shoulder…” Additionally, the camp – or kitsch – handling of these hands-off subjects can challenge audience members, especially with its strong spiritual theme.
As playwrights, Wilcox and Anderson know the difficulty inherent when others produce their works, and the necessity of tamping down urges to “helicopter parent your play,” as Anderson described it. “That can be difficult,” admitted Wilcox, who recalled a staging of her play and an actress who read a speech ‘wrong’, by her standards, “but there were other things she did in ways I hadn’t thought about.”
Meanwhile, Schulenberg has been supportive, Anderson reported, and helped promote the production – from his home back East. He offered to come out – or talk to the director – but he hasn’t meddled.
He’s trusted NAT, and Buckley, with producing Riding The Bull. To see the result of Anderson’s year-and-a-half of effort, purchase tickets through Brown Paper Tickets, and stop by the Upstage. See the latest ‘gritty epic’ NAT has riding into Fremont this weekend!
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©2011 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.