by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 16 December 2015
On Monday, December 21st, the one-night-only annual holiday sensation ‘Christmas B-Sides & Rarities’ returns to West of Lenin (WofL.) This dark and bluesy take on the Yuletide can give us all a much needed night-off from the sappy sweet commercialization of the holidays. An occasionally cynical, often funny variety show filled with weird winter wondrousness, the ‘Christmas B-Sides’ provides a full evening of entertainment, even for those who enjoy the relentless cheeriness of the season.
This year, Jaryl Draper returns to ‘Christmas B-sides’, and Fremont theater, but this time as a playwright. His original short play, ‘4 Beers & A Fat Guy’ will be directed, for ‘Christmas B-Sides’ and another one-night show at the Annex Theatre December 4th ‘Spin The Bottle’, by his wife, Madison Rengli. “It’s a good, fun show to distress from all the holiday mayhem,” Rengli observed, about ‘4 Beers’ and ‘Christmas B-Sides,’ “it’s a good way to laugh about it; to laugh about the stresses.”
“Sometimes we take the holidays too seriously,” Rengli observed, but ‘Christmas B-Sides’ gives back some of the irreverent, even rude, fun that they deserve. “With this show, unwind,” Draper suggested, “and forget about everything outside of it.”
As A Playwright, Draper Returns
Usually Draper has come to Fremont, and ‘Christmas B-Sides’, as an actor. “I’ve been asked to act three times,” he explained about previous showcases. This year, he offered his short play to the producers, and without reading it, James Jewell accepted. “I think he had utter trust,” Draper said about such blind willingness.
According to his wife, Draper’s work is known to most of their friends as funny, (once challenged, according to his wife, to write a sad piece, Draper came up with a short play about a mime at a funeral.) Also, his plays are getting produced more and more just now. “I just focused on acting for a while,” Draper explained, until Rengli worked with avant-garde producer Jen Moon at Seattle Theater Works. A piece he wrote, with John C. Davenport, called ‘Clean Routine’, was produced for ‘Tops & Bottoms.’ Now Davenport is getting the play produced in New York.
As for ‘4 Beers & A Fat Guy,’ the piece will be staged, with Rengli as director and the same cast of Adam St. John, Andrew Shanks, Brent Griffith, Michael Blackwood, and Mark Waldstein, at both West of Lenin and Annex Theater. Next year, one of Draper’s full-length works will be appearing at Annex as well.
“I wrote in college,” Draper said, “I got produced a lot in college.” However, that’s been a few years. And Draper’s focus on his acting has paid off so far. He’s worked at Stone Soup Theater, winning acclaim for his powerful performances in ‘How I Learned To Drive’ and ‘Doubt’. He has just finished the run of ‘Noises Off’ at Second Story Repertory, and is now in ‘Emma’ at for Book-It Theater.
“I always write a part for myself,” Draper said of his plays, “but I’m too immersed in what [the role] is to see what it could be.” He likes seeing other actors realize the part, and seeing how they build upon his words. “I think, when you are writing, you know what it is, what it looks like,” he explained, “When you hand it off, a lot more pops-up.”
As A Director, Rengli Gets ‘A Special Situation’
“These are one-shot things,” Rengli said of directing ‘4 Beers,’ “we never get to rehearse in the space.” According to her, preparing the cast to perform in two different theaters didn’t prove very challenging since both are black box venues – very flexible and very spare.
“I had a really great teacher in college,” Rengli said of directing, “we used to take children’s poems and create plays.” She knows how to take any work – even her husband’s – and realize it on stage. “I like creating new things out of other things,” she said.
In the case of ‘4 Beers,’ the playwright described the play’s premise as, ‘How far would you go for a friend?’ “My plays are kind of like Saturday Night Live sketches,” Draper said self-deprecatingly, “there is not much too them.” That said, Rengli welcomed the chance to work on one. “It’s a special situation,” she allowed, “I know the playwright.”
“I think any work you do, you give your all,” Rengli observed, even when staging a short play for a one-night (or a two-night) run. “The actors are really good,” Draper said. Especially as they signed on for a short run, and rehearsals at odd hours, including 10a, if that is when everyone could be available.
Views Of The State Of Seattle Theater
This month West of Lenin has already provided two excellent holiday escapes, with Playing In Progress productions of ‘Snowglobed’ and ‘For Christmas’ just finishing their runs. Yet, also this month, the DownStage venue of Stone Soup Theater will go dark. This led to questions about the hopes this couple, who both work in theater, hold for the future of theater in Seattle.
“I’m not worried about it,” Draper said, “there are all these [theater] companies coming in every year. Some make it, and some don’t.” According to Rengli, “I think Jaryl is the optimist in our relationship, but there will always be artists here.”
Rengli also works most often as an actor, and she also writes. She studied direction in college, in addition to acting, but she has given most of her time, so far, to acting. In a town with 10 actresses to every actor, she has also managed to get cast quite frequently. “I’ve had a great year,” she said, “I’ve had four full-lengths [plays.]”
“There are always theaters opening,” Draper said. “I think I’ve been lucky. I don’t know how.” He got work when he first arrived in Seattle, in 2009, but then hit a dry spell. His casting in ‘How I Learned To Drive’ at Stone Soup broke that, and he’s been working consistently ever since.
‘A Fun Time’ With ‘Christmas B-Sides & Rarities’
Being one-night-only, and a Monday when most mainstage theaters are dark, ‘Christmas B-Sides & Rarities’ does attract incredible, not-often-accessible, talent to the intimate space of West of Lenin.
Be sure to check out this annual cabaret of music, stage and show, this year. “The holidays are always a wonderful time,” observed Draper, “Christmas B-Sides is an absolutely wonderful time; a fun time to see different art forms.”
Purchase tickets now to be able to get a seat for ‘Christmas B-Sides & Rarities,’ through Brown Paper Tickets – or miss this only chance for a fun escape, of stand-up, music, theater and ‘4 Beers & A Fat Guy’, before the holiday really does arrive.
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