February 2008 Archives

This week I had the pleasure of talking to Simon Ambrose.  Intense.  Forceful.  Unique.  Not just words, but an apt description of someone who is bound to become a theatre great.  His most recent work, Monkey Spanking Time won several national awards.  His newest work, Graveyards vs. Mars, opens in two weeks at the Manka Bros. Drama Garage - THE place for experimental theatre.  Mr. Ambrose talked to me for over two hours, but was in such a state of creativity that only portions of the interview were intelligible.  And here they are.  Let's go... BEHIND THE PROSCENIUM.

Kyrle Lendhoffer:  Simon, it's good to see you.

Simon Ambrose: (giggling)  I see you, too!

KL:  Yes, you do.  Congratulations on Monkey Spanking Time.  An amazing show, yet very controversial.

SA:  Yeah...

KL:  It must have taken a lot of courage to write an entire show about the pleasures and variations of masturbating.  Why masturbating?

SA:  (giggling) Whack!

KL:  Whack?  What do you mean by "whack"?

SA:  Dude, I love it.

KL:  What do you love? 

SA:  To whack.

KL:  Oh, my. I see.

Simon giggled for a minute or so.  When he calmed down, the interview proceeded.

KL:  So tell me about Graveyards vs. Mars.  What is it about?

SA:  Dude, Earth is invaded by Mars.  And the Martians enslave us Earthlings.  And they're tall and green!

KL:  The Martians?

SA:  Huh?

KL:  The Martians. They're tall and green?

SA:  Oh, the Martians...

KL:  Are tall and green...

SA:  Totally!

KL:  And?

SA:  Huh?

KL:  And then what?

SA:  Oh yeah... Then the earth people wrack their brains for a way to get rid of the Martians.  Dude, nothing works.  Then this guy figures out that bringing back the dead in the form of brain eating zombies would be cool.

KL:  Really?

SA:  Huh?

KL:  So that's what the Graveyard part of the title refers to?

SA:  Yeah.  Graveyards vs. Mars.  How cool is that?

KL:  Cool, indeed.

SA:  Yeah...

KL:  The brain eating zombies... How do they know to only eat the brains of the Martians?

SA:  Dude! They don't! It gets totally intense!

KL:  Well, we wouldn't want to give away any more of the plot.  Let's talk about your process.  How did you come up with such an original and fascinating idea?

SA:  I worked on it a lot around 4:20 in the afternoon.

KL:  Intriguing.  So this time has some significance to you...

SA:  Well, yeah. 4:20.  Time to enter an altered state.  You know?

KL:  I love that movie.

SA:  Huh?

KL:  Altered States with William Hurt.  Powerful actor.  So, you mean you were getting in touch with your primal side?

SA:  Sure, that's it.

A giggling fit started here that lasted several minutes.  I have been told that many theatrical genius' get ideas while in a giggling fit.  I cannot image what was going through Simon's mind.

KL: Are you all right?

SA:  Whoo! Yeah... What were we talking about?

KL:  Altered States.

Simon had another giggling fit that lasted for approximately two minutes. I was overwhelmed to be in his presence.

KL:  Tell me what you're thinking about right now.

SA:  Dude, I could go for a cheeseburger.

KL:  A cheeseburger?

SA:  Right on! Feed the head - feed the face!

Such gems would continue to drip from the mouth of Simon Ambrose.  He was in such a creative frenzy that he laughed non-stop until we got him to White Castle where he ate several cheeseburgers.  "Fuel for the muse" I like to call it.  And what a muse does Ambrose have.  Graveyards vs. Mars opens very soon at the Manka Bros. Drama Garage.  Be there and sense the greatness.  I know I will.

Kyrle Lendhoffer has been writing "Behind the Proscenium" for Broadway Manka for over 20 years.  In that time he has had the pleasure (and burden) of interviewing some of the most powerful visionaries of modern theater. He studied Theatrical Criticism at Cal-State Northridge and Astro-physics at MIT.

 

This week I had the pleasure to sit down with Heinrich Mantle, the director of the upcoming Manka Bros. theatrical treat Platonov by Anton Chekhov.  Mantle has challenged audiences for three decades with his deconstruction and re-composition of many of our most beloved classics.  He has repeatedly shown that he has no fear, artistically.

Kyrle Lendhoffer:  Heinrich, welcome to Behind the Proscenium.

Heinrich Mantle:  My pleasure.

KL:  Let me cut to the chase. Why Platonov? Why now?

HM:  As for Platonov, why not? It's never performed. It had an original running time of six hours.  Chekhov didn't even like it, compared to his other work.  As for why now?  Broadway needs Chekhov. But Broadway needs the Chekhov that Chekhov didn't appreciate.  Because even though Broadway needs Chekhov, it doesn't need regurgitated Chekhov.  And speaking of that - if I see Uncle Vanya or The Cherry Orchard one more time, with period costumes in a pretty little country villa, I will be physically sick.

KL:  But isn't that what Chekhov intended?

HM:  How do we know what Chekhov intended?  He is dead!  Maybe he would have preferred The Cherry Orchard on the moon. We'll never know for sure - but we can try!

KL:  Tell me about your ideas of conceptual theater...

HM:  I believe in bringing fresh, new perspectives to shows that have been - shall we say - heavily produced in the past.  And these concepts bring modern audiences directly into the viewing experience, where they're forced to confront their previously conceived notions, prejudice and feelings of the piece and most importantly, their own lives.

KL:  Like your production of Strange Interlude. It caused quite a controversy. 

HM:  Strange Interlude was a strange duck, indeed! I kept everything in line with Eugene O'Neill's vision, with one very major change. Instead of the characters turning to the audience to say their internal monologues, another actor - representing a player from the Miami Dolphins 1972 NFL championship team - would come out and say the lines.

KL:  Why the 1972 Miami Dolphins?

HM:  Who wouldn't want their deepest thoughts expressed by the only undefeated team in modern NFL history?

KL:  I would prefer the 1927 Yankees...

HM:  Base-baller! 

(Laughter)

KL:  So, the character of Marsden was represented by Bob Griese...

HM:  And Evans, Larry Csonka. Nina's inner self was represented by Garo Yepremian.

KL:  Nina... by Garo Yepremian?

HM:  Who better to represent a woman than a place-kicker?

KL:  Wicked!

HM:  Indeed...

KL:  And then you placed Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in a gothic mausoleum. Very bold!

HM:  I don't think audiences were quite ready for that one.

KL:  Why a mausoleum?

HM:  Think of it like this... you have two sets of twins running around Ephesus, there is confusion, laughter.  How do you remind the audience of their own mortality?  You surround the play with death!

KL:  Doesn't that damage the comedy?

HM:  Exactly!  And in the confusion the audience can then see nothing but the truth!

KL:  Amazing...

HM:  Thank you.

KL:  Back to Platonov. How have you approached this one?

HM:  It was difficult.  I was tearing apart my brain.  You see, normally I find a concept.  I work on that concept until it is perfect.  Then I find a play that I can force that concept on. In this case I worked in reverse.  I found Platonov, and then I worked on the concept.

KL:  And that concept was...?

HM:  Think about it.  Platovov's life is hanging by a thread.  But aren't all of our lives hanging by threads?!?  Then it hit me.  The actors would hang from the ceiling with wires - or by a thread!  And then as the actor's relationships changed they would rise above or below each other as their class status increased or decreased.

KL:  Amazing again.

HM:  Yes. For example in a key scene between Platonov and Anna Petrovna each character moves past each other spatially, or up and down to the layman, seven times.  You can actually see where they stand.

KL:  Or hang...

HM:  Or hang, yes.

KL:  Wow.  One question - you said the play originally ran six hours.  How long are you running now?

HM:  After fierce cuts the show now runs three hours, without an intermission.

KL:  And the actors are hanging from wires the entire time?

HM:  Yes, they are very dedicated.

KL:  How do they use the bathroom?

HM:  We're working on that.

As you can see, Heinrich Mantle isn't afraid to attack our comfortable views of what theater is.  And even more important, what theater SHOULD be.  It was a pleasure to interview him (again) for Behind the Proscenium.

Kyrle Lendhoffer has been writing "Behind the Proscenium" for Broadway Manka for over 20 years.  In that time he has had the pleasure (and burden) of interviewing some of the most powerful visionaries of modern theater.  He studied Theatrical Criticism at Cal-State Northridge and Astro-physics at MIT.