Question: Why “12 Angry Men”?

Answer: We [Theatre Ventoux co-founders Greg and Lisa Taber] ran into Jim Tuck on New Year’s Eve and were talking theater. He mentioned “12 Angry Men” as a show he’d love to do, along with a number of actors, and wished someone in town would stage it. Greg and I thought it was a great idea, ran with it, and 11 months later, here we are. Also, we thought doing this play would be a nice counterpoint to “The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women,” which featured an all-female cast.

Briefly stated, what’s the show about?

A nineteen-year-old man has been tried in the stabbing death of his father. The play centers on the deliberations and ultimate verdict of the 12 jurors.

Are you doing it as a period piece?

Our production is not a period piece, per se. Rather than stage it in the late 50′s, we have essentially set it out of time. Some of the dialogue suggest another era, but the look is more contemporary.

In the New York Times, Ben Brantley wrote about a recent revival of the play: “Sometimes the best way to present a fossil is just to polish it up and put it on display without disguise, annotation or apology.” Do you agree?

I do. This is such an iconic piece of American theater and we wanted to stay as true to it as possible while making it our own.

Why do you think it’s still relevant today?

I think that our audience will identify with the issues and the characters. Juror #10 talks about “them” and how “they” can’t be trusted. Three jurors just want to get it over with so they can return to their job, a sick child, their normal lives. Two others don’t want to rock the boat and will go along with whatever the majority wants.

Do you think this country has changed substantially since this play was first performed? Will theatergoers recognize some of the same issues?

The essential themes of the play: cultural, political and social bias, are timeless, as are the ideas of civic responsibility and social complacency. The jurors come from every walk of life: liberal, conservative, rich, poor, racist, blue collar and white collar. Part of what makes the story interesting is how one man is able to break down most of these barriers and get to the heart of the trial: guilty until proven innocent beyond a reasonable doubt.

Do you think our justice system “works”?

I believe that, in its purest form, the judicial system works. A defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, has a right to counsel and to be tried by a jury of his peers. Our socioeconomic system, however, turns these black-and-white issues into many shades of gray. Social class, race and overall civic complacency undermine these Constitutional rights. A rich defendant can afford a “better” attorney; if a defendant is one of “them,” or is a famous figure, objectivity goes out the window; people rarely get excited about a jury summons; DNA evidence has freed those falsely convicted. In the end, I think the system “works” depending on which side of the fence you’re on.

It’s a big cast, and you’re a small theater company. Was it hard to find this many available actors?

Not at all. When we put the idea out and approached the actors we wanted to work with, the response was immediate and enthusiastic. TAM has an amazing cast who has been totally committed since day one. It has been an honor to work with actors of the caliber of Jim Tuck and Patrick Allan Tromborg. It is equally excitingl to have so many Ventoux veterans such as David P. Otero, Ronald Blackwell, Matt Otstot, Hal Bolen and Stephen Torres, as well as Jaguar Bennett, Jeff Tuck, Eric Orum, Joel Garbutt-Quistiano, and Ashley Langford, who plays the gender-bending Guard.

As director, what’s your biggest challenge?

Having so much testosterone in one room! Seriously, this show has been such a joy to work on and it’s been a lot of fun watching these talented actors bring this play to life. I think if there has been a challenge, it has been maintaining the balance between staying true to the original script, archaic as some of the references are, and making it a relevant experience for our audience.

Anything else you’d like to say about the play?

We are presenting this 90-minute production in real-time, without an intermission and it is a very limited run: seven performances over two weekends.

I have extended interviews about two of these shows: “Anastasia” and “Midsummer.”

By the way: I’m on vacation this week and next (woo-hoo!), and I’m not doing any reviewing this weekend. In a perfect world, we’d have a backup reviewer, but that’s not the case. So, I’m asking any theatergoers this weekend who are so inclined to jot down your thoughts about whatever shows you see in the comment section of this post.

Now, on to the interviews:

First up is “Anastasia Trials,” directed by Lisa Taber.

Question: Bring us up to date on Theatre Ventoux. Had you gone on hiatus?

Greg and I decided it was time to be Mom and Dad for a while. We also used the time to regroup artistically and determine what is a reasonable season for us. Two productions a year was a lot to take on; we’ve decided to plan on one show a season and do another if we find the right play at the right time with the right cast.

Why did you choose “Anastasia Trials”?

I found this play when we found Childe Byron (Fall of 2007). We’d planned to do it last spring but ran into casting difficulties; the actors we wanted weren’t available. Twelve months and three casts later, here we are. I chose this play because the idea of breaking the fourth wall and having the audience play such an integral part of the theatrical experience was something that hasn’t been done in Fresno. I also like this play because it challenges the idea of sisterhood and what takes the place of a patriarchal society where women accept the betrayal of each other as a necessity and what happens when women decide to reject the idea of betrayal as the norm and stand together.

Briefly put, what’s the storyline?

In the play, members of the Emma Goldman Theatre Brigade, a radical feminist theater company, are preparing for the opening night of The Anastasia Trials in the Court of Women, a play about five women who are on trial for denying the identity of Anastasia Romanov after her escape from the massacre at Ekaterinburg and her appearance four years later at a public mental asylum in Berlin. All of the defendants recognized the Grand Duchess at first, and then rejected her. In order to keep the casting a collective, non-hierarchical process, the actors have learned all the parts and draw names to determine their roles. As the play unfolds, the audience learns how far each of the women will go to further her own agenda.

Talk a little about your cast.

Our cast includes some of Fresno’s best actors. Ventoux regulars will see return performances by Jessica Reedy, Melissa Geston and Carolyn Robertson. Alissa Cummings, who has stage managed our previous three shows, is making her Ventoux acting debut, as are Woodward Shakespeare players Celeste Johnston and GJ Thelin. Other familiar faces include Good Company Players’ Cindy Freeland, Suzanne Grazyna and Jessica Knotts . Each of the ladies plays two characters: an Emma Goldman member and their character in The Anastasia Trials.

What’s one thing that you think audiences will find distinctive about this production?

In this production, the women, and only the women, in the audience are the jury of the Women’s Court and have the power to sustain or overrule objections, as well as decide the fate of the defendants.

It sounds from the description that a lot can change each night in performance. How as director do you prepare for that?

Depending on the decision of the jury, each attorney’s line of questioning takes a different tack. As director, I kept the cast on their toes by allowing Jessica Reedy, who plays the Bailiff, to sustain or overrule objections during rehearsal. In this way, the actors had to be flexible and ready to take the show in whatever direction the audience decided it would go.

What do you hope audiences walk away with from this production?

I hope our audiences walk away from this production with the affirmation that every woman’s opinion counts and where, if the idea of perfect equality is a goal that cannot be actualized, the journey toward it can be enlightening and empowering.

Anything else you’d like to say about the show?

With the help and support of Justin Red, this production is a benefit for Fresno’s Marjorie Mason Center. All seats are $15 and 20% of each ticket sold will go directly to the MMC. Giving back to the community began with a performance of Lear, which was a benefit for the United Way of Fresno. We plan to do similar fundraising with future productions.

Why do you think Cordelia refuses to flatter her father when he asks how much his daughters love him? It would have been so easy to say, “Yep, Dad, I love you more than anything.”

In our production, Cordelia is naïve to the workings of the court and the family. As the youngest, she has been sheltered and protected. When called upon to profess her love to her father, she gives the only answer she can: the truth, which she assumes is the right thing to do, not understanding the ramifications of her words.
Do you see the character of Lear as a classic tragic hero, with his own heroic stature and distinctive flaws, or is he more an Everyman representation of how screwed up we all are?

Lear is a bit of both. In a classical conception, he is a tragic hero in that the flaw that brings him down is the hubris that blinds him to the reality of his relationship with his daughters. As an Everyman, Lear typifies the propensity that we all have to become so wrapped up in who we think we are and who people tell us we are, that we are unable or unwilling to objectively see ourselves and those around us for what we truly are.

When Lear pretty much starts losing it, he finds himself out against nature in sort of a fight against the elements. Do you think there’s significance to this?

The elements represent Lear’s greatest challenge, his inability to control his world. Prior to the events in the play, Lear enjoyed his status as absolute ruler. As the play progresses, his control disintegrates. Being thrust out of his daughters’ homes (an act he brings upon himself), Lear faces an opponent he cannot conquer, and one he then submits to, as evidenced in his “Blow, winds, blow” monologue.

Talk a little about your cast. What qualities were you looking for when casting the major characters?

As you know, TV does not audition. We offer roles to those actors whom we believe will bring the most to not only the role, but also the company/production as whole. In choosing a Lear, we needed an actor of a “certain maturity” who could provide a performance of not only great power but great emotional sensitivity. We found that in Tom Janecek. As for the daughters, it was very important to find three actors who shared certain physical similarities, which make them believable as sisters, but could create very different characters. Melissa Geston, as Cordelia, brings an unspoiled innocence, underneath which lies a quiet strength and depth of feeling. Regan, played by Michelle Bonanno, is the typical middle child, who knows how to play others against each other for her own aims, while appearing to be the perfect daughter, sister, and wife. Michelle brings an edgy presence to the role and her fearlessness takes the character in a new direction. The eldest of the three is Goneril, portrayed by Lisa Taber, who brings a mature and ruthless cunning to the role of the sister, who after Cordelia’s blunder sets in motion a series of events, which culminates in the destruction of two families.

The entire cast has shown an amazing level of passion, dedication and professionalism, and each has helped “Lear” to, in our opinion, raise the stakes in terms of community theatre in Fresno.

How does the subplot involving Gloucester, Edmund and Edgar fit into the overall arc of the play?

The Gloucester/Edmund/Edgar subplot parallels the main plot, the main difference being that Gloucester’s flaw, unlike Lear’s, is not hubris, but love and faith; he loves his bastard son, Edmund, as he loves Edgar, his legitimate heir. This love, in time, is betrayed. Lear, on the other hand, clearly favors one child over the others. In that respect, Lear and Gloucester represent opposite dynamics of paternal love. Lear’s view of fatherly love entails the expectation of unconditional devotion, while Gloucester’s love for his sons is an example of unconditional acceptance, each of which blinds the men to the truth.

As a director, what have you learned from your past experiences directing Shakespeare? Have you modified any of the ways you work with and inspire your actors?

I’ve learned to communicate my vision more effectively, while maintaining our original premise of each production being a collaborative effort. We have tightened and focused the Ventoux Process (our way of working, based on Stephen Book’s Improvisation Technique) to more effectively maximize rehearsal time and capitalize on the unique abilities of each actor.

Madness is an important theme in “Lear.” I realize that our 21st Century concept of insanity is probably much different than Shakespeare’s, but I’m curious to know whether you see Lear as someone who is “sick,” or do his own actions/flaws trigger his madness as a pure cause-effect thing?

In a classic sense, Lear’s madness is a result and manifestation of his hubris. In a modern context, Lear suffers from dementia; his mind is failing, he understands that it is happening, but doesn’t know why, and can’t do anything about it. In an effort to connect to a modern audience we have tried to convey both possibilities.

If this “Lear” is a fantastic show, how proud will you be?

(What do you mean, if?)

This is our fourth production. The simple fact that we are able to do that, getting better every time, makes me proud beyond reason. On top of that, the trust faith, commitment and dedication of this company have, in my eyes, already made this show a success. Anything else is a cherry on top of the sundae.

What do you hope audiences walk away with from this production?

The realization that the works of Shakespeare are relevant 400-odd years after they were written and that now, as then, his works appeal to the masses. More importantly, I hope they walk away having had an experience that was worth their time, because time is all we have.

What kind of stature did Lord Byron have in society?

George Gordon, son of Captain John “Mad Jack Byron,” was a descendant of King Edward III of England. While living with his mother in “a sort of genteel squalor,” the ten-year-old Gordon became the 6th Baron Byron upon the death of his great-uncle. He also had a seat in the House of Lords, where he was a strong advocate for social reform. His experiences in Parliament inspired him to write several political poems. Educated, a world traveler and notorious rake, Byron moved easily among the most elite social circles of London.
Tell us about your cast.

The cast of Childe Byron is full of familiar faces. Melissa Geston, Renee Newlove and Steve Torres, who appeared in This Flattering Glass last year, portray The Girl, The Young Woman and The Boy.
New to Ventoux are Samuel Frank and Dorian Ranta, whom audiences will recognize from their work at the Second Space. We are also pleased to have Ricci Mazzuca in the cast. Ricci has been seen in WSF’s Othello, ART’s Tempest and Epic Theatre’s production of Marisol. And, of course, Greg is playing Lord Byron. I’m excited to be working with him again. Aside from one scene we shared in Romeo and Juliet two years ago, this will be the first time we’ve acted together since 1990.

Is “Childe Byron” performed very often these days?

Actually, no. The Eclipse Theatre of Chicago performed it in 2001; South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa staged it in 1981. It has also been performed in New York and Louisville.

Tell us more about Ada. Why did she never meet her father?

Without giving away too much of the story, five weeks after her birth, Ada’s mother asked for a separation from Lord Byron and was awarded sole custody. Shortly after the separation, Byron left England, never to return.

Lady Byron was terrified Ada would end up being a poet like her father; she brought her up as a mathematician and scientist.

As an adult, Ada was introduced to Charles Babbage, who had an idea for a calculating engine, what he called the “Analytical Engine.” Ada suggested a plan for how the engine might calculate Bernoulli numbers. This plan is now regarded as the first computer program. In 1979, a computer language developed by the U.S. Department of Defense was named “Ada” in her honor.

When she died, Ada left behind a husband and three children.

Is this a co-directed play like other Theatre Ventoux productions? How does that work with two people making creative decisions?

“Childe Byron” is my baby. I was sole director until recently, when I took over the role of Ada. At that time, Greg stepped in and took over some of the directorial duties, which consisted of final shaping and fine-tuning. Greg and I work really well as a team. Pre-production for each show is a collaborative effort; during rehearsals we take turns having the final decision-making authority. For “This Flattering Glass” Greg had the final word; this time around it’s my turn.

You’ll be performing in the newly renovated Severance Building. Are you looking forward to that? How are you planning to use the space?

The new Severance Building is beautiful! We are very excited to be able to perform there! We knew going in that the size of the space was going to be an issue. We are in the process of building a portable set, which we can use to create an acting space anywhere. Our plan is to use part of it to more clearly define the acting area and create a more intimate experience.

What’s the hardest thing about directing this production?

One of the challenges we faced was deciding whether to present “Childe Byron” as primarily a period piece or to focus on the story of an estranged father and daughter. We chose to make the period incidental to the father/daughter relationship. Another challenge was for me to pull double duty as director and actor. Taking the role of Ada the last three weeks of rehearsal was one of the more challenging things I’ve done, because not only was I making the character my own, I was still responsible for the overall concept of the play.

Talk a little more about the plot of the show.

“This Flattering Glass” is about relationships: fathers and sons, husbands, wives and lovers, leaders and followers and how those relationships are destroyed by power. Richard banishes Henry, who returns upon the death of his father to claim his birthright. Richard’s subjects then join forces with Henry to depose the king and install Henry in his stead. During the course of the play, loyalties are tested, trust is betrayed and lives are lost.
Is the language updated, or just the setting?

In adapting the play, I kept the language as Shakespeare wrote it, but updated the setting by removing the historical component. “Richard II” is grounded in English history, which a contemporary audience generally isn’t familiar with. The setting of TFG is present day, and I think audiences will identify with the power struggles that take place.

Tell me about your cast. What were you looking for when casting the lead roles?
When casting TFG, Lisa and I were looking for actors who we felt would be open to our process and wiling to come along for the ride. We also wanted our audience to see some of their favorite local actors in characters different from what they’d previously seen. Matt Otstot, who plays Richard, is a fine example. Matt was last seen as the clean-cut protagonist of “A Few Good Men”; his portrayal of Richard is positively evil at times.

It’s interesting that Good Company Players last week opened “The Lion in Winter,” which is about the first Plantagenet king, Henry II. Now you’re opening an adaptation of “Richard II,” who was one of the last. What was it about this family that was so theatrical?

I think the family depicted in “Lion in Winter” and “TFG” are intriguing because of their dysfunctionality. Everyone can find a character in either show they can relate to, and the issues each family faces can happen to anyone, on differing levels.

Why adapt Shakespeare instead of simply set the play in a different time and place?

I adapted the script for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to cut the number of actors needed. Fresno is becoming an actor’s market and it can be difficult to cast large shows. In TFG, Bushy, Bagot and Green have been combined into a single character, played by Dave Otero. Second, I don’t like actors who don’t have anything to do. I added a scene for Eleanor (Duchess of Gloucester) because I wanted to give Jessica Reedy something to sink her teeth into. She is a terrific actor, but she is totally underrated. Third, by adapting the script and eliminating the obvious historical references, I feel I have made the story more accessible and powerful for a modern audience. The language is traditional, but instead of Elizabethan garb and flashing rapiers, the audience will see well-cut suits and an assortment of modern firearms.

What do you hope people walk away from this play thinking and feeling?

We want people to come out of TFG saying, “Wow! That was cool!” Our production is very cinematic; the lighting and music lend a feel that people are mainly accustomed to seeing on the screen. We have given our actors quite a bit of latitude in terms of shaping their characters and connecting to the other actors. There is always something to look at onstage; everyone is always working. We also want people wondering what we’re going to do next.

What’s next for Theatre Ventoux?

Lisa and I are both teachers, and this will be our first theater-free summer in three years. We are planning to use our vacation to complete pre-production for “Equus,” which Lisa will direct and will open in November. After “Equus,” we are planning a pull-out-the- stops melodrama for Rogue 2008, followed by King Lear as our main stage production

The concept of “what happens to characters when no actors are around to play them?” works. And I’ve always been a fan of taking Shakespeare monologues out of context. My favorites in this original piece are “Queen Mab” taken from “Romeo and Juliet” and “Oh, what a rogue and peasant slave am I” from “Hamlet.”

Oh sure, there are a handful or two more packed neatly into 45 minutes set in an asylum. But they seemed to be played too much in context, despite director/Nurse Ratched Greg Taber’s read verbal introductions to each speech. I think if there were more interaction among the actors during their characters’ outbursts, it would be a more complete production.

Then again, that wasn’t the aim, according to Lisa Mercier-Taber, who does a Lady MacBeth soliloquy here. This was the first venture from Theatre Ventoux, which is producing “This Flattering Glass” — a sendup of “Richard II” — next month. Therefore, it plays as more of a commercial than anything to show the chops of their acting corps.

By that standard, “A Muse of Fire” is a brilliant stroke of marketing. The Tabers, who are veterans of the Woodward Shakespeare festival, have shown that they can interpret the Bard and produce a high-quality show (and in a short period of time).

I’m glad Greg Taber added lengthy intros for his shrink to say, but I was confused at times by the character choice. Was he reading a chart for each “patient,” or reading it because those would be hard to memorize in a short turnaround (the play was produced in less than a month)? Either way, I would have preferred a more clear commitment. I caught him looking up too much at the audience if his intent was the former.

But as far as my preference for locals performing original theater specifically for the Rogue, I give this first-class piece an A. I loved the concept and music selections, if not all of the sometimes uneven speeches.

“A Muse of Fire” plays at Dianna’s South at 8:30 p.m. Thursday and 10 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $5.

There’s a telling scene in the insightful Theatre Ventoux production of “Childe Byron” in which the play’s Greek chorus-style ensemble confronts Lord Byron, the famous “bad boy” poet of British literature. Up to this point in this semi-biographical outing, the six members of the ensemble have served mostly as toadying fans and hangers-on of Byron. They have admired his excesses as much as the man himself. Or his poetry, come to think of it.

But in this scene, the mood of the room has changed. The judgmental bystanders repeat the charges against Byron: His homosexuality. His incest with his sister, whom he called “Goose.” His forced sodomy of his wife. The fickle public, who up until this point had celebrated Byron’s famously raunchy behavior, has turned against him.

“Childe Byron” is by Romulus Linney, father of acclaimed actress Laura Linney. Written in 1977, it has not been an oft-performed title in recent years. In some ways, it’s easy to see why.

At a certain level, the premise can be sold as a “Christmas Carol” type of fantasy, in which Byron’s only legitimate daughter, the dying Augusta Ada, conjures up the ghost of her father on the last night of her own life. But this is much different — and less tangible — than a trip down memory lane. For one thing, Ada never knew her father, though she’s studied him extensively. She was whisked out of his life while still an infant. Her hallucinations, then, are more an exercise in conjecture than a mere historical romp. Or, to put it more bluntly, they are ravings.

To capture this sense of unbalance while at the same time finding a through and compelling thread to the narrative is a heady task for playwright, actors and director alike.

Lisa Mercier-Taber does double duty in “Childe Byron” by both directing the show and playing Ada, the most challenging role. (It’s my understanding that she had not planned to do both, but sometimes the challenges of community theater require last-minute adjustments.) She does a commendable job directing the show, which opened at the Severance Building last Friday and continues for three more weekends. It has a spiffy production design, scrupulous costumes and is well prepared, insightful and provocative.

I’m just not that impressed with the play itself, however. It’s as if Linney stretched too far with his words and didn’t quite reach the towering poetic insight he was trying to achieve.

Dying of stomach cancer, Ada is doped up on laudulum, which is putting her into hallucinatory mode. As the play opens, she is locked in a padded room with her books, papers and her model of the the Analytical Engine, an early precursor to the computer that she helped invent, for company.

Like any father-daughter story, this one is filled with incongruities: Ada turned out to have a sharp mathematical mind. She thinks of the world in terms of numbers: crisp, solid, reliable. Her father (played with flair by Gregory Taber), had a different approach to life with his hedonistic impulses and raging excesses. When he appears in the room, he’s thoroughly confused by this pragmatic, even fussy, woman who seems so intent on bruising her way into his past. He doesn’t recognize her as his daughter.

The first act is a spirited back-and-forth between Ada and Byron. In the second act, Ada assumes the persona of her mother, recounting the circumstances under which she turned against Byron and effectively removed his daughter from his life. Mercier-Taber struggles a little with the differentiation between mother and daughter, and she isn’t helped by the playwright’s periodic bouts of wordiness. She takes a very intellectual approach to the role, but you’d think even a mathematician might crack a little more now and then. Still, it’s a principled interpretation of a difficult character.

Gregory Taber is particularly effective as Byron when he shows flashes of vulnerability as a younger man. (We’re reminded several times of his character’s club foot, which we see, and his grandiose penis, which we do not.) When we get past the smugness, there’s a hint of real vulnerability: He’s too weak and doesn’t have the power to resist the goading of the crowd. In the most aching moment of the play, Byron reveals that in spite of his reputation, he is shattered every time he falls in love.

The members of the ensemble play a variety of roles, including Byron’s mother (an accomplished Dorian Ranta) and the young Byron himself (an effective Steve Torres). Melissa Geston, Samuel Frank and Renee Newlove have some sharp moments in the foreground of the action, all three of them adept at injecting a sensual note into the accounts of Byron’s lusty proclivities.

It all adds up to a cerebral battle between emotion and reason. Despite my lukewarm feelings for the script, “Childe Byron” is still a worthwhile experience. You can consider it one of the more offbeat father-daughter stories you’ll ever see.