Avant Bard Blog

Who’s Who in Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight

September 25, 2017

Meet the actors and creative team who will bring to life Lauren Gunderson’s whip-smart comedy about an 18th-century genius.

Emilie Facebook cover photo crop — To find out about the show these talented folks are working on, click the image above.

CAST

Sara Barker (Emilie) has worked with Avant Bard on King Lear (Edgar), Othello (Desdemona), Orlando (Orlando), Mary Stuart (Elizabeth), Six Characters in Search of an Author (Stepdaughter), The House of Yes (Jackie-O), The Cherry Orchard (Varya), The Mistorical Hystery of Henry (I)V (Hotspur), Lulu (Lulu), and The Miser (La Fleece). Credits also include Factory 449’s 448 Psychosis and Closet Land, Rorschach’s A Maze (Oksana), Scena’s The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon). NYC credits include The Brick’s King Lear (King Lear), Hipgnosis Theatre’s The Winter’s Tale (Paulina), and various devised works with directors Lear DeBessonet and Josh Fox. Sara is a graduate of St. John’s College and a company member with Avant Bard, Factory 449, Rorschach Theatre, and The Klunch. www.sarabarker.com/acting

Brit Herring (Voltaire) is very happy to be making his Avant Bard debut! Brit has appeared Off-Broadway in Shel Silverstein’s The Devil and Billy Markham at SoHo Playhouse and in Paradise at The Lion Theater on Theater Row. Most recently Brit appeared in Everyman Theatre’s production of Great Expectations directed by Tazewell Thompson and made his debut at Arena Theatre in A Raisin in the Sun. Regionally he has acted with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, The Kennedy Center, Infinity Theatre Company, Annapolis Shakespeare, and many others. Brit received his MFA from Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Academy for Classical Acting at The George Washington University, and trained with The British American Theatre Institute. Brit works as a voiceover artist with The National Library Service for the Blind and Handicapped.

Lisa Hodsoll (Madame) is very pleased to work with Avant Bard for the first time. She recently finished playing Laura Bush in the Klunch’s one-woman show Laura Bush Killed a Guy. Other recent credits include A Fool’s Paradise: 30 Shakespeare Scenes in 60 Minutes at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the one-woman show Medea’s Got Some Issues (in Chicago with Chicago Theater Sweatshop and in D.C. with No Rules Theatre Company). Additional recent credits include Theater J: The Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures (Maeve); Theater Alliance: The Wonderful World of Dissocia (Jane/Dot, Helen Hayes nominated); and Studio Theatre: Edgar and Annabel (Miller). She is a member of Factory 449 and The Klunch.

Billie Krishawn (Soubrette) is thrilled to make her Avant Bard debut in this production of Emilie. A native Washingtonian, Billie has performed in NY, NJ, and the DMV as an actress, teaching artist, and poet. Her recent credits include Jumanji (Adventure Theatre MTC), How Old Is a Hero (Discovery Theater), and Bully (Interrobang Theatre Company). Film credits include TV One’s For My Man and Orange Juice in Bishops Garden. See her in these upcoming productions: Greensboro Lunch Counter at the Museum of American History, Skin of Our Teeth at Constellation Theatre Company.

Steve Lebens (Gentleman) is excited to make his debut with Avant Bard. Recent productions include Lazarus with Unstrung Harpists, King Lear with Lean and Hungry, Hamlet and Diary of Anne Frank with Compass Rose, and 12 Angry Men with American Century. He has also performed with Studio, Source, Signature, Folger, American Ensemble, the Guthrie, Karachi Drama Circle, and Teatro de las Americas. Screen credits include House of Cards, VEEP, Law and Order: CI, Field of Lost Shoes and King Lear.

CREATIVE TEAM

Lauren Gunderson (Playwright) is the most produced living playwright in America of 2016, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and John Gassner Award for Playwriting, and a recipient of the Mellon Foundation’s 3-Year Residency with Marin Theatre Company. She studied Southern Literature and Drama at Emory University, and Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School, where she was a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. Her work has been commissioned, produced, and developed at companies across the U.S. including South Coast Rep (Emilie, Silent Sky), The Kennedy Center (The Amazing Adventures of Dr. Wonderful and Her Dog!), The O’Neill, The Denver Center, San Francisco Playhouse, Marin Theatre, Synchronicity, Olney Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Shotgun Players, TheatreWorks, Crowded Fire, and more. Her work is published at Playscripts (I and You, Exit Pursued By A Bear, The Taming, and Toil And Trouble), Dramatists (Silent Sky, Bauer, Miss Bennet), and Samuel French (Emilie).

Rick Hammerly (Director) first worked with Avant Bard, nee Washington Shakespeare Company, as an actor in their 1991 production of Hamlet. His recent directing credits include the Helen Hayes–recommended Lela & Co. (Factory 449), Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook (Adventure Theatre MTC), Driving Miss Daisy (Riverside Center for the Performing Arts) featuring Karen Grassle (TV’s “Little House on the Prairie”), and Closet Land (Factory 449). He directed The Brontes (New York Musical Theatre Festival & Capital Fringe), Lake Untersee (Source Festival), an award-winning production of Dead Man Walking (American University), and a concert reading of the musical YANK! for Rainbow Theatre Project. Locally, he has also directed productions for SCENA Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Washington, and Fourth Wall Productions. His Assistant Director credits include The Laramie Project, Driving Miss Daisy, The Glass Menagerie, and the upcoming Jefferson’s Garden, all at Ford’s Theatre. His acting credits include a Helen Hayes Award-winning performance as Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Signature Theatre) and Helen Hayes Award nominations for Angels in America (Signature Theatre), Me and Jezebel (MetroStage), and OLIVER! (Adventure Theatre MTC). He is the current Producing Artistic Director of Factory 449: a theatre collective.

Greg Stevens (Set and Properties Designer / Scenic Artist) returns to Avant Bard having designed costumes for Lulu. For Factory 449 (where he is founding company member) his credits include Lela & Co. (set), Closet Land (set), The Amish Project (set, Helen Hayes Award nomination), The Saint Plays (set/costumes), 4.48 Psychosis (set). For State of Play Productions (NYC) he designed the set for The City that Cried Wolf; for Rainbow Theatre Project he directed Kingdom of Earth and Suddenly Last Summer and designed set and costumes for Get Used to It! and The Oldest Profession. For The In Series his credits include The Cole Porter Project (co-author/co-direct/set), La Clemenza di Tito (set), and Viva Zarzuela(set/costumes); for the Actors’ Theatre of Washington, The Owl and the Pussycat (set), Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (set/costumes), Boston Marriage (set), and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (set/costumes). BA, Theatre, San Diego State University; MAT, Museum Education, GWU.

Joseph R. Walls (Lighting Designer) has collaborated with several theatre companies in New York, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake City. He previously collaborated with Avant Bard on No Man’s Land, King John, Orlando, and Nero/Pseudo. He has also collaborated with a a large number of ballet companies including The Washington Ballet, Public Displays of Motion, Inland Pacific Ballet, Ballet Spartanburg, Staibdance, Steps Academy of Dance in Panama City, Panama, The Charlotte Ballet, SCGSAH, Raiin Dance Theater,, and The Atlanta Ballet, where he is currently the lighting supervisor and recently designed Gemma Bond’s Denouement and Andrea Miller’s Push. He is the former lighting supervisor for Charlotte Ballet at the Chautauqua Institution and The Washington Ballet. www.jwallsdesign.com

Danielle Preston (Costume Designer) is thrilled to be returning to Avant Bard after having previously designed Holiday Memories, TAME., and The Gospel at Colonus. Other local credits include The Christians (Theater J), The How & The Why (Theater J), Darius & Twig (The Kennedy Center), Where Words Once Were (The Kennedy Center), All the Way LIVE! (The Kennedy Center), Other Desert Cities (Triad Stage), Mnemonic (Theater Alliance), To Tell My Story: A Hamlet Fanfic (The Welders), Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (1st Stage), Well (1st Stage). Education: BA in Theater Production, Meredith College; MFA in Costume Design, The University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 Upcoming designs: Roz & Ray (Theater J), Where Words Once Were (The Lincoln Center, NYC), Darius & Twig (national tour/ The Kennedy Center).

Frank DiSalvo Jr. (Sound Designer) is returning to Avant Bard after designing sound for The Madwoman of Chaillot. He designs often for Washington Stage Guild and The Catholic University of America, where he received his MFA in Playwriting. He received two Helen Hayes nominations in 2015 for his work with Rorschach Theatre and Washington Stage Guild.

Elena Day (Movement Coach) is excited to join the Avant Bard family. Movement directing credits include Kennedy Center Young Audiences: Mockingbird; Imagination Stage: Smartest Girl, Wiley and the Hairy Man (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Production, Theatre for Young Audiences); The Studio Theatre: Laugh, Moth; Adventure Theatre MTC: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook. Performance credits include Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba. She is on the faculty at The Studio Theatre Conservatory and The Wolf Trap Institute. www.elenaday.com

Christian Sullivan (Technical Director) is a proudly tatted company member of Rorschach Theatre. Having worked for most of the professional theatres in town, Christian is an actor, carpenter, and fighty guy who has worked coast to coast, north to south. Next up he will be once again fighting decency is Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club.

Joan Cummins (Dramaturg) is a dramaturg, director, and teaching artist working in new plays and interactive theater. She is also a public historian, working to make history accessible to the public through interactive experiences and performance. Locally, she has worked with dog & pony dc, President Lincoln’s Cottage, The Welders, Signature Theatre, Pinky Swear Productions, the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., the Capital Fringe Festival, Ford’s Theater, and the Kennedy Center

Richard Lore (Production Stage Manager) returns to his first love after a 25-year diversion with public television. While at PBS, he conducted talent workshops for 71 stations. Directing credits include premiere works by Israel Horovitz, Martin Sherman, and Ernest Joselovitz. He is a member of Actors Equity. His play Mixed Doubles, was produced in Denver, Chicago, and San Jose.

Solomon HaileSelassie (Rehearsal Stage Manager)

Emilie 810x810 square — To find out about the show these talented folks are working on, click the image above.

Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight
By Lauren Gunderson
Directed by Rick Hammerly
Starring Sara Barker as Emilie
October 12 to November 12, 2017
Gunston Arts Center, Theatre Two
2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA 22206

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6 Cool Things to Know About Emilie du Châtelet

September 9, 2017

By Joan Cummins, Dramaturg

Emilie 4 R wide USE_150_dpi — Gabrielle Emilie le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise du Châtelet (1706–1749).

Born to a wealthy aristocratic family in Paris in 1706, Emilie du Châtelet was one of the few people in her time who could wrestle with the cutting-edge math of calculus. For a long time best known as the lover of Voltaire—the iconoclastic French dramatist, philosopher, and scientist—she was also extraordinary in her own right.

Having discovered the questions science posed about the nature of the universe, she never stopped searching for answers.

Click here for more information about the production. — Click for more information about Avant Bard’s production of the play.

She also worked tirelessly on behalf of those she loved. Contentedly married to the Marquis du Châtelet, Emilie lobbied on behalf of his military career, educated their son herself, and organized an advantageous marriage for their daughter into the court of Naples. She also did her best to keep Voltaire out of prison for his screeds against the Church. All the while she furiously corresponded with other intellectuals, worked through the principles of Newtonian physics from the ground up, and was the first woman published by the prestigious Académie Royale des Sciences.

In 1749 she found herself unexpectedly pregnant again by her new young lover Saint-Lambert, and continued to work on her translation and commentary on Newton into the wee hours of the morning. She died due to complications from childbirth at the age of forty-two.

6 Cool Things to Know About Emilie du Châtelet

1. Emilie tackled historic scientific problems.

The major scientific debate afoot in the 1740s was between Isaac Newton’s system describing the motion of the universe (including gravity) and Gottfried Leibniz’s opposing views on how space, time, and force worked. They disagreed on God’s role in the function of the universe, the fundamental nature of matter, and whether force was “living” or “dead.” The two men were also engaged in a furious dispute over who had first claim to the invention of calculus, an argument Leibniz lost in the 1700s but is now considered to have been right about all along. Emilie du Châtelet waded directly into these debates and provided new insights into the function of the universe.

2. Emilie had a secret love affair…with Voltaire.

As a poet, scientist, and public intellectual, Voltaire was a lifelong critic of the hypocrisy and corruption he saw among the clergy and aristocracy in France. He drew on themes from classical stories and the history of France in his vast oeuvre of writing. Always volatile, he spent much of his life fleeing condemnation or returning to Paris more famous than before. After losing Emilie so early, Voltaire would go on to live another thirty years, befriending Benjamin Franklin, writing his most famous work, Candide, and briefly joining the Prussion court before his death in 1778.

3. Emilie helped change what it meant to even do science.

She insisted on using experimental results to back up her conclusions, and implemented Leibniz’s principle of sufficient reason. In essence, this principle refused to accept easy answers, and required a scientist to continue to seek explanations for why something worked one way and not another until you really got to the bottom of it. She also advocated for scientists to come up with hypotheses and then test them to determine whether they were true, an idea controversial in her day that today is the foundation of scientific work.

4. Emilie was a lover of knowledge.

In the early 1700s, the kind of work Emilie and her contemporaries were doing was bigger than “just” science. People were trying to figure out how the world worked, and the fields we today call science, ethics, math, and philosophy all overlapped. Philosophes (or philosophers in English—which has its roots in the Greek for “lover of knowledge”) could weigh in on gravity, human nature, political structures, religion and any number of other things.

5. Emilie fixed Newton’s physics.

Emilie took Newton’s work on the universe and improved upon it, incorporating Leibniz’s insights and her own. She found additional experimental proof for some of Newton’s assertions, and did the extensive calculus to back them up further (Newton himself used only geometric proofs in his major opus Principia). Emilie’s translation of Principia, accompanied by her commentary, is still today the authoritative version in French

6. Emilie contributed to our modern understanding of energy.

She argued in favor of force vive, which squared the speed of an object to determine its force (energy), against Newton’s insistence on plain multiplication (F=mv² vs. F=mv). We now understand these two concepts to be kinetic energy and momentum respectively. This squaring of speed would reappear in Einstein’s famous formulation E = mc², which explained that all matter everywhere included an astonishing amount of energy and reframed how we understand the universe.

Joan Cummins is dramaturg for Avant Bard’s production of Lauren Gunderson’s Emilie: La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight. A dramaturg, director, and teaching artist working in new plays and interactive theater, she is also a public historian, working to make history accessible to the public through interactive experiences and performance. Locally, she has worked with dog & pony dc, President Lincoln’s Cottage, The Welders, Signature Theatre, Pinky Swear Productions, the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., the Capital Fringe Festival, Ford’s Theater, and the Kennedy Center.

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“The Real Reason I Wrote About Emilie Is Because I’d Like to Hang Out With Her”

August 7, 2017

A Q&A With Playwright Lauren Gunderson

By Amy Holzapfel, Associate Professor of Theatre, Williams College

What inspired you to write a play about Emilie, Marquise Du Châtelet?

Lauren Gunderson

I read a great book called Emilie Du Châtelet: Daring Genius of the Enlightenment, by Judith Zinsser. Emilie’s life story encompasses so many riveting and profound subjects: love, sex, physics, feminism, history, what life means, what love means. I like writing about historical characters because there is such grandiosity to re-imaging and resurrecting a real person onstage. There is simple magic in listening to her journey, and rooting for her, and falling in love with her, all the while knowing that she is based on a real woman. So the real reason I wrote about Emilie is because I’d like to hang out with her.

What was your writing process like for Emilie?

Writing, for me, begins long before typing. I usually start writing a new play with a lot of reading and daydreaming. When I understand my idea enough to talk about to my friends (or my cat, who was christened Emilie La Marquise Du Châtelet, with all respect), I always start at the beginning. Emilie begins with her first monologue to the audience, her arrival in this space and time. She finds herself, she starts to remember her life, and then she pretty much starts her play for herself.

The rest of the play came to me sans filter. The rules invented themselves, and I pretty much just said “sure!” The play shifts when she meets Voltaire and we get their chemistry and romance. Then it shifts again when her heart breaks, and she must become her own support system. Emilie herself never lingers, never apologizes, never slows. In the end, I realized that I had to have the whole play turn against her as she approaches its end. She is not fighting herself or her society, she is fighting her medium. That was fun to write. How does one turn a play against its main character?

In the end, I realized that Emilie’s greatest proof of her value is herself. I had to craft an ending that lets her say goodbye to her world, her story, and her self with confidence and a full heart. That means that the play ends in a similar (though much deeper, truthful, satisfying) place where it ends—dark into light into dark.

What, for you, is the central story of your play?

It is a story of Emilie, who, looking back, wants to know if her bold life full of love and discovery actually mattered and how. She’s a scientist so she needs proof, even though it’s impossible to quantify a life’s meaning. The play starts when she is given one chance to “defend” her life and scour it for meaning. In the end she is met by two realizations: her science did matter to the world (she was right about squaring speed), and that the only person who needs to believe that she mattered is herself. We live (and die) best when we are sure of ourselves and fight for our truth.

What has Emilie taught you?

What a great question! So much so I’m stumped as to how to begin. I’d love to know what she’s taught others first…

In your play, what do you think Emilie gains from her relationship with Voltaire? What do you think he gains from her?

I think they both gain a best friend. Even though they were lovers they were, more than anything, friends, like minds, twin inspirations for each other. From him, she gained adventure and boldness and humor. From her, he gained an avenue into legitimate scientific discourse, a steady companion, and a person to look up to. I think they both allowed each other to live life fully, with all its complexity and curiosity.

Are you or have you ever been a “science geek”? What do you love most about science?

I accept the mantle of science geek! Though I’ve never been a scientist, I am definitely a science enthusiast. I discovered a love of asking big questions about life and found a home for that in science as well as art. What I love about science is that everything is up for debate all the time. You are never done with science. It’s always moving, expanding, confirming, re-confirming. Scientists are never satisfied, but ever hungry for the next technology to prove the next theory. Science continues to surprise us, upend us, challenge us to be better. Science continues to make impossible things possible.

What do you consider to be Emilie’s bravest act?

Her bravest act was probably the very first time she spoke up for her right to have an education. Her father acquiesced even when the idea of education [for?] women in the sciences was uncommon. As a girl being groomed for marriage and child rearing, something about Emilie made her speak up and ask for what she wanted: a tutor. She was ridiculed for her intellect, asked to be quiet when she had a pertinent thought to share, mocked for writing the first popular science book in Europe. But all of that bravery started when she was a child with one request

What do you see as some of the biggest challenges for women in our age?

A lot of the challenges we have faced in the past aren’t gone. Gender and racial discrimination within and without of the feminist movement, for one. Pervasive and excessive violence against women across the world. Extremism that continues to assume women’s abilities and thwart their natural rights and freedoms. Women in professional sciences, in politics, in business are still underrepresented in positions of power. Even in the performing arts, a generally progressive field, a play about men is considered a universal story, but a play about women is often a “women’s” play. We still see more male directors, writers, and even male roles than women’s. This all amounts to fewer women’s stories defining our half of humanity…. The power of women’s stories to inspire understanding and acceptance and empowerment for women (and men too) all over the world is vital.

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The Gospel at Colonus Free Concert August 5 at Lubber Run

July 25, 2017

Avant Bard’s acclaimed sold-out production of The Gospel at Colonus returns in a one-night-only concert staging at Lubber Run Park Amphitheater in Arlington, VA, Saturday, August 5, at 8 pm. FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

ABOUT THE SHOW: The legendary African American musical The Gospel at Colonus is a soaring celebration of transcendence and the fragility of life. The music is an inspiring fusion of Black church gospel with blues and Motown. The show’s message of redemption is sorely needed right now. With its epic poetry and magnificent score, The Gospel at Colonus reminds us that out of the deepest sorrows, the highest and most uplifting hope can emerge.

ABOUT THE VENUE: The main entrance to Lubber Run Park is at 200 North Columbus Street, Arlington, VA 22203. The Amphitheater has bench seating for roughly 700, plus there is plenty of room for lawn chairs and picnic blankets. THIS IS A PERFECT EVENT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY.

NO RESERVATIONS REQUIRED FOR CONCERT.

Pre-show SEASON 28 KICKOFF PACK-A-PICNIC PARTY

WHERE: The Lubber Run Picnic Shelter (click to download park map). WHEN: Before the Gospel at Colonus concert Saturday, August 5, 2017, at 6 pm. Bring what you want to eat and drink (sorry, alcohol is not permitted).

RSVP FOR PICNIC PARTY APPRECIATED. Email Quill Nebeker, Director of Audience Engagement, quill@avantbard.org.

DIRECTIONS TO LUBBER RUN PARK

FOR MORE INFORMATION call 703-418-4808.
For a PDF of the map below, click on it.

The Free Summer Concert Series at Lubber Run Amphitheater is produced by Arlington Arts, the presenting arm of Arlington County Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation, and with the cooperation of the Lubber Run Amphitheater Foundation.

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WHO’S WHO IN THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS

July 25, 2017

Meet the amazing cast, choir, and creative team behind this powerful and uplifting gospel musical.

The Gospel at Colonus is a soaring celebration of transcendence and the fragility of life. The music is an inspiring fusion of Black church gospel with blues and Motown. The show’s message of redemption and hope is sorely needed right now.

CAST

Ashley Buster (Ismene) is a DC Metro native from Silver Spring, MD. She is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association and is currently completing her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership at Loyola University Maryland. Her area credits include Freedom’s Song (Ford’s), Elmer Gantry (Signature), and Go Dog, Go! (Next Stop). She is excited to be doing her first show with Avant Bard!

Tiffany Byrd (Antigone) is truly humbled to be apart of this groundbreaking work! She has performed professionally across the DMV as an actress and trained salsa dancer. Her credits include roles in Sister Act, Carmen, Caroline, or Change, and In the Heights. I thank Jesus for his continued blessings! Instagram: tiffibyrd

A.J. Calbert (Theseus) hails from the cornfields of Illinois and is excited to make his debut with Avant Bard. A.J. studied acting at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory and holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Yale University. His previous shows include: Romeo & Juliet (Capulet), Prince George’s Shakespeare; A Christmas Carol (Young Scrooge and others), Chesapeake Shakespeare Company; Oedipus the King (Creon, Teiresias), Lean & Hungry Theatre; DC State Players present: Agamemnon (Agamemnon), Barrelhouse Theatre.

DeMone (Singer Oedipus) is thrilled to work with this incredible cast! He is an award-winning actor, singer, and producer whose numerous credits include Ragtime, Miss Saigon, Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Once on This Island, Sideshow (Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor), The Full Monty, Elf, A Christmas Carol, and Ain’t Misbehavin. Film and TV credits include Person of Interest, Law and Order SVU, California Dreams, Amen, In the Eyes of God (Regional Emmy) and Bad Street.

e’Marcus Harper-Short (Creon), who is also Musical Director of The Gospel at Colonus, is a performer with extensive recording, touring, and television credits. Among the artists he has worked with as keyboardist, vocalist, or conductor: Carlos Santana, MC Hammer, Lionel Richie, David Murray, Davey Yarborough, Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, Li’l Richard, Aretha Franklin, Billy Preston, and Michael Jackson.

Branden Mack (Chorus) is a vocalist from Cincinnati Ohio. Branden graduated from Hughes Center High School and then attended The Ohio State University with a full academic scholarship. While at Ohio State, Branden joined the leadership of The African American Voices Gospel Choir, which allowed him to strengthen his vocal gift as well as mentor others in their spiritual and vocal abilities. After school at OSU, Branden moved to Michigan to attend graduate school at Wayne State University. He is now excited to continue his experience with artistic development through continued productions and performances in the DMV. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

Chauncey Matthews (Balladeer) won the hearts of millions when at age 11 he won the American Idol spin-off talent show, American Juniors, hosted by Ryan Seacrest. He was mentored by pop icons Debbie Gibson, Brian McKnight, and soul legend Gladys Knight, He and four other winners on the FOX Network TV show signed with Jive Records as the pop band, American Juniors. The group toured internationally performing with American Idol stars Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, and Kelly Clarkson. Chauncey graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, where he began performing again with such world-renowned acts as Grammy Award–winning icon Lalah Hathaway, Billboard chart topper Halsey, and vocal powerhouse Alice Smith. YouTube channel: Chauncey Matthews. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixBHV9N8CN8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Z01lAas6g

William Thomas Newman Jr. (Preacher Oedipus) is a busy and familiar stage, screen, TV, and voiceover performer. He most recently played the title roles in Sophocles’ Oedipus the King and Shakespeare’s Othello with Lean & Hungry Theatre. He won critical acclaim as Jack in The Winter’s Tale. His theatre credits also include starring roles in Plaza Suite, Ceremonies in Dark Old Men, and Let’s Get Sanctified. On network TV he played the role of Hal Johnson on the daytime serial Somerset, and his motion picture credits include Suspect and Lee Daniels’s The Butler.

Rafealito Ross (Chorus) is a lyric tenor and a Washington, DC, native. metropolitan area. He is a graduate of George Mason University (B.M., Vocal Performance) and Catholic University of America (M.M., Vocal Performance). Currently Rafealito teaches choral music in the Prince Georges County school system and private voice at Falls Church Music Conservatory, and he serves as the Director of Music at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Herndon, VA. As an emerging artist, Rafealito has performed the roles of Ferrando in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte; The Conductor in Pasatieri’s La Divina; King Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors; Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi; Eisenstein in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus; Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro and Tamino in Die Zauberflote, both by Mozart. In December 2003 Rafealito made his debut with the Old Bridge Chamber Orchestra as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah and was invited to return for the 2004 performances. Rafealito has also had the opportunity to perform as a featured soloist in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Salzburg, Austria. More recently Rafealito has performed the roles of the Tin-Man in an Off-Broadway production of The Wiz, a leading soloist in Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, Goro in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Camille in Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow, Romèo in Gounod’s Romèo et Juliette, and Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. When Rafealito isn’t singing he enjoys exploring new restaurants and activities in DC; spending time with his dog Rocco, family, and friends; and watching marathons of A&E’s The First 48. http://rafealitoross.weebly.com Twitter: @R2Tenor YouTube channel: Rafealito Ross

Greg Watkins (Polyneices), a born and bred Washington, DC, native, is a well-respected artist and virtuoso singer, pianist, musical director, composer and arranger, actor, and voice talent and a brilliantly pure entertainer. A proud graduate of The Duke Ellington School of the Arts and The Howard University (BM, Music Education), he has opened concerts for six-time Stellar Award Winner Byron Cage, nine-time Grammy Award winner the late Natalie Cole, and the most awarded eclectic a’capella group in history: Take 6. Most recently Greg has been accepted to attend Catholic University as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Voice, and he will soon return to the Kennedy Center to reprise his role as iconic jazz musician Billy Strayhorn in Tom Minter’s newest adaptation of Blues for a Royal Flush. https://m.facebook.com/theofficialgregwatkins/

GOSPEL CHOIR

Minister Becky Mays (Founder and Director of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir) is a native of Alexandria, VA. She is also a remarkable minister and vocalist who has traveled extensively in various countries fulfilling the great commission of the Word of God. She has ministered throughout the United States and has traveled abroad to France, England, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Austria, Holland, and Norway. She has performed as a background singer for such legendary and stellar award-winning artists as Richard Smallwood, Edwin Hawkins, Walter Hawkins, Yolanda Adams, Jennifer Holliday, Tramaine Hawkins, Twinkie Clark, and Michael Jackson. She has also been a vocalist with such nationally acclaimed gospel groups as “The Wesley Boyd Gospel Music Workshop Choir,” “Jeremiah Murphy and Judah,” and “El Shaddai.” She has appeared on the dramatic stage with world-renowned actors such as Morgan Freeman, and Carl Lumbly and was part of the cast of the 1984 production of Gospel at Colonus presented at Arena Stage. She is a much sought-after music clinician, workshop facilitator, and motivational speaker.

The Women’s Ecumenical Choir of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA, was divinely inspired by God and placed on the heart of Minister Becky Mays. The initial purpose of the group was to provide music for the Women’s Day Service at Ebenezer in March 2007. Approximately 40 women, representing various churches throughout the faith community came together for the single purpose of lifting up the Name of Jesus through song. Since then the choir has traveled to Bear, Delaware; Edwardsville, Virginia; Albany, New York; Buffalo, New York; West Virginia; Hardeeville, South Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia, ministering God’s Word through song. They were the featured artists at the City of Alexandria’s Mayoral Inauguration, the Alexandria Branch of the NAACP Officers Installation, and in August 2011, they ministered for the Tuskegee Airman’s Gospel Luncheon. The choir is the first Gospel Choir to be included in the Alexandria Performing Arts Society’s yearly calendar. There are currently more than 65 women from the Baptist, Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, African Methodist Episcopal, and Christian Methodist Episcopal religious backgrounds throughout the Washington, DC, Metropolitan area represented in the group. We are grateful for the support of all the Pastors of the churches represented. We are willing vessels with a strong desire to do God’s will. We are committed to carrying the Word through song and letting the lives we live speak for us.

Members of the Women’s Ecumenical Choir performing with The Gospel at Colonus are Krystal L. Cottman, Laurese Gerald, Sandy Taylor Hawkins, Darci M. Perkins, Tranita A. Randolph, Robin Walker Shanks, and Kimberly A. Young.

MUSICIANS

Abdou “CleanHandz” (Percussion) has over 30 years’ experience playing the djembe. He has been fortunate to be taught and received extensive training from Songa of the Valley, David Rock, Ezibu Muntu, Melvin Deal, Papa Aziz, and his godfather, Abdou Kounata. At the age of 3, Abdou began learning the art of djembe from Songa of the Valley, who was the lead drummer for Baba Olatunji’s Company. Abdou’s family moved to Richmond and he joined Ezibu Muntu. He became the group’s lead drummer at the age 11 and held the position until he was 19. Continuing his journey, Abdou moved to the Washington, DC, area where he was a member or performed with African Heritage, Coyaba Dance Theater, Soul In Motion, KanKouran, Elegba Folklore Society, Ezibu Muntu, Green Beats, The Washington Ballet, The Dance Place, Step Afrika!, and many more. Abdou has also opened for the Broadway musical Fela!, in DC, National Slave Ground Anniversary in Richmond, VA, Nigerian Embassy Celebration, NACA Conference, and at the National Cathedral School of Dance Performance. Abdou “CleanHandz” Muhammad aims to bridge the gap between the traditional African rhythms with modern genres of music like jazz, hip-hop, classical, funk, and reggae. Abdou “CleanHandz” Muhammad is drumming for Life, meaning drumming from one’s Spirit and not for the show of skill. When Abdou “CleanHandz” drums, he’s drumming for family, community, health, and spiritual elevation.

e’Marcus Harper-Short (Keyboard). See his performing bio above under Cast and his musical direction bio below.

ABOUT THE CREATORS OF THE GOSPEL AT COLONUS

Lee Breuer (Book and Lyrics) is one of America’s most innovative avant garde theatre artists. He is a founding co-artistic director of Mabou Mines, where his adaptations and direction have received critical acclaim. Notable works include Mabou Mines’ Dollhouse, J.M.Barrie’s Peter and Wendy, and Samuel Beckett’s The Lost Ones. He has directed 14 Obie Award–winning performances; won Obies for writing, directing, and sustained achievement; and has been nominated for Pulitzer, Tony, Grammy, and Emmy awards. He has also been the recipient of a Chevalier Des Artes et Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture and the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” Fellowship, among others. He has held positions at Yale University School of Drama and Stanford University.

Bob Telson (Music) has had a career as a composer and musician that has earned him an Academy Award nomination for his song “Calling You” from the movie Bagdad Café, as well as Pulitzer, Grammy, and Tony Award nominations for The Gospel at Colonus and Chronicle of a Death Foretold, an adaptation of the Gabriel García Márquez novel. Telson has composed soundtracks for American, French, German, and Argentinian films, as well as a ballet score for Twyla Tharp (Sextet). His songs have been recorded by many international artists, such as Barbra Streisand, Natalie Cole, George Benson, Joe Cocker, Celine Dion, Etta James, k.d. lang, Shawn Colvin, Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, and George Michael.

CREATIVE TEAM AND PRODUCTION CREW

Jennifer L. Nelson (Director) is a Washington, DC-based theater professional committed to principles that value human dignity, justice, and compassion. She is Resident Director of Mosaic Theater Company and brings more than 40 years of experience as an actor, playwright, administrator, professor, director, and two-term president of the League of Washington Theatres. She is Senior Advisor for Programming at Ford’s Theatre, and previously served for 11 years as the Producing Artistic Director of the African Continuum Theatre Company, where she directed more than 20 full productions and readings. She is a 26-year veteran of Living Stage Theatre Company, the former community-outreach program at Arena Stage. Nelson has directed productions at Ford’s Theatre, Round House, Woolly Mammoth, Theater of the First Amendment, Theater J, and more. As a playwright, Nelson won the Helen Hayes/Charles MacArthur Award for Most Outstanding New Play for her play Torn From the Headlines. She has taught at UCLA, George Washington University, and American University, most recently teaching “Theatre for Social Change” as an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University.

e’Marcus Harper-Short (Musical Director/Keyboard/Creon) received the Helen Hayes Award (2015) for Outstanding Musical Direction for Black Nativity by Langston Hughes (Theater Alliance); a Grammy Award nomination (1998) for Best Traditional Gospel Recording as Conductor for Love Alive V: Walter Hawkins and the Love Center Choir; and a Hollywood NAACP Theater Image Award Nomination (2004) for Best Musical Direction for Da Kink in My Hair by Trey Anthony. Other credits include Musical Arranger for Three Mo’ Divas (PBS Special National) conceived by Marion J. Caffey, and Musical Direction for Invisible Life (Apollo Theater, New York) based on a book by E. Lynn Harris.

Sandra L. Holloway (Choreographer) is delighted to work with the artistic team and cast of Gospel at Colonus! Some of Sandi’s choreographic credits in musical theater include: For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enough for Theater Alliance , Eyes at Howard University, I, Too, Sing America for the Howard Players, Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, tigertigertiger at Theater of the First Amendment, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Guys and Dolls for the GMU Players, among others. Some of her concert dance works have been featured at the Lincoln Theater Black Choreographers Showcase, Dance Theater of Harlem’s 40th Anniversary Celebration, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Hi-Arts Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Hollow Dance In Concert at Howard University Cramton Auditorium and Ira Aldridge Stage, The 45 Degrees Project (a partnership between Joy of Motion DC and Deeply Rooted Dance Company in Chicago, IL), New World Dance Company in DC and is currently working with Hill Dance Academy in Pittsburgh, PA. Her work has been included in concert dance seasons for Collage Dance Company in Memphis, TN. Sandihas worked with directors and choreographers including Mike Malone, George Faison, Diane MacIntyre, Kenneth Daugherty, Linda Gravatt, Nick Alcott, Ed Gero, Tom Prewitt, and other really interesting and influential artists. Sandi is the Artistic Director of City at Peace, a youth development organization that uses the arts to effect social change, and is the founder of the holloway arts project (the hap). She is the recipient of the National Association of Regional Ballet Choreographers Conference Award, Mayor’s Arts Award in Arts and Education for City at Peace, GAEA Foundation Sea Change Artist Award for Arts and Activism, the 2015 Paula Giddings Arts Award and was a 2014 Presenter at Alternate ROOTS Festival Week. Sandi is a graduate of the University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA.

Keta Newborn (Stage Manager) is thrilled to be making her debut with Avant Bard. As a freelancer, Keta has worked in the world of theatre for over 10 years. She has held several titles including Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Venue Manager, Production Assistant, and Light and Sound Board Operator. Her past credits include Little Thing, Big Thing (Solas Nua), Yellowman (Anacostia Playhouse), Black Nativity and Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (Theater Alliance), Leto Legend and Failure: A Love Story (The Hub), Secret Garden and Gidion’s Knot (Next Stop), The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, How We Got On, and Gidion’s Knot (Forum), The Flick and How We Got On (Company One). Keta would like to thank the whole Avant Bard cast and crew and Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two for being a part of an amazing show! She thanks G_d for the opportunity to be used as one of His vessels, working to bring His work of art into the hearts of many while doing what she loves.

ADDITIONAL CREATIVE TEAM FOR THE ORIGINAL PRODUCTION

Tim Jones (Scenic and Properties Designer) is presently the Props Shop Supervisor and an instructor at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. He has also worked as a freelance Scenic and Props Designer throughout the Washington, DC, area. His design work has been seen on stage at African Continuum Theatre, Theater J, Kansas City Rep, Morgan State University, and Everyman Theatre, as well as the Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences. Tim is a native of Prince Georges County, MD, but has lived and worked throughout the United States. He holds an MFA in Scenery and Properties Design from the University of Memphis and a BA in Communication from Salisbury State College.

John D. Alexander (Lighting Designer) is excited to make his debut with Avant Bard. His recent designs include the national tour of The Migration: Reflections of Jacob Lawrence presented by Step Afrika!, Yellowman by Dael Orlandersmith, Blackberry Winter by Steve Yockey, Darius and Twig by Calette Jennings, and the national tour of Anne and Emmett by Janet Langhart Cohen. http://www.johndalexanderdesign.com

Danielle Preston (Costume Designer) is a costume designer based in the DC metro area. Recent design credits include: Other Desert Cities (Triad Stage), The Christians, The How & The Why (Theatre J), Darius & Twig (The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences), Where the Words Once Were (The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences), All the Way LIVE! (The Kennedy Center Theatre for Young Audiences/ B-Fly Entertainment/ TYA National Tour), Holiday Memories, TAME. (Avant Bard), A Bid to Save the World (Rorschach Theatre), Br’er Cotton & Picnic (Catholic University of America). Awards/ Fellowships: William R. Kenan Jr. Fellowship at the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington D.C. (2015–2016) and A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute Fellowship in Costume Design (2013–2014). Education: MFA in Costume Design from The University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Costume Design. www.daniellepreston.com

Justin Schmitz (Sound Designer) is thrilled to make his Avant Bard debut! As a Washington, DC-based Sound Designer and Theatre Artist, he recently completed the 2015–2016 William R Kenan Jr. Fellowship at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Justin is a member of the Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association as an Early Career Member and is also a part of USITT’s Professional Membership. His work on I Call My Brothers at Forum Theatre has been nominated for a 2017 Helen Hayes award. His work has been featured at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Signature Theatre, Theater J, Studio Theatre, Forum Theatre, Olney Theatre Company, Round House Theatre, Imagination Stage, The University of Maryland, Catholic University of America, The Dixon Place Theater in NYC, Chautauqua Theatre Company in Chautauqua, NY, Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, The Actors Guild of Parkersburg in WV, numerous education venues, and many other regional locations. He has received fellowships from The Chautauqua Theatre Company in 2013, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to attend The Orchard Project in 2011 and to work with Theater J in DC in 2015-2016. Justin earned a Master’s of Fine Arts degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Sound Design in 2015. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from The University of Wisconsin – La Crosse in Theatre Design and Technology, where he specialized in Sound Design and Stage Management.

Kevin Maresca (Technical Director)

Maegan Clearwood (Resident Dramaturg) is in her second season with Avant Bard, where she is curator of Scripts in Play and has served as production dramaturg for five productions, including the premiere of TAME. She is also a teaching artist for The Highwood Theatre and Signature Theatre. DC dramaturgy credits include: Pinky Swear Productions: Lizzie: The Musical; Rorschach Theatre: A Bid to Save the World; Source Festival: Static; Forum Theatre: World Builders; Olney Theatre Center: I and You, The Piano Lesson, The Tempest, Colossal. She was also the Literary Associate at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the Dramaturgy Apprentice at the Olney Theatre Center. BA in Drama and English from Washington College.

Brett Steven Abelman (Assistant Dramaturg) is a DC-native creator of stories. He is a proud producing playwright with The Welders. Recent projects include co-creating Play Cupid and Balloon Plays at Capital Fringe Festivals. Brett also reviews at DC Theatre Scene and sometimes blogs at babelwright.wordpress.com.

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The Gospel at Colonus RETURNS February 22 to March 25, 2018, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA. Tickets are available online or by calling 703-418-4804.

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Three Little-Known Backstories About Shakespeare’s Classic King Lear

June 11, 2017

By Brett Steven Ableman, Production Dramaturg

**How Many King Lears Are There?**

There is not one King Lear. Few of Shakespeare’s plays exist in one definitive format, but Lear might be the one that has had the most versions and alterations over the years. When we talk about Macbeth, there is basically only one text, one set of dialogue and stage directions, that we are referring to. When we talk about Hamlet, we have at least two very distinct versions to talk about, which are often conflated into one unit (plus an earlier “bad” version). But with Lear, we not only have two major versions to talk about, but a long history of rewritings and nontraditional editions.

In the early 1600s, King Lear was first printed for the public in what is called a “Quarto.” Quartos consisted of large sheafs of paper with four pages printed on a side (hence the name), folded twice. Due to the folding, the resulting book had to be cut with a knife by the buyer before it could be read. The first version of most of Shakespeare’s plays were quartos, usually as a single play printed cheaply by itself.

Lear later appeared in the First Folio, the first published collection of the majority of the Bard’s works. However, the text printed in the Folio differed significantly from that in the Quarto, and these differences lead scholars to believe that they have different origins. Some scholars believe that the Folio is a later revision of the play by Shakespeare himself. Others believe that the Quarto was copied from Shakespeare’s “foul papers,” that is, his original handwritten draft of the play, while the Folio, by contrast, supposedly comes from a prompt book created by the performers. If the latter is true, calling one or the other definitive is thus impossible – is what the Bard first wrote on paper the ‘real thing’? Or is the words that he actually saw on stage, performed by his own company, a better reflection of his intent?

After Shakespeare’s death, editors began conflating the Quarto and Folio versions into one combined text, using various methods to decide which of the versions they liked ‘best’ when the texts didn’t agree. (See sidebar for some of the major differences.)

Editing the text, however, soon went beyond combining the existing versions. In the late 1600s, the prevailing notion of what made ‘good theatre’ was heavily focused on notions of poetic justice and unified action. Accordingly, The History of King Lear was created by Nahum Tate some 75 years after its original debut.

Tate’s version deviated dramatically from the Lear we know today. It had a happy ending, for one, with Cordelia surviving and Lear returned to the throne. The Fool was eliminated entirely, Edgar and Cordelia had a romance (they never interact in the original), and Edmund, Goneril, and Regan are all rendered as unambiguously evil. Perhaps most crucially for Tate’s era (when the English monarchy had just been restored), his rebelling army does not come from France as foreign invaders, but is instead comprised of British troops who want to restore their rightful king.

Tate’s version was popular, and dominated the stage over Shakespeare’s original for well over a century. The Lear we know today began to be restored in bits and pieces by 19^th century performers who saw greater opportunity and dramatic power in the unaltered text. In 1834, William Charles Macready finally eliminated Tate’s words, although he still cut out some of Shakespeare’s. At last, after many slow alterations, in 1845 Samuel Phelps put the entirety of the Bard’s original back onstage.

Today, conflated texts are the standard. The text you are seeing performed at WSC Avant Bard was edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine for the Folger Shakespeare Library; it also contains contributions from Michael Poston and Rebecca Niles, and has changed the language where necessary to regender Gloucester from a father to a mother.

The process of determining which words to put onstage as “King Lear” is neverending, and it is unlikely that you will ever see two exactly similar versions performed, no matter how often you see the play. In this way, despite its age, it remains a living text, and is able to shift and adapt to the needs of each era and the strengths and personalities of its presenters. The scholarly debate will rage on as to which words here or there are the ideal, but Shakespeare’s vision will remain at the heart of the tragedy.

Some Differences (Large and Small) Between the Quarto and Folio

Act 1, Scene 1 – King Lear: “while we / Unburdened crawl toward death. Our son of Cornwall / And you, our no less loving son of Albany, / We have this hour a constant will to publish / Our daughters’ several dowers, that future strife / May be prevented now.”
lines in the Folio, but not in the Quarto

Act 1, Scene 4 – Fool: “That lord that counseled thee/ To give away thy land, / Come place him here by me; / Do thou for him stand. / The sweet and bitter fool / Will presently appear: / The one in motley here, / The other found out there.”

lines in the Quarto, but not in the Folio

Act 3, Scene 2 – Lear: Quarto version: “Blow wind & cracke your cheekes, rage, blow / You caterickes, & Hircanios spout til you haue drencht, / The steeples drown’d the cockes, you sulpherous and / Thought executing fires, vaunt-currers to / Oke-cleauing thunderboults, singe my white head,”
Act 3, Scene 2 – Lear: Folio version: “Blow windes, & crack your cheeks; Rage, blow / You Cataracts, and Hyrricano’s spout, / Till you haue drench’d our Steeples, drown the Cockes. / You Sulph’rous and Thought-executing Fires, / Vaunt-curriors of Oake-cleauing Thunder-bolts, / Sindge my white head.”

Act 3, Scene 4 – Lear: “Poor naked wretches, wheresoe’er you are/ That bide the pelting of this pitiless…” Quarto reads “pitiless night,” Folio reads “pitiless storm”

Act 4, Scene 3 – Kent and the Gentleman
entire scene is in the Quarto, but does not exist in the Folio

Act 5, Scene 3 – final lines of the play, spoken by Albany in the Quarto, and Edgar in the Folio: “The weight of this sad time we must obey, / Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. / The oldest hath borne most; we that are young / Shall never see so much nor live so long.”

The Fairy Tale Origin of King Lear

At its heart, King Lear is a story simple as fairy tale, and for good reason – it is based on an ancient fable, called “Love Like Salt” or “Loving the Salt.” This tale is common enough to have an entry within the Aarne-Thompson classification system, a standard in the study of folklore, which collects and describes the base forms of common fairy tales from all over the world. “Loving the Salt” is entry number 923, placing it under the general heading of “Realistic Tales” and the subheading of “Clever Acts and Words.”

Shakespeare’s source was a ‘history’ of legendary kings of Britain, in which ‘Leir’ rules the island in pre-Christian times. In this history, the Bard’s play, and every other iteration of the fairy tale, the story remains essentially the same. There is a King, and he has three daughters; he demands they pledge their love to him, and banishes the youngest when she fails to provide a satisfying answer. After many troubles or years of separation, the father and daughter are eventually reunited.

In Shakespeare’s version, the ending is tragic; but in many of the versions, the resolution is rather happier, with an important lesson learned. Here is one rendering of the story, this time called “Water and Salt,” from Thomas Frederick Crane’s Italian Popular Tales.

ONCE upon a time there was a king and three daughters. These three daughters being at table one day, their father said, “Come now, let us see which of you three loves me.”

The oldest said, “Papa, I love you as much as my eyes.”

The second answered, “I love you as much as my heart.”

The youngest said, “I love you as much as water and salt.”

The king heard her with amazement, “Do you value me like water and salt? Quick! call the executioners, for I will have her killed immediately.”

The other sisters privately gave the executioners a little dog, and told them to kill it and rend one of the youngest sister’s garments, but to leave her in a cave.

This they did, and brought back to the king the dog’s tongue and the rent garment: “Royal majesty, here is her tongue and garment.”

And his majesty gave them a reward.

The unfortunate princess was found in the forest by a magician, who took her to his house opposite the royal palace. Here the king’s son saw her and fell desperately in love with her, and the match was soon agreed upon.

Then the magician came and said, “You must kill me the day before the wedding. You must invite three kings, your father the first. You must order the servants to pass water and salt to all the guests except your father.”

Now let us return to the father of this young girl, who the longer he lived the more his love for her increased, and he was sick of grief. When her received the invitation he said, “And how can I go with this love for my daughter?” And he would not go. Then he thought, “But this king will be offended if I do not go, and will declare war against me some time.”

He accepted and went. The day before the wedding they killed the magician and quartered him, and put a quarter in each of four rooms, and sprinkled his blood in all the rooms and on the stairway, and the blood and flesh became gold and precious stones.

When the three kings came and saw the golden stairs, they did not like to step on them. “Never mind,” said the prince, “go up. This is nothing.”

That evening they were married. The next day they had a banquet. The prince gave orders. “No salt and water to that king.”

They sat down at table, and the young queen was near her father, but he did not eat.

His daughter said, “Royal majesty, why do you not eat. Does not the food please you?”

“What an idea! It is very fine.”

“Why don’t you eat then?”

“I don’t feel very well.”

The bride and groom helped him to some bits of meat, but the king did not want it, and chewed his food over and over again like a goat (as if he could eat it without salt!).

When they finished eating they began to tell stories, and the king told them all about his daughter. She asked him if he could still recognize her, and stepping out of the room put on the same dress she wore when he sent her away to be killed.

“You caused me to be killed because I told you I loved you as much as salt and water. Now you have seen what it is to eat without salt and water.”

Her father could not say a word, but embraced her and begged her pardon. They remained happy and contented, and here we are with nothing.

Not Just Gibberish: Edgar’s Ravings and the Popish Impostures

In King Lear, Edgar runs away to escape persecution after being accused of plotting against his mother by his brother Edmund. He puts on a disguise to avoid being captured, since his mother has distributed his picture as a sort of “wanted” poster. The disguise he chooses is that of a madman and beggar, “Poor Tom O’Bedlam.” To maintain this disguise, he raves and babbles and generally acts insane.

Modern audiences may find his ravings to be a bunch of utter nonsense, and some of it may well be. Several passages, however, are not merely random words coined from Shakespeare’s brain, but rather come from a rather unusual source. In 1603, around or before the time that the Bard wrote Lear, Samuel Harsnett wrote a book with the improbable title of A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures, to Withdraw the Hearts of her Majesty’s Subjects from their Allegiance, and from the Truth of Christian Religion Professed in England, Under the Pretense of Casting Out Devils.

In the Protestant England of the time, Catholics were looked on with great suspicion. Harsnett’s tome reported on and satirized Catholic exorcisms and other rituals, making fun of the notion that varied devils should exist and possess ordinary people, and accusing the Catholics of using possession as a pretense to convert good Anglicans away from honest faith.

Harsnett writes satirically of a woman who was exorcised: “The Exorcist asks Maho, Sara’s devil, what company he had with him; and the devil… tells him in flat terms, all the devils in hell. …Such a day was never seen since was hell was hell: not a door-keeper left, but all must got a maying to poor Sara’s house. It was not kindly done of the devils, to leave the poor fools behind, especially going to make merry amongst their friends.”

In Act 3, Scene 4, Edgar says, “The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman. Modo he’s called, and Mahu.” Mahu is presumably taken from Sara’s Maho by Shakespeare; while Harsnett mentioned Modo earlier as the devil belonging to someone named Maynie. The devil Edgar later claims is possessing him, Flibbertigibbet, also gets his name from Harsnett.

Beyond these obvious liftings, scholars have suggested that Shakespeare was inspired by the Declaration in other ways; Harsnett uses storm imagery to describe one exorcism, and in general ascribes such horrors to the subjects of these rituals as “burning,” “vomiting,” “crying, scratching, and howling.”

Whatever the truth of Shakespeare’s inspirations – whether he even read Harsnett’s work or not – what is important to remember is that the Bard did not write in a vacuum. His words and metaphors are not highfalutin’ poetry born from his imagination, but are rather hard, real images torn from the headlines of his time. In bringing the viscera of human experience to the stage in front of you, Shakespeare began with the world in front of him.

____

Brett Steven Abelman is a DC-native creator of stories. He is a proud producing playwright with The Welders. Recent projects include co-creating Play Cupid and Balloon Plays at Capital Fringe Festivals. Brett also reviews at DC Theatre Scene and sometimes blogs at babelwright.wordpress.com.

King Lear plays May 25 to June 25, 2017, at Gunston Arts Center Theatre Two, 2700 South Lang Street, Arlington, VA. Tickets are available online or by calling 703-418-4804.

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How Many King Lears Are There?

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Not Just Gibberish: Edgar’s Ravings and the Popish Impostures

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**How Many King Lears Are There?**