Making the New from History and the Dead

NYC-based actor Jason Martin has a
four octave vocal range. As the star of
The Last Ferryman, Jason has inspired
composer Paul Sullivan to write music
specifically for his voice.

Why does a tiny little theater (say, for instance, Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House) on the tip of an island off the coast of Down East Maine commission and create new theatrical and musical works?

Because there are so many important stories to be told, and told well.

Stories to be shared with our community, stories that reflect our rich and unique cultural heritage or a shared humanity in ways that strengthen the ways we understand and act in the world, whether as individuals or together.

And so it is that in the 15th anniversary summer season of Opera House Arts we bring you TWO world premiere productions of work we have originally developed.

The first, R&J&Z by Melody Bates (July 10-20), is an extension of our Shakespeare in Stonington program and will run in repertory with Romeo and Juliet. Once again, you will have the opportunity to be amazed by actors appearing in multiple roles in both shows. And yes, that IS Shakespeare + Zombies--as the title of Melody's play stands for Romeo&Juliet&Zombies.

Per Jansen and Caitlin Johnston
star in this summer's Shakespeare in
Stonington dual productions of
Romeo and Juliet and the new
R&J&Z, by Melody Bates.

But no, this is not just some cheap play on pop culture. Melody has conducted four residencies in our schools over the past two years, teaching Shakespeare and Suzuki acting tools for focus and performance in the classroom as well as on the stage. In her new play, carefully crafted, like the Bard's, in iambic pentameter verse and taking off from Act V of Romeo and Juliet, Melody seeks to deepen our understanding of a culture in transformation: between generations and seeking redemption through the everlasting power of love.

This is a play rich in the lore of Haitian voodoo, in which myths plantation owners sought to create armies of slaves through botanical poisons and drugs, and the mysteries of the Apothecary--the very same mysteries which so fascinated Shakespeare, and caused him to write Juliet into a death-like sleep as part of his most famous tragedy.

And as Melody has written:
"This thing is not unknown in history--
That by some magic, devilish or good,
The flesh reanimates, and walks the earth."

Connie Wiberg, "the last ferryman"
Charlie Scott's granddaugther
and a member of the Deer Isle-
Stonington Historical Society,
speaks to third graders on the
history of the bridge as part of
The Bridge Project, the
educational component of
OHA's commission of
The Last Ferryman.

The second of OHA's new works in development is The Last Ferryman (August 14-24), commissioned by OHA from Grammy Award-winning composer and pianist Paul Sullivan and Maine librettist Linda Britt (Mrs. Smith Goes to Washington). The Last Ferryman re-awakens historical figures and history itself in a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge. Like R&J&Z, The Last Ferryman explores a great moment of cultural change--when our beautiful island became, in fact, "an island no more."

OHA and its collaborating artists decided that the best way to truly understand the changes that the bridge brought was to portray life before the bridge,  in addition to the fascinating story of how the bridge came to be. And so The Last Ferryman is told from the perspective of Charlie Scott, the real "last ferryman," who died (some say of heartbreak) two weeks after the bridge opened in June of 1939...

Featuring portrayals of historic island community members, including Frank and Annie McGuire, Raymond Small, Charlie Scott and more, this musical's memorable new score and island flavors are reminiscent of OHA's 2010-2012 hit, Burt Dow, Deep Water Man. Yet the stories told--only 75 years past--speak deeply to the heart of our community's past. And its future.

Yu Jin Ko on Shakespeare's greatest lovers

Shakespeare scholar Yu Jin Ko didn't blink when I asked him to drive up from Wellesley College in Massachusetts to see the Stonington Opera House production of "Antony and Cleopatra." He said: "Yes! It's one of my favorite plays." This will be Ko's third year joining the Opera House Arts Shakespeare festival to participate in post-show audience conversations with the audience. You can read his thoughts from past years on "Much Ado about Nothing" and "Measure for Measure."  Ko, members of the creative team and I will talk with the audience after the performance of "Antony and Cleopatra" 7 p.m. Friday, July 13 at the Burnt Cove Church in Stonington, Maine. The show opens Thursday July 12 and runs through July 22. The following is an excerpt from an e-mail exchange with Ko. 

The Stonington Opera House production of "Antony and Cleopatra" is very intentionally set in a church, and many of the scenes make use of the church as "pulpit" -- even though there is no pulpit in the church. Is "A&C" a good "church" play? 

 It's not a "good" church play -- it's a great church play. The main characters continually assert a spiritual, transcendent dimension to their love, even as they heap disdain on Roman moral attitudes that befit a "pulpit." 

You wrote this about Antony and Cleopatra: "The heart of their world is the world of their hearts." Tell us more about this idea. Are they the greatest lovers in all of Shakespeare? 

Yes, they are the greatest lovers in Shakespeare. (They make Romeo and Juliet look like the young kids that they are.) They love to use the world as their stage, but the world that ultimately matters to them -- the "new heaven, new earth" that they seek -- is the one they create together through their unruly but sublime romance.  

You once mentioned to me that "A&C" is one of your favorite Shakespeare plays. Why?

It's the ultimate fantasy of sorts -- if you can be delinquent on an epic scale, you can achieve sublimity and redemption.   

What scene or character will you most be watching for in this production? Is there a place in the play that has to be highlighted, heightened or done perfectly for the rest of the play to fly?

I love every part of this play, but I'll of course watch Cleopatra most closely.  I like to joke with my students that either they're in love with Cleopatra or they're wrong.

Who is more powerful: Antony or Cleopatra? 

 Cleopatra. He always succumbs to her in the end, and it's Cleopatra who ultimately determines how we view Antony.  

Ten Reasons to Love Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra"

By Alicia Anstead

OHA Critic-in-Residence

Every time I read Shakespeare – and by “read” I mean drop myself imaginatively into the world of the characters – the play I’m reading becomes my favorite. As I direct my attention to the Stonington Opera House annual Shakespeare festival, my new favorite play is “Antony and Cleopatra.” (Move over “Coriolanus,” which was my favorite play last month.) I’m a little fickle that way – never landing definitively on any one of the Bard’s plays as a favorite for very long. It’s a little like trying to choose a favorite child: You shouldn’t do it because it lessens the value of the other kids. And in Shakespeare’s case, that’s upwards of 40 plays.

The best approach for me is to fall in love with a play every time I read it.

In an effort to get you to fall in love with “Antony and Cleopatra” – assuming you need a nudge – I’m sharing my Top Ten Reasons for Loving “Antony and Cleopatra.” The Stonington Opera House production of “Antony and Cleopatra” runs July 12-22 at the Burnt Cove Church in Stonington. But keep checking back here at Shake Stonington for interviews with Stacy Schiff, whose biography “Cleopatra” will be the focus of a book discussion June 20, for interviews with actors and scholars, and for more commentary and conversation about the play.

My Top Ten Reasons for Loving “Antony and Cleopatra”

1.     Cleopatra is hot. She’s got it all: money, power, sex, a great hairstyle. She's my new favorite historical character. 

2.     Antony is a real dude. He loves his woman, loves war and says crazy-sexy things to his lover like: “What sport to-night?” I know, I know: He's not such a great husband. And if he were, we'd have no drama. 

3.     Passion rules. These characters go for it every time – not just the leads but everyone. Even the servants. Things going badly for the master? I’ll kill myself, too. To the death!

4.     Morals be damned. Adultery never looked so appealing. It doesn’t end well. (Does it ever?) But Antony and Cleopatra are having a great time together. And it’s fun while it lasts.  

5.     Where are we now? A&C has 42 scenes. That’s more than any other of Shakespeare’s plays. The distance between Rome and Egypt has never been so easy to traverse.

6.     The fake death trick. It didn’t work for Romeo and Juliet, and it doesn’t work for Antony and Cleopatra either. But it’s fun to see Shakespeare still rolling out the technique. You can almost hear Cleopatra say: “Oh crap! What have I done now?”

7.     Watch out for the snake. [Spoiler alert!] Is that a European asp or an Egyptian asp? (With apologies to Monty Python.) Rumor has it that Opera House Arts is hiring a live snake for Cleopatra’s famous death-by-snake-bite scene. Only Cleopatra could have the cojones to share the stage with an animal -- and not get upstaged. 

8.     Middle-age star power. At the time of this play, both Antony and Cleopatra are middle-aged. Are they slowing down? Hell no! (They die in the end, but what a way to go.)

9.     If it's a tragedy, why am I laughing? The play has a structural similarity to Shakespeare’s comedies (flipping between Rome and Egypt is similar to flipping between the court and the forest, duty and freedom). And then there’s Enobarbus. The guy cracks me up. Plus he's deep.

10. The poetry rocks. Shakespeare had already written "Hamlet," "King Lear" and "Macbeth" by the time he wrote "Antony and Cleopatra." His poetry chops are hot.