Breaking Beckett

Breaking Beckett
Theater	The Institution Theater
Directed by	Bob Olmstead
Music By	Content Love Knowles
Cast	Ryan Hill Marc Majcher Jayme Ramsey
Crew	Mark Shoemaker
Run	Mar 2014

Breaking Becket was a longform narrative show inspired by the works of Beckett.

Summary

Breaking Beckett examines the moments we tend to not share: moments of heartbreak or overwhelming despair, childhood innocence lost, the shame of our most serious mistakes, all filtered through the work of Samuel Beckett. Inspired by but not beholden to the author’s absurdist one-act plays, the actors will adhere to the choreography of the pieces while following their own improvised storylines. This will both honor the playwright and sacrilegiously go against his scripted wishes, for a unique exploration of the light and dark edges of human experience that will only ever be witnessed by that night’s audience.

The production includes projected backdrops, costuming, and theatrical makeup as well as light and sound cues.

Show Structure

The show opens with the cast already seated on stage in 'stasis' as they have been since the opening of the house.

Act I: Walls as inspired by Quad 1 and 2

The first act begins with Beckett narrating broadly, awakening the cast from stasis, and the cast beginning a rhythmic movement pattern. Beckett takes a suggestion of a name and age. The rhythmic movement continues and is broken for a monologue from the protagonist describing the facts of their life. We return to the rhythmic movement which is again broken for parallel monologues by the supporting characters, an enemy and advocate for the protagonist. The movement returns again, and we see the protagonist's death.

Act II: Windows as inspired by Play

The second act begins with Sam narrating and moving the cast into Play position, seated side by side. Three parallel monologues describing the protagonist's life from their three different points of view, all after death, is the basis for this act.

Act III: The Fireplace as inspired by Not I

The third act begins with Sam standing and removing his and the cast removing their costume scarves and moving to the front of the stage. Sam narrates and a tight spot settles on each actor in turn. They identify themselves by their real (actor's) names and monologue on their personal experience with the subject matter of the show and their reactions to it. The act ends with the cast and director all standing together center stage with music and the lights slowly fading.

History

Breaking Beckett is the brainchild of Bob Olmstead. He approached Ryan Hill, Marc Majcher, and Jayme Ramsey about it and began rehearsals without knowing where the show would happen. Rehearsals lasted several months at the end of 2013. Olmstead developed the core format after the first rehearsal, turning the idea into a full length show. Over a period of three months, the cast then worked closely with Bob on locking down all of the detailed mechanics necessary to bring this vision to life. The robust collaboration process with the cast was comprehensive, constantly fine running elements that Olmstead would then incorporate into the overall vision. For example, the idea of the protagonist wearing a scarf came from the cast but then evolved multiple times into its current staging, a great example of the kind of collaboration involved in the development process. Another example is the stomp mechanics, which Olmstead has some very specific ideas about. Marc Majcher helping to refine the idea into key transitions while Ryan Hill came up with the idea of use the three stomp pattern for transitions, too. In watching Jayme Ramsey's amazing physicality, it hit Bob that the stomping in Act One was a march of daily drudgery and routine. The result is the look and feel that you see today, in Act One.

At the core of the show was a mantra taken directly from a Beckett quote, "I pause to record that I feel in extraordinary form."

Bob also consulted with Kareem Badr and Kaci Danger about show structure, makeup, design, narration and more, which played a very key role in the polish of the show.

Eventually Asaf Ronen, Education Director of The Institution Theater, and a Beckett enthusiast, agreed to put up the show, helping Bob nail down the last few elements of lighting. A preview show took place on January 15, 2014 and two more shows are planned for March 2014 at The Institution Theater. A longer run for later in the year at another theater is in the works.

Media

Videos

• 1/24/14 preview performance: [1].

Photos

• 1/24/14 preview performance: [2] by Roy Moore, Control Images.
• 1/24/14 preview performance: [3] by Heidi Rogers.

More Information

• The show's Facebook page: [4]