It's no secret that the art world regularly operates in a contradictory, nearly schizophrenic manner when it comes to offering opportunities to the young and/or largely unproved. Theatre manifests this nutty tendency in a particularly pernicious way, sapping the vast energy and drive of emerging actors, playwrights, directors, et al by placing them in glorified, dead-end gopher positions and blowing off their ideas, saying, "We'd love to see what you've got, kid, but come back when you've paid your dues." So the only way for rosy-cheeked yougins and others without a ton of experience to crawl their way into the spotlight is to simply ignore the establishment and get crackin' on the work themselves.
As evidence that this can be done, I give you Milwaukee's Youngblood Theatre Company. Not only have these whippersnappers made the artistic independent leap, but at just six months old they've skipped the crawling and walking stages entirely and are running full tilt toward a promising future, bringing contemporary theatre to our old burg and shakin' the tree with gusto!
Last week I had the inimitable pleasure of sitting down with Youngblood's co-founder/ensemble actor/resident playwright/sometimes director Benjamin James Wilson, co-founders/ensemble actors Andrew Edwin Voss and Tess Cinpinski, and thespian David Rothrock. We met at the always drool-inducing Transfer Pizzeria in Bay View to discuss the company's production of Red Light Winter, opening tonight at The Alchemist Theatre.
Penned by jack-of-virtually-all-writerly-trades Adam Rapp (Nocturne, Essential Self-Defense) and directed for Youngblood by Wilson, Red Light Winter is the tale of two former college pals--Matt (Rothrock) and Davis (Voss)--who couldn't be more different from each other, their encounter in Amsterdam with a prostitute named Christina (Cinpinski) and its lasting effects. Sounds like a real hoot, right? Eh, not so much.
Seems the play actually wants to say something about how we humans--especially youngish humans--are so adept at finding ways to avoid what's really missing and messed up in ourselves that we'll do just about anything to redirect our attention. If it isn't boozing, self-medicating and/or sleeping around with strangers willy-nilly, it's cowering in corner, tormenting ourselves with negative thoughts, obsessing about someone we barely or don't even know, and/or pretending to be someone/something we're not. Now that's entertainment!
Chatting 'round a plate of antipasti, the director and actors had nothing but praise for Red Light Winter, relating their first impression of it as "scary good." Boy, I gotta tell ya, it's pretty damn hard to get four people to a place of complete agreement on anything, let alone on the quality of a play, so I'm gonna take their word for it. Also, I trust anyone who insists that I try a share of good eats, especially when they're holdin' down a day job to support their currently non-paying artistic life.
All four studied acting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) and Wilson explained that having past working relationships meant that he could read the characters with actors in mind and not have to send out a casting call. It also meant that he could imagine a specific actor in a type of role he knew they'd never played before, adding an element of challenge and the excitement of exploration. Let's give a shout-out for breaking the curse of typecasting before it's got a chance to set, shall we? Whoot!
For their part, Cinpinski, Voss and Rothrock agreed that the knowledge they'd gained by working with each other in the past made it much easier and quicker to get a handle on the complexities and nuances of the characters and how they relate to one another. Both Voss and Rothrock expressed their belief that Cinpinski's role was the most formidable to develop as the text gave her less hints to the real motivations behind the actions of Christina than the two male characters. Leave the heavy lifting to the one woman amongst you, fellas, and all shall be well and right.
Red Light Winter opens tonight and runs through February 6, 2010, at The Alchemist Theatre, 2569 S. Kinnickinnic. Tickets are just $12 a pop and can be ordered online here.
Warning/Enticement: This is an adult play, people! There is nudity and rather explicit sexual situations, so leave the kiddies and your tween giggles at home, and enjoy the show!
Link (Thanks, Michael, Ben, Andrew, Tess, and David!)
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