Theater brings the world - real or not - to life for all to see. What takes place on stage reveals societal beliefs about values and customs. Performance art tells a story through ‘showing’ audiences a variety of situations set upon landscapes they may not otherwise experience. In some cases those opportunities allow people to step outside of their own every day lives and see the world differently. This is especially true for productions that have a mythic/fantasy quality to them.
The more popular examples of this include “Camelot” and “Wizard of Oz” which are no strangers to Rohnert Park’s Spreckels Theatre Company. Brigadoon makes its premiere Rohnert Park appearance October 11 and runs through October 27.
This musical, set in a Scottish village that arises only one day every hundred years, offers a bridge of sorts between worlds for those who believe in one of any culture’s most desired hopes: true love. Written by Alan Jay Lerner (music by Frederick Loewe) and first performed on Broadway in 1947, it is directed locally by Gene Abravaya.
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Brigadoon’s time-honored magical tale brings two New Yorkers to an extraordinary hamlet that exists outside of ‘normal’ time and space. Because traversing the real and the unreal worlds must be seamless, it’s critical that the visual cues of set design be as effective as possible.
Creating a believable make-believe world isn’t easy. Curious about what goes into the process, I asked Abravaya, playwright, actor and director of numerous productions - "The Odd Couple - Female Version," "West Side Story," and "Camelot," to name a few - and playwright as well, a few questions about what goes into designing a set so that it is spellbinding.
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Here’s our conversation:
Q: What are the most important differences between fairytale/mythic stage settings and those of plays set in factual times and places?
A: Colors can be more vivid, scenery and set dressing can be more elaborate, larger than life.
Q: What is the purpose of plays that take place in “once upon a time, in a land far away”?
A: They answer questions like “What might have been?” and “What might still be?”
Q: What do musical fantasies offer audiences?
A: They allow us to escape for a short time to worlds we can only imagine, and by doing so, fulfill our deepest wishes, sometimes longings.
Q: What do you like most about mythic/fantasy set design work?
A: Stretching the imagination. Finding ways to make real what otherwise would not.
Q: The Spreckels Theatre Company production features the new Paradyne projection system, developed by Spreckels Performing Arts Center. Can you tell me a little about what it does?
A: It is a network run by software that can display static images, animations, or text independently and/or simultaneously to all or just one of its projectors, enabling us to widen the scope of whatever story we are telling and to present it in a way that is complex enough to appeal to today’s audience. Techniques like this are used on Broadway today.
Brigadoon runs Oct. 11- 27, at Spreckels Performing Arts Center, Codding Theater, 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park. Show hours are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays/Saturdays 2 p.m. Saturdays/Sundays. Tickets: $22- $26 ($22 Youth; $24 Seniors; $26 General). Info: 707-588-3400/ www.spreckelsonline.com
