Spotlight On...Kyle Schaefer

Name: Kyle Schaefer

Hometown: Tulsa, OK

Education: BS Theatre Performance – University of Evansville, MFA Acting – American Conservatory Theater

Select Credits: Tosca Cafe (World Premiere at A.C.T. and Canadian Tour), Hold On To Your Butts and Fly You Fools! (Co-created with Recent Cutbacks), White Christmas (Arkansas Rep), Candide (BTF), and Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson (WTF Workshop).

Why theater?: To get SUPER RICH. And also to tell human stories live, which remains a uniquely transformative experience.

Who do you play in Hedda (Gabler)?: George Tesman.

Tell us about Hedda (Gabler): It's a great adaptation of a great play with a great company of artists and producers. It's hilarious, tragic, confusing, chilling, and touching.

What is it like being a part of Hedda (Gabler)?: It's been very enriching and exciting, but quick. There's not nearly enough time to play with these smart and talented folks on this updated classic.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Exciting and original, messy human truth-telling (not to exclude entertaining!). I create a lot of irreverent pop-culture parodies with my theater company, but I also love new plays by upcoming writers as well as the classics (done INTERESTINGLY and with joy). My fiancée inspires me as an artist, as well as my collaborators and teachers. Also, continuing to make discoveries in the work.

Any roles you're dying to play?: Garry Lejeune in Noises Off (again), any role in O Lovely Glowworm by Glen Berger, Hal in Proof. I'd also love to be in an action movie.

What's your favorite showtune?: "Memory."

If you could work with anyone you've yet to work with, who would it be?: Anne Bogart, Mark Duplass, Mark Rylance, or Kate McKinnon.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: Andrew Rannells as younger me and Conan O'Brian as older me in "Cats, Wine, and Women"

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Ragtime.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Cock. Uncle Vanya at Soho Rep. (you mean recently…? A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Gynecologic Oncology Unit At Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York City by Halley Feiffer as well as The Actor's Worst Nightmare at the PIT

What's your biggest guilty pleasure?: Multiple ice creams in a day.

What's up next?: Short films "Float" and "Turnpike," the new comedic webseries "Brokers", and a soon-to-be-announced Holiday project with Recent Cutbacks.

For more on Kyle, visit www.kyleschaefer.com

Review: The Glorious Fall of Hedda Gabler

By Michael Block

Hedda Tessman, nee Gabler, is a headstrong woman. She knows what she wants and knows how to get it. The Ibsen classic is regarded for an assortment of reasons, one of which being the great character of Hedda. It’s no wonder why someone would want to adapt it. Written by Matt Minnicino’s Hedda (Gabler), Wandering Bark Theatre’ Company’s production is a biting drama that brings modern sensibility to the piece.

photo by Jeff Farkash

With a hint of self-referential humor, Matt Minnicino's Hedda still packs the classic drama into this streamlined production. Layered with a more modern tongue, Hedda (Gabler) still follows the downfall of the titular anti-hero. Minnicino keeps the plot the same, never deviating from Ibsen’s story. There may be some erroneous references and jokes for joke sake, Hedda (Gabler) is an honest adaptation the sheds a light onto the wonder that is Hedda and her manipulative ways. Director Joseph Mitchell Parks keeps the piece moving and riveting. The prime focus was on the various relationships. Whether it be marital, familiar, or friendship, Parks kept the connections tight. While we were not granted insight to class or status visually, Parks ensured to hit those notes in the text to elevate the added struggles Hedda and George found themselves in. When it came to the visual of the world of the play, both scenic designer David McQuillen Robertson and costume designer Jason Frey gave a subtle modern flair to their respective design. There scenic pieces were limited but the focus was on the beautiful circular design on the floor. But if we’re being a bit picky, it visually wanted to come downstage a tad so the back wall didn’t eat it up. The black box occasionally ate Frey’s dark costumes but Hedda’s power blue dress managed to defy the darkness. The classically modern score from sound designer Kevin Novinsky paired strikingly with Brad Landers’ choreography in the various movement bits. Landers did a phenomenal job through the storytelling. McQuillen Robertson kept the lighting simple but amped up the color in Landers’ pieces. It all worked well together.
Hedda is a woman fond of illicit affairs. She’s a woman wound up in desires. Yet she’s a fascination to watch. Valerie Redd was a dynamic Hedda. There seemed to be a tinge of Iago in her Hedda. It helped to make her downfall so much more glorious. Quinn Franzen had a Gatsby-esque charm as Eilert Lovborg. Franzen married the slightly heightened text with the modern cadence best. While his recovery was a bit understated, he was someone to cheer for. As George Tesman, Kyle Schaefer allowed his George to constantly be dominated by Redd’s Hedda. He was a spineless character. It helped to define the loveless marriage. Susanna Stahlmann as Thea seemed to be in a different version of Hedda Gabler. Stahlmann had a flair for the classic but that was not this production. She consistently played the hysterics, causing a bit of a one-note performance.
If you’re a fan of Henrik Ibsen or Hedda Gabler, Wandering Bark did a strong job paying homage to the play while still putting their own twist on the classic. And for those who hate sitting through the standard piece, this ninety-minute version is fast and gritty.

Blog Hijack: Valerie Redd on Ibsen and the Heart of Hedda Gabler

Wandering Bark Theater Co.'s Co-Artistic Director Valerie Redd takes over Theater in the Now to share her thoughts on playing the titular character in the company's new production of Hedda (Gabler) playing the IRT Theater!

What, if anything, has surprised you about this play?
The speed of the events of the play. Throughout the course of the play whole lives come crashing down and it all happens in less than 48 hours. The scenes sort of crash in on each other...it's astonishing. The immensity and specificity of backstory needed was pretty surprising, too. Not just the time unseen by the audience within those 48 hours, but also years and years of exact history have to be constructed and agreed upon in the most minute detail or the whole thing won't function because the past runs underneath is all like fault lines.

photo by Jeff Farkash

How has working on this play been unique?
I'd have to say it's been unique for me to play a female role in a classical play and actually drive the plot. A lot of my past experience in classical plays has been with female roles that have a few famous scenes but then somehow fall out of the story. So to be the pivot point and the through line for the play has been a new experience for me.

photo by Jeff Farkash

What has been the greatest challenge?
Well, Hedda Gabler is one of the most complex roles ever written, so...there's that! She's an incredible compilation of contradictions and surprises. Fundamentally, she's both an idealist, devoted to poetic beauty and freedom, and a coward, too afraid to risk actually living that life. She's so tortured by that contradiction that when you add in that she's impulsive, manipulative, bored, destructive, confined, proud, with an extremely quick and subtle intellect it really adds fuel to the fire. So, playing all the angles and combinations of those elements has been a real thrill.

Photo by Jeff Farkash

How did you prepare for the role?
Oh, there was so so much to do! The preparation for this one really took me all over the place! I immersed myself in Ibsen biographies and plays. There was a lot to learn from his personal notes and letters. I actually took a lesson firing a pistol! I went down a bit of a rabbit hole with 19th century suicidal heroines and studied Madame Bovary, Anna Karenina, and Miss Julie and it was really interesting to find the commonalities in personality and social restrictions as they apply to Hedda. I drank in imagery from painters from that time and region like Edvard Munch and Vilhelm Hamershoi and listened to classical piano music. I just wanted to give myself as rich and deep a well to pull from as possible. And then of course I had to get used to wearing a corset!

Hedda Gabler was written in 1890 as a modern day drama. How do you think it translates today?
It's funny, at the time it was written it was not well received at all! People hated Hedda! But today there is such a fascination with anti-heroes that we're drawn to her and not repulsed. I think that's actually a really exciting thing about this play. That through the empathic connection with Hedda the audience can tap into those dark, destructive traits in themselves within the safety of the theatre.
Even though it was written in 1890 the relationships and emotions don't feel at all distant from today. And there's still a conversation to be had today about the restrictions and inequalities put upon women in society. People today still feel trapped, betrayed, powerless, rebellious...and those are the things that shine out from this play. Matt's adaptation in particular has a sharpness to it that doesn't feel dated at all.

photo by Jeff Farkash

What do you hope people will take away from the show?
I love that Ibsen doesn't write characters that are all good or all bad, all right or all wrong. The situations in the play are not clear-cut so the audience really gets to form opinions and judgments for themselves. I think there is a lot of truth and honesty in that complexity and I hope after seeing the play the audience can discover how they feel about these issues of personal freedom, societal pressure, human frailty and the dissonance between idealism and reality.

For more on Valerie, visit valerieredd.com and facebook.com/Valerie.Redd.actress/

Spotlight On...Susanna Stahlmann

Name: Susanna Stahlmann

Hometown: New Hope, MN

Education: University of Minnesota BFA / Guthrie Actor Training Program

Why theater?: We need to connect as a community in real time. There's no better place to do that than live theater.

Who do you play in Hedda (Gabler)?: Thea

Tell us about Hedda (Gabler): Hedda Gabler is a moving story of the flaws of social order, centered around one woman that is constantly fighting against what society pressures her to be.

What is it like being a part of Hedda (Gabler)?: The people! I love the people I work with.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: I love language, and am drawn to classical theater. As an artist I am inspired by good poetry, and often use it as inspiration for my characters.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Can't wait to play Blanche DuBouis!

What’s your favorite showtune?: Memory.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Mark Rylance.

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: "Tripping Over Tied Shoes", I would play the Therapist.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Honestly it would be to watch my favorite Minneapolis actor, Gerald Drake play Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie. I missed it to go to a seventh grade party to hang out with a boy. I learned then, never choose the boy.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Hedda Gabler!

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Ice cream.

What’s up next?: Got to finish the play I'm writing!

Spotlight On...Quinn Franzen

Name: Quinn Franzen

Hometown: Kailua, HI

Education: Williams College '09, LAMDA '08

Select Credits: Doug in Threesome (59e59 Theatres), Tor in The Lucky Ones (Ars Nova), Louis in Angels in America (pts. 1 & 2) (Intiman Theatre), Cassio in Othello (Seattle Shakespeare Company), Romeo in R+J (Intiman Theatre). I have a recurring role on the show "Billions", and have been recently featured in Younger" and "The Blacklist"

Why theater: Oh christ I don't know if I have any good reason for doing it. Probably the cons far outweigh the pros. I just keep doing it.

Who do you play in Hedda (Gabler)?: I play the troubled writer, Eilert Lovborg.

Tell us about Hedda (Gabler): Hedda Gabler is an extremely complicated play, but at its heart I think its agenda is simply to expose the raw nerve of the human soul. There are so many obstacles to it being shown -- social mores, the will of others, and even (maybe especially) conflicting impulses within oneself. The play resists neat morals and agendas. It just wants to tell itself -- a great story beautiful and dark characters.

What is it like being a part of Hedda (Gabler)?: It's terrifying. There is an infinite amount of work to do and a very finite amount of time. The play is a Hydra and every time we have a little victory in the room, five more heads immediately show up to remind us not to get too cocky. But it is a lovely struggle and very rewarding. A dream to work with this text and group of dedicated actors.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Theatre that isn't only patronized by rich old white people. Theatre that features language, dark humor, relevant social issues, and diverse casts. Theatre that is thrillingly written and not afraid of reinventing the wheel. Theatre that maybe has a hunch that it's theatre.

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Any role in King Lear. George in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Any role in a Clare Barron play.

What’s your favorite showtune?: My favorite showtune is all of the new Frank Ocean album.

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Tom Hardy today. Kevin Spacey if we're time traveling to before he accepted "Nine Lives"

Who would play you in a movie and what would it be called?: Who is trying to make this movie? This is a terrible idea for a movie. There is nothing exciting about my life history, that's why I became an actor. Other people's stories are far better. That being said, I would be played by Annette Benning.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Spiderman Turn Off the Dark. People make great art everyday. We only get one opportunity per lifetime to witness a true and utter fiasco. I fucked up and missed mine.

What show have you recommended to your friends?: My favorite shows of the past year:
Public Works' Twelfth Night, Ironbound at Rattlestick Theatre by the flooringly talented Martyna Majok, King Charles III by Mike Bartlett, and YOUARENOWHERE by Andrew Schneider... And Hamilton.

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Killing.

What’s up next?: A whole Fall of paying rent, hopefully.

Spotlight On...Kathleen Marsh

Name: Kathleen Marsh

Hometown: My family and I lived all over the country but the closest thing to a home town would be South Windsor Connecticut where I went to high School.

Education: I have BA in Theater from the University of Maryland

Select Credits: Broadway: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Night of the Iguana, Rumors and Footloose. My favorite roles have been in the plays Rapture and Little Beasts written for me by my sister, playwright Jeanne Marshall.

Why theater: The theater chose me at a very young age. I was always shy as a child but wasn't shy on stage and it has always appealed  to my need to lead a creative life.

Who do you play in Hedda (Gabler)?: I play Miss Julia Tesman

Tell us about Hedda (Gabler): It is a wonderful, accessible new adaptation by Matt Minnicino. The production is inventively directed by Joseph  Mitchell Parks and produced by The Wandering Bark Theatre Company.

What is it like being part of Hedda (Gabler)?:  It is an absolutely talented cast and crew. This is my second production with The Wandering Bark Theatre Company and they are heaven!

What kind of theater speaks to you? Who or what inspires you as an artist?: I am a big believer in cross pollination! I am also a  parent, painter, avid gardener and novice Celtic harp player all of which inspire and inform me .

What's your favorite showtune?: I have many favorites for a variety of reasons but I cry every single time I hear Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald sing "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime.

If you could work with anyone who would it be?: It would be Vanessa Redgrave.

Who would you play in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I would definitely want to play my mother... She is amazing. I haven't the foggiest idea what it would be called.

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: The original cast of The Glass Menagerie to see Laurette Taylor's performance as Amanda Wingfield.

What's your biggest guilty pleasure?: Spending  hours in my art studio playing VERY loud music and painting.

Whats up next?: Hopefully more.

Spotlight On...Terence MacSweeny

Name: Terence MacSweeny

Hometown: Tulsa, OK

Education: MFA Columbia

Select Credits: Iago (New York Shakespeare Exchange), MacBeth (Southwest Shakespeare), R.P. McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Hudson Theatre Works)

Why theater?: Because I can't decide whether I'd rather spend my energy confronting reality or indulging fantasy. Theatre requires that I do both simultaneously.

Who do you play in Hedda (Gabler)?: Judge Brack

Tell us about Hedda (Gabler): It's a fantastically vibrant, funny, distilled adaptation of Ibsen's masterpiece, featuring a great team of artists having a crack at one of the summits of theatrical literature...!

What is it like being a part of Hedda (Gabler)?: It's incredibly satisfying to work with such talented, well trained and experienced artists on this project. You can actually feel everyone in the room operating at the top of their game. These actors came to PLAY.

What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: Personally, I prefer minimalist theatre. It's certainly more challenging for an audience which is why I think so many companies shy away from it. But I suspect that the more distractions a production has, the more it inhibits the story, and even inhibits true catharsis in the audience...

Any roles you’re dying to play?: Pale in Burn This, Proctor in The Crucible, Richard III

What’s your favorite show tune: Uh..."Nessun Dorma"?

If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: Ivo Von Hove or Mark Rylance

Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: I'd play myself (unconvincingly), and it would be called "In the Parlance of Our Times"

If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: Paul Scofield's King Lear

What show have you recommended to your friends?: Hedda (Gabler)!

What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Late Night Grilled Cheese sandwiches

What’s up next?: Hedda (Gabler)!