H5X5

Presented by Mockingbird Theatre and Green Room Productions

Through Apr. 21 in TPAC’s Polk Theater

How I Learned to Drive

Presented by Tennessee Repertory Theatre

Through Apr. 20 in TPAC’s Johnson Theater

Some important theatrical work debuted in our town last weekend, with two major local companies opening new productions at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Upstairs at the Polk Theater, Mockingbird Theatre and Green Room Productions have joined forces to present H5X5, a modern reworking of Shakespeare’s Henry V. Both the script and direction are in the hands of the very talented Mark Cabus, and the result is a marvel. Moreover, if there were some kind of progressive approach to theater in our town that one might envision for the future, this production might serve as a template.

Cabus has taken what’s vital from Shakespeare’s original and has incorporated into the script scenes and characters from other Shakespearean plays whose historical underpinnings link directly to Henry V. Thus we also are treated to portions of Henry IV (Parts 1 and 2), Richard II, and The Merry Wives of Windsor (and methinks I heard a line from Macbeth thrown in there too, probably just for fun). In so doing, Cabus broadens the scope of our understanding of Henry’s growth and development, from gallivanting young ruffian to serious soldier and, eventually, to legendary (though short-lived) monarch.

Opera buffs scan librettos before attending performances so they can know the characters and their motivations. So too with Shakespeare’s histories, you can’t tell the players without a scorecard. Thus boning up on the whys and wherefores of Henry’s need to claim French lands, punish his enemies, lead the charge at the Battle of Agincourt, and marry the French princess Katherine can’t hurt before thoroughly enjoying this production. On the other hand, the staging here is so energetic and simply innovative—so unabashedly theatrical—that grasping the text on an intuitive level can be achieved. In the meantime, we are treated to performances by one of the finest casts assembled in recent Nashville theater.

Gloriously, there is no set, at least not in the conventional way. The Polk Theater is stripped bare of all flats, backdrops, and curtains. Exposed for all to see is the theater’s deep back wall, its major-league fly system, and powerful banks of multicolored lighting. Onstage the company has placed two sets of grandstands, where audience members may sit and experience the play from the actors’ point of view.

In this open and free environment, the performers cavort like young mustangs on a plain. Every inch of the wide playing area is used, and even the actors’ entrances and exits become a welcome and necessary part of the action.

Cabus’ adaptation savors the words of Shakespeare but presents them in a knowing, modern, sometimes whimsically tongue-in-cheek context. Hence characters become news reporters with microphones, scenes are played out like jingoistic business rallies, and there’s a nod in the direction of trash TV. In addition, the technical complements are the equal of this keenly aware conceptualization, with beautiful lighting, dramatic sound effects, evocative music selections, and some pretty interesting and capably wrought stage combat.

Enough can’t be said of the players. A cast of but five, they somehow manage to execute fairly seamlessly some 30 roles or so. Henry is played by David Alford, who really ratchets it up a notch and gets a chance to prove that he is among Nashville’s elite actors. Cabus’ main contribution is as the play’s chorus, and in this he completes the artistic hat trick. Ruth Cartlidge proves a wonderfully versatile actress, and her gender-neutral turn as Sir John Falstaff is winning indeed. Jenny Littleton’s primary role is Katherine, but she’s no less a contributor playing various incidental soldiers. Finally, Todd Denning is the jack-of-all-trades onstage, and his vocal skills, presence, and physical stature add to every scene he’s in.

It is said that past is prologue. This rarefied version of Henry V is notable not only for its respect for English history and the Bard, but also for its acutely modern sensibility. More important, it serves as a reminder that there are theatrical artists in Nashville willing and oh-so-able to push the envelope. How gratifying to see them onstage in the state-of-the-art environment that they so richly deserve.

Downstairs at the Johnson Theater, How I Learned to Drive is being presented by Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Paula Vogel’s play won every award that counts a few years back, including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize. It’s easy to see why. Not only is it cleverly and imaginatively crafted, it also tackles decidedly in-the-gut issues, specifically pedophilia and incest.

On the surface, it’s a tawdry little tale. A woman approaching middle age, nicknamed Li’l Bit, relates in flashback her longtime sexual liaison with her Uncle Peck, many incidents of which occurred in a car under the guise of “driving lessons.” These intrusions start when Li’l Bit is 11 and proceed to the age of 18. Uncle Peck fondles Li’l Bit in the car, he takes provocative photos of her when she’s 13, and their sexual relationship otherwise proceeds for a number of years, till Li’l Bit starts to act upon the damage that has been wrought upon her. In the meantime, we are given a portrait of her family life: a fatherless household filled with lowbrow relatives who harbor unsophisticated and unenlightened ideas about people and sex.

This is a perfectly competent production of a challenging play. The action and the main ideas are satisfactorily conveyed, and the actors all conduct themselves professionally. Yet mere competence is hardly what this play deserves. If The Rep is going to tackle such a controversial area of human existence, then by God, it should give us something to talk about! The script is filled with interesting ideas for the use of slide projections, audio and visual cues, and atmospheric musical selections—many of which were ignored by director Todd Olson.

In particular, in the photo-shoot scene, Vogel suggests the use of slide projections, including one in which Li’l Bit is, ironically, smiling. The background music selected—Beatles and Rascals—is all wrong. While Vogel doesn’t insist on using her selections, she cites the music of Roy Orbison often (e.g., the seductive and growly “Dream Baby”), along with The Shirelles (“Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”—perfect irony) and the many ’50 and ’60s tunes that hint at “young girls.”

It is also possible that Olson missed a chance to do something really daring with the play’s overt theme: that is, to portray our heroine as a more obviously sexual being. The script, on occasion, hints strongly at the idea of Li’l Bit’s unfortunate, oh-so-pathetic, need-based state of mind—in fact, toying with the notion of her complicity. (This is very subtly done—as it should be.) This concept drops the bucket all the way to the bottom of the well, and provokes deep, deep thinking about the sexual natures of men and women.

Denice Hicks turns in a heartfelt performance in the lead. She’s a skilled actress, it’s a tough role, and her reading is good. She did seem to have some trouble in the more uncomfortable flashbacks, however, and she didn’t always play the gradations in age particularly well. But this role is a tour de force waiting to happen: Despite enough uncomfortable moments—as the subject matter demands—we might have been made even more uncomfortable.

Steven Hauck plays the predatory uncle. Like Hicks, he offers a skilled performance, and he does manage to infuse a bit of sympathy into a role which, superficially, deserves none. It may be off-putting even to consider the feelings of a pedophiliac male, but Vogel at least offers us a chance to gain insight into Peck’s troubled character. Hauck achieves this to some degree, but his characterization is less than full-bodied.

The supporting players are fine. Elizabeth Bell, Matt Chiorini, and Stephanie Vickers function as a Greek chorus of family members, schoolmates, and incidental bystanders. Bell turns in the singularly most affecting moments in her rendering of a lengthy, pathos-laden speech by Peck’s cuckolded wife, Mary.

The idea of directorial interpretation is a perplexing one. It is a prerogative always granted, but it comes at great risk. Playwrights can be very specific—as Vogel has been in her script—and if they are specific, then possibly it behooves the garden-variety directors of the world to concentrate on successfully bringing plays to life as written. In this case, monkeying around with Vogel’s music recommendations is not a good expenditure of energy. Nor is ignoring interesting staging elements embedded in the writer’s text.

What is good about this production comes at the behest of the actors. Director Olson’s blocking is generally good enough to suit their abilities, yet this good-enough production might have been riveting. As an important entry in The Rep’s Off-Broadway series, it can be said to be at least listing in the direction of a wind that might blow us toward revelatory drama.

In the works

Nashville Theatre Works, Nashville’s only theatrical organization dedicated to the generation, development, and presentation of new works for the stage, will present a staged reading of Amy Merrill’s Cigareets and Whiskey at Bongo After Hours Theatre 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 23. After its successful Winter Reading Series of five new plays over five weeks, NTW is launching a once-a-month Reading Series covering 12 new plays a year. Subsequent readings are scheduled for the third Monday of the month. Admission is $5.