When you think of the ’80s, you can’t help but conjure up iconic popular cultural images such as Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and of course, the horrible clothes!
There is a lot to cringe about when talking about that decadent decade, which makes the play Bartholomew Fair, NJ even funnier for mocking the ridiculous excesses of the day.
The show, which opened last weekend, is a whirlwind production including only five actors performing over 20 different characters.
That would seem to make almost anyone tired, yet the enthusiastic actors make short work of this task, bringing layers of nuance and humor to the very clichéd roles they play.
The comedy is free and open to the public and will run through the weekend in Frank Sinatra Park.
The adaptation
Bartholomew Fair was originally written by Ben Johnson in 1641 and was performed at one of London’s popular summer fairs.
The Theater Company’s director, Billy Mitchell, not only guides the actors in this performance, but he has adapted the writing to reflect a time period and zone that audiences will be familiar with.
Mitchell has directed several plays for DeBaun including the acclaimed Seussical, Schoolhouse Rock Live!, among others.
The original version by Johnson could run at least 3.5 hours, similar to a Shakespeare play, said Mitchell. Obviously, today’s audiences aren’t as comfortable devoting an entire afternoon to theater, so Mitchell made his adaptation much shorter.
“It was sort of figuring out how long we want it to be,” said Mitchell. “We could have done it 90, but I know sometimes people can get restless. So 70 minutes seemed to be a good time. That’s doable.”
The original idea for the production began over a year ago, and entailed several readings of the very long original. Mitchell then began recording ideas for characters and scene changes into a notebook. The actual writing process took several months.
“My original plan was to have each act run about 14 minutes, which is sort of like [Johnson’s] original,” he said. “In the script there are five acts, but I don’t know that you would get that. But it is sort of more fluid than the original one.”
According to Mitchell, the actors did a lot of their own work as far as character development.
“They did a lot actually,” said Mitchell. “They got the script actually piecemeal, so I wasn’t 100 percent sure what I was going to do.”
He said after the actors read their parts they figured out how to make things work for themselves. If the original character names – such as Joan Trash or Dame Lovecraft – are any indication of what direction Mitchell decided on, then audiences can expect ridiculous behavior to match the names.
“They really rise to the occasion of everything that I threw at them,” he said. “Hopefully, everyone gets the absurdity of it.”
Remembering the ’80s
For Mitchell, deciding to set the stage in the 1980s was an easy choice.
“I laughed at the ’80s,” said Mitchell. “I considered updating it to the modern times, but I didn’t want to do that because I didn’t want to make it like a statement. A 20-year gap is enough. It allowed me to make fun of pre- Sopranos characters. I liked to be able to throw in references that people would be able to guess.”
The actors have to stay on top of the action in order to present the 20-plus characters that they create. Mitchell said that there are some lightening fast costume and scene changes that the actors are required to do – some of which he said have become embedded in the actors.
“I love that you get to see a little of the actors’ personalities [in each character] and look forward to what they are going to do next,” he said.
He added, “The characters are so fun. I hope people get pretty quickly that it is absurd. I like seeing actors work, and with this, you can see they work. The story is silly and fast and sort of an excuse to introduce all these characters to people.”
The talent
The five cast members do their best to keep the action moving in this absurd comedy. It features the work of: Mark Dunn (who plays characters John Littlewit, Willy Thunder, Joan Trash, and Bruce Jovi), Benjamin Holmes (who plays characters Fatneck Jackson, Sgt. Dick, and Chester the puppeteer), Leticia Diaz (who plays characters Dame Lovecraft, Jack Marblesack, and Bettina Dick), Philip Corso (who plays characters Wasp, Bartholomew Cokes, and Grace), Courtney Kochuba (who plays characters Wyn Littlewit, Pastor Over, Minerva, and Possum).
The talented Dunn has performed in several of DeBaun’s productions including the fantastic Urinetown. Adept at comedy and drama, Dunn breathes life into characters that a lesser actor would make into a terrible caricature.
Also, weird and enjoyable to watch is Holmes, who performed the title role of Scrooge in last season’s A Christmas Carol. Audiences who are familiar with the seasoned dramatic actor will be pleased to see him in a role where he has so much fun creating oddly disturbing – yet hilarious – accented characters.
Behind the scenes, the very talented stage manager and costume designer help to bring the show all together.
Ultimately, Mitchell hopes to possibly expand the script for possible future performances after the park run.
“This is a presentable draft, but still a draft that will hopefully get fleshed out more and take on a life of its own,” he said. “I could see adding another 15 minutes or so.”
He added, “I’ve had a ball putting it together and I think the actors did too. It’s not written to be a Pulitzer winner; it’s written so you can bring your family and enjoy the theater in the park The whole point is for it to be a good time.”
Bartholomew Fair, NJ will run through the weekend in Frank Sinatra Park with performances on July 18, 19, 20 at 7 p.m. and at 4 p.m. on the 19 & 20. The show is free and open to the public and is part of Hoboken’s free summer events, which are sponsored by Mayor Roberts, the city of Hoboken and others. For more information, visit: www.debaun.org.
Comments on this story can be sent to: current@hudsonreporter.com.