Rebecca Bagley
The first rule of Play Club is, “go ahead and talk about Play Club.” Dialogue is what it’s all about.
For theater lovers who want to dig deep, Forward Theater gives patrons an inside look at an upcoming production. For $25, they get an advance copy of the script, a visit to a rehearsal and an invitation to a group discussion. The events have grown so popular since they debuted in 2001 that spots sell out quickly.
I joined the recent Play Club devoted to The Flick, Annie Baker’s 2014 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama running at the Overture Center’s Playhouse until Feb. 14. When I read the script, I found it light and funny, with material rooted deeply in the going-nowhere-fast malaise of millennial 20- to 30-somethings. There was some subject matter that dealt with race, and some with class, but I found myself wondering what all the fuss was about. I was a little surprised Baker had won the Pulitzer for a play set in a movie theater about two underachieving ushers and a punk-rock projectionist. Much of the action centers around mind-numbing minutia such as cleaning up popcorn; the only props, a mop and broom.
Then I read up on the controversy surrounding the play. The original production, put on by NYC’s Playwrights Horizons, ran long — three hours long, in fact. While that might not be an unusual length for Shakespeare, Baker is a contemporary playwright, specializing in natural, realistic dialogue. And then there is that endless sweeping.
The New York Times reported that, in the show’s first run, audience members were angered by the slow pace of the show, prompting an email to theater subscribers that justified the artistic choices. (Unlike many playwrights, Baker is absolutely specific in her scripts about the length of pauses; pacing and “real time” are integral to her storytelling.) Some audience members walked out — not only at the intermission, but during the scenes themselves. After the play won the Pulitzer, the downtown revival had a better, almost cult-like response. Critics defended it, citing our poor attention spans, ruined by cell phones, Facebook and reality TV. Sitting through the show, they said, was transformative. The pace was like a long meditative salve that, in the end, healed.
So, if ever there was a show that would benefit from a Play Club, The Flick was it. When around 20 of us gathered about 10 days before the show opened to watch an hour of rehearsal, I was surprised to find the pace didn’t lag at all and the jokes had far more punch than I’d gleaned from the page. Later, we went downstairs to the Overture green room, where Forward advisory board member Jim Buske led us in a conversation where we discussed everything from casting decisions to character motivation. My fellow armchair dramaturges were filled with insights, and after sitting in the room listening to them, I understood The Flick and its themes far more deeply.
Next season, with the help of an upcoming Madison Community Foundation grant, Forward will extend the reach of its Play Clubs by offering them free to county libraries. That means you’ll be able to check out your own copy of an upcoming play, read it and then return to the library to discuss the show in depth with an informed member of Forward’s company. That version of the club won’t offer rehearsal viewing, but hundreds more people will benefit from reading and discussing the play before it premieres here. Madison, in turn, will benefit from more informed theater audiences.
