What play requires warnings for sexual content on all of its posters? Why, it's the Barnstormers' production of Closer, a comedic drama by Patrick Marber, a fresh British playwright. The play, starring Kim Andrews, Ted Esborn, Matt Bennett and Alexandra Sowa and directed by Lauren Rosen, follows four characters through their lives and their ever-changing love/hate quadrangle over four years.
The first drama that the Barnstormers have done since Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, Closer is a unique production because it draws humor from drama. "This is by far the edgiest play we've ever done," explained Leah Miller, co-producer. "It has been extremely demanding because the actors have to be dead-on with their performances."
"The play isn't vulgar in that there's nudity on stage, but rather in the descriptions and dialogue," said Emily Ethridge, Stage Manager of Closer. "And the characters don't talk about sex lovingly, but instead to get revenge or to be hurtful. It's a sophisticated play, and it takes a lot out of the actors and production because the actors have to go through an extreme amount of emotion with each rehearsal and then the director has to analyze the quality of their performance."
Actor, Matt Bassett, explains, "Each scene is a snapshot of extreme high and low points in these characters' lives. The play is a collection of intense moments that alter their relationships. It can be really emotionally draining during rehearsals."
Co-producer, Jamie Graziano, says, "The play is set in England, and so we had to be extremely careful with the way we worked out the dialogue, since most of the humor is based on irony. And cultural differences can be confusing to the audience, and especially to the actors who are trying to deliver the play. So it's hard enough to get an accent down, but to also get the irony adds a certain amount of difficulty."
"We had a dialogue coach who came to rehearsals and recorded CDs of herself so we could practice by ourselves and before each rehearsal," said Ethridge. "She was extremely impressed with our accents by the last rehearsal."
"We had to use sparse sets, like bits and pieces of scenes, so that hospital chairs represent an entire hospital scene," says Miller. "We had to do this because there are twelve different scenes and we didn't want this to become a play about set changes. We also had to borrow a projector from the Digital Media Center so we could do a cyber-sex scene.
"We wouldn't be able to do this play if Hopkins wasn't ready for it," continues Miller, "We've been aware of what limitations we have at Hopkins, and we've had to put warnings on all of our posters about the sexual nature of the dialogue. Some people are going to hate this play, even though we want everyone to love it. It's funny, horrible and really intense, so there's going to be different audience reactions every night."
Currently the play is being made into a movie starring Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen and Jude Law. The play itself has won several comedy awards and has been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play.
The Barnstormers will be presenting Closer at 8 p.m. in the Swirnow Theater in the Mattin Center on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. The cost is $5 for general admission and $3 for students. For reservations, call (410) 516-4695 or e-mail jhu_barnstormers@hotmail.com. For more information, visit http://www.jhubarnstormers.com.
