What is the nature of theater? There are two extremes of theatrical elitism prevalent today: purists who would restrict theater to the highly educated and historically informed, and modern ultra-abstractionists who take their audience’s confusion as a sign of their own misunderstood genius. How do these opposing camps interact--and are they really so different after all?
Production Values opens with Olivia and Viola in the garden in full Elizabethan costume. Twelfth Night is well underway, and the comic sexual tension mounts as Olivia attempts to woo the cross-dressed Viola. Much to the good ladies’ surprise, enter Henry the Fifth, rallying his troops: “Once more unto the breach, dear friends!” In this Henry the Fifth, the men are played by women, the swords are played by kitchen appliances, and the battlements of Harfleur are played by a shopping cart. It’s more than a clash of artistic visions, as the actors attempt to soldier on in their respective productions, subtly battling for space between lines.
All hell breaks loose as the shows’ directors enter the fray and every pretence is abandoned. Twelfth Night’s director devalues the other production for dishonoring Shakespeare with its unorthodox approach. As a frenzied costume director chases actors across the stage, Henry the Fifth’s director dismisses this production of Twelfth Night as artistically stunted and irrelevant. Finally, remnants of both casts are left onstage. Through their mutual passion for the material and their desire to share it, they create an impromptu performance which reclaims theater for everyone.
Production Values
a new play conceived by the company and written
by Charlotte Rahn-Lee
presented at the
2004 Philadelphia Fringe Festival
September 3rd – 18th
The Cast
(in order of appearance)
Viola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Charlotte Rahn-Lee
Olivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Chelsea Phillips
Henry 5 (G) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Lilah Rahn-Lee
Westmorland (Z) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Crista Fuentes
Exeter (X) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Katie Rutledge
Gloria Peabody-Smythe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Amy Sullivan
V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Becky Fullan
Jane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .Julia Niedzwiecki
Directed by Charlotte Rahn-Lee
Tech by Lindsay Gold
Charlotte Rahn-Lee is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America
