Press Clippings-
Fringe NYC Propoganda-August 14, 1997
Striving for Visceral Theater: A Chat With Richard Kimmel
by Jo Ann Rosen
If it's classic Shakespeare you're looking for, stay far away from Richard Kimmel's Witches' Mscbeth presented by Cannon Thaeter, now playing at Angel Orensanz. But don't stay too far away if you want "to rediscover the spark you felt when you first encountered the classics." That's what Kimmel, 28, and director/adaptor/ of the play is striving for.
Witches' Macbeth is Kimmel's adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy from the witches' point of view. Kimmel explained that he was intrested in directing a production of Macbeth which contained the entire expenence of the play within a highly compressed format. "I felt the compression would give rise to the visceral response that I'm always cahsing. Iwant the hairs to stand up on the back of my neck. I want my eyes to bug out. I want to be literally sitting on the edge of my seat. I want to be seduced by the stage."
After considerable reading and researching, he found grist in rituals that had to do with darkness and light, with summer leading into fall, fall into winter. "I realized that the action in Macbeth had that kind of inevitability about it. Then I wondred if Shakespeare, for us, provides that kind of ritual text. Perhaps, in our culture, Shakespeare is the closest thing we have to what the Greeks expierenced when they would go hear their myths and archetypes."
Kimmel is unassuming, but earnet about his discoveries. "Going to the theater is ritual," says Kimmel. "How do we take that to the next level? What if we say the entire action of Macbeth is a ritual, that these witches are orchestrating the action. They need to go through this ritual. They need Macbeth's head. They need blood to spill on the earth to continue the cycle. They can share this ritual event with the audience. Thta was where we started."
He says his choice of Macbeth also reflects his intrest in deconstructing classic texts and intermingling them with choreography, music and other elements to create a new piece. In Witches' Macbeth, Kimmel extracts the theme of ritual as the play's framework, and allows the audience to actively participate by choosing where to look, what to see, what to get out of it. It is his collabaration with the audience. Kimmel believes that without that collabaration, there is no theater.
"A lot of my work has to do with exploring the balance between the wild, uninhibited, sexual energy of music, of physical extremity, and this sense of rigor, of discipline, this idea of making a score, of thinking of a piece of theater like a piece of music in that there's a score and within that score there is endless room for interpretation from moment to moment." Drama is about "harnessing that energy and sharing that energy," he said.
"I've been able to release my creativity through rigor, organization and a certain discipline. It probabbly comes out of my intrest in things like aikido and Suzuki technique." The Suzuki technique, taught by Tadeshi Suzuki, is a rigorous physical training method for actors, teaching concentration and focus by challenging participants to master highly strenuous, styulized postures and ways of moving.
Kimmel also looks to non-dramatic texts, such as novels and memoirs as sources of material for his company, Cannon Theater. "The classics can teach us a lot about where we're headed by examing where we've been. Cannon's aim is to forge these connections by calling on the resources of contemporary production and performance. I think this provides dynamic and provocative theater," he stated. In addition, Kimmel wants to create educational programs to supplement the Cannon productions. It is one way of reaching students, young people, and under served audiences. Witches' Macbeth launches Cannon's first season. It was developed in a workshop by Mr. Kimmel with reknowned director Andrei Serban and designer Paul Steinberg. The play features an ensemble of 22 actors, with Andrew Garman as Macbeth and Holly Natwora as Lady Macbeth.
Recently, Mr. Kimmel has added The Wooster Group to his schedule, assisting on the recent Broadway production of The Hairy Ape starring William Dafoe and the new work-in-progress House/Lights, based on Gertrude Stein's Doctor Faustus's Lights and Lights and a '60s cult film called Olga's House of Shame.
Asked what to watch for in his new production, Kimmel advises, "sensory and visceral experience. It should take you on a roller coaster ride." He added, "Don't worry if you can't follow the dialogue that well. See what it's all about."
Witches' Macbeth opens August 13 at midnight at Angel Orensanz, 172 Norfolk Street, originally an old 19th century synagogue, now occupied by a sculptor who has opened a portion of it for performances. "Between the date, the time, the location, and the ritualistic theme, the ghosts are going to rise!" enthused Kimmel. "We're very excited."
In addition to the New York International Fringe Festival, Witches' Macbeth will be presented at the Eight Annual American Living Room Festival at HERE, co-sponsored by the Lincoln Center and Tiny Mythic, and at the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center in Brooklyn. Witches' Macbeth performances are: Sunday, August 17 at Noon; Monday, August 18 at 7PM; Tuesday, August 19, at 9:15 PM; Wednesday, August 20, at 5:45 PM; Thursday, August 21 at 9:30 PM; and Friday, August 22 at 11:30 PM.