Theater Preview—

The Battle Of The Black Box:

Three Actors vs Five Hundred Years of History

By Sarah Scinto

American History took months, maybe even years to learn in school, but during the weekend of August 17-19, three actors at Newtown’s Black Box Theatre will attempt to tell the whole story in 90 minutes.

The Complete History of America: Abridged is a fast-paced comedy from the minds of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The script is constantly updated to include the most current events in American History, so the show’s timeline now reaches to the presidency of Barack Obama.

At the Black Box, producer Jake Waxman and director Joe Zumbo, both rising juniors in the theatre program at Dean College in Franklin, Mass., have been working since early May to create their own spin on the show.

“Joe and I weren’t in anything at that point, and we didn’t want to not do anything theatrical for the summer,” explained Mr Waxman. “So we thought, there’s no reason why we can’t do our own show. And the rest is history.”

After dabbling with the idea of a three musketeers production, the producer and director selected The Complete History of America: Abridged and quickly cast the show’s three roles.

“Being new to directing and producing our own show, we thought it would be a good show to start off with,” said Mr Zumbo.

Mr Waxman noted that the small cast size made the show a good selection. “It’s a three person cast, so it’s easy to direct and produce,” he pointed out.

The Newtown Black Box quickly became the pair’s first choice for the show’s venue, especially since Mr Zumbo was familiar with the space from past shows. “I felt like this would be a very intimate space to put on the show,” he said.

Actor Tony Meath agreed. “With a cast of only three people it’s hard to fill a big stage,” he said. “Having an intimate experience in a black box theatre will enhance the show.”

Jake Waxman is taking one role, and Phil Chansky has been tapped as the other actors tasked with filling the theater’s stage next weekend. Mr Waxman said he welcomed the challenge of producing and performing this show.

“I’m busy, but it’s a lot of fun to act with Tony and Phil and producing has been fun as well,” he said.

The main challenge of the show comes from its rapid-fire pace. “It’s very rapid, and a lot of it is monologue driven because of that,” said Mr Meath. “It’s like here’s a story, you say it! Lewis and Clark, go!”

With lines flying by at such a fast pace, the costume changes for the actors have to be equally quick. Each of the three has around 20 separate costume changes and at best a few seconds in which to make those changes. Because of this time constraint, Mr Zumbo elected to have the actors serve as their own backstage crew rather than crowd the already small stage area.

“It’s so much easier for the actors to run off, know what they need to get, and come back on,” he said.

“It adds to the physical humor of it,” he added. “You have three big guys running around, changing into anything from dresses to soldier uniforms, running back on, doing a scene, running off, changing and doing another scene, so it’s funny in itself.”

Along with changing their costumes, the actors have to change their personas to fit myriad historical characters.

“It’s easier than it sounds but harder than it looks,” Mr Waxman said.

The comedic nature of the show makes the challenge more manageable for the actors.

“Not all of [the characters] have to be real interpretations; they can be caricatures which are easier to come by.” Tony said.

The Complete History of America: Abridged opens at Black Box Theatre, LLC, 117 Mt Pleasant Road in Newtown, on Friday, August 17, at 7 pm. The show will run also be offered on Saturday, August 18, at 7 pm, and Sunday, August 19, at 2 pm.

Tickets are $10 at the door and can be reserved by e-mailing jwaxman@student.dean.edu.