ROMEO AND JULIET Tickets Are Now On Sale!

The time has come: tickets for We Happy Few’s ROMEO AND JULIET are now on sale!

Now, you may be asking yourself: why go see yet another Romeo and Juliet? Why would WHF take on Shakespeare’s perennially-performed tragedy of star-crossed lovers?

Our fast-paced, 90-minute, 8 actor ROMEO AND JULIET will exemplify the We Happy Few mission of presenting stripped down, small cast, ensemble productions with a group of talented artists, providing unique perspectives on classic texts. With only Juliet portrayed by a woman and all other characters – women and men – played by men, WHF explores the story of Juliet, strengthened by love, seeking to forge her own destiny in a world dominated by the wills of men. As always, we will maintain our commitment to illuminating the text in exciting ways while the integrity of Shakespeare’s characters, story, and language shine through.

You can find tickets for ROMEO AND JULIET at:

• http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/405613
• https://www.capitalfringe.org/festival-2013/shows/253-romeo-juliet
• By calling 866.811.4111 Monday to Friday, 9am – 9pm and Saturday to Sunday, 10am – 11pm
• By emailing boxoffice@capitalfringe.org
  
• Or by visiting the Fringe Box Office at 607 New York Avenue NW (Box office details here: https://www.capitalfringe.org/festival-2013/box-office)

ROMEO AND JULIET will be performing at Source (1835 14th Street NW, Washington DC 20009). Showtimes are:

July 14, 7:30pm
July 15, 7:30pm
July 16, 7:30pm
July 17, 7:30pm
July 21, 4:00 and 7:30pm
July 22, 7:30pm
July 23, 7:30pm
July 24, 7:30pm

We hope to see you there!

Our ROMEO AND JULIET is Underway!

We Happy Few is working hard to bring you a great production of ROMEO AND JULIET as part of this summer’s Capital Fringe Festival. Just this week we had our first read through with the cast and a production meeting. Great ideas abound! Check back with us here for more information about the show as it’s finalized.

Tickets for ROMEO AND JULIET (and all other Fringe shows, for that matter) will be on sale June 17th! There are two ways to get your tickets: through the Fringe box office or through a link we’ll provide right here when the time comes. Also, be sure to follow us on facebook and twitter for interesting tidbits.

While we can’t part with too many secrets yet, here’s the cast list to satiate your curiosity for now: Nathan James Bennet*, Raven Bonniwell, Chris Dinolfo*, Chris Genebach*, Sean Hudock*, Kiernan McGowan, Paul Reisman*, and William Vaughan.

*Equity Actors are appearing under an exclusive arrangement with Actors’ Equity Association.

 

 

WTF, Ariel?!

It is obvious when you look at our program for THE TEMPEST that we did not cast any one actor as Ariel. We obviously can’t just cut the role out because she’s very important to the story. So how did we go about having a show with no Ariel? Simple- we didn’t cast anyone as Ariel because we cast everyone as Ariel. Our whole ensemble, made up of 7 actors, collaborates to create the character. Whoever is not otherwise involved in a scene will make up the (at times disembodied or invisible) sprite. While unified in Ariel’s mission, each actor brings her to life in his/her own way, often creating parallels to their other roles. Lines are cleverly divided to push those connections further. ­

During the rehearsal process we literally built Ariel. Sometimes she’s a swarm of the actors, milling about on the stage or a hushed and calm presence more heard than seen. This process was long- we would spend hours on one scenario just to tear it apart and try something new- and our wonderful ensemble threw themselves wholeheartedly into this endeavor, working with Movement Directors Jacob Janssen and Raven Bonniwell until we got the physical manifestation of Ariel just right. At times she cowers to Prospero’s power or sometimes takes pleasure in carrying out his seemingly malicious requests. She can be one actor on another’s shoulders, multiple actors slinking around the border of the stage, or a face peeking out from a doorway or around a set piece.

Our Prospero, Nathan Bennett, is enjoying the challenge of playing to an Ariel that can take so many forms. “Each actor in the ensemble brings something of themselves to Ariel, lending her varying reactions to my own part.” For example, one actor can be defiant while another acquiesces, both being a part of Ariel at the same moment and lending her a conscious human quality. “When I was first approached with the concept of the multi-actor Ariel, I didn’t like it,” Bennett continues. “But after seeing it in action, on the stage and in our scene work, it makes so much sense to have Ariel be this bigger whirling presence. Now, I can’t imagine her as just one actor after having done this show because no one person could ever achieve so much.” As omniscient Prospero, Bennett has the opportunity to respond to the different iterations of Ariel throughout the play. These exchanges allow for the addition of so many levels to the relationship between the two characters and the living, breathing island we’ve created.

It’s difficult to describe just how well our Ariel works within the world of the play we’ve created. Come down and see it for yourself! Just 4 performances of THE TEMPEST remain until we must close on Sunday. Get your tickets online or stop by The Shop at Fort Fringe to purchase at the door the hour prior to any show. We can’t wait to see you there!

Let’s Get Physical

At our rehearsals for THE TEMPEST, it’s pretty obvious that there’s something special going on. There are equal parts Shakespeare, music, movement, and innovation. Best combo ever. There’s a certain amount of athleticism lent by our actors which allows us to figuratively and literally build the world of the show. We see the island as a living, breathing component of the play.

It’s difficult to explain what we mean by “movement-based” in describing the show. You can get a better idea by seeing it for yourself! But for now, we’ll do the best we can to tell you what to expect.  Our ensemble of actors comes to rehearsal in athletic wear, ready to climb, jump, fall, roll, crouch, perch, slide, and slink. We Happy Few is all about the collaborative environment of rehearsals to explore the meaning behind Shakespeare’s words and the almost endless staging possibilities. To get our winning combination of movement, we start with some gymnastics and stretching, add a pinch of pretzel,  a dash of dance, a hint of contortionism, and a bunch of the buddy system (times 3 or 4 or 5 or 6).

For example, in Act 2 Scene 2, there are so many ways that Caliban can be introduced to “celestial liquor” by Stephano and Trinculo. The cast worked with director Hannah Todd and movement director Jacob Janssen to work through a few possible ways to incorporate all the dialogue, not one but TWO original songs, Caliban’s character-specific stylized movement, and even a few slapstick funny moments. There’s a lot of thought jam-packed into every gesture and step. Each scene was crowd-sourced in a sense, allowing the actors to interpret what might be a natural progression for their character based on the tone of the scene. Most scenes are staged in multiple ways before a final decision is made on the blocking. While it makes a lot of work for our cast and crew, it also means that our audience will see the best possible variation of the show, which is what we aim for!

We’re creating the magic of the island through the movement of our bodies in this production of THE TEMPEST, and it wouldn’t be magic unless we kept a few secrets to ourselves. Want to find out what they are? Then get your tickets now! THE TEMPEST opens tomorrow night and runs through May 12. You have just 9 opportunities to see this show, and you definitely won’t want to miss it.

An Interview with a Composer

The musical component of our production of THE TEMPEST takes center stage in this interview with Composer John Todd, who created music that will, in turn, help to create our world in the play. John Todd is a lawyer with a passion for music living in Massachusetts. As the name suggests, he is the father of our beloved director and We Happy Few co-founder, Hannah Todd, and therefore it seemed fitting to have his help in designing the sound of the island.

WHF: How did you come to be a part of this project?

John Todd: Making music together has been a big part of our family life.  When the kids took up instruments, I composed things I could play with them or they could play with friends.  Hannah and I have been singing together since she was a toddler, and she herself has done some composing.  In fact our first collaboration was setting to music some reminiscences of my mother (Hannah’s grandmother) for her 70th birthday, and later we set some Shakespeare sonnets to music for my father’s 75th birthday. It was a natural outgrowth of that collaboration that Hannah asked me to work on this project.

WHF: Can you talk a little bit about your approach to composing music for THE TEMPEST? Was there anything in particular that inspired you or that Hannah (our director) gave you as a guide?

Todd: The Tempest is a very musical play, full of songs and Shakespeare’s own musical directions (“solemn and strange music”).  In WHF’s production, everything emanates from the actors and their bodies — the magic, the music and the evocation of the island itself; so the songs and incidental music are a cappella, without instruments.  Hannah and I talked through what she was trying to achieve in each scene and how the music or song should drive the scene and the characters; then I would try to conjure it with the music.  Some things worked right away; others, we went back and forth a bit until it felt right.

WHF: What kind of tone does your music lend to the performance?

Todd: At first, I tried to give the music a kind of Elizabethan madrigal quality (it is Shakespeare, after all), something you can hear a bit in the first song, “Full Fathom Five.”  But after a few tries, we decided to aim for something more unmoored from a particular era or style, particularly for the music “of the island” like Ariel’s and Caliban’s songs and the feast music.  It’s the interlopers whose music has roots in our world, as in the sea chanty “The Master, The Swabber.”

WHF: We are adamant that this show is not a musical. But it is a show with music. Can you explain how the music fits into the performance?

Todd: Shakespeare infused the play with music, and while the music should be subservient, at times Shakespeare has the characters themselves stop, listen and wonder as the music manifests itself.  So we didn’t have to be too shy about the music, try to hide it unobtrusively in the background, because that’s not where Shakespeare put it.  At the same time, our aim musically was to capture the mood and character of the scene, from Caliban’s harsh, otherworldly cry for release in “No more dams”, to Ariel’s hidden existential sadness in “Where the bee sucks” (“shall I live now”).

WHF: Please tell us about the timeline of preparing the music. What part will you play in the rehearsal process, if any?

Todd: I created initial versions of all the music working from Hannah’s first edit before rehearsals began; but we knew it would need to evolve as part of the very collaborative process that is at the heart of this production.  Once we had the actors – and their various voices – and as the scenes took shape, we monkeyed with the music to make it work.  Fortunately, the production has been blessed with a very talented music director, Ben Lurye, who has been able to shepherd the music through that collaboration, keeping it fully integrated with the evolving movement and direction.

WHF: Do you have a vision, or hope, of how audiences will react to Shakespeare set to your music?

Todd: While this isn’t a musical, the music should serve the same ends – it should feel like a natural outgrowth of what is happening on the stage, and bring added dimension to the characters, which is what Shakespeare wanted.  Hopefully, it also reflects the peculiar character of WHF’s vision of a clash between Prospero’s world and ours and its resolution.

WHF: Is there anything else you’d like to share about the project?

Todd: Only a father’s deep pride in what Hannah, and Raven, have accomplished, and the real joy in being part of it.

I’d like to thank John for taking time to speak with us and shed a bit more light on the musical component of our take on THE TEMPEST. Can’t picture (or hear) it? You’ll have to come to the show and experience it! Click here and get your tickets today!

We’re Up to Something(s)

Hello from We Happy Few land. The past month has been a crazy whirlwind of meetings, decision-making, and overall planning. We have a few very special announcements to make!

1. Kickstarter helped us to kick ass. Fact: we made our goal and then some (special thanks go out to our 54 backers)! Because we didn’t ask for the entire budget for THE TEMPEST on Kickstarter, we are still accepting donations via the yellow “donate” button on the top right of our webpage. We are in the home stretch in terms of being prepared to stage this show, but fundraising the last little bit means that we’ll be able to have great costumes, a safe environment for actors on stage, and quality set pieces. If you’re interested in donating, see item #2!
2. We’re super cool. That’s the truth. But you know what we’re not? We Happy Few is not a 501(c)3 non-profit as identified by the government. In order to offer benefits like tax-deductible receipts to donors, as of the middle of March we are part of the Fractured Atlas community! They’re super cool too, which makes a great partnership. This allows us more time to focus on making great theatre, which is the coolest.
3. We have a lot of things in the works. In fact, because you are wonderful and want to read about us, we’ll reveal to you now that we’ll be performing ROMEO AND JULIET at the Capital Fringe Festival this year. But more on that later…

Last year, the inaugural WHF year, was a great success but we’re not resting on our laurels. Oh boy, do we ever have plans. What does that mean for you, dear audience? Plan to attend our upcoming show, follow us on social media (which I’m sure you’re already doing), and watch for announcements about all things WHF.

Calling All Triple-Threats

We Happy Few has been busy laying the ground work for our upcoming show, THE TEMPEST. One of the most important pieces is the casting, which is coming together as we speak. Part of WHF’s mission statement is to present “small cast, ensemble productions” which means focusing on casting a group of extra-talented actors.

During call backs this weekend and next, director Hannah Todd is looking for ­­­a little something special. Actors are not just asked to read scenes, but also complete movement exercises, sing a piece of music with and without accompaniment, and explore characters with the creative team. Because 7 of our 8 actors will be in multiple roles, versatility is also being taken into account.

Decisions about casting will be completed soon, and then the rehearsal process will begin! The WHF team is excited about where a great cast can take this show under the stewardship of our fearless leaders.