The set design for Lanford Wilson’s play “Book of Days” — currently running at the Robinson Theatre — mirrors its content. It’s based on numerous levels and lacks solid ground.
Director Rich Brown grew up in a small town and writes about his personal connection to the work in the playbill. Brown called Wilson “one of the most prolific playwrights in America,” and met him, along with seasoned Wilson director Marshall Mason, in October. Wilson’s work has been receiving more publication attention recently. The Signature Theatre Company in New York is exclusively running his plays for its 2002-03 season: “Burn This,” “Book of Days,” “Fifth of July” and “Raindance.”
Published in 2000, “Book of Days” is one of Wilson’s more recent plays. The plot revolves around various happenings in the small town of Dublin, Miss. The town’s production of another play, George Bernard Shaw’s “Saint Joan” is a big strand of the plot. There are parallels to “Saint Joan,” as the main protagonist Ruth Hoch ends up with her role in this play within a play.
Brown said the play raises questions poignant for college students because it asks, “What would you do to remain true to your convictions?”
“This is the time to make that decision,” Brown said.
Small-town values, religion and conservativism/liberalism are other themes traced during the play.
The production, which took about nine weeks to design, cast and rehearse, defies theater conventions by breaking down the “fourth wall,” and taking into account audience presence. Various Dublin townsfolk double as a chorus. The play’s intermission and ending are both announced directly within it.
“The audience becomes emotional detectives,” Brown said. “The actors as characters get to share with the audiences as storytellers. Always present in mind is that we’re in a theater and we’re being told a story. It’s somewhat jolting.”
The outsider in the town is Boyd Middleton, played by actor Christopher Hirsh. Hirsh said his character brings the audience into the play.
“The characters are so real — these things happen to us in everyday life,” he said. “It really points the finger at you.”
The Boyd Middleton character is a “big shot” director who has come to town to direct the “Saint Joan” production. Hirsh offered an alternate take regarding the play’s story, one in which Middleton directs all the events that unfold. This is evidenced by his character’s nearly continual stage presence.
Close to halfway through “Book of Days,” roughly 135 minutes in running time, a large storm occurs. Instead of using a typical array of low-budget sound props to produce this effect, Brown enlisted the help of composer and graduate student Troy Rogers who said during the opening performance of the play, “someone started cheering as if it was a roller coaster.”
Rogers designed the storm soundscape using electronic equipment and live samples, largely recorded with his digital audio tape device. Sounds of the wind through trees, waterfalls, cars, rain and trains are all used.
“I like bringing out things we can’t normally hear,” Rogers said. “By stretching out the sound, we can hear things we can’t usually perceive.”
Brown’s comments on the soundscape were similar.
“It makes this a visceral experience that the audience is part of — it breaks down the division between audience and spectator,” he said. “Theater should be visceral; it should be connected.”
The three remaining performances for “Book of Days” are Feb. 6, 7 and 8. Each show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the Robinson Theatre box office, the Hult Center for the Performing Arts and in the Ticket Office in the EMU.