'Pantomime' may put sand in your shoes, smile on your face

'Pantomime' may put sand in your shoes, smile on your face

By HARMEN MITCHELL
NEWS SPECIAL WRITER

They’ll do anything for the sake of realism at the performance Network In the last few months, they’ve used a live lamb in a production, and jacked up the thermostat to recreate the atmosphere of Calcutta.

So anyone familiar with the most aggressively creative theater space in town won’t be surprised to hear there’s a gazebo in the middle of the stage surrounded by a layer of sand a few inches deep and several feet in diameter — you see, starting this week, we’re going to Tobago.

The inspiration for this trip to the West Indies is “Pantomime,” a two-man play whose themes encompass colonialism, the master/servant nexus and interpersonal relationships. The 1978 work is by celebrated Trinidadian Derek Wolcott, and it begins a three-weekend run — sand and all — on Thursday evening.

According to director Peter Knox (who shares the duty with Bj Wallingford), “Pantomime” was chosen because of practical considerations, but the results have been most gratifying on an artistic level. “Anne (Stoll, actress and member of the board that oversees the creative direction of the PN) was the first to suggest we do a Wolcott piece. We were looking at ‘Beef, No Chicken’ and others, but they required very large casts and things that were beyond our capabilities at this time.

“So we ran across another book which contained ‘Remembrance’ and ‘Pantomime.’ Excellent plays, smaller casts and simpler sets.” Plus there was an added bonus: “It’s an incredibly well-written piece and a great piece for actors,” says Knox.

The story of the play is simple. “One man (Harry Trewe, played by Michael Rathbun) is from a British music-hall background — he was in the theater — and he runs away to Tobago to become a hotel manager and to leave the theater behind,” Knox says. “And one of the people he’s hired as his factotum is this retired calypso singer from Trinidad (Jackson Phillip, played by Vance Dennard, in a last-minute casting change).” While Wolcott may have kept the cast and set requirements minimal, the work itself is complex. “It has a very personal level, dealing with the relationship between these two men...at the same time it takes on the racial and the master/servant and colonization and Third World relationship.”

“It is a hopeful play,” adds Knox. “It’s a good-natured play — and funny, very funny.”

The Performance Network, 408 W. Washington St., will present Derek Walcott's 'Pantomime'' in a three-weekend run beginning this Friday through Sunday, and continuing July 27-30, and Aug. 3-6. All performances are at 8 p.m., except for the Sunday shows, which will begin at 6:30 p.m. Admission to all performances will be $6, and the only discount will be $1 off each ticket for parties of 10 or more. To make reservations, or for more information, call 663-0681.

PREVIEW

Michael Rathbun (left) plays Harry Trewe in the Performance Network's 'Pantomime.'