Sunday, July 10, 2016
Medieval Story Man
DC Theatre Scene: The only way to make a Fringe show lower budget than this would be to do it without a stage manager. There are no light changes, no sound, nothing but the plain black costume on performer Stephen Mead’s back as he whirls around the bare stage. Yet at the same time, the value behind Medieval Story Man is considerable – every penny that went into Mead’s extensive training at the Royal Academy is clear to us, as is every work-hour spent honing this story over the past few years.
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2 comments:
This is weird but at the same time cool to think about. Of course the DP people don’t want this, they want a full crew and stage manager, but it’s good to get another perspective on plays. I’ve seen one man shows with minimal tech, and i’ve thought they were okay, certainly they’d be better if they had people to tech and manage things. It is interesting to see how these one or two people work together without the help of a cast and crew. The show must be extremely interesting and well thought out to not have a crew. Of course, the crew works better with a full cast, so in this case, it’s a lot simpler, and the crew isn’t needed. I just feel like if there’s no stage manager, there are no lights, no sound, no set changes, then it’s not really the best a performance can be.
I’m not really sure why, but I really like this concept. While it does make all people who are involved in design and production unneeded, I believe that at its core Medieval Story Man is true theater. Before we had lighting, sound, and any of the other technical aspects of theater, it was just a few men playing all the roles and entertaining, which is exactly what Stephen Mead is doing in the performance. He is doing a new play, but in the original manner. If there he can do a good job of conveying the message that he is trying to without the need of costumes, lights, sound, or even more people, then why does he need them? Though, I do hope that this does not become a thing that becomes too terribly popular, because that makes what the design and production do unneeded, which means that a lot of people would be out of jobs.
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