For all the people who accused Capitol Hill Arts Center of being a bit "moody and broody" in their play selections, artistic director Matthew Kwatinetz invites them to check out "Archangels Don't Play Pinball" by Dario Fo. The play is the final production in the CHAC's 2004-05 season.
"It proves that we can do sappy and happy," he said. Getting more serious, Kwatinetz revealed that he picked Fo's piece because it stayed in his head for more than a decade after seeing a performance in Pittsburgh.
"I didn't know who Dario Fo was then," Kwatinetz recalled, "but in the last two or three years, I've been involved in several Fo productions here and abroad. When we were choosing the season last year, I remembered the play but had never connected that it was by Dario Fo. It's an incredible piece of theater. It deals with two issues that are dear to everyone's heart: true love and creating your own destiny. And it's written by one of the most brilliant playwrights alive."
The piece is an early work by Fo, who received the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature for "emulating the jesters of the Middles Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden."
"He's not as well recognized in the States, but I think he's getting started to be done more here," Kwatinetz said.
Because it's one of his early works, Kwatinetz calls it less overtly political than the later plays. It's "more concerned with human beings."
"It's a lot more entertainment focused. Which is not to say that the issues are not there, but there's a less pedantic nature to the play. There's no trying to make you believe something. It's just about human choices," he said.
In "Archangels Don't Play Pinball," an army veteran stumbles through a maze of bureaucracy trying to collect his pension and win the woman of his dreams. Although she did not share writing credit on the play (as she did with later works), Fo's wife, Franca Rame, also appeared in the first run of "Archangels Don't Play Pinball."
"Sometimes the beginner genius just comes out. When 'Archangels' was done, it was the biggest Italian theater box office hit up to that point. And that's a pretty significant thing to say about a relatively unknown pair. It catapulted both of them onto the international scene. And there's a reason for that, the play is extremely powerful," Kwatinetz said.
To keep Fo's comedy properly farcical and surreal, Kwatinetz cast his actors from a wide variety of comedic backgrounds: stand-up comedy, impromptu and theater. The cast includes Gabriel Baron, Mark Boeker, Emily Chisholm, Karen Gruber, Basil Harris, Alyssa Keene, Scott O. Moore, Terri Weagant and Lyam White.
The result, said Kwatinetz, has been everything that he hoped for. Characters ricochet through the sliding walls of the set, much like the pinball of the title, as they tackle the increasingly wild problems of the hero's quest through the "Veterans Disability Office."
Although originally written in the late 1950s, the Fo script has a timeless quality (the hero is simply a veteran of the "War") and is also very timely, with the recent $1 billion shortfall discovered in the United States' own Veteran Administration.
The issues raised by the script are close enough to current politics to attract the attention of U.S. Representative Jim McDermott (D-Seattle), who will be the guest of honor at a gala performance on July 30.
Although this is the play's Northwest premiere, Kwatinetz fully expects Fo to move into the mainstream of American theater in same manner that he has become an integral part of European theater. Right now, Kwatinetz sees a certain reluctance among the larger theaters to do more risky material that may or may not fill seats. "Although the Empty Space used to do a lot of Fo before I came to Seattle," he added.
At the moment, smaller venues like CHAC or student theaters like UW are keeping Fo in front of the American audiences.
"I fully expect to see Fo in the regional theaters in the next decade. At some point, it will just hit and everyone will be doing Fo. Our hope is that, as we do plays, some regional theaters will come and see this and decide that this is something that they can do," said Kwatinetz.
"Archangels Don't Play Pinball" runs at the CHAC from Thursday, July 7, to July 30. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door, and $50 for the Gala on July 30. See www.capitolhillarts.com for more details.[[In-content Ad]]
