Here Comes the Drama

Troupe in training keeps the Bard short and light
Friday, August 3, 2007

By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER

The "teaching hospital" of "Grey's Anatomy," Seattle Grace, is a stage for hot young interns to play out all the drama and sex they'll need for the rest of their lives.

The "teaching theater" called the Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, based in Madison, has hot young actors play out drama onstage with the sexy words of the Bard. These emerging artistes are members of the company's Next Stage Ensemble, and they'll perform "Twelfth Night" outside the Puffin Cultural Forum in Teaneck on Sunday as part of the company's Shakespeare in the Park(ing Lot).

What will they have in common with "Grey's"? Both shows are about an hour in length. Shakespeare's famous "two hours traffic" has been slimmed down to just under 60 minutes, making the play fun for kids -- and perhaps less of an ordeal for adults. [Above: Next Stage Ensemble doing "Love's Labour Lost." Courtesy of njshakespeare.org.]

"It's hard to focus on the darker parts of the play," said Bonnie Monte, artistic director of the Shakespeare Theater. Monte mentored the director of "Twelfth Night," Tim Nicolai, who adapted the play for this production. She also worked with the cast and crew. "But I think it's still one of [Shakespeare's] best plays. ... It's very funny, but also romantic, and it has some of his best lines."

The challenges of working on a classic play like "Twelfth Night" differ depending on the actor. "For some of them it's getting the language; for others, it's keeping the emotional intensity up throughout; for others it's the physicality," said Monte, who is also a director. "The director's challenge is to deal with each of those problems specifically."

The most difficult adjustment, added Monte, is usually learning to deliver the "rapid-pace performance style in order to get it down to an hour."

For these early career artists, touring with "Twelfth Night" and another one-hour play, "Henry IV, Part 1," is an introduction to what it means to be a traveling actor. The group tours extensively in North Jersey, and in any given year may perform as far away as North Carolina or Maine.

But before the wheels on the bus start turning, the 12 actors, cast and crew stay at accommodations belonging to the theater company in Madison, training for the arduous job ahead. If ever a dorm romance should bloom, "Grey's" style -- or they should realize the confused young love in "Twelfth Night," for that matter -- let's just say they'll have the language to "count the ways."

E-mail: shih@northjersey.com

Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.