Battle of the Bards IV

Ghost Light Theatricals is a small theater in Ballard that is impossible to find. It makes me completely banana sandwich when my GPS tells me that I am standing on top of something that I cannot see. However this time it was right because the theater space was through a door, down some stairs and underground. Apparently it was formerly a strip club called Live Girls!
Ghost Light Theatricals has found a really unique and fun way to construct their season schedule of plays and simultaneously raise money for the theater. They hold a Battle of the Bards; 3 plays show different 30 minutes snippets over the course of a weekend and then appeal to the audience and their friends to support them in a competition that decides which one will be added to the theater's lineup. You receive one vote by purchasing a ticket and then money buys additional votes. $1 = one vote.

The three plays were modern adaptations of three classics: The Clouds, Fortinbras, and Metamorphosis.

The Clouds:
Written originally by Aristophanes and adapted by Alexis Holzer is the story of an alcoholic mother and her spoiled teenage daughter. After hearing an advertisement for a school that promises to turn the spoiled daughter into a useful money maker the mother goes to investigate and turns over her jewelry and shoes in an effort to be taught at the school. Then Socrates (the Greek philosopher) pops out from under a desk to tell her all about The Clouds which are 4 girls in togas that often talk in rhyme. Some other stuff happens that I don't remember. However I do remember that at one point during the production The Clouds take a few minutes to pass out free wine and appeal to the audience for votes. All that I got from this was a free cup of red wine.

Metamorphosis:
Written by Franz Kafka and adapted here by Stephen Ross is the story of a man who is awkward and transforms into an insect. See: The Fly starring Jeff Goldblum. The 30 minutes of this play was taken up by some odd occurrences between a carpet salesman and his family. Then a giant chunk of it was dedicated to a strange visual that I think was meant to explain his transformation. The salesman falls asleep in his chair while behind him projected onto a framed screen a scene unfolds. Behind the chair three people use an old overhead projector and black cutouts of insect people to reflect a world where everyone is an insect. Insect people doing insect things in their insect town. When the man wakes he is a bug which is reflected simply by him walking on all fours with his hands turned out. All that I got from this was the urge to procure an overhead projector.

Fortinbras:
The middle play was Fortinbras which I saved for last because it was my favorite. Fortinbras, written by Lee Blessing and directed by Shawn Bookey, is a kind of Hamlet II. Which is difficult sure, because everyone dies at the end of Hamlet. And Fortinbras himself is usually cut out of most Hamlet productions. But whatever. In this story Fortinbras has become king in the event of Hamlet's death and he is constantly haunted and plagued by all of the dead characters from Hamlet. Including Ophelia who seduces him and Hamlet himself who appears to him as a man in a wheelchair wrapped in a cape with his head inside of a TV screen. I really found this to be hilarious. TV headed Hamlet was so funny as he repeatedly barked at his subjects to be sure to NOT hit the On/Off button on the TV. The ghosts were also funny as a dead Laertes dressed in gym shorts and sweat bands really seemed to just want to play basketball with Fortinbras. This play was glorious and I would love to see it how it ends.

By the end of the event there was a tie. Unfortunately (for me) the tie was between Metamorphosis and The Clouds which will both be added to the 2010/2011 season. I am not sure if the Fortinbras cast simply did not advertise properly to their friends and loved ones to come out and support their efforts or perhaps I merely have bad taste in theatrical drama. Regardless it was a fun night of theatrics ending with a post-play dance party. And the Ghost Light Theater earned some well deserved revenue from their genius production of a Battle of the Bards.

Battle of The Bards IV:
Includes 3 video interviews with the directors of each play

Ghost Light Theatricals