Category | Arts & Living

From the page to the stage

Published on April 15, 2008 by The Sentinel

    Herman Melville’s epic, “Moby-Dick,” is a monumental novel that a
lot of people may never read for one reason: it is long and tedious.

     At 135 chapters, it’s little wonder that many students groan at the mention of the book, no matter how fascinating and enlightening the story is and in our visually-driven culture, it can be tempting to skip the book and watch the movie. Well, how about the play!?

    For those who passed up reading the novel in exchange for a month or so of their lives, as well as those who have experienced Melville’s prose first-hand and want more, KSU’s Department of Theater and Performance Studies presents Dr. John Gentile’s adaptation of “Moby-Dick” in the Stillwell Theater April 15 – 20.

    The monster task of bringing what is often called the quintessential American novel from the page to the stage takes courage, innovation and time. “Gentile…has dared to tackle this Leviathan work in a new stage adaptation developed over the last five years,” said Jane Barnette, resident dramaturg, in an article on the Theater and Performance Studies website.

    The adaptation actually began in the classroom. Gentile taught students in an Adapting and Staging Literary Texts class and a senior seminar how to adapt “Moby-Dick” into a production. It seems the professor gained something invaluable from the classes himself; much of what Gentile says he used in his work started with suggestions from students. “The class recommended chapters they felt were necessary to tell the version I was interested in creating. I considered their recommendations carefully and, in most cases, agreed.”

    Years of writing and revising later, he is co-directing his completed project along with Theater instructor, Hylan Scott.

    Certainly what was included or left out of the adaptation had not only to do with student and professor preferences; most events in the novel are impossible to show literally. The limits of space and time in the theater demand that unless Gentile could include a ship, a whale and the ocean in the set design, he had to think abstractly. He makes clear what audiences can expect not to see. “No papier-mâché whale and no flooding the theater.” Instead, his work focuses on recreating the important aspect of the story: its essence.

    One way he has captured “Moby-Dick” in an abstract sense is by introducing a new character to the story: “the Whiteness of the Whale,” whose speeches “frame the entire production.” Don’t confuse this character with the beast itself.  Gentile explains, “The actor performing the role ‘The Whiteness of the Whale’ embodies the essence of ‘whiteness’ that is explored in [a] key chapter.”

    “Whiteness” can perhaps best be described as “mystery,” according to Gentile. His adaptation seems to concentrate on the elements of the mysterious in the story more than anything else, and that focus may be the reason for the unique format in “Moby Dick.” Gentile said, “[the production] combines chamber theater, a form developed by Robert Breen, which maintains the narrative voice rather than converting narration into dialogue, and aspects of performance art, which is interested in abstraction and symbolism on stage.”

    Student Lee Ogilvie, who plays Hosea Hussey, owner of the Tripots Inn, described the performance. “What I really enjoy is that the show is based predominantly on movement. When I tell people I’m in “Moby Dick,” they say ‘You must have an amazing set!’ and I shake my head at them. We have custom props like tables, desks and a rotating staircase but no gargantuan ship on the Stillwell stage. All the choreographed movement by Scott shows the audience what is happening at the moment while Dru Jamieson (Ishmael) narrates.”

    What audiences should not expect from “Moby-Dick” is a shortened theatrical version of the novel. What they may anticipate is a show that tells Ahab’s story while interpreting the deeper meanings in an accessible, creative way. Ogilvie said, “What I think audiences should look forward to is that ‘Moby-Dick’ is not a traditional play. Our production takes one part traditional theatre and mixes it with one part performance art to tell a story in a simplistic way. There is an element of spectacle to it, but we don’t wheel out clunky props just to make the scene interesting. We as the actors work hard on bringing these characters to life on stage and putting on a good show for our audience.”

    Viewers unfamiliar with the book can look forward to the show as much as anyone else. For those audience members, Gentile has a particular wish: “I hope that those audience members who have not read the book will also find the production compelling and engaging. The best compliment would be that someone was moved enough after seeing the production to read the book. It is an American epic, perhaps the American epic.”

    KSU’s production of “Moby-Dick” runs April 15 – 19 at 8 p.m. and April 20 at 3 p.m. in the Howard Logan Stillwell Theater. Tickets $15; $10 for students with an I.D. For more information, visit http://www.kennesaw.edu/theatre/moby-dick/.
 http://www.kennesaw.edu/theatre/moby-dick/.