BWW Blog: Samantha Tirrell - BACKBEARD: Artistic Synthesis

Exciting things are happening with Backbeard here at the Theatre Institute at Sage! This past week, as we've finished staging the piece and other creative elements have started surfacing in rehearsal, has been an exciting reminder of how many different mediums of art are synthesized in the creation and construction of theatrical work. Musical theatre itself is an amalgamation of several different art forms, and all of these forms must be cohesively unified in the construction of a musical theatre piece. Backbeard, which was birthed from a brilliantly illustrated book series by Matthew McElligott, has been a constant reminder of how many different types of artists with their respective mediums of art must be engaged with the piece in order to ensure its faithfulness to McElligott's illustrations while still catering to the tried-and-true guidelines of theatrical work.

Meanwhile, downstairs in our costume shop, Lynne Roblin has just finished pulling the hair through the mesh of the body suit on Backbeard's right leg, which actor Robert Dalton proudly displayed for us in rehearsal one day. Though this has been a tedious and time-consuming venture for Lynne, Backbeard is slowly starting to look like he does in the books, which is a huge treat for our creative team as they continue to build an animated world which is inspired and propelled by Backbeard's uncharacteristically hairy body. Now that Lynne knows her implementation of Backbeard's hair suit will be a suitable method of catering to Matthew McElligott's illustrations of Backbeard, she can finish up the hair suit and continue working on the evolving wardrobes of Backbeard's pirates, who begin in drab pirate wear but are slowly convinced by Backbeard that "dressing smartly is the smartest thing to do." Backbeard is full of color, print, texture, layer, and depth, and Lynne holds a lot of responsibility in bringing this specific aspect of Matthew McElligott's imagined world of Backbeard to life.

The Pirate Handbook, which Backbeard's pirates live by circumspectly and proudly display to audiences in director Michael Musial and choreographer Michael Whitney's staging of the opening number "By The Book," are in the first stages of their construction. The books must hold up to being handled pretty heavily in Michael Whitney's choreography while still remaining small and flexible enough to fit within the pirates' pockets for continual use throughout the show. Additionally, since Matthew McElligott has illustrated for us what the Pirate Handbook should look like in his book series, the prop design must be reminiscent of these illustrations while still catering to the needs of the theatrical production. I have started wrapping the covers of standard b-format paperback books in burlap, and I am using a stencil which I constructed to evoke the Pirate Council logo on the Handbook in the book series to paint onto the cover of the burlap-wrapped books. The edicts in the Pirate Handbook are what sets the major dramatic action of Backbeard into motion, so the construction of the Pirate Handbook will be an important endeavor in manufacturing mixed media and functional art which can cater to the production theatrically and remain true to the illustrations in the source material.

When I walked into rehearsal one day this week, our former technical director Duncan Morrison was meeting with Lynne Roblin and Michael Musial to reveal his mockup of Backbeard's pig. The pig, which the tailors give him to replace his missing parrot (pigs are in!), comes to life in this show, with much of Backbeard's internal monologue verbalized when he confides in his little pink comrade (who usually responds with a standard "oink"). The pig will rest on Backbeard's left shoulder for a majority of the show, so constructing a puppet which will allow the pig to remain stationary on Backbeard's shoulder and to be operated by the actor playing Backbeard is crucial. The mockup was carved out of blue foam and was constructed so that Duncan could see a model of his puppet design on the actor's shoulder and determine if it is the proper size and will suit the needs of the production prior to building the puppet itself. From here, he can engineer the puppet using what he learned from situating his mockup, and the next time we see the pig, he'll be ready to help Backbeard in his fun and colorful journey. Charlie Barnett IV, who is playing one of the tailors, will also voice the pig. In the end, the conception of the pig alone will be a merging of illustration, writing, puppet-making, costume design, voice work, and sound design to ensure that it is properly executed from Matthew McElligott's books to Backbeard's audience.

In the coming weeks, we will begin engaging with several other art forms to bring Backbeard to life. We are looking forward to finally seeing projections, designed by Matthew McElligott, which will allow the work done by Backbeard's director and designers to be resolutely juxtaposed against the inspiration for and source material of this piece of theatre. These video animations will be illuminated on the sails of Backbeard's ship and will assist with our means of storytelling. Lighting designer Bob Brisson has spent some time with the book series in preparation for our technical rehearsals, where he will play his part in atmospherically creating the world in which Backbeard lives. The artistic synthesis of this process is refreshing and inspiring, and the collaboration of artists for the advancement and prosperity of an inherently artistic undertaking like Backbeard is a reminder of how important theatrical work is in challenging complacency in art and promoting both singularity and unity in the artistic visions of collaborators. Backbeard has been birthed by artists who have the unique challenge of being the first ones to ever tackle this material, and will justly serve as inspiration for artists if and when Backbeard finds its (hairy) legs beyond the Theatre Institute at Sage this June.