Interview: Beth Marshall of COMMENCEMENT at the Orlando Fringe Festival

Beth Marshall Presents' COMMENCEMENT at the Orlando Fringe Festival centers around a school shooting. Beth Marshall plays Sarah Havermeyer, the mother of the shooter. I talked to Beth about her connection to the piece, why she chose to act in it, the challenges of her role, and more.

BWW: Why did you choose this piece?

Beth: I am a sucker for producing works featuring strong, complicated women. I saw the one-woman version of the show while on the Fringe circuit a few years back. I was engrossed in the story immediately and worked with the writer (Clay McLeod Chapman), producing company (Horse Trade) and publishing company (Original Works Publishing) to secure the rights.

I knew I wanted to share Beth Marshall Presents' vision of this award-winning drama with our audiences in Central Florida.

BMP has a mission to produce new, challenging works and to bridge the gap for young emerging artists such as Rose Helsinger (Julie Keady) debuting her first professional show. We focus strongly on theatre for social change as well as touring festival circuits. A play like COMMENCEMENT serves each and every corner of our mission. It was a no brainer.

BWW: You talked about this piece having a specific connection to the Pulse tragedy, but that you wanted to do this piece before that. What was your connection to the piece before Pulse?

Beth: See above for answer for "before PULSE"...

I attempted the Fringe lottery four previous times to no avail--this was part of the hold up. Once I began coaching Rose Helsinger on acting, I knew I wanted her as Julie Keady (and no more perfect of a time than opening literally the day after her high school commencement ceremony). Jamie Middleton was always my choice to play Mary Keady. This is one of the very rare shows that I have produced that was pre-cast.

COMMENCEMENT speaks to any mass shooting (Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, etc...), but the recent events of PULSE in our city sadly make Commencement still timely.

BWW: Why did you decide to act in this piece instead of direct it?

Beth: It has been 13 years since I acted on the stage at Orlando Fringe. I knew this role was my return to the Fringe stage. Had I produced the show as a one-woman show, I would have directed it exclusively. However, when I made the decision to do it as a three-hander, I knew I was going to do the role of Sarah Havermeyer myself.

It is rare I cast myself. In fact, in all of my nearly 80 BMP shows, this is my 4th time acting in one of my own shows. When the role is right for me, I go for it, when it is not, I stay away.

BWW: What are the challenges of playing the mother of a killer?

Beth: While I don't think Sarah is in denial that her son is a "killer" as you put it, I don't think she sees him that way. She sees him as a victim and as her son.

Unfortunately, I understand loss extremely well. In fact, I would say it is among the clearest and most consistent themes in characters I have portrayed as an actor. I am able to tap into the part of Sarah as a mom who has the sad reality of having lost a child (albeit for different reasons). The hardest part of playing Sarah is that it is not in a traditional theatre setting being at Fringe, so we have an extremely fast load-in/load-out turn around. It is difficult for me to be social or "ON" following the show as such is the culture of Fringe.

I need some down-time to decompress. I also need lots of pre-show time to get in the mind-set.

BWW: There's a theme of commencement and graduation in the show. What does that represent?

Beth: I think this is literal. The title is COMMENCEMENT and all those mass murdered were robbed of their opportunity to graduate. We all graduate from one chapter of life and commence on to the next. The tragedy is when that gets interrupted. "What happens next?" Where does victim commence and end? It is all one big circle. The choice is really ours.

BWW: Tell me about your partnership with the Pride Fund to End Gun Violence.

Beth: Given Beth Marshall Presents socio-political mission, COMMENCEMENT's theme and the state our country is currently in regarding gun culture, married with the recent tragic massacre at our PULSE nightclub a year ago when our LGBTQ and Hispanic communities were attacked, it all just made sense for us to partner. BMP is fully committed to raising awareness of our society and human condition through theatre and taking it to the next level to support a political action organization such as Pride Fund Against Gun Violence that is dedicated to raising funds for candidates that will work hard to reform our gun laws and do all that they can do to make our schools, homes, churches, nightclubs etc... safer for us all.

COMMENCEMENT will be playing at the Gold Venue on May 21 at 6:45pm, May 22 at 5:30pm, May 24 at 8:30pm, May 26 at 7pm and April 8 at 3pm. For more information about the Orlando Fringe Festival, visit orlandofringe.org.

Photo: Patty Wolfe Media Group

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