The story behind “Holy Grail of Memphis” first captured Arden Theatre Company’s producing artistic director.
“Holy Grail of Memphis” is “a comedy about people who are unreconciled with their lives, with where they are at in their lives, and that really appealed to me,” said Terrence J. Nolen, who leads Arden Theatre Co. and is directing the world premiere of prolific Philadelphia playwright Michael Hollinger’s latest work.
Interesting, but there are so many other elements:
- The show, which runs through March 2, is about the blues. Matteo Scammell plays Newton “Newt” Stover 2d, whose grandfather operated a Memphis recording studio. In the play, Stover discovers long-lost recordings of a legendary deaf blues player — a player who inspired the likes of Mississippi John Hurt, Memphis Minnie, and a host of other Black blues musicians.
- “Holy Grail” immerses the audience in the atmosphere of an old-fashioned recording studio with a stage set that incorporates vintage equipment, microphones, and mixers.
- And it features Fred Michael Beam, a deaf actor who plays Alfred “Dead Duck” Mason, a fictitious legendary blues player.
An authentic production
“The Deaf community is finally recognized,” Beam wrote in an emailed statement. “Finally, we have representation in that world. We are not pushed to the side, marginalized, finally, it is all together. You can let people know that there are different people out there that are successful and can succeed and we recognize them. Not because of their disability, but because of their ability to succeed.”
Nolen said that casting an artist who is deaf for the musician’s role was really important to the authenticity of the production.
“I’ve not worked with an actor who is deaf,” Nolen said, “so when we decided to do the play, I was eager to bring as many resources and perspectives as possible.”
To do that, Nolen turned to Donna Ellis and Brian Morrison, co-owners of Hands Up Productions, a theatrical interpreting company that serves the Philadelphia area. Ellis and Morrison have collaborated with Arden for 15 years, assisting with American Sign Language interpretation for select Children’s Theatre shows, including Saturday’s 4 p.m. performance of “Peter Pan.”
“They began to get out the word to the national deaf acting community. They gave us contacts with deaf theatrical organizations around the country,” Nolen said.
Beam, an actor, dancer, choreographer, and director from Washington D.C., landed the role.
The play, Beam wrote, centers on not “just the Black community, not just the blues community, but that there is diversity in these communities.
“I am proud to be a part of that community — those three communities, the blues, Black and deaf community,” he wrote. “I am proud to be a part of all of those communities.”
Complexity in rehearsals
Developing the play in rehearsals required two types of interpretation. Morrison and Ellis handled the day-to-day translating, helping ease communication among Nolen as the director, Beam, and the rest of the cast.
Nolen also turned to Daniel Brucker, describing the assistant principal of the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, as “our show’s DASL.” It’s a play on words that incorporates both the dazzle of theater and the direction of artistic/American Sign Language (DASL).
Think of it this way: Hollinger wrote the play in English. But when the characters are signing, someone has to translate those words into signs. And just like writing, where there are many different phrases — some elegant, some clunky — that can express an idea, there are elegant and clunky signs. There are also regional and ethnic signing dialects.
It was Drucker’s job to sort through all that and guide the cast to produce authentic and artistic signing.
“When I’m speaking with Fred, the interpreters are there to help facilitate,” Nolen explained. “Daniel is there to say that there are different ways that [a phrase] could be signed.”
For example, in the play, a character’s brother is deaf. But is he a younger or older brother? “It would make a difference on how well you sign, how fluent you are,” Nolen said. “So, Daniel is providing that perspective to everyone.”
Coming into the role, “I was a little bit skeptical,” Beam wrote. “I was like `hmmm, not sure,’ because the writer is hearing and probably writing from their point of view and their experience.
“We want to make sure we are being done justice in the script. I was grateful that they allowed me to be part of the discussion. The writer [Hollinger] was really open to ideas we threw around,” Beam wrote. “We just kind of mixed everything up and changed it a little bit. And the script is beautifully written.”
“Holy Grail of Memphis” is among 13 of Hollinger’s plays staged by the Arden since 1994. Of the 13, “Holy Grail” is the 10th world premiere offered by Arden and one of a handful of Hollinger’s work directed by Nolen.
FYI
“Holy Grail of Memphis,” through March 2, Arden Theatre Co., 40 N. 2d St., Phila. 215-922-1122.
Smart captioning glasses will be available for all performances starting Jan. 28. Live on-stage captioning of words and sounds will be on display at 7 p.m. Feb. 14 and 2 p.m. Feb. 15, as will live verbal description of actions and visual effects. Hands Up Productions will provide live on-stage ASL interpretation at 7 p.m. Feb. 21 and 2 p.m. Feb. 22.