INTERVIEW: Saudade Theatre stages U.S. premiere of ‘The Constitution’
The premise for Mickaël de Oliveira’s new play is simple, yet topical. Four actors are invited to write a new constitution for an imperfect nation. They get together in a room, away from society, and their debating and deciding is the subject of The Constitution.
FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade and the Saudade Theatre present the United States premiere of The Constitution through Sept. 10 at UNDER St. Marks on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Jill DeArmon directs the production, which has been translated from Portuguese by Maria Inês Marques. Saudade is a theater company dedicated to producing the work of Portuguese playwrights.
Recently, Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with DeArmon about the new show, which received its world premiere at the National Theatre in Lisbon, Portugal. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
How would you describe the play to someone who is unfamiliar with its content?
This is a play inside of a reenactment inside of a play that explores love to its absolute breaking point. We dissect love in its broadest, most specific, brotherly, romantic, patriotic and dutiful ways. You must experience this piece; it is unlike any New York theater.
What first attracted you to direct Mickaël de Oliveira’s play?
I am a proud company and board member of Saudade Theatre Company (co-producing company). One of the pillars of the company’s mission statement is to produce Portuguese playwrights. When co-artistic directors Filipe Valle Costa and Diogo Martins first approached me to direct, Mickaël’s original play, penned in Portuguese, had not been translated into English yet. I already had so much faith and trust in Filipe, Diogo and Maria Inês Marques (translator), and felt their genuine passion as they explained the piece, and why I would be a perfect fit to direct. The Constitution is the first play I have ever considered directing without reading it. Every day of this process I thank my lucky stars that I trusted my instincts and said yes.
What do you feel the play says about our society and the governments in the world? Would you classify this as political theater?
It’s not really about what I think it says or what kind of theater I would classify this as. The point is that The Constitution forces its audience to ask those questions of themselves. It also asks interesting questions about the artists’ commitment and responsibility to their country, but that’s all you are going to get from me. Anything else would give too much away … buy your ticket!
What’s it like to work with this ensemble?
Not only this ensemble, but the entire creative team has been a dream to work with. The Constitution has presented some incredible artistic challenges that we have met as collaborators. We work towards the same goal everyday of rehearsal … to tell this complicated story in the most precise, layered way we can.
When did you first become interested in theater? Does this passion go back to your childhood?
When I was very young, around 5 or 6, I loved to dance. I would choreograph endlessly and ask all my friends to perform the dances I had made for my family or any neighbors I could get to watch us. When I was 14, I was attending Baltimore School For The Arts, as a dancer. I had this incredible ballet teacher who was the first to tell me she saw a storyteller in me, a choreographer and a director. She thought it would be important for me to train as an actor to begin to learn how to speak their language. I took her advice immediately and switched to be an acting major and a dance minor. I fell in love with theater and the art of directing instantly. I have never looked back.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Constitution, a co-production of FRIGID New York @ Horse Trade and Saudade Theatre, will play through Sept. 10 at UNDER St. Marks on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
