BRATTLEBORO — A one-man play by Pulitzer Prize–nominated playwright Adam Rapp centers on the manslaughter of a young child by her brother.
The brother, a child-prodigy pianist and writer, is tormented by the resultant grief, despair and confusion over the course of the next 15 years; the act has come to define his life.
An 80-page script of pure text spoken like a novel to the audience by a single actor onstage - minimal blocking, sparse set - relays this complex tragedy.
The play is Nocturne, and on the first and second weekends of September, the completely maverick and unheralded structure, content, and format of this possibly unsettling performance will come to the Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery following its New York and London debuts.
The star of the one-man show (there is a single other actor who appears onstage for approximately five minutes) is Mark Bateman, known locally in the music scene in his role as promoter with Brattleboro's concert promotions company, Hilltown Music.
Yet before relocating to Vermont a few years ago, Bateman, 39, worked as a theater actor of relative acclaim and chose this dense, difficult material as his return to the stage.
“I'd been making my living in New York City as an actor for 20 years,” Bateman explained. “I moved to Brattleboro to be closer to my daughter and didn't act for a long time."
About a year ago, Bateman was browsing Amazon.com and noticed the online merchant's recommendations, keyed to a user's particular use of the site and purchase history.
“It was Adam Rapp's play,” Bateman said. “I was familiar with and respected his brother Anthony Rapp, who'd acted in Rent, A Beautiful Mind, and Dazed and Confused. So I ordered a used copy for perhaps $2 and was completely and utterly blown away.
“I thought, Oh, my God - I have to do this.”
An obsession
What ensued was a surprising bout of serendipity.
“It became my obsession,” Bateman said. “I had a deep drive to keep the production as local as possible and involve as much local talent and tap into the community as much as possible."
So Bateman approached Eric Morgan Cutler, an actor in and director of Vermont Theater Company's recent production of As Fair as You Were by David Chase.
“When I told him about Nocturne and how it was this piece of art that just had to be done, he told me that his girlfriend, just the day before, had come to him with how she'd gotten a hold of a fantastic play that she thought he would really like. It was Nocturne.”
That was six months ago, and despite the uneasy themes and the nontraditional nature of the work, they plowed ahead, garnering sponsorship from Brattleboro Savings and Loan and Bateman's family.
They also recruited a small production team of local arts scene all-stars, including composer Hugh Kleelan, co-producer Alex Gutterman, and technical consultant Brayton Brown, who also works as Bateman's partner at Hilltown Music.
'Not an easy play'
“This is not an easy play to direct,” Bateman observes.
“It's scary! It's scary from an actor's perspective, as well. A lot of people won't approach it: 80 pages of text, one actor, no one asking questions…” Bateman said, his voice trailing off - then exploding. “What do you do with all that grief? Especially when it's your fault?”
The plot centers on a nameless 32-year-old man who, when driving home from work at age 17, ran over and killed his nameless 9-year-old sister. The sister was the life force of the family.
Fast-forward 15 years, and the audience is introduced to the man as he is dealing with the resultant destruction of his family and annihilation of a secure sense of self that has been occurring every day since.
The main character is writing a manuscript exploring his predicament during the course of the play. His manuscript and inner thoughts lay the framework of the performance, and an intensely personal, novel-like reading to the audience unfolds as he attempts to exorcise inner demons and find his own order.
“There is no fourth wall in this performance. The audience is very much of a part of the play and set,” said Bateman.
Although there is no real set in the traditional sense: The production crew wanted to keep the stage as sparse as possible, so the nameless main character and the actions of his mind can emerge as the heart of the play.
The decision was also made to incorporate multimedia. A reel of film runs behind the character as he speaks, the images contrasting his concurrent monologue to illustrate how he has warped certain incidents in his past and family life - a common symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd).
“So much of Nocturne is memory,” Bateman explained. “And the play may sound maudlin but it's not. Yes, it concerns grief and devastation, but it's really about finding your way in all of that, finding grace and humor in the midst of that.
“The character was a piano prodigy as a child,” Bateman continued. “That's a very strict existence - four hours of training and rehearsal per day, etc. And he has filtered that strictness into other areas of his life and how he's chosen to attempt to navigate these very dark corridors of his mind.”
Bateman and Cutler used local cast and crew, and they secured underwriting from local sources. But they went even further in their efforts to involve the community in the production.
The Brattleboro Retreat, the local mental-health and addictions-treatment facility, recently started a program for uniformed personnel with ptsd (story, page 1). Since the character in Nocturne is dealing with the disorder, Bateman and Cutler approached the Retreat asking if they could help in any way or had advice, and the Retreat donated a rehearsal space.
The Retreat also teamed with the Brattleboro Area Hospice and organized a benefit in its support, to occur following the performance on Friday, Sept. 4.
Nocturne's New England debut will be performed Sept. 3, 4, 5, 10, 11 and 12 at 8 p.m. at Hooker-Dunham Theater & Gallery, 139 Main St. Call (802) 254-9276 for reservations (recommended) .