The play’s the thing

‘Visions of the Messiah,’ ‘Playing the Bones’ premiere

Drago

Sarratore’s play tells the story of Sabbatai Zevi, a 17th-century Jewish mystic who was accepted as the messiah by most of the Jewish world of his time. “Sabbatai Zevi took the world by storm in 1665 and 1666, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers throughout the Jewish world and countless supporters of the Christian and Islamic faiths as well,” explained Sarratore. The play intertwines the concept of messianism with the telling of an essentially unknown historical account.

IPFW’s Studio Theatre recently has been transformed to allow theater students and faculty artists to stage minimalistic productions of traditional, new and original works and ideas.

Sarratore’s work was co-sponsored by the annual campaign of the Fort Wayne Jewish Federation and the Dr. Harry W. Salon Foundation.

Visions was directed by Larry Life and featured 12 readers, including Jeanette Clausen, Diana Updike, Orene Colcord and Sean Stewart among IPFW faculty.

John Drago, whose Playing the Bones continues at the Wells-Metz, located at IU Bloomington’s new Theatre and Drama Center, spent many days touring graveyards in the mountains of eastern Kentucky where, among tombstones, shadows and howling winds, the M.F.A. student from Louisville began formulating the idea for his play. Playing the Bones is a haunting Appalachian tale of an orphan discovering the secrets of her past and coming to terms with her own mystical powers.

Drago said audiences will distinguish between the dead and living in his play by listening to their respective speech patterns—the dead speak in iambic pentameter; the living in an indigenous dialect that the playwright picked up during his mountain travels.

Dale McFadden, director of theatre in the IUB Department of Theatre and Drama, directed the production.

The Wells-Metz Theatre, which opened its doors in February, includes two balconies, movable seating and a flexible performance space that opens up a world of staging possibilities to both playwright and director.

“It’s been an effective collaboration because John is seeing the play on its feet and learning what can and can’t be done in this particular theater,” McFadden said.

http://www.iub.edu/~thtr/2002/Bones/BonesHome.html