By Emma Stanton, Vermont Standard Staff Writer
Shaker Bridge Theatre presents its new production, “Seminar,” written by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction starting this weekend.
This provocative comedy follows four aspiring young novelists in New York City who sign up to take a private class with a renowned literary figure named Leonard. Under his recklessly brilliant and unorthodox tutelage, some of these young writers find their voice and flourish, while others falter beneath his scrutiny. Alliances are made and broken, relationships are strained, and language becomes the ultimate weapon to use against the unsuspecting psyche. In this witty and biting comedy, audience members are likely to laugh, cry, and feel confronted by the arts and all they offer.
In an interview with the Standard last week, “Seminar” director Kent Burnham spoke about his experience returning to Shaker Bridge and what the process of staging this play has been like.
“I came to Shaker Bridge for the first time in 2012 as an actor for a play called ‘Dusk Rings a Bell,’” Burnham began. “It was a two-person play in which my wife starred opposite me. We had our 11-month-old daughter with us, and the whole experience was so wonderful.”
At left, Kent Burnham, director of “Seminar,” has worked with Shaker Bridge Theatre twice before — first as an actor in 2012 in “Dusk Rings a Bell,” and then again in 2019 with “The Taming.” Courtesy of Adrian Wattenmaker
After this performance, Burnham and his family moved to Arizona, where he became cemented in the world of academia as a theater educator and director. In 2019, he returned to Shaker Bridge to direct a production of ‘The Taming,’ and now, seven years later, he has returned for ‘Seminar.’
“This is a play that takes place mostly in one setting — a New York City apartment,” Burnham said. “Four emerging writers step into the presence of a legend in the field, and from the first few minutes, ‘Seminar’ sets out to challenge the characters, the actors, and perhaps most of all, the audience. This play challenges our assumptions about art, asking, ‘What is the purpose of art? When do we need to be criticized or encouraged as artists? What does it mean to be an artist? When do we need to hear the truth about our art?’”
Being so close to the play’s subject matter, tackling the story of artists who exist in a different medium forced Burnham to re-evaluate his directorial process. “For me,” he said, “this process has been about collaboration. We’ve had great discussions in the room, and when we hit the stage, we work to capture each biting detail, moment by moment.”
Leah Schwartz, who plays the role of Kate — a confident and wealthy young writer desperate for approval and praise — sat down with the Standard to discuss her experience stepping into this story and how she navigated the quick dialogue and tumultuous storyline.
“For most of my career, I’ve worked in classical theater,” Schwartz said, “I’ve done a lot of Shakespeare, so stepping into such a contemporary space felt a bit strange for me.”
But soon into rehearsals, Schwartz found that her classical training came in handy. “In terms of language, Seminar’s dialogue is not dissimilar to classical text. The language in this play is quite heightened because it’s all of these hyper-intellectual people dealing with these ridiculous situations. My training in classical work has helped in terms of being able to address the text and know which words are important, which words should be accentuated or emphasized. Many of the characters in this play use each other’s words against them, and so it feels like verbal sparring when you go out on the stage. Which again, is very reminiscent of the quick wit and verbal wordplay of Shakespeare.”
Shaker Bridge Theatre’s upcoming production of “Seminar,” a play written by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck and directed by Kent Burnham, follows four aspiring young novelists through a twisted mentorship with a renowned author. Above, the “Seminar” cast, from left: Ben Pereira (Douglas), Tim Rush (Leonard), Xavier Markey-Smith (Martin), Leah Schwartz (Kate), and Brooke Friday (Izzy). Courtesy of Adrian Wattenmaker
Actor Xavier Markey-Smith, who plays Kate’s boyfriend, Michael, also discussed the difficult linguistic challenges this script offers. He told the Standard, “There are these textual challenges that I’ve been finding where you have these massive thoughts that your character must convey. A different playwright might express something in one or two sentences, but Theresa Rebeck finds a way for that thought to be eight or nine sentences. She allows the actor to excavate and navigate a single thought and let it bloom and wilt and then blossom again. There’s a kind of architecture that you have to navigate in her language. It’s been a very fun challenge.”
“I think as artists,” Schwartz continued, “whether you’re a writer, an actor, a dancer — I think we all have these shared experiences of asking, ‘Am I good enough?’ We as artists share a deep longing for a mentor, a yearning to grow and continue to learn more about our craft. This universal longing is what makes ‘Seminar’ such a compelling play.”
“I especially identified with my character, Kate, because she is a woman who fits into all these characteristics of an emerging artist,” Schwartz added. “She has written work that she feels so confident in and wants more than anything for someone to validate her writing. I’ve had moments as an actor where I walked out of an audition thinking I crushed it, only to be torn down later. But in those moments of rejection, you do take something positive away from the experience. I’ve had those moments where I look back and realize if that person hadn’t been so harsh, I probably would not have learned as much as I did. In that way, this play touches on the vital threads of what it means to be an artist — to stumble and falter along the way.”
For actor Tim Rush, who will play the role of Leonard — the mentor and teacher sitting at the head of this play’s conflict — stepping into this role was a return to his passion for writing. “During COVID, when all the theaters were closed, I turned to screenwriting. I’ve experienced hard criticism with my work. I’ve been able to understand the feeling of writing, of flowing through a story in a different way than acting. But playing Leonard has introduced me to a whole new world of literature. I have tried to read the authors he loved so much, read of the places he traveled to, and become completely immersed in the artistic world of this character.”
“It’s a confrontational play, but one that bodes fruitful for actor and audience alike,” Rush told the Standard.
On a concluding note, Burnham said, “This is a play for everyone. You don’t have to be a writer or an artist to understand and empathize with this story. I think ‘Seminar’ challenges our assumptions about power struggles and status, and the connections we form with others. It challenges our understanding of vocation, mentorship, and camaraderie.
“I hope audience members come with the idea of not knowing a lot about the play, and then slowly form an attachment to each character by analyzing and perhaps eventually understanding their choices — even ones as divisive as the choices Leonard makes. This play will change people’s perception of artistry in 90 minutes. I hope everyone leaves with questions and heads to a bar down the street to talk about how they felt with each twist and turn,” Burnham concluded. “It’s an exceptionally compelling play from start to finish. I know it will shine on the Shaker Bridge stage.”
“Seminar” opens at the Briggs Opera House on Thursday, March 26, and will run through Sunday, April 12. Tickets and more information can be found at shakerbridgetheatre.org.