Playwright, actor, artistic director of Group Rep Doug Haverty is about to bring back one of his early award-winning plays In the Mind's Eye. The play will be directed by Bruce Kimmel, whose Kritzerland has produced a myriad of albums and a monthly show at Feinstein's Upstairs at Vitello's. Kimmel and Haverty co-penned the Ovation nominated A Carol Christmas at Group Rep in 2018 to great acclaim and have a tight working chemistry. Busy in rehearsals, In the Mind's Eye will open at Group Rep Friday February 7. Both men took time out of thei busy schedules and sat down to discuss the play in detail.
(to Doug Haverty)
What inspired you to write this play?
DH: My very first play, Hello,
This is the Bottom Drawer, was a pretty big hit (came out of nowhere for most people). It opened at the Evergreen Stage (now The Fountain) and then transferred to John Allison’s Callboard Theatre on Melrose Place. It was very funny and got a little serious towards the end. It garnered a lot of attention and I was signed to ICM by Miss Audrey Wood. My next play,
Tenants Anyone?, at the Cast-at-the-Circle was not so successful. It was an out-and-out farce, with a great cast … and some nights it was funny and some nights it wasn’t. It’s very difficult to sit in a three-sided arena theater, staring across at the other 1/3 of the audience when no one is laughing and it’s supposed to be a farce.
So, I swore that the next play I wrote would be a drama, so I wouldn’t have to worry about whether or not people were laughing. I wanted to write something serious about someone I admired, a woman because I wanted to create more great roles for women. Whatever group I was working with, there were always more wonderful actresses and few great parts for women.
I decided to write about my 7th Grade World Geography teacher. My first day of 7th grade (then Junior High) was also her first day of teaching. My first class, the first day, her first day … and she was blind. Legally blind. Even then, at eleven, I was amazed at her courage. She had her role sheets prepared in Braille. Her lecture notes were prepared in Braille. She couldn’t make eye contact with us, so she delivered her lectures while walking up and down the aisles. She inspired me and I wanted to share her story.
I wrote this in the early 80s, and submitted it to Lonny Chapman at the Group Rep and he took me in as a new member and helped me develop it. It was the first full-length play to be mounted at 10900 Burbank Blvd. It won a lot of Drama-logue awards and other year-end awards, got produced around the state and then was published by Samuel French.
In the late 1990s, I started teaching (Graphic Design at FIDM) and now that I’ve been a teacher, I have even more admiration for this inspirational teacher. It’s hard enough to teach. It’s hard to teach 7th grade. I can’t imagine what it was like to stand in front of a class and be blind.
Why did you decide to make two different tracks one for Patty and the other for Trish?
DH: I wanted to show this character at two major turning points in her life: 1) the day she decided to transfer to a regular public school and: 2) the day she became a teacher. Structurally, I didn’t want one person to play both parts (14 and 26) and I didn’t want to start the play with the younger one and end it with the older one. So, we follow both tracks simultaneously and cut back and forth. It’s a memory play. So, the lead character’s name is Patricia. When she’s young she goes by “Patty,” and when she’s older she’s known as “Trish.” Trish is listening to her diary-on-tape and re-lives her life and gradually begins to accept herself after so many years of being hard on herself. There are even a couple of places where the two actresses switch places. Sometimes, as an adult, we’ll do something stupid or feel inferior and feel like that kid that lives inside us. Or, sometimes, as a kid, we will make a huge stride in our development and feel like a grown-up for a second. So, that’s what I have happening and Bruce Kimmel has staged those portions eloquently.
Tell our readers about the kind of relationship Patty had with her mother.
DH: I don’t know what kind of relationship the real teacher had with her mother. The one I’ve painted closely resembles other similar situations I’ve observed where there is a single, sole-support parent and their self-sacrifice to clear a path for their special needs child is their mission in life. Many times that parent becomes dependent on the needs of their special needs child. And, eventually, when that child grows up and starts to pull away, that dedicated parent feels threatened and their dependency rears its ugly head. So, the relationship is fun, good and strong and healthy, but becomes challenging as the young daughter starts to yearn for her independence.
How does the old man play into the story? Is he based on a real person as well?
DH: At key points in Patricia’s life, she encounters men and chocolate. The old man is based on someone I knew, but he did not know this teacher. I just borrowed his personality from another part of my life. He is a lonely widower and falls down in Patty’s front yard while out strolling. While supposedly working on her homework, she cleans the old man up and invites him in. They’re both lonely people, each for different reasons, but they find a familial accord and help each other. Up to this point, Patty has had many imaginary friends, and the old man is her first real friend. This doesn’t sit well with her mother. How could a 78 year-old widower befriend a 14-year-old loner?
And then in the play, Trish encounters a man who is the English teacher in the very next classroom. They are both two lost souls who find one another and start to develop a friendship. This doesn’t sit well with the mother either and therein the conflict starts to emerge.
Tell us about your awards for this play when it was first mounted.
DH: The first production won many Drama-Logue Awards; including Best Playwriting. The critic from Drama-Logue was Jack Holland and he really liked the writing and said wonderful things in his review. I know the actress who played the mother (the wonderful, dearly departed Melinda Cordell) won a Drama-Logue Award too. And I think there were others for Direction (Lilyan Chauvin) and Set and Sound. The play really requires a lot of sound cues and soundscape. I remember that this particular year the Drama-Logue Awards were at the Pasadena Playhouse. I gave a heartfelt speech, praising everyone involved with the production and the theater for taking a chance on such an unusual play. Later that night Gordon Davidson came up to me and said, “I really liked what you said, kid.” That, in essence, was another kind of award.
Have you ever thought about making any changes to the play or are you happy with it as is?
DH: It’s tempting to “improve” it; but who’s to say that whatever I do would actually be an improvement. It’s interesting to look at it 35 years later with older/wiser eyes and wonder if things should be changed. But I kind of like testing the play to see if it still holds up “as is.” In 2015, we did a revival of another play developed at Group Rep (under Lonny’s guidance), which is called
Inside Out. Bruce Kimmel also directed that production beautifully. People suggested we “update it,” but we chose to just launch it as a period piece and see how it stood up and people really liked it and felt it still held up.
Anything unique or unusual about this new 2020 production?
DH: Yes. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the play with a real 14 year-old actress playing Patty. Usually we’d have a young twentysomething play the part with pigtails. We have Peyton Kirkner playing Patty. Peyton was in last year’s
A Carol Christmas and everyone loved her, so we thought it would be fun to see how she does in a dramatic role.
We will also have new incidental music composed by our director, Bruce Kimmel. This main character listens to a lot of music, so music keeps everything flowing. Bruce was looking for just the right music and did not find it. But he heard it in his mind and so, he composed several beautiful themes that play throughout the evening.
Another unusual aspect of this production just occured. I am also a graphic designer and I was meeting with a potential new client and talking about designing a CD for her. As we were chatting, I happened to mention that we were getting ready to open
In My Mind's Eye and told her what it was about. This actress, Rena Strober, stared at me in disbelief and her jaw dropped. It turns out that she has been coaching young visually impaired actors and thought they would love this play. I then mentioned that there are some flashback scenes (audio only) where we’d need kids. She contacted her students and they all wanted to do it. So, we’ll have VO of blind students for our flashbacks.
One of the reasons I wanted to write this play was to shed some light on people who overcome challenges to show others that it can be done. And I’m proud that we could also work with these young performers who are living/breathing proof that people can overcome physical challenges.
(to Bruce Kimmel)
What are the challenges you face as the director?
BK: The challenge for any director of any play is simple: How do you take what's on the page, bring it to life, give it clarity, make magic, and illuminate what the play is saying. Now, much of that happens easily if you cast it well, which we, thankfully have. These are the perfect actors for this play and when that's the case, everything becomes effortless because everyone is on the same page and playing the same show.
I know you like musicals and big broad exchanges in the communication between characters. This play is somewhat different. Explain!
BK: I actually like anything that interests me. Up until
Dial "M" for Murder, I'd only directed musicals. But in the end it's all the same - how do you find the truth in the material. Musicals have certain needs that plays don't, raucous comedies like
The Man Who Came to Dinner have certain needs that have to be fulfilled in order for them to work. And memory plays like Doug's have their own set of needs. One of the reasons I said yes to this is because it's a memory play and gives one a certain freedom in the interpretation and staging and look of the production. I went into rehearsal knowing only that I wanted it to be very cinematic and fluid in the staging and transitions, and I had two images in mind from the minute I finished the play and thankfully they both worked out well. But, to put a period on it, whether it's a musical, a comedy, or a dramedy like
In My Mind's Eye, it's all about bringing truth to the characters and the play. And the fun for me is that it was completely different than anything I've done and that's always creatively satisfying.
Relate sensitivity and strength. How strong must a character like Trish be to attempt to live a more normal life?
BK: Trish is very strong because she had to be from the time she was born. No father, overprotective mother, no real friends, and legally blind. She's also very sensitive about the way her eyes look, about people making fun of her, is wary about love but craving it - she's a very rich creation, written beautifully by Doug, and Kait Haire, who's playing her is kind of a miracle and my favorite kind of actor - someone who has great instincts and does her job so that my job becomes very simple - I just block and then sit and watch her work, her magic and occasionally edit or give a note about something. Both she and the character are very moving, sometimes funny, and extremely charming.
Tell us about your cast and their chemistry.
BK: As I said, sometimes you luck out and boy did we. I love this cast, I can't wait to be with them at rehearsal, and I think they'd tell you the same about each other and how drama-free this rehearsal process has been. The chemistry between all of them is amazing to watch, actually. Peyton Kirkner and Kait Haire are magical, Bobby Slaski and Kait have incredible chemistry, Lloyd Pederson and Peyton have a different kind of chemistry that's completely endearing, and Maria Kress is just a great actor and really makes you understand a mother's anguish, her need to hold onto a child she has to let go of, all of it. Finally, Clara Rodriguez is perfect as the down-to-earth principal of the school where Peyton's Patty goes.
Is there anything you care to add?
BK: Doug has been great about letting us do our work and find the play in our own way. I directed his and Adryan Russ' musical
Inside Out and I know both of them were a little irritated that I wouldn't let them attend any rehearsals until we were in run-throughs and solid. I had to be allowed to do the show in the way I wanted to, and the actors had to have the freedom to try things and fail without any eyes on them but mine. But when they saw it, they knew that was right. They had some notes here and there, but they knew it was a great cast and a really good presentation of their show. But I'm happy to say that Doug saw a run-through last night for the first time - I really had no idea if he liked or hated it until he called me an hour later and told me the best thing that any director or cast could ever hope to hear - he said that in all his years as a playwright this was the first time he had no notes whatsoever. It's a very special play and we're all hoping that people will come out to see it. We have a wonderful cast, terrific creatives on lights, sound, costumes, props, and an ace stage manager, and we can't wait to open.
In My Mind's Eye plays February 7 — March 15, 2020 ; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm. Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm Talkbacks with cast and staff are 2/16 & 3/1.
General Admission: $30.00. Seniors & Students with ID: $25.00. Parties 10+: $20.00 Tickets: www.theGROUPrep.com, Reservations & Information: (818) 763-5990 Lonny Chapman Theatre is located at 10900 Burbank Boulevard, North Hollywood 91601
