‘Kentucky Cycle’ challenges actors and audience with ‘real drama’

Thursday, April 11, 1996

Seven hour production delves into controversy with down-to-earth
style

By Cheryl Klein

Daily Bruin Contributor

On a bare stage, an actor in pioneer attire grunts dramatically
as he wrestles with a woman dressed as a Cherokee. From the rafters
above, crew members shout lighting instructions to each other.

But Gary Gardner is not about to be overshadowed by the energy
that surrounds him. An actress teases him about his burly brown
flannel shirt and he replies, "Isn’t this great?" He then begins
singing, "I’m a lumberjack and I’m okay…"

Given Gardner’s animated state, it is difficult to believe that
he, along with the cast and crew, have spent countless rehearsals
perfecting "The Kentucky Cycle," an epic play that spans a total of
seven hours. Their efforts will culminate beginning tonight, in a
production staged by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and
Television.

Gardner, who directs the play, assures that the hours will pass
quickly as a result of the structure and subject matter of "The
Kentucky Cycle."

Divided into nine mini-plays, the cycle chronicles three
Kentucky families and the ways in which they change ­ and
often don’t change ­ over a two hundred year period.

"The Rowen family is the main family we watch," Gardner
explains. "The Rowens are sort of the poor white Irish trash. The
Talberts are the more landed and gentry. And then (there’s) the
Biggs family, which is the black family. We see them first as
slaves."

He goes on to tell of the Biggs’ eventual success financially,
but adds that this evolves from a bootlegging enterprise. "It’s
very controversial," he warns. "It’s not a PC play."

This is one reason Gardner was attracted to "The Kentucky
Cycle." He wanted to do something in a "realistic, naturalistic
vein" that both audiences and actors could relate to.

"They’d done so many artsy-fartsy ­ can I say fartsy?
­ things before," he says, with seriousness underlying his
laugh.

"The Kentucky Cycle" is down to earth, even in the literal
sense.

"There’s a cycle of irresponsibility and abuse in … how they
treat the land," says assistant director John Wray. "The land is
almost as important a character as anyone else in the play. It’s
kind of the silent character."

Adds Gardner, "It’s a play Al Gore would like."

In addition to the environmental erosion that is so much a part
of modern society, "The Kentucky Cycle" also highlights the fear
that comes from an economy in crisis.

"What do you do when all you’ve known is mining and the mine
moves out?" Gardner says. Or in the case of Southern California,
"What do you do when all you’ve known is aerospace engineering and
they move out?"

Producing a play can be as difficult as the questions it
poses.

From the start, Gardner was faced with financial constraints.
"We only had a budget of $1,000," he says. "I originally thought on
such a limited budget that one family would be in green shirts, and
one family would be in blue shirts, and one family would be in red
shirts."

The crew came through though, and provided not only authentic
looking costumes, but the necessary ingredients to reenact a seven
minute version of the Civil War.

"We have explosions and fog and sound effects and practical
rifles," says stage manager Jeana Blackman. "Basically what the
crew does is we have to make sure the entire show runs
smoothly."

But actor Christopher Gorham finds it a test to his theatrical
skills to work with a script that, despite its prestigious Pulitzer
prize, is at times less than smooth.

He plays Jed Rowen, as both a child and an older man. However,
the scene with the older Jed was written before the scene
portraying Jed’s boyhood.

"You don’t really know what happened in between the end of the
last play when he was young and the beginning of the next play when
he’s older," says Gorham. "I had a lot of filling in to do to make
it logical to believe that the young Jed grew up into this older
person."

Marvin Safford, also in the production, agrees but is undaunted.
"The script is really challenging. It’s challenging and it’s
something I wanted to do."

Gardner has always been intrigued by "The Kentucky Cycle," even
when Broadway audiences were not.

"Everybody wanted to see ‘Angels in America’ (another show
running at the same time) because it was sexy, you know. Gays and
AIDS and Mormons and divorce and all. Where ‘Kentucky Cycle’ was
real drama," he said.

But he encourages audiences to invest the time to see a play
that is about the myths, destruction and love that wind through
generations of Kentucky families. He says simply, "It’s worth
it."

THEATER: "The Kentucky Cycle," presented by the UCLA School of
Theater, Film and Television April 11 through 20 at the Freud
Playhouse in Macgowan Hall. TIX: $15, $7 for students. For more
information, call (310) 825-2101.