As different as night and day

Wednesday, May 15, 1996

The Theater Department presents ‘The Possessed,’ an adaptation
of Dostoevsky’s tale of anarchists in nineteenth century Russia,
and ‘Stage Door,’ a lighthearted romp about 1930s theater, on
alternating evenings. MFA students take roles in both, turning 180
degrees from one night to the next.By Rodney Tanaka

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

UCLA students performing at the Freud Playhouse during the next
two weeks will prepare for their roles by forgetting their lines
from the previous night. Their directors wouldn’t have it any other
way.

The students, Master of Fine Arts candidates in the actor
training program, perform two plays in repertory, "The Possessed"
and "Stage Door." Each actor portrays characters in both plays and
the plays alternate each night.

"You have to completely forget the play you did the night before
and live from moment to moment," says second year MFA student Adam
Kingl. "It forces you every night to turn around, to refocus
yourself anew and be one hundred percent in character for that
play."

Kingl’s character in "The Possessed," Stavrogin, becomes
embroiled in political turmoil in 19th century Russia. He
represents the combination of nihilism and idealism found during
this time. Stavrogin returns from a five-year-journey and confronts
people he has influenced in the past.

"They’re asking him for the final answer, asking him to make God
concrete for him but he doesn’t belive in Him anymore," Kingl says.
"Consequently there’s a schism in Stavrogin and he’s trying to
either find a way to move on and live with himself or to find
justification to kill himself."

The play’s director, Leon Katz, adapted the story from a
Dostoevsky novel that precedes and perhaps foreshadows the Russian
Revolution. Katz says that Dostoevsky joined an anarchist group
early in his life and was captured and placed on a firing line.
Dostoevsky heard the countdown "ready, aim. . ." before his
sentence was commuted and he was sent to Siberia for 10 years. The
author invests his personal experiences into the work.

"The play has a very contemporary feeling," Katz says. "It deals
with an anarchist revolution of the most radical kind but the sense
of people who are struggling to figure out a way of making life
decent in Russia with no oppression is so overwhelming."

Katz chose the work because of his appreciation for Dostoevsky’s
storytelling ability.

"That gives you enormous connection with his stories and the
underlying note is very compassionate," Katz says. "He’s very much
in love with humanity."

Actors who play major roles in Dostoevsky’s vision of humanity
take smaller roles in "Stage Door" as a general rule. Regina
McMahon plays "Lisa" in "The Possessed," an aristocratic woman who
commits suicide when things don’t go her way. In "Stage Door," her
character possesses a stronger will to survive. She and her New
York roommates pursue their dreams of performing in the theater.
The tone is light and captures the fast pace and energy of the
1930s.

"In the ’30s they weren’t quitters, you’d keep getting up after
being pushed down," McMahon says. "The director pushed us to find
that ’30s style of survival when a sense of humor was the only way
to get through it all."

McMahon plays Terry Randall in "Stage Door," an aspiring actress
who finds work in theater productions only to have the shows close
down after brief runs. The easy life of Hollywood constantly tempts
her to "sell out" and leave Broadway for the silver screen.

"I really admire the strength of what Terry did to stick to what
she believes in and not sell out," McMahon says. "I relate to her
need to be onstage, that rush, the moment of being acknowledged. I
believe that is what Terry’s life is, to be heard and have her
voice understood and her heart listened to."

The reflective nature of the play is not lost on the director,
David Schweizer. He says he hopes the audience will be moved by the
parallels between the characters and the students onstage.

"The stage is full of young actors at the dawn of their life in
the theater and their careers, and they’re doing this play about
young actors," Schweizer says. "There’s something very sweet and
moving about it."

Schweizer says he feels rewarded when students grow as
performers. He encouraged students to watch movies from the same
time period as "Stage Door" to understand the rhythms and style of
the era.

"I’ve seen people really flourish, who might have come into the
project timid and then end up going crazy and really discovering
something," Schweizer says. "That’s the best thing and the most
exciting thing."

Sometimes the resulting rehearsals become crazy as well, such as
meeting a woman with a New York accent and 1930s sensibilities in
19th century Russia. "For ‘Stage Door’ I drop a lot of my ‘r’
coloring, so I’d say ‘I got a paht,’ instead of ‘part,’" McMahon
says. "Sometimes I’ll drop some sounds and sound like I’m from New
York when I’m supposed to be in Russia."

Performing these dissimilar plays in repertory offers students a
valuable learning opportunity.

"It’s about as good training as actors can ever hope to get in
terms of developing their craft," Katz says. "It’s as though
they’re being trained to operate in two entirely different worlds
of theater simultaneously."

"It’s a good concentration exercise for students," Schweizer
adds. "They also have classwork and assignments so their heads are
spinning."

STAGE: "Stage Door," May 17,19,22,25,30,31 at 8 p.m., Sun., May
26 at 2 p.m. "The Possessed," May 18,23,24,26,29, June 1 at 8 p.m.,
Sun., May 19 at 2 p.m. Both shows at the UCLA Freud Playhouse. TIX:
$15, $10, $7 for students. For ticket info, call (310) UCLA-101

BAHMAN FARAHDEL

Adam Kingl plays Stavrogin in Dostoevsky’s "The Possessed."

BAHMAN FARAHDEL

Stavrogin, left, and Lisa, played by Regina McMahon, in
Dostoevsky’s "The Possessed."