THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 27, 1994 TAG: 9411240215
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN HARPER
CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
ASK AN ACTOR to name his dream job and more than likely he'll answer: ``A one-person show.''
Barbara Hird has her dream job. She's plays Elizabeth R in a show written and directed by Labame Houston, a Manteo native. Hird, who has played Queen Elizabeth in the ``Lost Colony'' for nine years, takes the show on the road during the Lost Colony's off-season.
Call her Queen of the Road.
``Elizabeth R.'' premiered in May l993 as part of an international symposium centered on North Carolina's role in the foundation of English America. Labame Houston was one of the organizers of the three-day event. She is also a local and Elizabethan scholar. During a marathon writing session, Houston produced ``Elizabeth R.''
``I literally wrote for three straight days,'' says Houston in an interview in her home/office on Sir Walter Raleigh Street in downtown Manteo. It was three days of writing the lines culled from a lifelong love affair with Elizabeth I.
Houston worked from source material stored in her computer, and delivered the 25-page script to Hird, Houston's only choice to play Elizabeth.
The portrayal, which shows the Virgin Queen struggling with religious differences, marriage and love, family quarrels and the difficulty of a woman living in a man's world of the late 1500s, opened that summer to a receptive audience. As a matter of fact, the show proved successful enough to move it into a small theater in Fort Raleigh on Roanoke Island. And that's where audiences caught their first glimpse of the ``human'' side of the daughter of Henry VIII and the least popular of his six wives - Anne Boleyn.
``This play is actually very contemporary,'' says Hird. ``All the problems that Queen Elizabeth faced in l588 are still being struggled with today.''
This past summer, ``Elizabeth R'' was performed in the Pioneer Theater in downtown Manteo. The 60-year old movie house was originally a theater for stage plays. ``Elizabeth R'' fit comfortably in the house. Former Lost Colony producer Bob Knowles and local artist Glenn Eure designed the set for the production and other Lost Colony technicians, stage hands, costumers and actors provided support.
Business was brisk for the production which played every Wednesday from June through August. It is because of the response that puts the play on the road this winter and spring.
A number of dates are confirmed across North Carolina. Elizabeth R plays in Annapolis, Md., on New Year's Eve. Hird and Houston may take the play to England. Hird likes the idea. She was born there, and studied and performed with the prestigious Bradford Playhouse and Film Theater in England before moving to her current home in Charlotte.
Hird and Houston travel light. The women and their costumes, press kits, posters, etc., ride from place to place in a van. Once in the various theaters, a sound crew and stage technicians are hired.
A recent performance of Elizabeth R was at the Folger Theater in Washington, D.C. The night before the performance, another North Carolinian had been in the house. Hird and Houston say they're sorry he missed the show.
``He must be traveling one road and We're traveling another,'' say Houston.
The women spend their off days promoting the play. A five-minute video has been produced and Houston answers the telephone, puts together press kits and generally oversees the entire publicity campaign.
Why is ``Elizabeth R.'' successful?
Says Hird: ``Good drama involves conflict and resolution and Labame's script has that.''
Says Houston: ``We've made the queen lovable, more human. And Barbara brings the character alive.''
In addition to the run of ``Elizabeth R.,'' Hird and Houston are working on a one-person play based of the life of Amelia Earhart.
What is the attraction of a one-person show?
``Every actor dreams of a one-person show. It's exciting to know that every eye in the audience is on you,'' says Hird.
In the spring, ``Elizabeth R.'' returns to the Pioneer Theater and Hird returns to play her more regal version of the queen in the Lost Colony at the Waterside Theater. Houston returns to Manteo with the show. She also freelances as a writer/producer/director. ILLUSTRATION: File photo
Barbara Hird, who stars in the one-person show ``Elizabeth R.,''
also portrays Queen Elizabeth in the annual Lost Colony production.
by CNB