THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9702010086
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 154 lines
FOR 18 YEARS, Virginia Stage Company's directors have dashed to New York every few months to cast each show.
Not this season: The Norfolk-based troupe has gone ensemble.
With ``Terra Nova,'' the Ted Tally drama being performed at Wells Theater, Virginia Stage is introducing its new Core Company to subscribers.
Having a core acting company simply means that artistic director Charlie Hensley has hired a group of actors for several shows in one season. He chose eight for this year.
These actors from New York and other towns will live among us for as long as five months. Hensley wants audiences to see them play a variety of roles, and to get to know them.
Six were featured in ``A Christmas Carol'' in December for that non-subscription event. Another six are featured in ``Terra Nova,'' although it's a slightly different mix.
Hensley considers ``Terra Nova'' the more significant debut of his acting company, since the tragic tale of British explorers trudging toward the South Pole is a subscription show. And subscribers are the theater's backbone.
``It came about as I was developing the list of plays I wanted to produce this season,'' the director said. He wanted to do several large cast shows, which are expensive to produce. But he saw that many of the roles, from one show to the next, could be played by the same actor.
A company was born.
``The timing seemed right. It saves a little money, and it allows me to do larger work,'' the director said.
The company system saves cash, because actors can begin to rehearse the next show in the afternoons while performing at night. In accordance with Actors Equity rules, a category C League of Regional Theaters company such as Virginia Stage can rehearse actors up to five hours a day while in performance, he said.
Rehearsals for Shakespeare's comedy ``Twelfth Night'' begin on Tuesday, five days before ``Terra Nova'' closes. All eight company actors are in ``Twelfth Night,'' which opens March 2.
``This is not a new idea,'' Hensley stressed.
Throughout the history of theater, acting ensembles have provided a chief means for performers to hone their skills. Even today, major theaters worldwide boast resident acting companies, he said, from Ireland's Abbey Theatre to The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
``Whenever one is asked to name the world's great actors, the list invariably includes those who rose through the ranks of a resident company, where more mature artists work with the young who aspire to walk the same path and eventually make their own way,'' Hensley wrote for the ``Terra Nova'' playbill.
This year, company actors were guaranteed weekly paychecks ranging in duration from 14 weeks to 22 weeks.
The size and makeup of the company could change from year to year. That is, if the company idea works out. Hensley has not yet made a long-term commitment.
Hensley's own history with acting ensembles began in 1973 at Roanoke's Mill Mountain Theater, where he was part of a resident company that summer. In the mid-1970s, he performed with the Weathervane Theater in New Hampshire and later with Atlanta's Alliance Theater.
``I grew up in companies,'' said Hensley, who admires ``the versatility that's required. It's much more challenging for the actors. I found it really liberating, because I didn't have to think about anything else. And I was always well-oiled. I never got a chance to get rusty.''
He reeled off the advantages of a company, factors that could lead to stronger productions: The cast can skip the getting-to-know-you phase of early rehearsals and get down to business, thereby progressing faster. The cast can fully concentrate on the show at hand, rather than flying off to New York every other week trying to land the next job.
Also, working with the same group continuously, ``you develop a company aesthetic. I certainly have a style as a director. So, what is it we all believe in - as people, as artists? Because that does affect your work.''
As a director, he is charged with providing diverse roles for company members that are appropriate for their talents, and yet stretch their abilities.
He's feeling that challenge as he compiles his playlist for the 1997-1998 season, which Hensley plans to announce in early March. He's not yet sure whether he'll choose plays to showcase the talents of certain company members, or whether the titles will come first.
Hensley has had a pilot project of sorts in actor David McCann, who was first cast at Virginia Stage in ``Sleuth'' in October 1993. McCann portrays British expedition leader Robert Falcon Scott in ``Terra Nova,'' his seventh show here. His other roles at Virginia Stage have included an Irish fisherman-poet in ``Sea Marks,'' the upper-crust Brit husband in ``Blithe Spirit'' and a soul-searching Hamlet.
McCann and Scott Rollins are the only company actors who have performed at the Wells before this season. Rollins portrayed Marcellus in last year's ``Hamlet.'' The two actors also are the only ones who live year round in Hampton Roads.
Hensley wants the performers to feel connected to the community, and for the audience to feel that the performers are like old friends, showing them new facets of themselves with each show.
The risk comes in casting an actor in a role that stretches his or her abilities, and having the actor fall short of expectations.
``That's always a danger,'' Hensley said. ``But sometimes, taking that risk is important. If you don't fail occasionally, you're doing something wrong. If you don't take those risks, you'll never have those huge successes.''
Swaddled for sub-freezing South Pole weather, actor McCann slumped in a theater seat during a rehearsal last month.
``I've read this play millions of times since the 1970s, and I love it. But I had never seen myself playing Scott,'' said the actor, candidly. ``Mostly I'm given roles that do not require restrained emotion. And Scott is so British, so in control.''
It's a stretch he appreciates, just as he likes the idea of being part of an ensemble.
``I'm really excited about that. This audience has been so good to me, so willing to let me do these things. I really, truly believe you can feel that when you're standing on stage.''
In most of his roles here, McCann has directly addressed the audience from the edge of the stage. In those moments, he said, ``you really connect. You can actually look into people's eyes.
``You know what I think the biggest advantage is? It's having the same audience. They're forcing me to work harder. I know it's making me work harder. And I hope it's making me get better.''
If McCann is among the most experienced performers, Andrew Heffernan is more toward the apprentice end.
At age 25, he is the youngest ensemble member. Most are in their mid- to late 30s, he said. Six are men; two are women.
Heffernan came to Norfolk in September as a resident theater artist at the Governor's School for the Arts. Though that gig ends this month, he'll stay on through ``Twelfth Night.''
``This is the first time I've done work with a company of this caliber,'' Heffernan said. ``And this is my first show with the ensemble. So I came into a group that had already sort of jelled.
``It generally feels a little more relaxed. There's a nice sense of serious fun about the work. You do feel safe with these people.''
Feeling secure can result in stronger scenes, said ensemble actor Kevin Waldron.
``There's a greater camaraderie. You've been through the trenches together. You survived the last show. We're kind of `One for all, and all for one.' ''
Waldron considered one moment that would give any actor pause. His ill-fated character, Evans, experiences a brain hemorrhage and convulses on the stage floor.
``To really let go and make yourself look like a fool; that's the risk you're running. I have a spasmodic attack. I have to let my body do its own thing.
``For me - that's so embarrassing. But that's part of the job. And it's easier if you've got that emotional support of an ensemble.''
``A company is like this webbing, this cradle you work in,'' said Corinna May, who portrays Scott's wife, Kathleen.
``Really, we're creating these worlds out of smoke and mirrors - out of this muse of fire,'' she said.
``We make all this stuff up. It's a daring, dangerous and exciting thing to do. And we do it without a net. We need to create this safety net within ourselves.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Helen Jones
From Left, Corinna May, Joshua Finkel, David McCann and Ken Bolden
perform in "Terra Nova." All but Finkel are part of VSC's Core
Company.