Paradise Untapped at Annex Theatre
Stories untold. Writers unwritten. These are the losses that truly make a Hell of our Heav'n.
Creation cannot be for nothing…
I’m excited to announce that I am directing again at Annex Theatre, this time for a staged reading called Paradise Untapped, written by Jack Wolfram, performing April 1 and April 8 at 7:30 p.m. Since 2023, Annex has also included live stream viewing options for the performances. This means that viewers all over the world can tune in at showtime, or even watch the show on demand for a few weeks after the run.
You can purchase in-person and live stream tickets here. Tickets for both types of show are pay-what-you-can, starting at $0.
Show summary: Deborah Milton, daughter of John Milton, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley entered our world a lifetime apart in England, born to world-renowned intellectuals and tethered across time by shared fiery intellect, circumstances of birth, and creative compulsion. As both yearn to make a name for themselves and share the stories each feels that only they carry, their isolated connectedness illuminates centuries of stories untold, writers never written, and a Paradise Untapped.
Directing this dense, semi-historical dramatic comedy has been an exciting journey. Dramaturgically, the playwright and I are familiar with complementary aspects of the subject mater, as he is knowledgeable about Paradise Lost and I have a longer personal history with Frankenstein.
Jack has imagined a new story arc for Mary Shelley and her ill-fated husband, Percy Shelley, and The Creature. As a vision, the Creature manipulates the world of the play, becomes a manifestation of Mary’s imagination, and even travels back in time to visit the “authoress” of their favorite book, Paradise Lost by John Milton. In the story of the play, Deborah, historically the youngest of Milton’s daughters, is responsible for a majority of the text in the epic poem. Since PL is heavily featured in Frankenstein, we watch the Creature interact with both of the leads. They are a manifestation of their frustrations and the common link of expression between their childless and motherless existences. The Creature interacts with all of the characters in various ways, sometimes as antagonizer or at times, a supporter.
In further iterations of the play, I look forward to a clearer view of how the Creature manipulates the physical worlds of the play as well as its characters, and also being able to see deeper connection between Mary and Percy that is on par with the heady, philosophical discussions of John and Deborah.
The best part about this script are the quick volleys between direct quotations, silly jokes, and dramatic monologues. The mashup of literature, diary entries, and poignant dialogue weaves an intricate path for the viewer. Taking the opportunity to stage it in a workshop format also enables us to avoid “lecturing” the audience and instead see the relationships develop between the duos and discover the connective threads in between. I am curious to learn from the talkback sessions what various audience members take away, depending on their familiarity with the source text and historical figures.
For the production, I also collaborated with Justin Lauer on the poster design and artwork:
Justin shared inspiration from traditional book covers that included the high-contrast, stacked text. I originally wanted to find a way to incorporate artwork by William Blake, but for simplicity and copyright’s sake, we veered more toward a “cracked oil painting” look. It all came together in one afternoon as we decided that we both wanted to incorporate electricity (lightning in the top left corner) and “God” (sunbeam and cloud rays from the top right). Justin found the rock artwork and I picked the format for the tagline.
The sheer amount of collaboration that has gone into this process between the cast (many of whom have an affinity to the play’s content) and production team (we will even have light costume designs! for a reading!) is heartening.
I hope you’re able to take the time to watch this week or next. And if you miss both streams, you can still get a ticket (even for free!) and watch until the end of the month.
Now, if I can just get some pictures for the scrapbook…