Concept Statement, Return to the Forbidden
Planet updated March 28, 1999
Introduction
The search for the perfect musical for the Ferndale Repertory
Theatre summer slot went on for months. I suggested a number of shows that I felt
would work well at the theatre until I remembered
Forbidden Planet. It was
the perfect choice - small cast, small band, single set, intriguing premise and title, and
all recognizable music from the 50’s and 60’s. Following the previous
summer's Godspell, it was perfect, and very creative and fun for all of us.
Concept & Goals
With the 50’s - 60’s influence of the music, the period
setting of the original film, and even the campiness of the pseudo-Shakespearean dialogue,
we decided to emphasize a style reminiscent of the old sci-fi movies and television shows,
pushing it to it’s campy limit. This show is a romp through space: a true
challenge to put on stage. The team knew we needed an enormous amount of flash and
special effects. Luckily the theatre had just purchased a new computerized light
board. Additionally, we knew a local explosives expert who agreed to do the
pyrotechnics on the production. With a wonderful cast and a talented band leader we
were ready to begin.
Challenges and Approach
The script is still in manuscript form with certain songs marked out
as not available in the United States. Entrances and exits of characters are often
not indicated, leaving me to determine their placement. The music was hand written
and often illegible and the band, though very talented, were not experienced at theatre
production and assumed, because the songs were well known, that they didn’t need to
carefully read the music. Once they discovered that a great deal of dialogue had to
fit into the music precisely, we got everyone on track. In it's original production,
the instruments were played by the cast. Given our talent pool, that was impossible,
so instead I placed the band onstage as part of the bridge crew. The audience
members were treated as passengers on Interplanetary Space Flight #9, as the script
suggests, and I accentuated this by having the cast usher the show and also hand out
peanuts at intermission a' la stewards and stewardesses. We worked out different
planned improvisational moments providing a framework in which the cast could interact
with the audience and the ‘show’ in the house became a much loved portion of the
audience’s experience. Aisles were utilized to bring the action of the show out
into the audience and further identify the entire theatre as the ‘ship.’
Outcome
Despite the difficulties and obstacles caused by limited budget,
script confusion, band inexperience and additionally, the unprofessional behavior of a
couple of performers, this production was highly successful.
Return to the
Forbidden Planet was an enormous crowd pleaser, a unanimous critical success, highly
attended, and ultimately a very unique event for the area. Personally I was very
proud of this production and feel the enormous amount of work was entirely worth it.
(It functioned on a few different levels, providing simple physical and lowbrow humor for
some extending to subtle humor based on the use of the bastardized Shakespearean dialogue
in specific ways in order to comment on the moment, the characters as well as the original
Shakespearean source.)
