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A New Play by Damon Falke

Spring Tour 2010

Durango, CO | Pagosa Springs, CO | Santa Fe, NM

Click here for a music sampler from Dave Seaton.

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“Who can state so clearly the difference between exact memory and some story that we tell?”

The Sun is in the West is a thought provoking new play by Southern writer, Damon Falke, exploring the power of place and story in the span of each human life. The production blends Old World story-telling while exploring the boundaries of modern theatricality. Situated in a graveyard on the storm ravaged Gulf Coast of Texas, the characters grapple with their connection to the land, with family myths, and with their own histories. The play  features Live Roots music written for the piece. This show is suitable for all ages.

“All my life, I think. All my life.  Over the grounds here whole worlds are buried.  Gone like they are.”

“An atmospheric play about the importance of place and the roots of history that bind us together throughout generations. Lush language, lovely acting, and simple staging provide a powerful and thought provoking way to experience theatre.”

Leanne Goebel

Senior Editor

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The Ensemble

The Photographer – Felicia Meyer

Felicia directed a reading of Seeking Flight, for STRT as part of the 2009 New Works Festival.  She currently serves as a Visiting Instructor of Theatre Arts at Fort Lewis College, in Durango, CO, where she teaches a variety of classes, and in 2008, directed Speak Truth to Power.   She holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from New York University, where she studied at Playwright’s Horizons and the Experimental Theatre Wing, working with such director’s as Anne Bogart and Richard Foreman.  She has performed in a variety of plays, including Skins, Kathryn Moller’s Fort Lewis College production at La MaMa ETC, in New York, and has also appeared on television.  She earned her MFA in directing from the American Film Institute, where she directed an award winning short film, Desert Snow.

The Groundskeeper – Sean Downing

Sean is an actor, director, musician and songwriter from Pagosa Springs, CO, where he teaches high school theatre and English.  Being exposed to theatre at a young age in the small-but-big town of Creede, CO, scarred him for life, and now he just doesn’t seem to be able to escape performance art.

The Historian – Geoff Johnson

Geoff graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2008 with a BA in Theatre. Since then, he has worked with most of the regions professional theatre companies including The Diamond Circle Melodrama, Sandstone Productions, and The Henry Strater Theatre. He is also a member of the improv comedy group Durango Dot Comedy. Past roles include Charlie Davenport in Annie Get Your Gun, Estrogon in Waiting for Godot, and Roy Cohn in Angels in America II: Perestroika.

The Musician – Dave Seaton

Dave is a guitar player from Dallas, TX. He currently plays electric guitar for indie rock band Leaving Denton, who released “How Autumn Fell” in 2009 (available on CDBaby and iTunes). When left to his own devices, he collects odd instruments and composes experimental roots music in his home studio.

The Playwright – Damon Falke

Damon is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. Damon lives in Marshall, TX. His work has been widely featured in such publications as The Chattahoochee Review, Ruminate, Wisteria, and The Canyon Country Zephyr among others. Most recently, his poetry was featured in Louisiana Literature. He collaborated with Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton on the 2007 Shechem Press release Broken Cycles.

The Designer – Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton

Beka teaches visual art at Pagosa Springs High School.  She also works as a freelance photographer and designer. Her most recent book, Broken Cycles, was published in 2007. Her work has been seen at many galleries throughout the South and the Southwest including Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts, The Gallery at St. Marks, and the Marshall Visual Art Center.

The Director – Charles M Pepiton

Charlie is the producing artistic director at STRT. For Square Top, he has directed Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shane Fuller’s $100 Gummi Bears, the staged reading of John Philpit’s Contrapositive, and the staged reading of Damon Falke’s Canaan. Charlie has also directed for Idaho Repertory Theatre, Idaho Repertory Theatre for Youth, and with Idaho’s The Other Place Theatre Cooperative. While with the Co-op, his production of Camus’ The Stranger was invited to perform as part of the 18th annual Victoria International Fringe Festival in Victoria, B.C. As a theatre educator, he has taught at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, TX, Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID, and the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID. Charlie has an MFA in Stage Directing from UI and a BA in Theatre from Wayland Baptist University.

Charlie Pepiton:  It’s always interesting to hear what it was which originally propelled an artist toward a certain type of work. What’s your story, Damon? What first drew you to writing?

Damon Falke: It was, and is, a way of looking at the world. Most of what a writer does is look at things. But I think I really started putting words to paper after a girl I was very fond of said goodbye to me. I was a young man then and naturally heartbroken. I thought I could write all that out of me.

CP:  As a writer of poetry, fiction, and plays, what sort of questions drive your work? What draws all your work together?

DF: The question of what can we save is of interest to me. In some sense, of course, there’s nothing we can save, but still all of us, or nearly all of us, try to hang on to something. Well, what about those things? How do we measure how much they matter? I suppose most of my work spins around those questions, with the work itself being a kind of answer. And it doesn’t feel strange to work in various forms, although I know that’s not expected or at least it’s not expected for a writer to work well in various forms. Whether I do or not I can’t answer. But I do have a sense that my work is an effort to move deeper into certain problems, certain unknowns. The reality of death, for instance, is very compelling. It makes us stop. There’s just a whole slough of questions there to dig up, no pun intended, and I doubt anyone will come to any answers that will keep us all quiet. I believe Umberto Eco points out that we like lists because they somewhat spare us from death. What a fascinating notion. And, so to speak, that’s just one shovel full.

CP: I’ve read a good deal of your poetry and stories, but as a person who works in the theatre, I know there’s quite a bit that separates dramatic writing from everything else. How is writing a play different for you than writing a novel or a poem? How does the experience and process differ for you?

DF: As a form plays keep well the idea of voice. That is, what people say and how they say it. If I go far enough into a play, viewing wise and even writing wise, it’s because I want to hear how the people in front of me talk and how they say what they say. There’s great joy in that. There’s great joy in listening.

CP: So now that The Sun is in the West is up and rolling, what’s next?  What are you working on at the moment? Where can readers find more of your writing?

DF: I’m finishing another play and thought maybe I could begin a novella this summer. It’s hard to say though. It’s hard to speak about what’s new, because the work can pretty easily die on you. As far as where my work is, I have work forthcoming in various journals, including REAL, Thin Air, The Aurorean, Texas Poetry Review, and maybe a couple of others. I’m not a follower of the internet too much because I like to see things in print. I have my book Broken Cycles, for instance, which is my collaborative effort with Miss Beka. See I like to hold books. So maybe this play will make it into print. It’s a vain hope, I know, especially for a play, but still it’s a hope.

……………….

Damon Falke is the author of Broken Cycles and two plays produced by Square Top Repertory Theatre, Canaan and The Sun is in The West.  His work has appeared or is forthcoming in various journals, including The Chattahoochee Review, Louisiana Literature, The Auroean, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and others.  He lives in Marshall, Texas.

by Dave Seaton

When I was first approached about writing and performing original guitar music for The Sun is in the West, I had only Damon’s script and these words: dusty, bluesy, and 1930’s.

I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to write a film score. We weren’t doing musical theatre, yet somehow, I was going to perform songs in the midst live theatre. I suggested to Charlie that, instead of full songs, we treat the compositions and musical monologues – as if The Musician was the fourth character, whose dialog was intertwined with that of the other actors, speaking through notes instead of words.

After settling on that concept, we had an initial reading with the actors to discover the tone of the play and talk about our interpretations of it. As Charlie and the actors worked on the script over the following weeks, the necessary locations of the musical monologues became evident to them.
Meanwhile, I created some concept pieces and played them for Charlie over a series of Skype video calls. Through this process, we honed the focus and direction the music would take. I looked at what was going on in the script at each point to compose a piece of music that would connect and enhance the story.

The challenge I set myself was to push the limits of the style, and in doing so push my limits as a guitar player. I forced myself to embrace techniques I had formerly eschewed, and used them within the bounds of the “dusty, bluesy” style. These technical influences ranged from solo jazz guitar, to Spanish guitar, to 80s hair metal.

Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with the sound of a minor 3rd, maybe bent a quarter step up, resolving to the root. I use it so often, it has become a motif that ties the pieces together.

I’ve recorded a few of the monologues for the website; “Carnival Blues” is a blues-inspired uptempo romp, while “Sitting in the Rain” is a more contemplative, jazzy, chord-melody piece. I hope you enjoy them.

Enjoy this peek into the music of The Sun is in the West!

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

We open soon.  Reserve your tickets today!

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DURANGO, CO -   PAGOSA SPRINGS, CO –   SANTA FE, NM

Music ©2010 Dave Seaton

Working as a designer puts you in service of some greater goal, in this case, the play.  Luckily, the rich language of The Sun is in the West provides an absolute gold mine of imagery guiding the aesthetics of this show.   After reading the script several times many images floated to the surface; land, wind, myth, artifact, image, water and of course the sky.

The design emerged after playing around with these pictures and working closely with the other collaborators to see how the dynamics of the story and its characters unfolded.  Its hard to know how these things come together in a concrete sense, but one day after sketching and thinking, it clicked. The combined influences of pop art and the medieval triptychs provide for interesting results.

The physical material of the play went through many design phases before I finally settled on canvas stretched over wooden frames, suiting both the theme of the play and the demands of a tour.  The play itself takes the audience on a rich and vast journey, so the set design had to comply.  It is an honor to work on this play, to develop its look and feel, and hopefully challenge us all to see the world a little differently.

When I first approached the character of The Photographer, the aspects of her that are different than me stood out the most.  I slipped past the stuff that was familiar, and explored the areas that were unfamiliar first:  her location, her craft, her way of putting things…and much more.   Once I filled in those gaps, I discovered where she and I meet, or to put another way, where she sits in me.

I understood The Photographer’s sense of place and the setting of the play through the rhythm of Damon’s text and through The Photographer’s relationship to the landscape.  Photography is an extension of her connection to the land, along with the significance of memory to her and keeping memories for herself and others.  The idea of keeping memories for others is foreign to me.  But I guess I do some of that.  Our family makes photo albums, scrapbooks and tells stories about our lives all in an effort to remember.

My character finds redemption through taking photographs.  I used to take photographs diligently.  Sometime in my late 20’s, I decided that taking so many pictures took me out of the immediacy of the moment, and I would use my memory for cataloging experiences instead.  That worked for awhile, but I have since discovered that my middle-aged brain is inadequate for this.  The interesting part of photography that I have recently discovered through my character is that although we consciously or subconsciously choose our memory of something in framing a picture, if we look, it can reveal so much more.

The Photographer is driven by her absolute need for detail and resonance, which connects her to her world.  Re-connecting to place connects her to other places and people she’s known.  She is preoccupied with looking because looking brings her to a place where she can see what’s underneath.  This sense of connection is what drives her.  I can definitely relate to that.  I need connection, as well.  In fact, I think I’ve gone from seeking and acknowledging connections in my life, to an absolute faith that everything is connected.

My choice to work on this play is more than just a fun thing to do (it is that!). This work enriches my life and who I am because it forces me to grow artistically and as a human being.  Anyway, in the badly misquoted words of Damon Falke, anyone working in the theatre has to “believe in something bigger in order to persevere” (thank you, Damon!).

In excavating what I thought were the differences between me and my character, I have come to deeply understand another human being’s point of view.  This discovery is what thrills me about acting.

The Sun is in the West is the sort of show I’ve been wanting to direct for years now.

Last April, I called my friend and frequent collaborator Damon Falke, a writer from East Texas, and pitched him an artistic puzzle. Area theatre enthusiasts will no doubt remember STRT’s staged reading of Damon’s play Canaan in 2008.

“What would it take to create a production where the entire team can play an equal hand,” I said, “where live music and the visual elements are as important to the show as the actors’ performances and the writing itself?”

In graduate school at the University of Idaho, I briefly played around with the concept of “action design”, thanks to design professor Stephanie Miller. Since then, I’ve been wanting to experiment more with it. To really boil it down, the designers in an action design process don’t merely provide the functional needs for a show. Rather, the visual elements quite literally become an additional character in the play. The actors give meaning to the set while the set adds meaning to the actors’ performances.

This is the sort of piece I was pulling for when I called Damon last April, a show where every player – the playwright, the actors, the designers, the musician, and the director – create on equal footing.

Damon and I talked about what sort of script could support such a production and what sort of musician and artists would be needed for a show such as this. A few weeks later, Damon called and said he had part of the play written. That kind of phone call is a rare thing indeed for a director. We spent the balance of time between April and December 2009 working on the script and finding the rest of the team.

I couldn’t be more excited about our cast. Felicia Meyer, Sean Downing, and Geoff Johnson are a great ensemble and harmonize well with each other. These three actors are master storytellers with their own individual styles and finesse with the text.

Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton — STRT’s marketing director, an artist and an art educator (and my wife) — is designing the show. We’ve collaborated on numerous projects throughout the years, but this is the first show with such a focus on her work.

The final key to this project was finding the right musician. Damon’s script features a unique blend of stories told from three distinct perspectives and rooted in the land and mythology of the Texas Gulf Coast.

We needed Roots music, something from that region, something with a good hook and a dusty, melancholy edge. This is theatre with music, but it’s not musical theatre. We needed a musician willing to experiment, and Dave Seaton, a guitarist out of Dallas, was up for the challenge. Not only has he written the music, but Dave will also perform the music live during the show.

We’ll be adding music clips from Dave’s work to this website in a few days, so watch this site for updates.

We look forward to seeing you this Spring!

After an exhilarating and thorough review process, we are honored to host playwrights Joseph Frost of Jackson, MS; Joan Dunayer of Champaign, IL; and John Philpit of New York City, NY, as playwrights-in-residence in Pagosa Springs, CO.

In addition to the week’s staged readings, the playwrights and their directors gathered for a conversation about the new play development process at the Ruby Sisson Public Library as a part of the Library’s Lifelong Learning Series.

The staged readings were directed by Shane Fuller, Felicia Meyer, and Charles M Pepiton.

Anathema by Joseph Frost
(Drama) In a small Irish home, an elderly working class couple, Olive and George, support their son, Shaun, and his artwork.  One day, Olive brings home a young girl, Alice, for her son, but Shaun wants nothing to do with her.  However, George takes an interest in the girl, and teaches her to make eggs for breakfast, which finally catches Shaun’s interest.  Alice continues to invade the simple dynamics of the family’s relationships, eventually taking over Olive’s role as parent and art agent, leading to an uncovering of the family secrets and the need for redemption. Anathema is heartwarming, startling, and definitely not to be missed.

Playwright Bio:

Joseph Frost is an award-winning playwright and currently serves as Asst. Professor & Chair of the Theatre Department at Belhaven College in Jackson, MS. His plays have been presented around the country, including a short play van Gogh at an Exhibit of the Artist’s Work at the Chrysler Museum of Art, and two works The Great Play and DisEase performed at the 2003 CITA North American Conference. Joseph is a member of CITA and the Dramatists Guild of America, a participant in the annual Art Within Symposium for writers of faith, and the founding artistic director of the Floodlight Theatre Company.

Seeking Flight by Joan Dunayer
(Comedy-Drama) Seeking Flight is loosely based on actual experiments, conducted by Irene Pepperberg, with the African gray parrot Alex. The play takes place in the present, in a psychology laboratory of a U.S. university. The main characters, Monty and Enzi, are African gray parrots. Experimenter Sandra Barstow is testing the parrots’ ability to understand and speak English, name, count, and classify objects. However, Monty and Enzi already know enough English to understand what Sandra says, but she has no idea of the parrots’ own form of communication, in which the parrots comment, converse, and compose poetry. “Wanna be parrot! Wanna be free!” Seeking Flight is as hilarious and sly as it is thought provoking and moving.

Playwright Bio:

A professional writer-editor, Joan Dunayer is the author of articles and essays published in magazines, journals, and anthologies; the commentaries for new editions of nineteen literary classics; two nonfiction books; and, since 2007, five plays. Her short play Time to Go has been produced by Heartland Theatre Company (Normal, IL) and Love Creek Productions (New York). Dunayer’s full-length comedy-drama Seeking Flight has received public readings by the Baltimore Playwrights Festival (BPF) and Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (Mars Hill, NC). Her full-length drama Apes on Display, too, has received a BPF public reading. A graduate of Princeton University, Dunayer has master’s degrees in English education, English literature, and psychology. She currently resides in Champaign, Illinois.

Contrapositive by John Philpit
(Suspense) Father Joseph is a Dean at a Roman Catholic college. Martha is a partner at a think-tank in Washington, DC. The two seriously considered marriage before he decided to attend seminary. When Martha mysteriously shows up 20 years later at his office, their mutual affection immediately resurfaces. The tone soon takes a sinister turn when Martha reveals that she has stolen the only publicly available copies of his dissertation from Harvard Library and the Library of Congress. In fact, she plans to eradicate all knowledge of the writing. A play of murder, conspiracy, faith, and betrayal. Contrapositive will surely keep you on the edge of your seat and have you talking for days.

Playwright Bio:

John Philpit has been writing plays for over 15 years in New York City. At first, it was in addition to his day job as a software designer, but more recently playwriting has become his main creative outlet. Early productions include the one act play One Rose Among Us and the full-length comedy Model Son. In 2000, his play about the difficulty of finding romance with a superhero, called Super Eros, played at the New York Fringe Festival. He has been working on a musical comedy about Helen of Troy called Choosing Helen for about 10 years, and he hopes it will be ready for a production later in 2009. His most recent work, at this time called Contrapositive, has taken many different forms, each in a different setting (including Vatican City, a Lower East Side apartment in New York, a dean’s office in a college near Boston) and many different casts of characters, but always about the same questions.

Director’s Note:

In 1924, André Breton wrote in his Surrealist Manifesto, “Perhaps the imagination is on the verge of recovering its rights…For, at least from man’s birth to his death, thought presents no solution of continuity; the sum of dreaming moments – even taking into consideration pure dream alone, that of sleep – is from the point of view of time no less than the sum of moments of reality, which we shall confine to waking moments.” In other words, we spend as much time dreaming during sleep as we do thinking while awake. Why then do we place such priority on our waking hours? I take Shakespeare’s title literally. It really is a dream. Throughout our process, we have explored just what it means to create a dream scape, and as Puck says in the final act, “The best in this kinda are but shadows; and the worst are no worse, if imagination amend them.”

Directed & Designed by Charles M Pepiton

Costume Design by Brenda Fuller

Dramatis Personae & 7 Actor Doubling

• Men
  • Nick Hoenshell – Theseus, Oberon, Snug
  • Andrew Evans – Lysander, Nick Bottom
  • Chris Wilson – Demetrius, Francis Flute, Mustardseed

• Women
  • Erica Curnutte – Puck
  • Summer Gibson – Hippolyta, Titania, Peter Quince
  • Jessi Hampton – Hermia, Tom Snout, Cobweb
  • Rachel Morgan – Helena, Egeus, Robin Starveling, Peaseblossom

Download the complete STRT arrangement of the play in Adobe pdf format.

Read a review by arts writer Leanne Goebel.