- April 19, 2024
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They speak in front of audiences for a living. They’ve memorized dozens of scripts. Day after day, they get on stage and tell someone else’s story.
But this time it’s different.
For the first time in their careers, 10 Florida actors will perform a play they’ve never read. In fact, they weren’t given any preparation materials at all. They were simply given a call time and instructed not to Google anything about the work.
“White Rabbit Red Rabbit” is the name of this mysterious piece of theater, and its creator, Nassim Soleimanpour, is an Iranian playwright who was forbidden to leave his homeland after refusing to fulfill the military service required of Iranian males over 18.
His work, however, crossed several borders (before he found out he was eventually exempt from service for an eye disorder).
Soleimanpour’s play made its Sarasota debut at the Ringling International Arts Festival on Oct. 19, and on Oct. 25, the first of 10 actors hired by Urbanite Theatre will take on the challenge of performing the same work.
“White Rabbit Red Rabbit” is performed by one actor, and that actor must be someone who’s never seen or read the play. After you perform it once, you may never perform it again.
Once the actor walks on stage, he or she is handed a sealed envelope with the script inside. After the seal is broken, the fun begins.
Urbanite Theatre Artistic Directors Summer Wallace and Brendan Ragan were the first actors to perform the play at RIAF, and now they get to watch the peculiar piece in their own theater.
“We’re always asking our audiences to take a chance on new works,” Wallace says. “So as producers we’re taking that leap of faith, as well as actors.”
Ragan says the play is ideal for Urbanite because not only does it fit the theater’s unique style, it is simple to put on and doesn’t require any rehearsal time. The company had a small slot between bigger productions, so Wallace and Ragan decided to fill it with a limited engagement play they’ve heard a lot about, but know nothing about.
It all started more than a year ago when Dwight Currie, curator of performance at The Ringling, approached the duo about partnering for RIAF. Currie had acquired the rights to “White Rabbit Red Rabbit,” but needed a presenting ensemble to make it happen. As a fan of Urbanite, he knew exactly whom to turn to for help.
Ragan and Wallace casted themselves and two other actors for the RIAF showings of the play, but four showings didn’t seem like enough for Currie. He had the rights, so he offered the pair the chance to present additional runs of the show at Urbanite.
Because actors can only do the show once, the task then was to assemble 10 fearless performers who had never seen or read the work. Wallace and Ragan started making calls to actors they had seen, worked with or heard great things about, and they ended up with a cast of varying specialities hailing from all over the state.
Jim Sorensen of American Stage Theatre Co. in St. Petersburg is one such actor who jumped at the opportunity.
“Let’s put it this way, I make an idiot out of myself on a daily basis, so I’m not scared of this,” he says. “I’ll pack a bag and bring some duct tape and be prepared for anything.”
Sorensen says it’s the challenge of “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” that he finds most alluring. He loves taking risks, and it’s the fear of the unknown in this piece that he finds most energizing.
Actor Niki Fridh of Theatre Lab in Boca Raton was drawn to the piece for the same reason. She says she’s an adventurous person, and the idea of getting on stage without any knowledge or preparation is equally terrifying as it is exhilarating.
How does an actor prepare for a play they know nothing about? Fridh says she has no idea.
“I’ll probably do some stretching and some relaxing … and that will go away as soon as I get handed the script,” she says with a laugh.
Fridh plans to get there long before her call time — which is only a half hour before the performance begins — and walk the space. She’s seen several shows in Urbanite’s intimate theater, but she doesn’t know how the seats will be arranged in relation to the stage for this one.
The type of performance space they’ll be given is the one thing the actors can know before they tear the seal.
Ragan says his focus will be honoring every moment. He hopes to maintain a sense of stillness and control his nerves so he doesn’t go too fast or gloss over details.
“Enjoying the present journey with the audience — I think if you do that, you’ll be successful” he says. “I think the challenge for me will be trying to stay present in every moment and trying not to skip ahead and prepare.”
Wallace says it’s all about being comfortable and getting in the right state of mind. If she lets her fear get the best of her, she won’t perform to the best of her ability.
“I think keeping nerves at bay is going to be the hardest challenge,” she says. “Because what the script is, where it takes you, I don’t know, so I think getting over that hump of not being afraid to go there is key.”
Wallace has also been preparing by reading random texts aloud to practice being clear and engaging, even when she doesn’t know what word will come next.
Sorensen says all he can do is be happy and healthy.
“I’ve got all my Hurricane Irma supplies so I’ll bring that with me and I’ll be fine,” he says with a chuckle. “I can’t tell if I want to drink before or take a Monster energy drink.”
Regardless, he says he just hopes the font isn’t too small to read, because that’s another way this play could mess with you.
All four actors agree that one of the unique aspects of the “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” experience is the show will be different each time it’s performed because of the different storyteller.
“I think it takes a special kind of performer to do this,” Sorensen says. “I’m excited for that, not only to do the show myself but to see other performers do it, and to see them take a completely different approach.”
All the actors come from different backgrounds. Some are improv artists, some are not. Only some like Fridh have experience doing a show solo. But regardless of their prior experience, the common thread among them is that Ragan and Wallace believe they’re the boldest, most talented actors in the state.
And part of being bold is making a decision and sticking to it.
“I am somewhat directing myself, but there’s not really an opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t, so you just have to make the choice and go with it,” Fridh says. “There is no time to be indecisive.”
Ragan says the publisher told him small theaters like Urbanite are best equipped for the “White Rabbit Red Rabbit” experience.
“You get to watch the creative process unfold in front of you,” Ragan says. “You’ll be sharing the same air as this actor, not just watching 50 feet away.”
Wallace notes the play takes both the actor and the audience on a journey they piece together at the same pace.
“They’re going to be part of their mistakes, they’re going to be part of their laughter, they’re going to catch that moment for the very first time, which doesn’t happen with most productions.”
