Get away and explore foreign terrains without the burden of a suitcase or a passport — you won’t need those. You’re not going far.
This weekend, escape and head to downtown Gainesville, where The Hippodrome State Theatre’s latest production, “Serendib,” opens at 8 p.m. Friday.
At first, it seems like you’ve landed on a classic proscenium stage.
There’s an exotic, almost whimsical outdoor milieu that rests comfortably in the middle of the main stage and provides the illusion of a larger, more rugged landscape that isn’t actually there.
Stone platforms and boulders decorate the area, and plants sprout from the concrete floor and up toward the lights. From your seat in the house, it’s intimate. You’re situated eye-level with the people and monkeys, so it’s impossible to miss all the primitive action.
“Serendib,” which includes monkey puppetry, will have its U.S. regional premiere in Gainesville after a 2007 showing in an off-Broadway run at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. In Gainesville, the seven-person cast will perform eight shows a week until March 20.
Set in a nearly Darwinian playground, the scenes’ dialogue is speckled with proverbial monkey “Ooh-ooh-ohhs” and “Ahh-ahh-ahhs,” which come from the puppets.
The monkey business draws parallels between humans and primates to raise questions about evolutionary progress, where a group of scientists split their time between knowledge and research and the bottom-line facts of primal behavior.
Artistic director at the Hippodrome for 15 years, Lauren Caldwell believes the play has a newfangled structure, with the puppets demanding a more collaborative effort from the actors and crew.
“It was a whole new palette of things to figure out and craft like never before,” she said.
On March 4, the company will perform for the production’s playwright, David Zellnik, who during his visit will conduct a post-show interview and writing workshop. Both are open to the public.
Transferring the story from page to stage was unusual for the cast. In addition to dance choreographers and mechanical directors, the actors needed to be trained on how to operate puppets — and more so, to work that kind of animation into their bodies on stage.
Kim Mead had to split her time between two roles in the play. Not only did she had to practice being an aggressive BBC reporter, but she also had to help with the puppet choreography as captain.
“We had to figure out how to keep the actors comfortable but also tell the monkeys’ story,” she said.
The Hippodrome was one of hundreds of theater companies and schools chosen to receive a grant from The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The organization works to fund scientific-related projects, and it donated money to the theater to make the show and Zellnik’s visit possible.
Andrew Jordan, a Santa Fe College English major, sat in on an exclusive screening of the play and enjoyed how conventional notions of people and animals were placed in a dramatic structure.
Aside from the innovative puppets, props and pretend primates, Jordan felt the audience could draw a vision of the story from actions in their own lives, and he said the play provides important social commentary.
“I’ve seen a lot of Hippodrome shows, and this was definitely the most intriguing,” he said.
To purchase tickets, visit www.thehipp.org.
