The Pearl Insider - Figaro (Vol 29 No 1)
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Transcript of The Pearl Insider - Figaro (Vol 29 No 1)
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THE INSIDER:FIGARO
The Insider gives you the kind
of rich context and detail
that you expect from yourexperience at The Pearl.
Your subscription, ticketpurchases, and donationsmade it possible. Thank you.
Inside
From the Artistic D
Becoming Beaum
On the Adaptor: A
A Comedic Pedigr
Timeline 1637 - 17
Other Inside
Tuesday TalksJoin the artists who m
story on its journey r
Curtain Up Classics
Learn more about the
the play in this inorm
Shakespeare Talks:
Directing Shakespe
A riveting and fascin
challenges and rewa
playwright in the En
partnership with the
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FROM THE ARTISTICDIRECTOR
The excitement is building.
Much more than the newPearl season is on the way. Its
nothing less than the launch
of a new era in the life ofNew Yorks classical theatre
company.
When The Pearl opens a d
o a amed comic master
Beaumarchais, it will mar
advance or our theatre. T
and that amous comic c
dodging about on The Pe
Street near Eleventh Ave
perormances rom The P
The promise o richly rew
Resident Acting Compa
designers is already to be
meeting now underway
season.James DeVitas Istory o imaginative trans
William Shakespeare. That
the great dramatists remcharacters the likes o Jac
Hotspur carry orth the ta
then, to crown the year, T
premiere of a new play
McNally. And Away We Gancient Athens to a rehe
takes o rom there to 17
play by Chekhov to an un
American premiere oWapermanent home or The
rom New Yorks classical
As to that frst show, Cha
invigorating Figaro that
Pearl. Pierre Augustin Ca
or that trio o plays that
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the frst being The Barber of Seville and then, o course, The
Marriage of Figaro each orming the basis or amous operas o
the same titles. But i someone gets around to writing the story
o Beaumarchais lie, The Pearl may be looking into presenting
that as well.
According to his own memoirs, this comic master was also
a spy, smuggler, fnancier, musician and even a watchmaker
(his athers trade and the one he frst practiced inventing an
escapement mechanism or timepieces that is essentially still in
practical use). He was married three times, spent a number o
years in Spain (the setting o course or the Figaro comedies),
and even though he returned to France to write very popular
comedies lampooning the aristocracy while decrying injustices
visited upon the lower classes he was later under suspicion or
his wealth by the revolutionaries who overthrew the aristocratic
system and imprisoned as a consequence. But his name liveson in comedy and music alike, and the character o Figaro (to be
played by resident acting company member Sean McNall) will
live on as well.
The Pearl is powered by your presence and sustaining support.
We are deeply grateul and look orward to welcoming you
to all o the great shows we have in store or this exciting
inaugural season on 42nd Street.
J. R. Sullivan
Artistic Director
BECOMINGBEAUMARCby Kate Farrington
Pierre-AugBeaumarch
tradespl
politician, e
and occasio
made his fo
among the
and gained
mocking th
found ther
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It started with a pocket watch.
To be precise, with the innards o a pocket watch. These jewel-encrusted timepieces o the 18th century made or grandashion statementsbut were utter ailures at telling time.While working in his athers Paris shop, Pierre-Augustin Caron,a young man o no breeding or amily, hit on a design thatdrastically improved a watchs accuracy. Brimming with pride,
he confded his fndings to the kings personal watchmaker,who praised the young mans ingenuityand promptly pileredhis design.
Young he might be, but Pierre-Augustin was no ool. He ranto the Paris papers and threw himsel (no doubt dramaticallyand with wild gesticulations) on the mercy o public opinion.Writing the story o this terrible thet, he cast himsel in therole o budding inventor and innocent victim, powerless andwithout recourse in the cruel, cruel world. The Parisian publictook the wronged young man to its collective bosom; andwhen a well-publicized court case ound in his avor, they hailedPierre-Augustin, the underdog who triumphed, as a hero.
Parlaying his newound ame into an entre to court, hepresented watches to the king and his amily, earning theirpraiseand a post as the kings newpersonal watchmaker(revenge is sweet). He married a widow o good ortune,purchased a position at court, and enlarged his name to ft hisnew rankPierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais. At 24 hehad learned two vital lessons: with an enthusiastic audience
on your side, anything is possible; and, when ate or hard workhand you an unexpected chance at good ortune its time torun with it.
So began a wild ridea long improbable career that reectedthe whirling times he lived in. Inventor, musician, composer,merchant, ambassador, spy, gunrunner, prisoner (severaltimes), royalist, reormer, outcast, and, o course, playwright:Beaumarchais played more roles in any given year than most
people manage in a lietirose and ell, but always htoward his next great entits zenith nearly thirty yeservant stood beore a raalike and told them the egiddy ortune, persecutiocatastrophe that had bro
In The Marriage of Figaro,panoply o conniving chacitizens o Paris certainly lie story. But there was mmany heard the low rumtopple the world they knunfnished, rightening, a
But in 1756, at 24, our heimportant uturehis ow
For years, Beaumarchais music teacher and compinvestor. He wrote impudsuccessul), and serious dcharmed every woman hkept a string o mistressebusinessmen, and enemthe upstart Nobody rom
But his ortunes took a tudeaths o his wie and twa brawl that pitted him ahad gleeully evisceratedentire legal system in a se
judge nor the legal systestripped o his civil rights
Disgraced, but determine
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became (why not?) a spy. He dashed around Europe gatheringintelligence, hounding treasonous pamphleteers, and acingdown highwaymen. He spent a month (or as he moanedto his riends, 44,640 interminable minutes) in an Austrianprison. Louis XVI called him a madman but relied on him.Beaumarchais was having the time o his lie. He even oundtime to write The Barber of Seville, which premiered in 1775 tothunderous applause.
But Beaumarchais was ar too busy to ocus on playwriting(or anything) or long. The American colonies, on the brink orebellion, needed aid. Armed with tacit government approvaland a ew million livres in secret unds, he set up a shippingcompany and played cat-and-mouse with the ever-suspiciousBritish navy while his small eet o merchant ships smuggledarms to the grateul colonies. Beaumarchais poured much ohis personal ortune into this work. The cause o America is inmany respects the cause o humanity, he declared. One can
almost see him imagining a nation o on-the-make Figaros: anation o innovators rebelling against injustice; a country beingmolded by the working class, and thereore built not on birth,but on talent. Think o the possibilities. . .
Every step o this career played out under the avid eyes othe public, who cheered him on as though his victories weretheir own, laughed at the messes he ound himsel inandshouted in the streets when he was badly used by the state.Beaumarchais treated the people o France (rich and poor,
noble and commoner) as his intimate riends, his best judges,and his loyal companions. Fellow playwrights sometimesdismissed him as a businessman and intriguer who dabbled inart when the mood struck him. But why should he look to theacademies and philosophers or approval when the people oFrance were on his side? They loved him or it. Even when publicopinion occasionally turned against him, he always ound a way tobring them around.
When the theatrical moobegan work on a play thaadventure, and personal denounce the powerul, condemn injustice and reoutrageously unny.
FIGARO REVISITED
Several years have passegood ortune to bump ino Seville and to win the Dr. Bartholowith Figarohappily ever aterbut tcountess unhappy and th
Tomorrow, Figaro is set tocountess maid Suzanne. is determined to seduce
act ast. I need a little schinto action, ready to takeanyone else who gets in counterplots, happy acciensuewith Figaro and through a gauntlet o mahappiness.
When Louis XVI heard thdeclared that only the al
dangerous event than Thperormance. Beaumarchreading it to every aristocorced to give in.
The frst perormance in lightning bolt. The nobiliclass laughed at the nobithrilled to the righteous i
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a brie moment, the political discourse was in the mouths o thevoiceless. And what they had to say was startling.
On the eve o the revolution George Danton would put it evenmore bluntly: Figaro killed the aristocracy.
In January o 1789 Abb Sieys published a short pamphletexamining the situation o the millions o French citizens who,under the archaic eudal French political system, were almost
powerless. It was called: What is the Third Estate?He began thework with three stark statements:
What is the Third Estate? Everything.
What has it been until now in the political order? Nothing.
What does it ask? To become something.
A series o bad harvests, tax hikes that aected the workingclass but not the nobility, war that had crippled the economy,rampant ination, a corrupt legal system, and the undeniable
truth that millions o voices crying out or help or justice weregoing unheard. And the word was traveling ast through cas,salons, and streets: i America had shaken o a tyrants yoke,so could France. Within a ew short months France would seeancient powers topple, one government all and another rise.In the peoples quest to become something their revolutionwould take a terriying and unoreseeable directionbut no onedenied the need or change.
For the frst time in his lie Beaumarchais, now past 60, did
not leap into the ray. Reorm was one thing, bloody rebellionanother. He was no paragon o revolutionary spirit or nationalpatriotismhe was an intimate o the court (when they wereon speaking terms), a man who enjoyed luxury and privilege,and a shameless glory hound. He was everything the revolutiondespised.
In 1792 he wrote his fnal Figaro play, set twenty years aterMarriage. Figaro still schemed, still worked or the good o the
Counts amilybut the hFigaro has no place in a wand patriotismand neitgreat companion in all hisout o avor (and in and oBeaumarchais could only or the return o gentler ti
For a long time, he onceto fght; and I would eel dthe other hand that to fgmusician, watchmaker, orwas doing as long as the ssomething else got himhadnt been beore: with measure.
The conscious choice to bonce you strike out on theyoull end up. As Figaro redoesnt happen in the wo
The Pearl Theatre Compastage o our own becomnew homethrilled at thgrateul or the chance togiddy at this newest advewe (like Figaro) have the bto share our adventure
champions, shrewd criticswhatever this journey brionewith misadventurealong the way.
Fate and hard work haveortunetime to run wit
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ON THE ADAPTOR:ALL THE MOREY DETAILS
Charles Morey is a man of
many talents: award-winning
playwright, translator,
adaptor, director, actor, and a
former artistic director of both
the Peterborough Players and
the Pioneer Theatre Company.We asked him to chat a bit
about his life in the theatre
and his work on The Marriage
of Figaro.
Youve worked on numer
plays and novels) in addit
Laughing Stock, The Yell
Man (freely adapted fro
of the 19th century class
A Tale of Two Cities, The H
Three Musketeers wha
attracts you? How did you
When I was frst attracted
college, I thought I was g
quickly seduced to the d
career as an actor, eventu
directing and producing
came back around to tha
my frst adaptation was A
The impulse behind it wa
novel and I wanted to dirfnd one that captured th
my own. It turned out to
adapt our more 19th cen
interspersed with writing
two decades.
The attraction o adaptati
o translating, say, one tho
dialogue and action withiremaining aithul to the e
original. With a play, the ta
language into a contempo
a period eel; and also to t
into a modern theatricality
period plays, a major task
economically viable or a 2
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What rst attracted you to this particular play?
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I had never read
The Marriage of Figaro beore The Pearl approached me about
commissioning an adaptation. I knew it only as the source o
Da Pontes libretto or the amous Mozart opera. But when I
did read it, I was immediately taken by how unny it is. I love
arce. Ive written two and directed many and Figaro has all the
elements o classic arce.
As you worked on the script, was there anything you
discovered that surprised you?
As I worked through the original text and began to read a bit
about Beaumarchais I was surprised and intrigued to learn
how controversial the play had been in its time and what a
proound impact it had on the politics and history o late 18th
century France. Louis XVI banned the play or several years but
was ultimately prevailed upon by Marie Antoinette to allow
its presentation at court. At frst glance, or a contemporary
reader, the original doesnt appear to be wildly subversive,
to be honest. But, when you read more closely it becomes
clear that underneath the humor is an up-ending o the social
order that is undamental to the arce orm itsel and a deep
populist anger that resonates very distinctly in an age when
income inequality has yet again become a societal issue. The
contemporary political relevance became something that reallyexcited me. It also intrigued me how sel-reerential the play
was to its audience in 1784. Everyone who saw it knew the
central character was based upon Pierre Augustin Caron de
Beaumarchais himsel and Figaros lie, troubles and escapades
mirrored those o Beaumarchais. The dramaturgical question
became: how to reect that sort o sel-reerential quality or an
audience most o whom would know little o Beaumarchais?
My answer was to take a
to this adaptation that w
the audience and share t
piece.
Why do you think the ch
Ater the frst production
rapidly became iconic in satirized and told truth to
Le Figaro was ounded to
spirit o Beaumarchais cr
old, old staple o the thea
whose origins you can se
Commedia dellarte; ollo
and Feydeau, and right in
include both Groucho Ma
Whats up next for you?
I have two new plays I am
adaptations, one based o
and orgery that happen
a contemporary comedy
geriatric sex arce. Im bo
Les Misrables back at Pio
as artistic director or 28
production o my backstathat. Beyond thatIm w
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A COMIC PEDIDREE:THE COMMEDIA TRADITION
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette
rst heard the controversialMarriage of Figaro read to them
in the privacy of their rooms
in the palace of Versailles.The
king was restless, constantly
interrupting the reading
to comment on the script.That was in bad taste! he
exclaimed at one point. The
man constantly brings Italian
conceits into the scene.
The play skirted the edge
social commentary were
do and biting satireand
had its place, o course; b
world o French comedy
dia dellarte territory.
Rough and tumble, impro
commedia dellarte has ke
o years. In late 15th century
the Middle Ages took the
companies and wandere
markets and town square
peppered with local colo
towns local tavern. These
stories o young lovers tr
miserly athers or suitors. Twho appeared in every pl
By the time Beaumarcha
commedia dellarte stretc
across Europe, a tradition
bawdy humor. The brillia
cent comedies o manne
their roots in commedia s
commedias stock fgures
their day.
Beaumarchais created so
dangerously unny in Th
garos quick wit and Coun
be seen the shadow o ch
(and that would stretch
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Brighella
Brash, ruthless, devious, earless,
and a tactical genius, Brighella
is the brains o any devious
operation launched in the
commedia-verse. Defnitely
no ladies man, hes still up or
a irtation when it suits his
purposes. He has no peskyconscience to hinder his plans,
so this servant serves his master
with cunning and asperity.
Arlecchino
Known or his amorous ambitions
and his sometimes incongruous
navet, Arlecchino (like his
ellow servant Brighella) doesnt
have much o a conscience
but hes a little less vicious.
His plans arent always air-
tight, and though cunning,hes generally better suited to
general mischie and devilry
than tactical maneuvering. He
can almost always be ound in
the company o Columbina,
the woman he loveswho, or
reasons best known to hersel,
loves him back.
Punchinella
Hes mean, hes vicious, a
hes defnitely craty. His
modus operandi is to pla
dumbno one would su
such a simple ellow to
know whats going on. S
physical irregularity is al
attached to the charactehunched back or bizarre
nose. He is a confrmed b
who loves to chase the
ladies but somehow, t
never get caught.
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Il Dottore
He is a supposedly learned
man most notable or his
pomposity and bluster. Usually a
riend (and sometimes a rival)
o Pantalone, he is always on
the lookout or a scheme that
will prove his cleverness and
secure his wealth. Whether hesspouting bad Latin or ailing to
cure the simplest disease, he is
a quackand like Pantalone,
never comes out on top.
Pantalone
A rich, elderly gentleman o
leisure, oten miserly and always
jealous, Pantalone is usually to
be seen with a young wie or
an adventurous daughter who
inevitably escapes his clutches
to y to the arms o a lover.
Sometimes he himsel is chasinga woman o ortune and/or
beauty and she slips through
his clutches at the last second.
The Inamorati
These poetic and handsom
always equipped to overco
They rely on the ingenuity
Columbina to oil parents,
ever ater.
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TIMELINE
Inthemid1
7thcenturyabur
stofinnovationinliterature,
science,ph
ilosophy,anda
rtsweptacross
France,
leavinglastingartisticchangesinitswake.Thetheatre
emergedre
vitalized,sparkinganeraofextre
mecreativity
thatcarriedthroughtothe
veryeveofthe
revolution.
Straddling
twoerasinFren
chtheatre,Beaumarchais
beganhisc
areerunderthe
auspicesofthe
kingand
endeditun
derthecooleye
oftheNationalConvention.
Morethan
anyotherplayw
rightofhistime
hewasthe
inheritorofarichtradition
,andtheherald
ofchanges
tocome.
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1637Pierre Corneilles Le Cidbrings the questiono the unities to the rontlines o French art,and (or better or worse) this neoclassical stylewill dominate French theatre or the next 200years.
Descartes Discourses on the Methodoers theuniversally amous statement Cogito ergosum: I think, thereore I am.
1659
Jean Baptist Poquelinknown to history asMonsieur de Molirearrives in Paris with his
traveling company o players. They had touredthe French countryside or years perorming
irreverent arces to adoring crowds. Louis XIVwould soon christen them the Troupe du Roi.
1666The Great Fire o London.
1667With the premiere o his frst play Andromaque,Jean Racine announces himsel as the greattragic writer o his day. He will go on to pensome o the most memorable verse plays o histime, including Brnice, Phdre andBritanicus.
1645Jodelet, writtenand perormed by Paul Scarron,
takes Paris by storm. A clownish characterwith a white powdered ace, Jodelet was theperect blend o Italian commedia practices
and French classicism.
1682Louis XIV moves the royal court rom Paris
to the newly constructed Palace o Versailles,which becomes the new (and removed) seat
o French power. This will have a proound, anddevastating, eect on the peoples relationship
to the monarchy.
1687Sir Isaac Newton publishes his law o universalgravitation.
1689With the death o Molire in 1673, the Troupedu Roi loses their greatest writer, but continuesto perorm stunning comedies. In 1689, theaging King Louis XIV, absolutist o absolute
monarchs orders them to join orces with an-other company or orm the Comedie Francaise.Its good to be the king.
1692The Salem witch trials begin.
1715The death o Louis XIV leaves his fve year-old
great grandson to be crowned king.
1728The Beggars Opera by John Gay, considered bysome the frst musical, premieres in London.
1729Premiere oThe Game of Love and Chance by
Marivaux, one o his greatest works. He detlycombines the commedia tradition with anascent comedy o manners stylecombining
romance, wordplay and social commentary,oten seen through the lens o a servant and his
(or her) master or mistress.
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1774Louis XVI crowned king o France.
1775Ater some urious post-frst night rewrites,
BeaumarchaisThe Barber of Seville becomes asmash hit.
1754
St Andrews Royal and Ancient Gol Clubounded in Scotland.
The start o the French and Indian War in NorthAmerica (part o the global Seven Years War).
1757
The Natural Son (Diderot) begins a ad orcomedy o tearssentimental tales o the
middle class rather than adventures o the elite.
1767Eugene , Beaumarchais frst drama, is playedat the Comedie Franaise. It does not go well.
1773She Stoops to Conquerby Oliver Goldsmith.
1748
The Liar by Carlo Goldoni
1732
Birth o Pierre-Augustin CaronPublication o Voltaires tragedyZaire.
Benjamin Franklin prints the frst issueso his Poor Richards Almanac.
1776
The American Revolution begins.
1778-1781
The Marriage of Figaro is written and then
widely read throughout Parisian high society,but the king reuses to allow perormances.
1784Figaro fnally has its frst perormance at theOdeon in Paris.
1786
Mozarts opera Le nozze de Figaro premieresin Vienna.
1789
The French Revolution begins.
During this time, many new theatres open, andplaywrights are encouraged to write plays oncurrent events and patriotismbut the newregime is quick to censor any play that criticizesthe government.
1792
The Guilty Mother, the third and fnal Figaroplay, premieres to universal dislikeFrance
was in no mood or sentimental amily drama.
1793
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are executedin Paris.
1777
Beaumarchais orms The Society o Authors
which would eventually go on to establish
copyright laws in France. Beaumarchais
reerred to it as his society o crazy people.