THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY - Program and Review

The production of THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY  at the  KIMBELL ART MUSEUM  was an all around success and one of the shows I'm most proud to have been associated with. The Program above bears the names of many of the talented people I've had the privilege to work with and Perry Stewart's glowing review always makes me smile when I read it again after all these years.

This truly was a perfect Christmas production.

And now my thanks to those of you who have been kind enough to follow my little blog this year. As I place these memories online and then gently fold them and put them away for good, it warms my heart that perhaps someone out there will find my work interesting and maybe even enlightening on some level. It has always been all about the Audience for me. I'll be back in the New Year with more musings and some new posts, for there is so much more to share....

THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY - Photos

 As per my usual, I have no photographs taken during the production of THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY. These video screen captures will have to suffice. Above is the set showing the raked stage platform and the "Wagon" which the actors assembled before the audience's eyes as the play opened.

 The ANGEL puppet rising up above the wagon to proclaim in song the birth of the Messiah.

 Here the wagon curtains are pulled back and the Shepherds confront Mac, his Wife and their "baby", the stolen sheep.

And the truly memorable finale in which the band SUNGARDEN enact the Nativity before the assembled Shepherds. You can't create a moment like this, it just happens and so happens as to be unforgettably beautiful.

If you would like to see some scenes from this production the video is posted on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/user/HipPocketMemories

is the link to this and other scenes and shows which I designed and appeared in.

THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY - Research

I had done minor study of Historical Drama at TEXAS WESLEYAN COLLEGE, which included the Medieval Cycle Plays. 14 individual plays covered everything from the Fall in Eden to the Crucifixion. Each was told from the point of view of the comman man and presented in a style designed to entertain the masses as well as enlighten them.

The method of performance has been the subject of much conjecture, although there is general agreement that certain Guilds or Unions of workers ( Millers, Weavers, Hostlers, etc.) were traditionally entrusted with both the writing and production of  a specific play. Large wagons were fitted with simple stage dressings and the plays were "rolled" from village to town in procession and performed during feastivals and fairs.

All of this was closely watched over and approved by the Church and it's friars to ensure strict accordance with the teachings of the Bible. In fact these plays were the only sanctioned form of entertainment during the Middle Ages, outside of the poetic plays which were performed privately for Nobles and Lords. 

Above are some examples of the research I did prior to designing THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY for the Hip Pocket Theatre. All references to the Wagon Stages are based on paintings from the 18th century, whose accuracy can't really be judged. I think the conjectured ideas on the left are probably fairly authentic, if perhaps a bit grander than the originals.

THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY - Costumes

DIANE SIMONS and I spent several weeks in research prior to commiting to our designs for this show. There is a prevailing belief that we just "winged" these productions, but I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. We both had special access to the research library of the Kimbell Art Museum, usually only granted to students and Master's Degree Candidates. Our designs were based on historically accurate examples, with the added caviate of HPT's unique style.

I would put our efforts up against any other companies' then or now.

THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY - HPT - 1986

And now with Christmas upon us once again I'd like to relate some of the process behind the HIP POCKET THEATRE production of THE SECOND SHEPHERD'S PLAY at the KIMBELL ART MUSEUM in 1986.

This seldom produced Medieval Cycle Play was one of 14 known to exist which were performed by local Guilds on traveling wagons during the 14th and 15th centuries in England. Each play covered a different story from the Bible and were used to educate the populace and encourage them to seek solice in the Church.

We needed a play to perform at the Kimbell in November and December of that year and I suggested this based on my minor studies at TEXAS WESLEYAN COLLEGE.

The rendering above is pen and ink on architect's velum with reverse coloring. The raked stage I had designed earlier in the same year for our production of THE THREE CUCKOLDS was utilized again here. I added a stationary central platform.

This blank space was all the audience saw upon entering the auditorium. As the play began, the actors transported all the scenic elements and banners down the aisle leading up to the stage and "constructed" the set before the eyes of the audience.  Time constraints led to a simplification of the banners graphics, but the actual set hewed very closly to this original design.

JAMES start at CASA MANANA

So...my start at CASA MANANA in 1972 was auspicious, but not too dramatic...

My good friend then ( and to this day) MARK WALKER and I had made a short film the summer before and had worked on at least 6  High School productions together. He had secured an internship at CASA in the summer of 1972 as a scenic artist ( He is a fine artist, then and now) and I came out there one afternoon to see him.
Mark was busy in the main theatre building, so I hung around the Scene Shop in back waiting for him. I knew a couple of the other guys working out there. The upcoming production was Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES and they were busy applying silver mylar sheeting onto playwood forms to create arches. I chipped in and started spraying glue down and squeeging the silver sheeting down as smoothly as I could.....

The Scenic designer at CASA that summer was a man named JOE I. TOMPKINS. I had no idea who he was. At some point in my wait that afternoon, he strolled into the shop and said " That's it! That's the way I want it to look!" he was looking right at me and the piece I was working on.
"You're doing a great job!" he said...and I replied, quite honestly..." I don't work here."

Without missing a beat his reply was, "You do now!"

And so I started working at CASA MANANA.

[I should mention that Joe I. Tomkins went on to win two Emmy Awards for his Costume designs for the ELEANOR & FRANKLIN TV miniseries starring JANE ALEXANDER ( pictured with Joe above) and was nominated for two Academy Awards for his costume work on CROSSCREEK with Mary Steenbergen and HARLEM NIGHTS with Eddy Murphy. I learned a Hellava Lot from him that summer, probably the most instructive time of my life. I knew that I wanted to do what He did from that point on...and so I did...Joe is retired and living quite comfortably in Merida, Mexico today, and we still keep in touch. He's a great guy!]

CASA MANANA Program 2

here are a couple more scans from the 1937 Casa Manana program. Again, if a Time Machine was possible ...