A Dogged Approach

Tony-winning actor Billy Porter is burnishing his multi-hyphenate rep as director of the Huntington Theatre Company’s production of Topdog/Underdog, which plays through April 9 at the BU Theatre. Porter starred as Booth in a 2004 production of Suzan-Lori Parks’ Pulitzer winner, which follows the relationship of two black brothers—wannabe card shark Booth and reformed three-card monte hustler Lincoln. We chatted with Porter about revisiting the drama from the director’s chair.

What appealed to you most about directing Topdog/Underdog? I think this play is remarkable, and I had an opportunity being involved in it originally with George Wolfe, when he took it over to London with Jeffrey Wright and Mos Def. What I love about this play is that it speaks to the larger predicament that we’re in and how society sort of creates a world where particular groups of people don’t have access to anything. And as a result of that, their lives are bleak. This play speaks to that in a way that’s so profound because it’s a microcosm of these two men, and how they’re forced to live, and the outcome that results from that.

This is your second time directing at the Huntington, and you’ll receive its Wimberly Award in April. How important is your relationship with the company? Peter [DuBois] and I came up under George Wolfe together at the Public. He was a producer for a number of years, and I was doing a residency there, and so we sort of came up in that way. And in my transition from being a performer to being a writer and a director, it takes people who know you and believe in you to give you an opportunity to expand in that way. The Huntington has become a home for me in that way, because Peter knows me and he trusts me, and it has allowed me the space to prove myself in this expansion that I’m making. And I love Boston. Boston is a beautiful space.

How key is developing a chemistry between the two actors in this play? You kind of have to know each other in the trenches. It’s only two people. That kind of cohesive energy has to happen quick. I’m so thankful that I have the actors I have. I’ve known Tyrone Henderson, who’s playing Lincoln, for about 25 years, so we have a shorthand. Matthew [Harris] is new to me, but he has quickly become family. It’s just extraordinary. They come prepared—this is a two-hander play that’s very wordy.

Are there any changes being made for this production? The play won the Pulitzer, so there ain’t nothing that needs to be changed about it. I’m not looking to reinvent the wheel. I’m looking to tell the story.

THE IMPROPER’S 2017 SPRING ARTS PREVIEW: VISUAL ARTS | DANCE | MUSIC | COMEDY | FILM

Bang the Drums

These two upcoming shows pay tribute to music in their own special way. We broke down the ins and outs of both—only one of which comes with pre-show tango lessons.

When & Where: May 12-June 18 at the A.R.T.’s Loeb Drama Center
The Setting: Underground Tango clubs
The Sound: Tango/milonga music
The Setup: A woman searches for answers to her father’s disappearance in Argentina.
The Action: Performers dance the tango and other choreographed numbers as an Argentinian band plays along.
Remember That Movie…: Arrabal composer Gustavo Santaolalla won Oscars for composing for Brokeback Mountain and Babel.

When & Where: May 12-June 18 at the A.R.T.’s Loeb Drama Center
The Setting: A messy apartment
The Sound: Rock music
The Setup: Rock critic Lester Bangs searches for his missing copy of Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks.
The Action: Bangs, played by Erik Jensen, rants and raves about the music industry during the 80-minute one-man show.
Remember That Movie…: Philip Seymour Hoffman portrayed the iconic Bangs in Almost Famous.

THE IMPROPER’S 2017 SPRING PREVIEW: VISUAL ARTS | DANCE | MUSIC | COMEDY | FILM

A Fine Line

The numbers tell the story of how much effort Finish Line co-creators Joey Frangieh and Lisa Rafferty put into getting their documentary play to the stage. When the Boston Theater Company production premieres on March 15 at the Boch Shubert Theatre, it will be the fruit of nearly three years of work and 94 interviews with locals affected by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Their stories are brought to life by 12 actors portraying 16 characters in a 90-minute play that’s had seven workshops and contributions from more than 100 collaborators along the way. But Frangieh, Finish Line’s director, says the show isn’t about the numbers. It’s about the words.A local theater company takes its time with a marathon play.

“We have firsthand accounts from real people, whose real stories from their words are in our show, word for word,” Frangieh says. “Of the 94 people, every single person has a story to tell. … We tried it so many different ways, and we settled on the 16 that best give an arc and showcased different people’s voices and experiences. Even though only 16 are depicted in the show, all 94 have impacted it.”

The story begins at the start of the 2013 race and ends with the 2014 marathon, with no mention of the bombers and no recounting of the Watertown drama. The 16 characters represent an eclectic group that includes runners, doctors, law enforcement officers, journalists and survivors. “We’re not trying to make them look like the real person. We’re sort of honoring their words rather than imitating them. We project their real names before each section,” Frangieh explains. “We believe that documentary theater is the only way to tell these types of stories. We didn’t sit down and make up the stakes. We didn’t make up heroes. We didn’t make up anything. We talked to real people who had real experiences, and we put their exact words on the stage.” Here’s a small sampling of those exact words pulled from the Finish Line script, every last “um” retained.

Officer Franklin: “We’ve always read and heard in the news about bombings overseas, London, Europe, the Middle East. Never thinking that it could happen here in the homeland. But after what happened on 9/11 and Marathon Monday it makes you realize that there are in fact radical groups here in the U.S. and the likelihood of something happening again is imminent and real…and it makes you appreciate life every day.”

Survivor Carol Downing: “We’re moving forward, but it’s been…tough. Um. I think we’re more compassionate since Boston. And um… just paying it forward when we can.”

Survivor Erika Brannock: “It’s incredible how one event can…change your life for the better, even though it’s a tragedy. Um, and bring so much good into your life. Cause I think sometimes people forget that, that there can be good that comes out of tragedy.”

News anchor Maria Stephanos: “I’m a girl who grew up here. I have run that Boston Marathon. I have crossed that finish line. I have covered that marathon since I was a radio reporter in my 20s. That is our marathon. Those are our moments right there that define this great city. And they were changed that day. It was all changed that day. From the darkness… comes so much light. I think it made us stronger as a city.”

Runner Richard Webster: “Love is not a feeling. Love is an action. The response of…so many people to say…to push back against evil. And…our world needs a lot of that.”

Finish Line: A Documentary Play About the 2013 Boston Marathon, March 15-26 at the Boch Shubert Theatre

THE IMPROPER’S 2017 SPRING ARTS PREVIEW: VISUAL ARTS | DANCE | MUSIC | COMEDY | FILM

More Must-Sees

The Importance of Being Earnest
March 17-18 at the BCA’s Calderwood Pavilion
As part of Odyssey Opera’s Wilde Opera Nights, conductor Gil Rose and tenor Neal Ferreira help lead this fully staged three-act production that sends up Victorian values.

Our American Hamlet
March 23-April 2 at Babson’s Sorenson Center
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presents the world premiere of playwright Jake Broder’s drawn-from-real-life drama about Edwin Booth, who returned to the stage to perform Hamlet less than a year after his brother shot President Lincoln.

Paradise
April 6-May 7 at the Central Square Theater
In collaboration with MIT, Underground Railway Theater stages the world premiere of Laura Maria Censabella’s play about a Muslim-American teen in the Bronx trying to balance her passion for science with religious traditions.

Barbecue
April 7-May 7 at the Lyric Stage
Tufts alum Robert O’Hara’s satire debuted in 2015 at New York’s Public Theater; now Summer Williams is directing the play about a dysfunctional family staging a sibling’s intervention at a public park. Skewering of racial stereotypes and celebrity culture ensues.

The King and I
April 11-23 at the Boston Opera House
The revival of this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic won four 2015 Tonys during its Broadway run, and Laura Michelle Kelly (who starred in A.R.T.’s premiere of Finding Neverland) takes the lead role for this touring production.

Rent
April 11-23 at the Boch Shubert Theatre
Boston was the first city to see the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning rock musical after its New York premiere; now the 20th-anniversary tour is bringing la vie boheme back to the Shubert, featuring Boston native Katie LaMark as the flirty Maureen.

The Gift Horse
April 22-May 14 at the Mosesian Theater
Obehi Janice stars as a sexual abuse survivor in New Rep’s production of this emotional play, written in 2002 by local playwright Lydia R. Diamond, that tackles rape, AIDS, race and much more.

Peerless
April 27-May 28 at Rabb Hall
The first full theater production at the Boston Public Library space, this Boston premiere from Company One is a comedic riff on Macbeth that pits twins with perfect SAT scores against a rival who might stand in their way of admission to a top college.

Ex-Lovers
April 28 at Gloucester Stage
Acclaimed Gloucester Stage Company founding artistic director Israel Horovitz directs staged readings of eight 10-minute plays about love from playwrights such as Sarah Ruhl and David Rabe.

The Marriage of Figaro
April 28-May 7 at John Hancock Hall
Get in the wedding season spirit as Boston Lyric Opera veteran Emily Birsan plays the bride-to-be in Mozart’s beloved comic opera, conducted by David Angus and featuring sets designed by BLO artistic adviser John Conklin.

THE IMPROPER’S 2017 SPRING ARTS PREVIEW: VISUAL ARTS | DANCE | MUSIC | COMEDY | FILM