Germinal Stage Denver is believed to be the first theater company in the world to have staged Eugene O’Neill’s “A Touch of the Poet” and its sequel, “More Stately Mansions,” back to back.
“Mansions,” running through Dec. 16, is performed entirely in masks, elevating this epic American tale of a family in 1830s Massachusetts to the level of classic Greek tragedy.
L. Corwin Christie, who moved to Denver from Evanston, Ill., in 2005, again stars as Sara.
Q: Tell people about what’s going on this fall at the Germinal.
A: Eugene O’Neill intended to write an 11-play saga following one family, the Harfords, but it was toward the end of his life, so he didn’t see it all the way through. Sara, my character, is the daughter of an Irish immigrant who marries into a wealthy Boston family. Her husband, Simon, whom you don’t see in the first play, does make an appearance in second play.
Q: This unseen husband of yours got off pretty easy in the first play. It was like he was just hanging around backstage.
A: True. Now he has lines. Lots and lots of lines.
Q: So this puts you in Eugene O’Neill’s world for four months straight. What’s that like?
A: Oh, it’s not easy. What’s interesting is what (director) Ed Baierlein has done with this second show. The first one was a much more traditional period piece. “More Stately Mansions” is far more abstract and stylized in its movement. We all have masks, and we go through both visual and emotional changes. My character started out as an angry spitfire who went head-to-head with her overbearing father. Here she’s coming of age and realizing that world he had constructed, though it was a lie, was also something that was very important to her.
Q: Ed Baierlein played your nasty father in the first play, but he’s not in this one, right?
A: But he’s still my director.
Q: So that puts you in Ed Baierlein’s world for four months straight. What’s that like?
A: As an actor, you always want to please your director, and here he’s playing my father as well, and not only my father, but my father who hates me. At the beginning of the rehearsal process, I sat down with him and said, “This might be pretty hard for me.”
Q: What are you doing next?
A: I’m part of a new theater company called Uncorked Productions, and we will be presenting “Closer” with Trina Magness, Todd Webster and Ed Cord opening Jan. 18.
John Moore: 303-954-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com
“More Stately Mansions”
Presented by Germinal Stage Denver, 2450 W. 44th Ave. Written by Eugene O’Neill. Directed and designed by Ed Baierlein. Starring Lori Hansen, L. Corwin Christie and Zachary M. Andrews. 2 hours. Through Dec. 16. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays. $15.75-$19.75. 303-455-7108.
Coming Friday
Look for a four-star review of “More Stately Mansions” from The Denver Post’s Bob Bows in Friday’s Entertainment section.
