MENDOCINO, CA — The Mendocino Theatre Company will open on May 2 with a new play that is making waves across regional theaters all over the coast. The play, Born With Teeth, was written by Liz Duffy-Adams and premiered last season in Houston. It is expected to debut in New York next year.
Director Elizabeth Craven noted, “It is possibly the hottest new script to hit the American theatre scene this season.” MTC’s acquisition of performance rights,” she added, “is nothing short of a miracle.” All other small theatres had been turned down.
According to Craven, Jeff Rowlings, the MTC Board Chairman and a well-known Bay Area theatre designer, used his connections to secure the play, which had been closed off to small venues for months in anticipation of its New York premiere.
She continued, “It promises to be one of the most challenging and exciting shows I have ever worked on in 40 years of theatre.”
The play takes place in England in the 1590s during the Elizabethan Period and imagines a backroom pub meeting between the famous playwright Kit Marlowe and the up-and-coming new playwright, William Shakespeare.
Meeting to consider collaborating on a new Henry cycle play, the two characters spar in clever repartee, pitting a jaded Marlowe against an inexperienced Shakespeare. Marlowe and Shakespeare did contribute to Shakespeare’s Henry the VI.
Craven’s biggest challenge so far has been replacing the actor originally selected to play Marlowe, far into the rehearsals. Two weeks away from opening night, the actor pulled out due to a family tragedy, and Craven had very little time to find a suitable replacement.
Craven said, “It was a devastating blow at a key moment.” She sought an actor “who would or could learn the massive role in five days.”
The search was unsuccessful, and since Craven did not want to cancel, she “threw a Hail Mary” and called a former student living in upstate New York. They had stayed in contact over the years.
Craven had mentored Randall Jaynes during his high school years in Santa Rosa, CA. He continued under her mentorship at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park and continued his post-graduate education in Harvard University’s American Repertory Theatre Institute program.
Jaynes had just wrapped up a career of 29 years of over 2,000 shows with the Grammy award-winning Blue Man Group. He later became its Senior Artistic Director. He has just established his own training company and was writing a book on his physical approach to acting.
After Craven’s late-night call and thinking through the realities of Craven’s request, Jaynes agreed to fly in to play the part without seeing the script. According to Craven, “He is a theatrical marvel and has been so since he was a young man. He is one of the best physical actors in the country today.”
She continued, “His whip smart repartee coupled with his extreme physical presence makes him just the sort of rock star presence required of this part.”
According to Jaynes, after arriving, he immediately became ill with laryngitis. As difficult as it was, he brightened up by working with his counterpart actor, whom Jaynes described as “awesome,” adding, “He’s just eating up the stage, and I’m just hanging on for dear life.”
Jaynes has the confidence to give the part what it needs. “I know I will do everything it takes to be available at a given moment. He added, “Sure, I have weaknesses, but that’s not one of them.”
However, Jaynes’ enthusiasm for the play is joyful. “I, for one, am on the team that says this is definitely going to go to Broadway.” He added, “The roles are incredible. Either role is the role of a lifetime.”
Brady Voss performs in the role of Will Shakespeare. He describes all the role switching, a new actor with no lines memorized, and then his fellow actor’s illness as “the production adjusting itself to what it needs to be.”
He was originally chosen for the part of Christopher Marlowe but agreedably switched characters at the director’s suggestion and also began working with a new actor in the final two weeks of rehearsal.
Voss noted, “It’s definitely been a test of my ability to roll with the punches.” He continued, It’s actually been really well done. I can’t speak highly enough of everyone’s flow thinking you forward with what we had. I’m really proud of the work we’ve done.”
Voss, who lives in the Santa Cruz area, returned to performance acting two years ago after a long career in the corporate world. He appeared in various productions in the area and then branched out.
He recently appeared at the Spreckels Performing Arts Center in Rohnert Park in Metromaniacs, adapted from a 1738 French farce written in rhyming couplets.
Voss said that in the past, he had researched both Shakespeare and Marlowe and found them helpful for his role. However, he described another aspect of his acting background that he finds useful as a contrasting counterpoint in rehearsals.
“I actually come from a dance and clown background,” he said. “I used to play a very broad character and then chip away to try and find the realism beneath it. But this process has been about trying to find the individual, more emotional moments.”
Craven noted, “Together they complement and contrast one another creating a riveting ninety minutes of theatre.”
Tickets for performances through June 2 can be purchased at mendocinotheatre.org. The theatre is located at 45200 Little Lake Road, Mendocino, CA. Phone contact is 707-937-4477.
