Nick Harazin in a January '09 Combat piece written by Jim Thibodeau
Bring your crash helmets and shine up your boots! Combat is back and ready for action! Are you?
Since 2000 Bunny Gumbo has twice yearly been tantalizing us with all out war-- theatre style. Sixteen plays written, rehearsed, and performed in forty-eight hours. It’s called Combat Theatre and it’s as raw, and immediate, and affecting as any theatre you’ll ever find anywhere. The latest round of Combat takes place this Friday and Saturday evening June 12th and 13th at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center.
It starts with a hat. Tomorrow night eight writers will each pick out a subject and a location. The subject might be an emotion, an activity, or an occupation. The location could be anywhere, a talent show, a steamship, or a child’s birthday party. From there the eight playwrights are charged with writing an original play that centers around the suggestions. The following morning the eight fresh plays are passed onto eight directors and a pool of 30 actors who have the day to rehearse, prepare and have the plays performance-ready for that evening's show. After the first round it starts all over again with the writers picking new suggestions for the following nights performance. It’s exciting, eyebrow-raising, pulse-jumping entertainment.
Despite the speedy process, the plays are written and rehearsed as any other play would be. As Bunny Gumbo Artistic Director James Fletcher tells us, “The number one misconception [about Combat] is that there’s a lot of improv. There is almost no improv. If you were to follow along with the script, 99 percent of what you hear is what you’ll see on the page.”
With so many people involved, things can run on a slippery stage-- um, slope. It’s a difficult event to orchestrate and Fletcher is, understandably, a little haunted. “Things are a mess right now, which is normal. There’s always a last minute drop out or emergency which arises. If a single person doesn’t show up the whole thing unravels. This is where I don’t sleep for a couple of weeks,” he says. Bunny Gumbo works with a regular seasoned group of Milwaukee writers and actors. Keeping the veterans on their toes this time around are new performers Lenny Banovez, Kelly Doherty, Marcy Kearns, Georgina McKee, Emmitt Morgans and Sara Zientek. First time Combat writers include Deanie Vallone and Jaz Reed, both of whom are graduates of Combat Boot Camp, the high school version of Combat.
The play quality can vary from ridiculous, to cryptic, to socially commentative, to exceptionally hilarious. At the risk of taking the combat metaphor too far, some plays can leave the average audience member a little shell shocked, eliciting a ‘Huh? What just happened?’ response. Highlights of the Combat show this past January include a side-splitting Tony Wood written piece about the hidden (aka blatant) Nazi references in The Andy Griffith Show, and the Patrick Holland scripted play that tells the tale of a lifeguard with a traumatic past who gets a job in a, um, flower shop.
But it’s not necessarily the quality of theatre that brings people in, it’s the uniqueness of the shows, the collective pool of talent, and the extreme idea of it. This stays true to Bunny Gumbo’s mission statement. “…It is our belief that theatre matters, that it has the ability to effect great change. We are not trying to build a safe environment; theatre is not television. It is rather our mission to create theatre that challenges and affects our audience. Enter at your own risk.”
Combat Theatre is most definitely not for the novice spectator. My advice: Be brave and mighty fast plays will come to your aid.
Participating Combatants are: Logan Adams, Libby Amato, Lenny Banovez, Brad Bingheim, Laurie Birmingham, Drew Brhel, Michael Cotey, Katie Cummings, Todd Denning, Sophia Dhaliwal, Jason Economus, Karen Estrada, Susan Fete, James Fletcher, Alison Forbes, Amy Geyser, Michelle Hoffman, Rebecca Holderness, Patrick Holland, Angela Iannone, Nick Inzeo, Pat Ivansek, Doug Jarecki, Bo Johnson, Dennis Johnson, Allison Katula, Dan Katula, Marcella Kearns, Robert W.C. Kennedy, Cynthia Kmak, Amie Losi, John Maclay, Georgina McKee, Raeleen McMillion, Nate Press, Diane Rector, Jaz Reed, Randy Rehberg, Tami Rentmeester, Brian Roloff, Cheryl Roloff, Desi Rosas, Micah Safranek, Scott Shulick, Shannon Sloan-Spice, Jim Thibodeau, Ted Tyson, Deanie Vallone, John Van Slyke, Eric Westphal, Matt Whitmore, Ken Williams, and Tony Wood.
Performances of Bunny Gumbo’s Combat Theatre are Friday and Saturday 8pm, June 12th and 13th at the Milwaukee Youth Arts Center. 325 W. Walnut (on the corner of Walnut and MLK.) Tickets are $18 for each night. See both nights for $30.
For more information visit www.bunnygumbo.com
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