Theater with Masks in Mind

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Photo credit: June Xie

Gaetano Marangelli

Milwaukee native and playwright Gaetano Marangelli

The Age of Pandemic has stopped live performances in many places. But it has also inspired new works expressly created with masks and social distancing in mind. Milwaukee native and playwright Gaetano Marangelli has created two plays for a plague that took inspiration from the world we currently live in as well as classic literary influences such as Boccaccio’s Decameron.

Done in conjunction with the Brigata Theater Company he helped to cofound a decade ago while living in New York City, the playwright returned to his hometown temporarily to be near family. But after three years back, the city’s allure has made it permanent. Marangelli, who lives with his wife and two house-rabbits in Wauwatosa, took time out from his schedule to talk to the Shepherd Express about his new works and just how to view them safely—and outdoors:

How did you first come up with the concept for these works?

It began with reading about the performances of flutist Stephanie Winkler and musicians from the Stuttgart State Orchestra and the Southwest German Symphony Orchestra, about how they were performing solo concerts for audiences of one: Solo for Flute, Airport Terminal and One Listener and Musicians Playing Through the Lockdown, to One Listener at a Time.

That reminded me of performance artist Marina Abramovic and her 2010 work called The Artist is Present, and how that was about the artist simply facing an audience of one. And then I heard about Linda Karlsson and Rasmus Persson, these two Swedish restaurateurs, and how they were serving dinners for one person: Bord För En. I began thinking about how theater could be performed like that, like Winkler’s musical performances, like Abramovic’s performance work, like the dining at Bord För En. And that led me to these two plays, The White Nationalist Shakespeare Society (Local Chapter) and The Gardens.

Tell us a little bit about the content of both plays. Are they connected in any way?

The White Nationalist Shakespeare Society (Local Chapter) is exactly what it sounds like. The Gardens departs from a story in Boccaccio’s Decameron. As strange as it may seem, these two plays speak to each other! Their genres and styles are completely different, but they’re perfect companions.

Do you have a history with Milwaukee theater? (I see that Iron County is being done at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre). How did that relationship develop?

My relationship with the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre began with its Associate Artistic Director Marcella Kearns, whom I was referred to by Jacques Roy, a New York actor and director I collaborate with. I sent Marcy an early draft of Iron County and she encouraged me to develop it. A couple of years later, Marcy, along with Milwaukee Chamber Theatre's former Artistic Director C. Michael Wright and its new Artistic Director Brent Hazelton made Iron County part of the company's Montgomery Davis Play Development Series.

How did you come to work with actor Josh Krause on the plays?

Josh Krause was cast in one of the principal roles of Iron County by Marcy Kearns and the play’s director, Lisa Kornetsky. I saw Josh play Crumpet in the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s production of Jeeves At Sea, and he was great.

As you wrote the plays, obviously the current pandemic was top of mind. Any other influences?

The strange reality of our present daily lives inspired me to find ways of performing plays for any kind of theater I could imagine. These plays can be performed at anytime, anywhere, indoors or out.

How did you come to choose the Kneeland-Walker Gardens in Wauwatosa? How will choose the other outdoor locations?

When I began writing these plays, I began to think about where they could be staged. My wife and I live in Wauwatosa, and when I saw the Kneeland-Walker Gardens, I loved them. I’ve been thinking about staging them in all sorts of places—parks, parking lots, squares, people's backyards, museum lobbies, the airport. I'm up for any and all suggestions!

Are you planning to take the plays elsewhere after Milwaukee? If so, where?

I’ve actually been talking with directors and actors in other cities about how they could stage the plays where they are.

Tell us a little bit about Iron County And how it came to be at Milwaukee Chamber Theater.

Iron County is set at the end of the American Counterculture. It’s about two brothers who seek refuge from society on 80 acres of northern Wisconsin property. They want to go back to nature. They want to live off the land. But nature makes the brothers change who they are into who they have to be to survive.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I'd love to see people in the theaters we create for these plays!

Reservations are required for the performances, which will be held at the Kneeland Walker Gardens in Wauwatosa,  and can be requested via the Brigata Theater Facebook page. Audiences will be seated six-to-12 feet away from the actor and will be required to wear masks covering their noses and mouths. More performances of the plays will be staged until the end of October in gardens and yards around the city. The dates, times, and locations of the performances will be posted on the Brigata Theater Facebook page.

Performances will be held on Thursday, October 1; Friday, October 2; Saturday, October 3; Sunday, October 4; Saturday, October 10; and Sunday, October 11

To read more Off the Cuff interviews, click here.

To read more articles by Harry Cherkinian, click here.