Q&A With Director Aaron Kopec

After months of staging other people's work, Alchemist Theatre co-founder Aaron Kopec presents a work of his own written and performed with Kirk Thomsen. It's a short drama called 31 about an investigationinto the crimes of a serial murderer. The short debuts this week in double feature with Insurgent Theatre's Cracks In The Floor. Kopec answered a few questions I had about the production.

Judging from the advance press on 31, you're exploring the dark side of human nature. The investigator loses track of his personal identity when looking to catch a serial killer. Presumably this is the whole "when you gaze into the abyss the abyss gazes also into you," type of thing that has been explored countless times before in numerous different ways, most recently in works like Phillip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter novels (Silence of the Lambs and such) Christopher Nolan's Memento and Alan Moore's Watchmen. What does 31 do with the subject matter that hasn't already been done before in some other format?

I won't argue that the subject matter has been visited many times in many ways. I also won't pretend that Kirk and myself set out to write the definitive work on exploring the dark side of human nature. We simply wanted to write a one-act drama that got under your skin a little, had interesting characters and felt like a satisfying production under 1 hour in length. That's not to say that our production doesn't offer some new things to think about and that it doesn't offer a few new twists on the subject of "inner darkness." I believe that it does. But ultimately it is designed as a dark, gritty entertainment piece rather than a WILDLY provocative, artistically magical, brand new perspective that changes your life.

Exploring the dark side in "normal" people holds some fascination. Do you think everyone has the capacity to kill given the right circumstances?

No. Not necessarily. But I think that many people have moments. Moments when they fantasize about killing. Moments when they fantasize about abusing. I think that many people have fantasies, if only for brief moments, that, if out in the open, would seem horrific and evil.

I think that many "normal" people have private fantasies about "taboo" subjects such as sex, violence, theft, etc that most of us don't act on. Part of what is explored in "31" is this fantasy life. If you could hear the thoughts of the guy in the check-out lane next to you in the supermarket... would you be scared? What if he could hear your thoughts?

There are three actors advertised in the production. Who plays what?

Kirk Thomsen plays Pete who is a by-the-book and timid crime scene investigator called in from a leave-of-absence to help solve a series of murders.

Aaron Kopec performs as William, another investigator who is working the case as a consultant. William is a confident ladies' man who is seemingly more interested in the local diner waitress than helping Pete with the case.

Liz Shipe tackles the roles of both a plucky, diner waitress and Pete's oddly Stepford-esque wife.

You're looking to immerse an audience in an experience that has all of the impact of a big budget production for a fraction of the cost. How are you using the specific production elements to bring the reality of the story to the stage?

Aside from some great writing and acting (ahem) a large part of the show is the very detailed set that consists of an apartment, diner interior and exterior.

There is certainly nothing wrong with implied sets, which are most common in small theatres, but I chose to be as realistic and detail-oriented as possible. I know that some might argue that intricate sets might only serve to distract from the show but I argue the opposite for this production. I feel that with all of the extraneous blanks filled in, the audience can simply focus on the story unfolding.

Of course the set also includes some unique, computer-controlled lighting and nifty effects.

The audience's experience during shows at The Alchemist Theatre space is further enhanced by a custom 12.1 surround-sound system that places the audience right in the scene with the actors.

Finally, a few video segments are tastefully used to augment the show.

You and Kirk Thomsen both wrote and star in 31 How did the writing dynamic work? Did you each write primarily the parts of the script dealing with your respective characters or was there a more complex collaboration at work?

Without having an official, preconceived strategy for the writing process I suppose that it could be said that it was done "workshop style." After deciding the basic framework of the show, we ad-libbed through the scenes, picking the better aspects, trimming for time and tweaking as we went along. Once finished, Kirk's brother Mike was kind enough to edit and add many great suggestions. Finally, after reading through several times we adjusted some lines for timing and flow.

31 opens Friday at the Alchemist Theatre in double feature with Insurgent Theatre's Cracks in The Floor.