KENNY MATHIESON hears about the mission of Charioteer Theatre, and how they are putting together their North by North East touring show I’m A Shakespearean Character! – Get Me Out of Here!

LAURA Pasetti has a vision. The Milan-born, Forres-based Artistic Director of Charioteer Theatre is looking beyond the confines of town or country to a European perspective in both her laboratory and stage work with the company.

“Actually my goal is to create an international school, and with that vision in mind I created Charioteer Theatre,” she explained amid preparations for the new show. “The charioteer is a traveller, and the context which I took the name from is very relevant, I think – it comes from Plato, and his idea of the soul as a charioteer trying to reach the Gods and come back to humanity and tell us all about them.

“Because I feel that the mission of actors in their profession is similar to that, of telling something about the Gods, whatever we think they are, I chose that name for the company.”

Stefano Guizzi, Danielle Farrow, Laura Pasetti and Cameron Mowat in rehearsal at Forres Town Hall

She was already a successful actress in Italy when she formed Charioteer in 2004, with the aim of developing that vision in the context of the theatrical classics, and particularly Shakespeare and the venerable Italian tradition of Commedia dell’Arte, both of which have loomed large in the company’s work, albeit in unconventional fashion.

Much of Charioteer’s focus is on laboratories, workshops and courses for actors, both professional and non-professional (they will be running a laboratory on Commedia dell’Arte in Edinburgh during the Fringe ­ see their website for details).

The laboratories are based on Stanislavski’s Method, developed and integrated by Anatoli Vassiliev and Giorgio Strehler’s teaching. Two of the actors taking part in the North by North East production, Danielle Farrow and Lynn Dalgetty, have moved successfully from laboratories into shows.

They will play Lady Macbeth and Puck respectively, and they will be joined by Cameron Mowat, making his Charioteer debut as Hamlet. Prospero is played by Italian actor Stefano Guizzi, an expert in Commedia dell’Arte associated with the Piccolo Theatre of Milan, who is an old friend and colleague of Laura (in fact, they studied together in Milan).

The presence of two of her own students in the show is a reminder of the importance of the laboratory activities to the company’s ambitious mission.

“We focus a lot on laboratories, trying to give actors an opportunity to develop more skills, and also to breach cultural barriers,” Laura explained. “That is one of the reasons we like to have actors from different nationalities working and studying together and sharing their different backgrounds and cultures.

“From that we have the possibility of developing a method of work that is common to all of them, because I really believe it is time to create a European artist. Although we talk a lot about Europe, there is not really a European mentality at all – we all still think about our little country or sometimes even just our little town, and I like the idea that artists need to breach that and create bridges and really link people together to the theatre.

“This is why I like to work with actors who have been in my laboratories in the productions we do, and also why I like bi-lingual shows. In our shows there is usually an element of English and an element of Italian, but in future we would like to use French and German as well, adding to the international aspect.

“I think using an Italian actor to play in English in this show is already a good step, because it is showing that actors together can really create a link – I am noticing in rehearsal that all of these cultural backgrounds are being used in very open and creative ways, which is very beautiful to see.

“We did not plan to have Italian language in this show,” she added, “but of course, Prospero was the Duke of Milan, so we are toying in rehearsal with having a few Italian words in the show, but haven’t decided yet.”

A scene from the Italian production of Get Me Out of Here

Laura and the four actors have been hard at work putting the show together in a room in Forres Town Hall. The process is not a standard case of learning a script and then working out how to translate it in straightforward fashion to the stage – the director favours much more of a devising process in working with the actors.

All but Cameron Mowat had performed in the Italian version of the show, so they began with the advantage of the experience gained in staging that show, and had a structure already in place that they knew had an impact with the audience. The particular requirements of the show, however, demand a particular approach in rehearsal.

“A lot of the devise is about improvisation,” Laura explained. “I spent the first week of rehearsal working on Shakespeare only, especially with Cameron, who is new to the show, so we really worked on that aspect initially. Then we moved more into working around the improvisation, which is a really important aspect.

“So we do a lot of work on impro, even if it is not directly connected to the show. For example, I might ask them to concentrate on holding their status in relation to each other, see where the power is, and perhaps ask them to steal the power from each other or something like that, which mirrors what happens in the show.

“Or we work on everyone being the interviewer and challenging the character or actor to find answers and really defend their play and make its qualities visible, and that is a good reminder that it is not so much the character that they are defending on stage as the play they represent.”

She acknowledges that this is quite a challenging process for the actors – Lady Macbeth, for example, is clearly a murderer, but she still has to be able to defend the validity and importance of her play, and impress on the audience how important it is to see her play on stage.

Stefano Guizzi, Danielle Farrow and Laura Pasetti in rehearsal

Although credited as writer and director, Laura is comfortable with having the text emerge in large part from the collaborative process.

“Yes, and really the text is devised by the company. It would have been nice to have more time, but there is never enough time! Good things are coming out of the process, and I can see that they are comfortable with it, and are growing more confident about throwing in new things. It is a lot of work, and the text won’t be finalised until right at the end, and will maybe even change from night to night after that.”

I’m A Shakespearian Character! – Get Me Out of Here! is on tour from 28 May – 16 June.

© Kenny Mathieson, 2011

Links

• North by North East
• Charioteer Theatre