Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Old Dogs, new tricks
by Molly Mrazek
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If you're seeing THEATREdART's adaptation of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, you won't be sitting in a padded theater chair.
"It's not really a stage adaptation," says Crystal Carter, director of the show and script adapter. "We're not putting Reservoir Dogs on for people to sit down and watch, like a movie or traditional play. What we're doing is experimental, and it's immersive.
"We're trying to create an experience of really being in this diamond heist gone wrong."
Reservoir Dogs, of course, was Tarantino's 1992 directorial debut about a group of men who botch their heist due to the unexpected arrival of the cops. According to Carter, the idea to adapt the movie into this show has been floating around TdA for a while, and has come to fruition because troupe members felt the Colorado Springs audience is ready for an alternative-style play.
Even the location is different: The play is going to be in a warehouse where the audience moves with the characters and chooses what story to be a part of.
"They're not tied to their chairs, they're in this experience with the characters," says Carter. "They can go in different rooms, they can go outside, they can look at the characters reacting to these stresses from every angle."
This concept is exciting not just for the audience, but also for the actors.
"I have a lot of experience with guerilla theater, gonzo theater, street theater, whatever you call it," says John Horn, an acting veteran playing Mr. White. "In film, an actor can work for four hours and the director can cut it together and make it look brilliant. Here, our asses are on the line once we walk out on the stage."
