Joseph Losey’s 1963 film "The Servant,"
scripted by playwright Harold Pinter, tells a sinister tale of
the scheming title character (played with nasty gusto by Dirk
Bogarde) who gradually begins controlling his master’s very existence.
Set in the modishly swinging London of the early ’60s, "The
Servant" doesn’t seem to be the kind of movie anyone would
necessarily think to make into a dance-theater piece.
Well, think again.
Director-choreographer Matthew Bourne – who created a sensation
several seasons ago on Broadway with his all-male "Swan
Lake" – which picked up three Tony Awards as the rare ballet
to make it big on the Great White Way – comes to Brooklyn for
the first time with his newest work, "Play Without Words,"
at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater March 15 through
April 3.
Bourne explained via e-mail from England just how he turned Losey
and Pinter’s "The Servant" into "Play Without
Words."
"When I watched the film years ago, I thought it would make
a great, intimate piece," he wrote. "It’s almost a
series of duets about changing relationships. So that’s where
the idea came from."
Bourne was also struck by the film’s specific period setting,
which is as much a character in the story as the people.
"I just love the whole period of the early ’60s," wrote
Bourne. "The big changes in society happened in the late
’60s: this was the beginnings when people were stuck in their
old ways but there were twinklings of the revolution that was
to follow. I find that time so interesting. There’s a certain
amount of repression, of keeping secrets – it’s great to play
with dramatically. Suggestiveness through movement works better
than blatant sexuality."
To be sure, "Play Without Words" is not merely a straightforward
adaptation of the film, so those who are expecting to see "The
Servant" recreated onstage will be sorely disappointed.
"While I wanted to recreate a sense of the story, I did
not feel completely tied to it," Bourne noted. "So
when we made the piece the company and I all watched many, many
films from the era to really learn about the way people moved
in those days, what they wore and how they held themselves.
"This gave us our characters, and it was through close improvisation
that we gradually found ways to tell the story of the piece,"
he continued. "For example, the idea of having several people
onstage at the same time playing the same character came from
an improvisation in which I asked the company to [pair off] and
try doing the same thing. What I saw were several good ideas
all coming to life at the same time."
"Play Without Words" reunites Bourne with composer
Terry Davies, with whom he collaborated on "The Car Man:
An Auto-Erotic Thriller" for the London stage a few years
ago. Since the current production has no dialogue, all of the
action, story and characterizations must rely solely on the choreographed
movement of the performers and Davies’ joyous jazz score.
Bourne is enthusiastic about working with Davies again.
"Terry and I work together in a completely organic way,"
he wrote. "If you are working with a composer, he can help
out with certain ideas by altering or adding a new moment musically.
And it’s what’s so great about working with a living composer:
collaboration.
"Terry did a great job. I didn’t imagine that jazz could
be so dramatic and varied," Bourne continued. "We both
worried at the beginning that it would wash over people in a
very pleasant, smoky kind of way, like late night piano – great
to listen to, but could it tell a story? Happily, Terry’s music
is supremely theatrical and every piece sounds different to me.
You are very conscious of the music because, without dialogue,
it becomes the words or the thoughts."
"Play Without Words" marks the first U.S. appearance
of Bourne’s newly established company, New Adventures, which
he created in 2002 to perform all of his independent theatrical
work. Even as this piece earns many raves and new audiences,
Bourne is thinking of his company’s future endeavours.
"As long as I still feel that I can tell a story through
movement, then there are endless possibilities for [us],"
he wrote. "I am constantly seeing and imagining new things
for the company, and a show like ’Play Without Words’ is wonderful,
as the process of making it shows me each time how much more
is possible for the art form to convey. We are in discussions
about making a stage dance version of ’Edward Scissorhands’ later
this year."
Now that sounds like yet another unlikely concept that Matthew
Bourne will turn into a stage original.
New Adventures production of "Play
Without Words" will be performed at BAM’s Harvey Theater,
651 Fulton St. between Ashland and Rockwell places in Fort Greene,
from March 15 to April 3; evening performances are at 7:30 pm,
Saturday matinees at 2 pm and Sunday matinees at 3 pm. Tickets
are $25-$75.
BAM’s Spring Gala is opening night, March 15 at 7 pm, with tickets
ranging from $300 per couple for the pre-show cocktail reception
and performance and $1500 per couple for the reception, performance
and post-show gala dinner.
For more information, visit www.bam.org or call (718) 636-4100.
