Flourish or Perish

Temple Repertory Theater takes a risk while everyone else is on vacation.

by Mark Cofta

But he has his reasons.

"It's a two-part thing," says Kern, the company's artistic director and winner of a Barrymore for Best Direction of a Play for Lantern Theater Co.'s production of Skylight. "First, we have a very talented and committed faculty active in the local theater scene, and we share a sensibility about what an ensemble can be."

The word "ensemble" implies a group of artists working together over time, "not living under the pressure of having to find their next job," Kern explains, "who know each other, and are allowed to take risks, a fertile creative environment." Both Kern and Temple Theaters' artistic director, Douglas Wager, matured in regional theaters that stressed collaborative community.

Second, Temple's unique Masters of Fine Arts acting program recruits mid-career professionals seeking an advanced degree. To speed their progress, the degree takes two years, including summers — which the theater department would normally take off.

"We melded this with the practical, of course," Kern continues. "We received a mandate from the university to get better, to 'flourish or perish.' A lot of M.F.A. programs have connections with a resident professional company," so Temple's gone and created its own. This troupe features Barrymore winner Genevieve Perrier (Skylight) and Broadway veterans Yvette Ganier (The Miracle Worker, King Hedley II) and Gregg Almquist (I'm Not Rappaport, Richard III).

So why start with the classics — plays many might consider too heavy for summertime?

"Well, we hope patrons of larger theaters will come," Kern says. "We hope there's a critical mass of people who will be interested. This is a smart town, a sophisticated theater town." Moreover, he says, more confidently, "with the talent we have here, it doesn't make sense not to capitalize on our strengths," which include Temple graduates Dirk Durossette (scenic design), Millie Hiibel (costumes), John Hoey (lighting) and David O'Connor (sound).

Kern and Wager are determined to give those audiences something special. TRT places play and audience together on the Tomlinson Theater's vast stage, with only 150 seats. "Doing theater in L.A.," says Kern — who worked for the American Conservatory Theater, Mark Taper Forum and South Coast Rep — "I saw that a great piece of writing in an intimate space has a powerful effect."

Three Sisters (which Kern directs) and Measure for Measure (which Wager directs, with Kern playing the Duke) are ideal for the emotionally genuine acting that Kern teaches. "A play like Three Sisters really flourishes when actors are available and open," says Kern. "It's full of disconnects and surprises, and jumps from joy, hilarity and tears of laughter to tears of sorrow." Themes relevant to modern Americans, he says, "blossom out of moment-to-moment life." Shakespeare's provocative Measure for Measure receives a modernist spin from Wager, former artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C.

The season came together last fall, when Kern realized that the year's class work in Shakespeare and Chekhov would be more meaningful with a real-world focus. Future seasons will depend on what suits the talent. "We're not a Shakespeare festival," Kern says. "We'll reach in any direction."

(m_cofta@citypaper.net)