Collin McDowell, left and Patrick Webb star in the title roles in LALT’s ‘Beowulf (and the Bard)’, opening Friday at the Performing Arts Center, 1670 Nectar St., and running for three weekends in September. Photo Courtesy Thomas Graves Photography
Terry Beery plays a villager in LALT’s ‘Beowulf (and the Bard),’opening Friday at the Performing Arts Center, 1670 Nectar St., and running for three weekends in September. Beery is directing LALT’s November production, ‘Love, Loss, and What I Wore’, written by Nora Ephron. Photo Courtesy Thomas Graves Photography
BY KELLY DOLEJSI
Los Alamos Little Theatre
Despite some high-spirited hand-to-hand combat with ogres, many remember “Beowulf” with the dread that often accompanies forced study of thousand-year-old literature.
However, “Beowulf (and the Bard),” to be presented this month by your favorite local thespians at Los Alamos Little Theatre, provides a whole different angle: whether homage or revenge is up to the audience member to decide.
“Beowulf (and the Bard),” a contemporary play by Vidas Barzdukas and Christopher R. Bartlett, will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturday Sept. 13, 14, 20, 21, 27, and 28, with a matinee at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at the Performing Arts Center, 1670 Nectar St.
Tickets are $25 and are available on zeffy.com at Beowulf (and the Bard) as well as at the door. Students and seniors can use LALT2024 to get 20 percent off. For ticket purchases of four or more, use code VIKINGS4ALL to get 20 percent off.
This clever take on the classic English poem finally tells the truth about the much celebrated hero.
“Beowulf is a man doing his best to live up to everyone’s expectations in a world where he’d really rather have a nice walk, enjoy a horn of mead or two, and avoid being killed by a giant ogre,” said Collin McDowell, who plays Beowulf in LALT’s production.
He added, “I’ve loved taking on a satire of one of the best known epics out there. While I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Seamus Heaney’s translation of ‘Beowulf,’ our version is probably a lot easier for audiences to quickly parse.”
As Director Seona Zimmermann said, “It’s like history, but funny.”
Beowulf is not the only one in the play with problems. The Bard, the narrator of this free-wheeling farce, struggles with a crippling case of writer’s block and the bloodthirsty warrior princess Gunborg is thwarted from reaching her heroic destiny by her overprotective father, the king.
“The Bard is the unnamed author of the true story of Beowulf, a heroic epic of excitement, adventure, and romance,” said Patrick Webb, who plays the Bard. “Of course, writing such an epic would be a ticket to eternal fame which is what motivates him to follow Beowulf and write down the (embellished) record of his accomplishments.”
Webb said the story is both “fun and funny, upsetting the notion of heroes as bigger than life and retelling a heroic epic as something that people can relate to: a very normal person wanting to do great things and relying on their friends to see them through to the other side. It shows how events can get blown out of proportion, but also how even the silliest plans and ridiculous outcomes can still result in an astounding story.”
Webb added that it’s not only a fantastic story; being involved in “Beowulf (and the Bard)” has been a fantastic experience as well.
“The folks I’ve been practicing with have been wonderful to work with,” he said. “It is a great show inside and out.”
Zimmermann also praised the cast and crew.
“Everyone is phenomenal,” she said. “The set Taurean Sullivan designed is especially amazing. The level of detail and artistry is so high, and true to his unique vision. Set painters and designers Katy Korkos, Sue Hansen, and Celina Long have brought the set to life. People are going to love it.”
Zimmermann’s top-notch team includes producer Emily Stark, Stage Manager Megan Pimentel, Assistant Stage Manager Corey Skinner, Costumers Spring Smith and Pam Justice, Hair and Makeup Lead Jenny Mills, and Lighting Designers Terry Turton, Stacy Buck, and Hadley Hershey.
The cast features, in addition to McDowell and Webb, Kelsey Denissen as Gunborg, Matt DeSmith as Hrothgar, Cassandra Bowman as Unferth, Thomas Graves as Aschere, and Josh Bartlett as Grendel. Jack Williams, Terry Beery, Lindsey Gordon, Kaity Burke, and Austen Horner round out the cast as the villagers.
“Beowulf (and the Bard)” is produced by special arrangement with The Dramatic Publishing Company of Woodstock, Illinois.