Behind a Scene: ‘Blind Mouth Singing’s’ Drive for Suggestion
photo by Zack Brown
There are twenty or so students sitting in desks, a single table separating them from the writing board. The place is a college classroom and the time is late morning, but not for long. Artistic Director Ruben Polendo, Stage Manager Hilary Austin, and actor Jon Norman Schneider are ready to begin their session with the students by presenting a scene from their production of the play, “Blind Mouth Singing.” Mr. Polendo and Ms. Austin quickly rearrange the table, Mr. Schneider effortlessly gets into character, and, while the place is still a classroom, the setting is now a garden in the middle of the night. Mr. Schneider has become Reiderico, a young man with a friend living in the garden’s well. As Reiderico, Mr. Schneider looks beyond the students as he delivers a monologue, speaking to his friend in the depths of the well. Neither limited nor affected by the students, the lights, and the fact that there is no well and well-dwelling friend, Mr. Schneider is completely focused on his portrayal of Reiderico. The scene ends and everyone is back in the classroom.
After witnessing the brief scene being performed in the classroom, one may question his or her experience. How could there be a well without a physical well being present? How did a classroom in the morning become a garden at night? The answer to these questions can be summed up in one word: theater. Theater, with its need for creativity and resourcefulness, relies more heavily on suggestion than statement. Mr. Polendo further explains the comparison of suggestion and statement by associating suggestion with theater and statement with film. In a film version of the play, Mr. Schneider’s scene would probably have him in an actual garden, delivering his monologue into an actual well. The scene, as performed on stage at the Baruch Performing Arts Center or in the classroom, is very different from the “film version.” The production suggests a horizontal well facing the audience. The director and actors must work within the confines of the theater as they project their message.
Mr. Schneider’s scene shows how suggestion is used to create a moment in which the audience can forget about the restrictions of the stage. Mr. Schneider and Mr. Polendo speak of the invisible fourth wall separating the world of the play from the world of the audience. In maintaining the fourth wall, Mr. Schneider is in the world the play suggests. The power of suggestion, enhanced by forceful acting and dramatic direction, can effectively complement the fourth wall. Mr. Polendo’s direction and vision concerning the portrayal of the well, combined with Mr. Schneider’s focus, bring “Blind Mouth Singing’s” suggestion to fruition. Audience members may even find themselves within the play’s fourth wall, as part of the world that has been created.
The art of effective suggestion is a challenge faced by nearly all who work in theater. Through the efforts of the actors, Mr. Polendo, Ms. Austin, who, as stage manager, must supervise all occurrences in the play, and the other members of the staff, a single scene in “Blind Mouth Singing” is transformed into a unique experience that gives the audience stimulus for imagination. This imagination is part of the magic of theater and allows for a stage or classroom to become anything that the play desires.