Two locals launch a new repertory company in Malibu with an award-winning play.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
When Michael Cristofer’s play “The Shadow Box” debuted at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum in 1975, it struck a chord with audiences. It quickly moved to Broadway, garnering a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for Best Play and was made into a Golden Globe-winning and Emmy-nominated film, directed by Paul Newman.
All this from a play written about Cristofer’s personal experience of two close friends dying.
“But this play’s not about death,” director Richard Johnson said. “It’s about hope. It’s about carpe diem. It’s about living your life to the fullest before you die.”
Johnson, a film and television actor, returns to his theatrical roots with the opening of “The Shadow Box” at the Malibu Stage Company this week.
Johnson and producer Victoria Sterling, both Malibu residents, formed a new theater company this year, the Zuma Repertory Theatre, determined, as Johnson said, “to bring top-notch, Broadway-quality theater with professional actors to Malibu.”
Whereas Malibu has seen plenty of professional-quality “one-offs” and play readings featuring the talents of well-known actors such as Ed Asner, Kathleen Quinlan and Martin Sheen, a true repertory theater has been difficult to organize.
“I wanted to change that,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to have to drive to Hollywood to see great theater when we have such outstanding talent here in Malibu.”
So he tacked up some posters around town last summer, looking to find a core repertory group, work-shopped some plays and decided to launch the Zuma Repertory Theatre’s first season with a complex piece that would “give everyone on stage a chance to spread their wings and participate in something that truly serves the talent we have.”
Indeed, the cast bios for “The Shadow Box” are heavy with resumé mentions of Julliard, The Actor’s Studio, Chicago’s Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatres, and internationally known films.
As Sterling said, “I might have spent years in TV development, but I’m doing theater because this is what I love.”
Accordingly, “The Shadow Box” is a true ensemble piece set in a hospice for people suffering from terminal illnesses. The play’s three featured families confront the emotional miasma of end-of-life decisions for both patients and their loved ones. The results are sorrowful, ferocious and surprisingly funny.
“Yes, it’s about mortality, but there’s great joy in it,” Johnson explained. “I told my wife, ‘You know, we’re all terminal.’ Doing this play makes me appreciate all the little things she does for me. Life is ephemeral. What we strive to play in every scene is the uplifting angle, so you can say ‘Yeah, I’m dying’ with a smile.”
“The Shadow Box” came out in a time when America was uncomfortable with the issue of mortality. Then the AIDS epidemic spawned a new era of theater and social commentary on the subject, including Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart” and Tony Kushner’s play series “Angels in America.”
Psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross published a groundbreaking study titled “On Death and Dying” that famously categorized the five stages of grief into denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
“But the last of those is hope,” Johnson said. “And this play is filled with it.”
Malibu resident and actor Howard Ferguson is featured in the play and agrees with his director. “This piece may be 32 years old, but it is not dated at all,” he said. “There are a lot of people in this country dealing with terminal illness. And their families. It’s all still pertinent.”
Ferguson said part of his preparation for his role was in reading literary critic Anatole Broyard’s “Intoxicated By My Illness,” which Broyard wrote during the last 14 months of his life. “He spoke of how important it is to be alive every moment until you die,” Ferguson said.
Actress Nancy Little said her role allows her to tap into a real-life issue. “Like my character in the play, I care for an ailing parent,” she said. “We all die and we all have to lose someone. The common denominator in this play is that they know they are dying. There’s angst, but there is also peace. You come away feeling there is life after all this.”
New Yorker Pamela Donnelly, a Columbia University graduate and veteran of daytime TV dramas and playwright herself, will be starting her West Coast career trajectory with Zuma Rep.
“I am very fortunate to have come to this cast and this particular piece,” she said. “All the characters are so multidimensional, you can really soar.”
The Zuma Repertory Theatre is located at the Malibu Stage Company at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway. “The Shadow Box” runs Jan. 18 to Feb. 2, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., with complimentary wine tasting from local vineyards at all performances and an exposition of local artists’ works from the Malibu Art Association. Tickets are $20. More information and tickets can be obtained by calling 800.838.3006 or online at www.brownpapertickets.com. Tickets are also available at the theater office box or by calling 310.589.1998.