On Thursday, August 15, The Other Me Theater Company will present the Middle Tennessee premiere of Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited on stage at Playhouse 615. While McCarthy might be best known for having authored such novels as All The Pretty Horses, Child of God, No Country for Old Men and more, 2006’s The Sunset Limited is one of only two plays by the prolific author. In 2011, HBO presented a teleplay of the piece starring Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones. Jones also executive-produced and directed.
The dialogue-driven drama features two actors, simply referred to as “Black” and “White”, a reference to their respective races. Just prior to the action on-stage, the two men meet by chance during a dramatic incident on the platform of The Sunset Limited, a passenger train that travels from New Orleans to Los Angeles. As the play begins, the two men are at Black’s apartment where they discuss everything from life and death to faith and fate.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to chat with The Sunset Limited’s director, Anastasia Zavaro as well as the show’s stars, Elliott Robinson and Bowd Beal for the latest installment in my recurring interview feature, Rapid Fire Q&A. What follows are those conversations.
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RAPID FIRE Q&A WITH CAST AND DIRECTOR OF THE OTHER ME THEATER COMPANY’s THE SUNSET LIMITED
RAPID FIRE WITH THE SUNSET LIMITED’s CAST MEMBER, ELLIOTT WINSTON ROBINSON
JHPENTERTAINMENT: What drew you to the role of Black in The Sunset Limited?
ELLIOTT WINSTON ROBINSON: The challenge of the two-man show, of course, and also playing a real evangelist! I consider myself a believer, but most of my spirituality is played inward. I try to love and respect people along my journey as Jesus Christ would, but I will admit that I am lacking when it comes to the mandate to be a “fisher for people.” I told my Pastor to be sure to attend this show, because he may never hear me talk like this in real life!
JHPENTERTAINMENT: While The Sunset Limited originally debuted onstage in Chicago, then New York, The Other Me’s production marks the Middle Tennessee debut of this Cormac McCarthy play. What’s it like knowing your interpretation of the character will the the primary introduction to the piece for many audience members?
ELLIOTT WINSTON ROBINSON: Regional debut – that’s pretty cool! And then, knowing that in the filmed version my character was played by Samuel L. Jackson? No pressure, right? I think it’s great that The Other Me chose this play; and I’m honored to be involved in their inaugural presentation. This script is an amazing conversation, one that will most definitely leave people talking. You might even have a little conversation with yourself about your own spiritual journey…
JHPENTERTAINMENT: What do you think is among the most important lessons to be learned from The Sunset Limited?
ELLIOTT WINSTON ROBINSON: It is dangerous for people to put too much of their trust – their FAITH – in things. Surely, as my counterpart clearly states, there is value in things, but he has lost sight of the most valuable things. Black would probably say that the most valuable things are our relationship with the Creator, and also the relationships we have as “fellow travelers,” and the responsibility we have to look out for our fellow man and woman. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.
RAPID FIRE WITH THE SUNSET LIMITED’s CAST MEMBER, BOWD BEAL
JHPENTERTAINMENT: What is it about White, the role you play in The Sunset Limited, that speaks to you as an actor?
BOWD BEAL: The interesting thing about White to me was that the role didn’t speak to me in the general sense that I knew who this guy was. I knew he existed somewhere inside of me as does every role, you just have to do the work to find it. I knew it would be a difficult journey and that the only person I trusted enough to not let me get away with phoning in a performance was our amazing Director Anastasia Zavaro. We have collaborated on several projects over out 20 year friendship and she always makes me better.
JHPENTERTAINMENT: In preparation to chat with you, you co-star and your director, I revisited the 2011 HBO presentation. I was immediately struck by the intimacy of it being a two-person show. To that end, it’s a dialogue-driven piece. What’s the most challenging aspect of performing in a show that’s focuses so much on the spoken word?
BOWD BEAL: Being interesting. If we are interesting the audience will be interested. If we live truthfully in these circumstances, it should give the audience a chance to feel a little bit like voyeurs. They should feel like the proverbial fly on the wall so to speak.
JHPENTERTAINMENT: When I chatted with Elliott, I noted that this production marks the Middle Tennessee premiere production of this piece. It’s also the latest production from The Other Me Theater Company. I recall The Other Me having presented Light Sensitive and Doubles a few years back. Does The Sunset Limited mark a resurgence in the company? AND…What’s can you tell me about the company and what’s next?
BOWD BEAL: Yes, we are trying to resurrect The Other Me, a thought provoking theater experience. While Jaymes Campbell and Anastasia Zavaro are not on the current board, they are both vastly important to its past and future success. We hope to announce out next show in the next week or so and it will be going up early to mid November.
RAPID FIRE WITH THE SUNSET LIMITED’s DIRECTOR, ANASTASIA ZAVARO
JHPENTERTAINMENT: I just spoke with your two stars. I know you’ve worked with Bowd both as his director in 2010’s Doubles and his co-star in 2009’s Light Sensitive, but have your worked with Elliott previously? AND…Why are Elliott and Bowd perfectly cast as the two characters in The Sunset Limited?
ANASTASIA ZAVARO: Bowd and I have worked together on many projects in Los Angeles where we met attending The Howard Fine Acting Studio over 20 years ago. When I picked up and moved to Nashville to be closer to my family, Bowd was interested in seeing one of my shows I was acting in at The Darkhorse Theater. Since he worked for the airlines he could fly out complimentary. He fell in love with Nashville and moved here not long after. Our history of acting, producing, directing, starting a theatre company together etc. is very deep rooted. We speak the same language when it comes to acting. Therefore when Bowd is involved in a project I have no hesitation to jump on board. I know the quality and joy and artistic view will be an amazing adventure. We work together as a team to collaborate and make each other better at the assigned task. He is an excellent actor and dear friend. I trust him to bring the character of White to become a real human with depth and truth.
Elliot and I have worked together years ago on a staged reading. I recognized immediately that he has a charisma and genuine ability to make something on a page form a soul and become a life. I have always wanted the opportunity to work with Elliot again. Luckily he has made Black multifaceted as soon as day one of rehearsals. His receptive nature allows him to breathe and grow as rehearsals move forward. He has an intuitive nature and has adapted to my style of directing like we have worked together for years.
Bowd and Elliot are perfectly cast in The Sunset Limited because of their adaptive nature. This is a journey between director and actors that is a true collaborative. During rehearsals we have all questioned, discovered, experimented and grown together. It makes my job as a director much easier when the actors are willing to push their own limitations and do the homework. I will never be a puppet master. We are a team that is here to tell a story and make it leap off the written page.
JHPENTERTAINMENT: When I chatted with Bowd, I noted that this is very much a dialogue-driven piece. Two actors, one set, and it’s mostly conversational with little physical action. As a director, what challenges did that present and how have you approached those challenges?
ANASTASIA ZAVARO: It is a real challenge when we don’t have a lot of physical action to drive the scene. In order to overcome this obstacle we have to do so much character work in order to flesh out real human behavior. If you are interested in what you are talking about then you are interesting to watch. I question Bowd and Elliot constantly in the rehearsal process. Everything they say must be so specific for the scenes to be real. My favorite part of directing is character development. I encourage the actors to do all the in depth homework and then try different tactics in rehearsals, just like in real life. Once we are in the final dress rehearsal I must encourage them to trust that the homework is done and go out and have a real brand new experience every moment. If they are working properly and living truthfully, they will be organic and the audience will be involved no matter what they are doing physically, be it large or small.
JHPENTERTAINMENT: This production is being presented at Playhouse 615, one of the Nashville area’s more intimate venues. How do you think the intimacy of the space enhances the drama and energy of the piece?
ANASTASIA ZAVARO: This is a profound piece that does not need any distractions of set changes or large spaces. Cormac McCarthy, the playwright, has written The Sunset Limited to be in such a small confined space. I think this serves the material to be about the dialogue. Playhouse 615 provides such an intimacy that goes hand in hand with the conversations, the questions asked, the debates, the caged feelings. The audience will feel like they are right inside Black”s apartment and want to jump into the debate themselves.
JHPENTERTAINMENT: What do you hope audiences take with them after experiencing this production of The Sunset Limited?
ANASTASIA ZAVARO: I want the audience to leave wondering what parts of Black and White they identify with and at what moment they shifted back and forth. I want the audience to leave the theatre and exit with conversations about life and death, hope and despair, differences of opinions and how to coexist. I want everyone to have an experience that they just witnessed a real tug of war and how it evoked their emotional psyche.
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The Other Me Theater Company’s production of The Sunset Limited at Playhouse 615 (11920 Lebanon Rd, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122) begins it’s limited four-day run Thursday, August 15, continuing thru Sunday, August 18, with 7p.m. performances Thursday thru Saturday and matinee performances Saturday and Sunday at 2p.m. CLICK HERE for tickets. All tickets are $15. (When purchasing tickets you will also have the opportunity to make an optional tax deductible donation to the company to help fund future projects). As The Other Me Theater Company reemerges, be sure to check them out online and follow them on Facebook for information about upcoming auditions and performances.
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