This whole project began when Pamela Dean Kenny gave me a little gift before one of the performances of my Jump-Start show I staged in March of 2014 (Tales of Lost Southtown). Pam was one of the performers. When I opened the little roll of laminated card stock I found a board game. Serpientes y Escaleras. The Mexican version of Snakes and Ladders, or Chutes and Ladders. The art work was the first thing I noticed. It reminded me of the iconic Lotteria graphics. And then it occurred to me that the little couplets of images (an action, followed by a consequence) which represented either a virtuous ladder or a iniquitous snake could be acted out in a wryly playful manner on stage.
At some point I proposed the concept to Jump-Start with me and Pam in the position of lead artists. It was accepted and placed in the 2014-2015 season, with performances slated for March of 2015.
I asked Laurie Dietrich to direct. I also wanted her involved in the development stage. We wanted a fairly small cast, as the new location of the Jump-Start performance space was very limited. We also wanted several scenes conveyed just through motion. We decided to wait to develop the choreography until after the script was finished. So, we concentrated on getting our actors lined up (and locking our two dancers later). I would be performing on stage, as well as Pam. We also brought in Monessa Esquivel, Clint Taylor, and Martha Prentiss. We began improvisational character- and scene-building in October of 2014.
I soon realized we were crafting a much more nuanced work than was my initial plan. What I had envisioned was a darkly comical surreal TV game show where two members of the audience (planted shills, most likely) would be invited to compete. The cast members would enact stories from these “random” contestants lives. My role would be as the assistant to Pam’s quiz-mistress role—a sort of Ed McMahon sidekick. I also would design all the media components of the projected electronic game board, and manipulate the visuals in realtime. My thoughts were to devise a sort of modular production, with each contestant landing on 6 to 8 snake or ladder squares. 12 to 16 short scenes in total.
What I wasn’t anticipating was that we would all begin to add a significant amount of back stories of the characters who work on the game show itself. At some point the politics of the TV production team became as important as the central conceit itself (the struggle for each contestant to make it to the winning square).
The plan was that the development sessions would end by the first week in January. At this point, Laurie and I left town to have some privacy to write the script. We spent about five days in New Orleans and returned with the working script for Serpientes y Escaleras.
As we began rehearsing, we also brought in Stephan Gaeth to choreograph the four dance pieces. He, along with Michi Fink, provided the dance performances. Deborah Keller- Rihn created the art work for the game board. Karen Arredondo came in and provided set design and lighting design. Chuck Squire and Jordan Cimmino ran the light board. Mellissa Marlowe was our costumer.
I would like to say what a wonderful experience the whole endeavor was, however, it was a fucking mess (this was chiefly behind the scenes, and, for the most, I think the audience was spared the angst from all of our challenges). Many of the people whose names I mentioned did extraordinary work. A few, not so extraordinary. Also, there were about half a dozen people who absolutely flaked on us, enthusiastic one day, and utterly absent the next. Many of these people profess to be professionals. I guess even though we were paying, and trying very hard to be pleasant and accommodating, we just fell to the bottom of quite a few people’s priority list. The concept of a solid work ethic seems to be less important than it was ten or twenty years ago. Or, so it seems to me. One of the problems was that we didn’t have a stage manager. And we sure could have used some harsh taskmaster who might have, well, you know, fired some people. I’m too nice.
What a shame. A great deal of work went into the show. And, really, the concept was weird and promising. And, honestly, I’m proud of the finished work, the final four performances were solid. And I think I might write it as a novel. However, this could well be the end of my short foray into the theatre world. We’ll see.
Here are some wonderful photos of the production shot by Fadela Castro:
