Collaboration. Collaboration is the word on everyone’s mind when rehearsals began for Everybody, the final show in Kansas City Actors Theatre’s (KCAT) 21st Season. With a piece as uniquely challenging as Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Pulitzer Prize-nominated modern morality play, the cast and crew have to trust each other completely. Director of Everybody Vanessa Severo reflects on the distinctive process that is rehearsing this piece.
“I was working on a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the KC Ballet in 2013, as a narrator. All of KC ballets are double cast because of the strain on the dancers. I was in the wings watching the performance and noticed that a dancer from the other cast was viewing as well. I asked if he was required to watch or chose be there. He informed me that by watching another dancer dance his exact role, made him a better dancer in the part,” remarks Vanessa Severo on an inspiring moment. “This method stuck with me all this time. I thought: if actors could do that; put egos aside and watch someone else do the same role, we could learn so much. We would be a team.”
The distinctive element of this play is what the director calls “The Lottery Five,” the five brave actors who play the roles called “Somebody.” The “Somebodies,” Elaine Elizabeth Clifford, Dri Hernaez, Mateo Moreno, Julie Shaw, and R.H. Wilhoit, arrive to every performance—and every rehearsal for that matter—without knowing who they are playing. Five roles, including the titular “Everybody,” are assigned once the play has already begun. Directly tied to the play’s themes: somebody, anybody, could play “Everybody.”
Five actors. Five different roles. 120 different combinations. This is the monumental task that the director and actors take on as they rehearse this show.
“It’s been amazing to witness these actors watch and celebrate with each other. They are having an experience we typically never get to have in theater,” says Severo. “They are overcoming mental gymnastics, and I’m in awe with their dedication and Olympic approach.”
Everybody is loosely adapted from a 15th century morality play called Everyman, which is credited to an anonymous author (or authors). Everyman focuses on man’s relationship with God, and how that leads to salvation. Everybody remains much more agnostic, concerned with existence, and what we bring with us when we die. Severo adds, “Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is a genius. This play is written like life. We did not get to choose this. We are here. Did we choose it? I don’t know. But we are, in the role we’ve been given, and we have to play that out. In the end, you just have to release it.”
The show rewards those who want to see it multiple times. Vanessa continues, “I invite everyone to come back… tomorrow, or in a week. When you return, it will solidify that what these actors are doing on stage is extraordinary; what they are doing feels almost unbelievable. They’re superheroes.”
Kansas City Actors Theatre wraps up an exciting Season 21 with Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins performing from March 4 to 22 at the City Stage in Union Station. Don’t miss this fantastic local cast of Teisha M. Bankston, Elizabeth Elaine Clifford, Edelweiss Etherton, Dri Hernaez, Bellamy Kelly, Mateo Moreno, John Rensenhouse, Cinnamon Schultz, Julie Shaw, and R.H. Wilhoit.
Visit www.kcactors.org/shows/everybody/ or call (816) 361-5228 for tickets and information.
