INTERVIEW: Director River Knight on ‘The King’s Men,’ now playing in Brooklyn
Photo: The King’s Men stars Raina Soman and June Schreiner. Photo courtesy of Twenty Somethings Productions / Provided by Alton PR with permission.
Brooklyn’s Waterfront Museum is currently playing host to the New York premiere of Javen Turner’s The King’s Men, a play that serves as a commentary on gender and the difficulty of bringing William Shakespeare’s work to life. The show features nine women portraying various characters at the time of Queen Elizabeth’s death, with Shakespeare and his troupe of actors needing to plot their next move, according to press notes.
The King’s Men continues through Aug. 2 at the unique museum space, which is actually located atop a barge in the Red Hook neighborhood.
River Knight directs the show. They have had an illustrious career as an actor, writer and director. Also, Knight is the co-founder of Twenty Somethings Productions, which is the creative force behind this run of The King’s Men. Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Knight to learn more about the new production. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What did you like when you first read Javen Tanner’s play?
I actually saw the play before I ever read it. I saw it when I was 15 or so in Salt Lake City. There’s an amazing theater company called Sting and Honey that sort of raised me. I must have seen the play five or so times. Knewstubbs, who’s this Puritan character in the play who sees himself in Kate while watching Taming of the Shrew, kind of cemented himself in my brain. I never forgot that monologue. I do think it sort of gets at the heart of what I’m interested in as an artist. Move the Puritans to tears. Shake the sleeping into consciousness.
In the show, what does the audience learn about the history of men playing women in Shakespeare’s plays?
Well, I think the play has a lot of fun with the reality of this practice. What was it like to have all of the women played by pubescent boys? Many of whom were new to the company. And how did that affect Shakespeare’s writing? There’s a moment in the play where Edward, the newest member of the company, performs an actual bit of Rosalind’s final monologue from As You Like It, in which Rosalind references the fact that she’s played by a man. We often miss these moments in his plays when we forget about the reality of his female characters.
The playwright said ultimately the show is about touch, touches that are both healing and damaging. Could you explain?
Well, without giving too much away, I think touch goes a long way to define how these characters define themselves — for better or worse. Queen Elizabeth derived her power from her virginity. Anne Shakespeare, isolated from her husband in Stratford, has a very different relationship with what she calls her “chaste cloister.” The play is interested in the way men and women touch each other, and the inherent power dynamics therein.
What’s it like working with this cast?
God, I’ve been so lucky. It’s such a dedicated, beautiful group of actors, and they’re all so funny. That has been a real gift — the amount of play we were able to find in the rehearsal room, which is mission critical when you’re rehearsing what is essentially a clown comedy about gender performance.
What was your initial goal when you co-founded Twenty Somethings Productions? Have you achieved your original goal?
Our goal has been to make great art and to not ask permission to do so. I think that’s the hard thing about being an artist right now in the indie space. There are so many gates. It can feel impossible, but it’s not. It just takes work and lots of it. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.
Does reinterpreting and contextualizing the past help us understand these current times we live in?
Well, yes. I think the answer is in the question. We are our past, and we hold the record of the past in our bodies — consciously and unconsciously.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The King’s Men, directed by River Knight, continues through Aug. 2 at the Waterfront Museum in Brooklyn. Click here for more information and tickets.
