PlayMakers' "Shipwrecked" explores celebrity culture

For 90 minutes, the audience will stare at an unchanging set.

But the whirlwind adventure story of shipwreck, sea creatures and fleeting stardom presented by PlayMakers Repertory Company won’t be a bore.

“Shipwrecked! An Entertainment,” which opens tonight in the Paul Green Theatre, tracks the tall tales of swashbuckling storyteller Louis de Rougemont.

PlayMakers will use simple theatricality and creative design collaboration to weave this larger-than-life story, producers said.

“‘Shipwrecked!’ is a celebration of theatrical storytelling,” said production director Tom Quaintance. “It’s both a fun adventure and a really interesting look at celebrity culture.”

The play focuses on the real-life fabrications of de Rougemont, an explorer from the Victorian era whose elaborate and mostly false stories captivated audiences at the turn of the 20th century.

Quaintance said he and his artistic staff are working around the play’s unique staging challenges — seven actors playing more than 80 characters throughout drastic leaps in time and setting,

“At different points of the play, the sets, lights, costumes, music and actors all take turns being primary storytellers,” Quaintance said. “Playing around with that kind of old-fashioned storytelling is always exciting.”

Relatively minor set changes will shift the action from one exotic locale to another, said scenic designer Robin Vest.

“Not being bogged down by big set pieces allows for the actor’s physicality, lighting and sound to step in and create elements of design,” Vest said. “It’s a technique dating back to the original Shakespeare productions, which were bare staged.”

The basic set — a nameless magic store — will remain constant throughout the production, allowing the actors easy access to props and encouraging the audience’s imagination to fill in the detail of actor Scott Ripley’s imaginative stories as de Rougemont.

When this type of simple, dynamic staging is paired with continuous costume changes, it calls for high energy and some improvisation from the small cast, said actress Dee Dee Batteast.

“It’s like structured play time,” said Batteast, who plays 13 characters in the production. “There are no strict stage directions. You just have to trust that you’re doing your part contributing to the larger machine.”

To offset the static set, the actors will change costumes almost constantly, keeping up with changes in character and shifts in time.

“The costume concept was a challenge of keeping things believably modern but also archaic enough to support the style of London in 1898,” said costume designer Rachel Pollock.

Pollock found inspiration from press kit photos of modern bands like The Decemberists to help her create timeless costumes, she said.

Mark Lewis’ original score for the production will also add to the storytelling.

Lewis will play on stage with an ensemble while sound director Ryan Gastelum creates the narrative sounds — like wind and rain — in the stage wings.

This raw theatricality calls for the audience to tap into their neglected childhood imaginations to fill in lacking details, Quaintance said.

Quaintance, who co-directed PlayMakers’ epic two-part version of “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” last year, said the compact play appeals to both a sophisticated audience and families.

“‘Shipwrecked!’ is more of a thrill ride compared to the Nicholas Nickleby marathon,” Quaintance said.

“Anyone who enjoys a good story will enjoy this play, whether they are 7 or 70.”

Contact the Arts Editorat artsdesk@unc.edu.