“The trout isn’t concerned with its current facebook status, the trout is only concerned with the current.”
Comedian Tim Williams ruminates to an absent audience last week in pre-production of Rich Hall’s “Campfire Stories,” previewing at the Blue Slipper Stage July 31 and August 1.
“The age-old metaphor of the mayfly is as heavy as it gets,” says Hall of the new comedy he has been developing for the stage since early January of 2009.
Hall says he wrote the play with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe arts festival in mind. “They gave me this small theatre in Edinburgh, it seats about 120 people and...it’s not really a stage it’s sort of a break down on the floor, but it sort of lends itself to a kind of circular kind of configuration so I thought it would be interesting to tell stories around the campfire. I’d never seen that before on stage.”
Hall says the campsite is an ideal setting for storytelling: “When you’re sitting around a campfire you don’t have any distractions—so you have no other choice but to entertain each other.”
Although initially prepared as a series of vingettes, Hall says the play began to transform with a message, “Let me just say there’s a giant bug involved...It’s sort of a campfire Kafka story, a campfire metamorphosis story.”
Livingston resident Tim Williams plays a “psychotic fly-tyer” who ingratiates himself in Hall’s character’s life, and Canadian comedian Mike Wilmot plays a camper on a mistaken-identity internet date with a “nymph.”
“The material is very Montana,” says Williams of the script, “It’s got some good reflections on modern technology and how we’re all captivated by the latest, greatest of everything. Sometimes just getting out in the ‘Big Cathedral’ and going out some place and not being around technology has some genuine benefits.”
“It’s always fun to do Rich’s material,” adds Williams, “This will be the third project I’ve worked with him on.” Williams worked with Hall on plays “Levelland” and “Best Western” which also previewed on Livingston stages before being taken to the Festival Fringe for a month of performances.
Williams and Hall sit bantering on the steps of the Blue Slipper just two weeks before the upcoming performance. The past three weeks they have been in rehearsals five days a week, fine tuning the script and marking out places onstage.
The third member of the cast, Mike Wilmot, arrives the final week of pre-production.
“He’s a quick study,” Williams says of his co-star, “He’ll catch up with us and pass us.”
By the time Wilmot arrives, the stage is set for dress rehearsals and an additional show has been added to the weekend line-up. WIlmot is admittedly exhausted, flying in from the “Just for Laughs” comedy festival in Montreal to leave a short week later for Edinburgh.
“This is less work,” he jokes, and admits he’s been working out an aspect of his onstage character where he forgets his lines all the time.
“I need a nap!” Wilmot shouts.
“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing during scenes?” Hall answers.
The trio will perform only three shows on the Blue Slipper stage July 31 and August 1, then will head to Edinburgh, Scotland for the self-billed “biggest arts festival in the world” Festival Fringe.
At the Fringe, the comedians will present 25 performances of “Campfire Stories” from August 5 through August 31, all the while fine-tuning, re-writing and perfecting the show.
The performers have only 15 minutes to set up or break down the show in the Edinburgh theatre, as up to eight other shows may be held in the same venue in a day. Many of the performances are picked up by theatres across the world and go into production within the year. Others may take years to develop.
The pieces range from amateur to professional, and Hall notes word of mouth is the best key to success. Hall claims to have built up a following with two pieces previously played at the Fringe: ”Levelland” and “Best Western.” Both also previewed in the Livingston area before heading to the Edinburgh stage.
Williams, who was in on both productions, says he’s looking forward to taking “Campfire Stories” to the Fringe: “It’s an absolutely fabulous, wonderful experience.”
Previewing the piece in Livingston before the Fringe performances will give the comedians a good feel for the timing, Hall says. “As far as comedy goes, running the two nights will tell us the sure-fire jokes” as well as give the comedians confidence in the piece as a whole.
Often there are rewrites up until the last minute.
“I can change it as much as I want,” Hall notes, “because I wrote it.”
Hall finished rewrites for the last two productions of “Levelland” and “Best Western” with final updates just moments before getting off the plane in Scotland, and Williams says he is expecting nothing less.
“Campfire Stories” will play at the Blue Slipper Theatre Friday, July 31 and Saturday August 1. As of press time, 8 p.m. shows on both nights have sold out, but tickets are still available for the Saturday showing at 6 p.m. Call 222-5550 for tickets.
For more information on the production as it progresses at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and to read daily reviews, visit the extensive website at edfringe.com.
—Reilly Neill
