Sonnetscape
We talk with director Rusty Tennant.
WHAT (OR WHO) INSPIRED YOU TO WORK
IN THEATRE?
Many people inspire me to create theatre — my
mother, my high school theatre teacher, my partner
— but I’m lucky to belong to an ensemble of theatre
artists each so uniquely gifted that our regular col-
laboration has become my inspiration.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT YOUR SHOW
WILL COMMUNICATE?
I hope people walk out realizing that the Sonnets are
much more informative than we give them credit
for being, especially when we are fervently trying
to piece together the puzzle of the seemingly unan-
swerable questions we call Shakespeare’s life.
What attracted you to this story?
As a student of Shakespeare I was always fascinated
by the nonchalant acceptance of this narrative as
some sort of epitome of love poetry — “Two loves
I have, of comfort and despair...” — an older gen-
tleman falling in and out of love with a young boy
and then reluctantly transferring his love to a dark
woman.
We teach Sonnets in schools and speak them at
weddings neglecting the painful origins of a love
that was more than forbidden; it was a gross inde-
cency, and it could destroy more than a poet’s heart.
It could destroy his life.
Sonnetscape - Photo by Emily Ward - Models Kate Mura and Sara Fay Goldman
Frida un Retablo - Photo by Russell J Young
WHAT MAKES THEATRE AN APPEALING DIS-
CIPLINE FOR YOU?
Psychology is to science what theatre is to art. I love
the process of studying why our minds think our
thoughts and how our bodies manifest their story.
“Wisely and slow, they stumble who run fast.”
-Friar Lawrence, Romeo & Juliet
Sonnetscape runs January 31 - February 2.
boxofficetickets.com §
The Godmother - Photo by One Brilliant Day - Model Anya Pearson
January 2013
JustOut.com
33