Open Stage Presents EVERYMAN

"What could be a hotter take on 2021 than a 15th-century morality play?" jokes Chris Gibson, who directed and conceived Open Stage's March production of Everyman.

The play was originally written in the late 15th century by an unknown author. In the course of the original story, the character of "Everyman" (who represents all mankind) is summoned by Death to stand before God to recount his life in a final reckoning. Throughout the story, Everyman attempts to get others to make the pilgrimage with him, specifically his "Goods," (metaphorically all of your money and tangible things you acquire in your lifetime) his "Kindred" (Family) and "Fellowship" (Friends). Finally he asks his "Good Deeds" to go with him, who agrees, even though she is weak from neglect and disuse. Long story short, Everyman is a not-too-subtle allegory for the judgment of God, morality, and mortality.

When Gibson was thinking about how to present a "morality play" in 2021 (and during a time of social distancing), he turned to using video messaging, specifically through social media platforms. With help from Benny Benamati, who was cast in the titular role, they collaborated to create a story of a social media influencer named "Eman." The story has similar elements, including a visit from Death as the story kicks off (this time portrayed as a conversation through a doorbell video a la a Ring device).

From there, the show uses video meetup software (inspired by Zoom and Google Meet and Messenger) to tell the story of Eman frantically attempting to get someone - anyone - to accompany him on his journey to the afterlife.

"It's timely," says Gibson. "We are approaching the anniversary of the lockdown that was kicked off by the coronavirus pandemic. Many of us started out saying - well, it's just a few weeks. And those weeks turned into months. Quarantine has caused a lot of us to feel alone and isolated, and more than that - very, very mortal." With all that being said, Gibson feels that the play will still serve up a lot of laughs. "The elements of social media and video messaging really take a huge role in how this story is told. It's a mirror to how we express ourselves when we have a screen to protect us from in-person interaction. It is vulnerable, and funny, and a bit bizarre."

The cast, consisting of Benamati, Liz Curtis, David Richwine, and Patrick Hughes, all have extensive experience in improvisation, and that helped form the show. Character experiences and relationships were discussed, and major plot points had to be hit, but the show was largely improvised, leading to the creation of a performance that is part play, part film, part social media interaction, and part long-form improv. In the end Everyman the story of Death, salvation and what we leave behind.

Everyman opens this weekend, and will be the penultimate production in the 35th Season at Open Stage. In order to make the season as accessible as possible, the theatre removed all paywalls and made all ticketing on a sliding scale, starting at $0.

Everyman runs March 5 - 21, with Friday and Saturday shows at 8:00pm EST and Sunday shows at 3:00pm. All tickets can be accessed at openstagehbg.com.

DETAILS:

Everyman

an online morality play

produced by Open Stage

directed by Chris Gibson

original score by Nicholas Werner

starring

Benny Benamati as Eman

Patrick Hughes as Death

David Richwine as Goods

Liz Curtis as Sis

Stacey Werner as She/Her

Nicholas Werner as Nick Warner

Rachel Landon as Admin