Interview: Mark Klugheit Talks A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE, Controversial Themes at Next Stage Theatre Southwest

Leave it to Mark Klugheit to push the envelope in matters of theater programming. Rarely deterred by criticism for producing plays deemed too risky or out of bounds, he remains invested in cultivating candid discussions on staging exceptional works otherwise known for extreme shock value. 

Next Stage Theatre Southwest, Klugheit's 3-year-old theater company, will present a "fully staged dramatic reading" of Martin McDonagh's A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE at The Temple of Music and Art Cabaret on July 22 at 7 PM and July 23 at 2 PM. 

Given the theater's dire economic state and the public's reluctance to re-engage, mounting a black comedy is a particularly tough sell. Nevertheless, Klugheit hopes for a decent turnout and invites the audience to a post-show talkback to elicit a collective assessment of the kinds of plays he plans to stage. Tickets are reasonably priced at $10 – and if that's an issue, he insists he'd rather have your presence than your money. He knows the title alone may send you reaching for your TV remote instead.

Klugheit's choice of material has drawn dubious attention. His previous outing was a play he also directed: Halley Feiffer's A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY. Among its numerous cringe-inducing hits, the play flaunts a brazen comedian in unrestrained oral sex with a relative stranger – in a hospital room where her mother is dying of cancer. While undoubtedly shocking, Feiffer's play belies a profound narrative about family trauma and invokes the arc of personal transformation. 

McDonagh's four-hander (pun intended) may be a stretch, but Klugheit hopes to evoke a similar epiphany once BEHANDING is done pushing your buttons. He dares us to accede to McDonagh's stylistic conceit, however cutting or ill-mannered, for the payoff of illuminating the gem beneath a character's hideous persona. 

In a recent lunchtime chat, I challenged Mark Klugheit to explain his fascination with the raunchy and the macabre. 

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So why do this play now?

I usually find scripts and go looking for actors. In this case, I have two actors I've loved working with in the past, both of whom wanted to do the show, Clark Ray and Robert Anthony Peters. They got me to look at the play, and I thought it was hilariously funny. I recognize that it has themes that would push some people's sensibilities. I got my baptism in the theater in the 60s – Theatre of the Absurd – plays that would push people's limits. I love theater that leaves you asking questions, maybe even making you uncomfortable.

McDonagh has noted that the nature of his material makes it hard sometimes to get his plays put on because they offend at least some people's sensitivities. I read the play, and I found it hilarious. Obviously, it uses many words we're uncomfortable using, but I think it's not offensive overall. Overall, it's incredibly funny.

And it's not picking on just one marginalized segment of the community.

No, it's picking on every marginalized segment of the population. 

Well, I'll say this – there are people like that. They may not roam in our immediate circle, but they're out there. They behave irrationally, but I'll concede that it's easier to digest the gruesome nature of these characters in the context of a comedy. It's akin to watching a Tarantino flick. 

One of the moments in the play that I find hilariously funny is when Carmichael (the man with the severed hand) has a phone conversation with his mother. His mother is horribly offended because she has found, in his stash of pornographic magazines, a magazine with black women. And he has to convince her that just because he has magazines with black women doesn't mean he's not a racist.

But truth can be funny. There's something almost endearing about a character who owns his id. The characters know they're repulsive. And the sheer absurdity forces you to think outside the proverbial box. How much do you worry about people not showing up due to the content?

I would love this to be a play that brings people out. I mean, I know it's summer, and people are away. On the other hand, there's not much going on theatrically. I would love for the Tucson theater community to come. If you don't like it, come and say why you don't like it and why this shouldn't be what we do in the theater. Let's have a dialogue.

The play is at least a dozen years old. But I'm glad you're eliciting feedback and starting a conversation for a small community that sees a limited amount of material this edgy. Based on people's feedback, will you then assess whether or not to stage a full version of it? 

We have just two shows. I wasn't sure how much of an audience I could get for the play. By some miracle, we sell out, and people say, bring it back, do it again, and we'll do the whole production. We do have some sponsors, one that I would love to mention: Brittany Palma, president of 1st Heritage Realty. Brittany has made it one of her missions to partner with my company, Next Stage Theatre Southwest. She's sponsoring this play and the play we'll be doing in the fall: REASONS TO BE PRETTY (Neil LaBute). It's great to have sponsors, people who care and see the arts as something valuable. 

Neil LaBute -- there's another one. But let's have that conversation next time around.

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A BEHANDING IN SPOKANE by Martin McDonagh

Directed by Mark Klugheit and features Clark Andreas Ray (Carmichael), Richard "Chomps" Thompson (Toby), Taylor Hernandez (Marilyn), and Robert Anthony Peters (Mervyn)

 July 22, 7 PM     July 23, 2 PM

Temple of Music and Art Cabaret    330 S Scott Ave.  Tucson, AZ 85701

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