BWW Interviews: Playwright, Composer and Director Matthew B. Zrebski and ABLAZE World Premiere

When I arrived in Portland two and a half years ago, the name I heard repeatedly throughout the Portland theatre community was Matthew B. Zrebski. In the time I have lived here, I have had the opportunity to not only work with Matt in several capacities, but to also call this gracious and humble man my friend. His original and haunting a cappella musical thriller Ablaze is about to have its World Premiere, opening at the Brunish Theatre at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts on April 12^th. Matt is one of the busiest and hardest working theatre artists in Portland, but I had the chance to sit down with him to discuss this exciting new work.

Debbie Lamedman: Can you tell us a bit about the origin of "Ablaze?"

Matthew B. Zrebski: Actually, the concept goes all the way back to 1994 when I was in college and had my play, the planet ME, featured in SMU's New Visions, New Voices festival. The back-story for that play was revisited when, in 2003, I was asked to pen a piece for Lincoln High School through the Stark in the Schools Program at Stark Raving Theatre. The goal was to have all adolescent characters so that the young performers could completely relate to their roles. And I wished to dig into the issues that mattered to them. But I also wanted an incredibly high stakes situation, and I wished to explore the thriller as a genre. This old concept was perfect, so I set out to write a prequel of sorts to the planet ME. It would not be a literal prequel - more thematic, for I had much to alter...but the core questions remained. What would happen if a psychopath trapped a group of teenagers and kept them captive for nineteen days in a pit under an old abandoned high school? How would this expose their wounds? The play went up in 2004 and has been produced a few times since, mostly in teen oriented training programs.

DL: How has the piece evolved over the past couple of years?

MBZ: I have been a Guest Teaching Artist at Wilson High School for years now, and I had written a play with songs called Handprint Alley, which premiered there in 2010. Like Ablaze, this work had all teenaged characters. I then got the idea to adapt Ablaze, using music as a vehicle to tell the story. I'd long been excited by a score I composed for Mother Courage in 1996. In that show, we had a "vocal orchestra" that sang much of the accompaniment. And I wondered if I could pull that off for an entire piece - to write this as a cappella with some simple hand percussion. Something about the raw nature of the material and the journey the characters go through made it seem appropriate that all sounds would come from the voice - dug up from their souls, if you will. Wilson High agreed to the project, and I began work on it. In doing so, I expanded the story to include four more characters that would speak in loose verse as well as play the percussion. And I utilized the "vocal orchestra" as an energy force called The Fire - ever present and affecting the characters.

DL: What can audiences expect to see from the latest version, which is your World Premiere?

MBZ: The show at Wilson was an incredible experience, and I wasn't sure what would happen after we stopped performing. Staged! asked for the rights to give it a professional premiere, and luckily, they were completely supportive in my wanting to continue to rewrite. I did massive revisions, added an intermission, developed richer character arcs, and composed new music. I am hopeful that this version is a more powerful iteration. It is definitely a new version of the show - quite separate from both the 2004 play and the 2011-2012 amateur production at Wilson High.

DL: What was the process in getting Staged! involved with this production?

MBZ: Well, as I said, they approached me about the rights. They had come to see the show at Wilson and wanted to see it go further. As an organization, they work a ton with young performers. Their tag line is "we grow artists" - and that extends to all ages, but they do focus on youth quite a bit in their education programs. So a show with 20 to 24 teenagers was a good fit for their mission, I think. And I was thrilled that they were determined to keep all the cast members close to the ages of the characters. Other producers had approach me about the show, but they were interested in older, more experienced singers in the roles - to place utmost importance on the execution of the score. I balked at this; I think the material could risk becoming very inauthentic with 28 years olds playing 16. So we set out to audition close to 200 actors, most of them teenagers. And we ended up with a stunning cast of emerging artists from the region, all but 3 of them 19 or under. And they are "executing the score" with incredible skill. I must also say that Staged! attracted some incredible collaborators. As with the Wilson show, they wanted me to direct. But by my side have been the talents of Chorographer Jessica Wallenfels, Assistant Choreographer Erin Shannon, and Musical Director Eric Nordin - all brilliant. Their contributions have been invaluable.

DL: What were the challenges of writing/directing an a cappella musical?

MBZ: There are numerous challenges with this piece. The story unfolds in an incredibly non-linear fashion, jumping around in time. Making sure theatrical devices and design are consistent so as to guide the audience through this maze is critical. And the entire thing is performed on what is, in essence, an empty slab of floor. In this way, it takes the identity of a giant, moving piece of poetry. It's almost all sung, and it's unbelievably kinetic. The actors provide all physical shape and rhythm. Musically, there are logistical challenges regarding staying in key, the actors hearing each other while moving all over the place, and balance. It takes unbelievable focus on everyone's part. I think all shows require company unity, but this piece in particular fails big if the performers aren't working as a single unit. Developing the necessary trust to do that was an exhilarating part of the process.

DL: What is your hope for the future of "Ablaze?" Do you feel it is a timeless story?

MBZ: I cannot speak to the quality of the work or whether it is successful as a musical play. And I certainly don't think the themes are unique, for they are true to almost all of us - the near mythical journey that is high school. But I do think the way we present the material - the non- traditional story telling - the a cappella approach - the spoken verse - I feel this makes Ablaze unlike many other musicals. And in that, I think there may be some uniqueness. And I'm hopeful that will give it a future beyond this production. I also think having such young performers in these roles lends a sort of visceral grittiness that sticks with the audience. And I hope that ultimately, we are leaving people considering what it means to survive on our individual journeys. How do we love? How do we forgive that which may be evil? And how do we exercise empathy with each breath we take in this world? These are questions we've been asking in rehearsals, and I hope that resonates for audiences long after this production closes.

To view a trailer of Ablaze and behind-the-scenes interviews with the cast go to https://www.youtube.com/user/StagedPdx?feature=watch. For tickets and additional information go to http://www.pcpa.com/events/ablaze.