Hephaestus’ hammer strikes twice
Producing Artistic Director Phil Smith on refining a visionFrom The Hephaestus Issue of ArtAntica  The unforgettable beauty and heartbreaking agony of producing new work in the theatre, lies in the inseparable reality that too soon after opening, the play will be just a memory. Months, sometimes years, are dedicated to its inception, gestation, and realization. Scores of artists, crew, administrators, fund raisers, dedicate substantial portions of their finite lives to bring this once seed of an idea to life, only to see it disappear like sand through their fingers in a matter of weeks. Lookingglass and its patrons have endured this experience over 50 times these last 20 years. It is our dear hope that anyone who walked through our many doors to see one of our productions was changed/moved/challenged –ALTERED in some way, like Alice was when she walked through the looking glass. That is after all our mission. Very rarely, we get the opportunity to breathe life back into one of those creations, to capture the sand that slipped away and mold it back into the form it once possessed, to see again that vital “happening” which, with the passage of time, has deepened in its meaning and value. The remount of Hephaestus is such an event, and I hope that you will all take the opportunity to see again with new eyes, or see now for the first time this lighting bolt of a play that took over our theatre a brief two and a half years ago. Hephaestus began for us as part of our Glassworks program (the Lookingglass initiative to support new work). Artistic Associate Tony Hernandez was searching for a myth to anchor a circus event. Artistic Director David Catlin tossed out the idea of Hephaestus’ Forge as being ripe with potential theatricality. Tony and David, with our Artistic Director of New Work Heidi Stillman set the idea in motion with initial input from fellow artists John Musial and Kerry Catlin. The idea of a circus dominated telling of this story became a passion with Tony, and along with Heidi (and with some seed help from Lookingglass), they presented a one evening workshop production at the Village Theatre outside of Detroit, Michigan.  Tony and his wife, Lijana Wallenda, tapped many friends and family to fill out the cast of characters. David Catlin and I went to see the performance and immediately saw the huge potential of such a dauntingly grand spectacle in the intimate confines of the Lookingglass theatre. It was pitched and voted in for the next season. It ran during the fall of 2005 for a briefer than brief run. It was presented as a special event as the nationally sought after cast was difficult to secure for longer than a month. But it made an indelible mark on us and we were determined to bring it back if we could. Now, in our 20th season, we can and we are. And with any retelling, the story always grows and changes. Anyone who saw Lookingglass Alice the first time and again this summer, knows how much a show can grow with the advantage of a previous production. Hephaestus will bear that same fruit. Tony and Heidi have done an incredible job re-tooling the show and for new cast members and new talents to the great benefit of the production. To put it obscenely, this will be Hephaestus on steroids with several completely new acts, some added, truly jaw dropping, transitional moments, all mixed together with the elements that made the show so great the first time. Also added to the cast for Lookingglass fans is our Young Ensemble member, Abigail Droeger, that Mozartian actor of 10 who was so stunning in The Wooden Breeks and with whom we are so very happy to work with again. I truly hope you will take the opportunity to visit with us this winter and treat yourself to an unforgettable theatrical event so that you will be the benefactor of the beauty that will soon be gone. Best wishes, Philip R. Smith Producing Artistic Director |
