Playwright Zoo

When Jessica Cerullo's one-woman show Miracle Tomato played a few months ago at the Grade Arts Center in New London, Connecticut, it was an artist coming home. Jessica is a native of Southeastern Connecticut and got her start acting in high school shows and local theater productions. The spaces along Long Island Sound are rich in theater projects, both professional and community, and Jessica had long been a part of these endeavors. But Jessica went into the wider-world of theater-making, studying, practicing, and rising into making the performing arts her profession. I first met Jessica at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT where we both were employed. When Jessica brought her solo-show to the Garde, I sat in the front row and was amazed - and I knew I had to interview her for the Playwright Zoo. This interview is published here in two parts - because Jessica has a lot to say about what inspired her to compose and perform her solo-project-of-love -- Miracle Tomato.
Interview by Kato McNickle

---------------
---------------

Jessica Cerullo Jessica Cerullo is a New York based performer, writer and teacher. She serves on the board and as Managing Director for MICHA, the Michael Chekhov Association.

As a writer and performer Jessica's recent original work is Miracle Tomato a traveling story of love, bioengineering and the search for home. Miracle Tomato premiered in May 2007 at P.S. 122 in New York City as part of the soloNOVA Festival and continues to tour in the United States in 2008-2009. Jessica's work has been part of the Brooklyn Arts Exchange First Weekend Series. Her work has also been supported by the town of Breckenridge, Colorado where she is welcomed as an artist in residence at the Tin Shop.

A former member of the Stanislavsky Theater Studio in Washington, DC and the Flock Theater in New London, Connecticut Jessica worked at the Mystic Seaport Museum where she was a member of the Mystic Seaport Players and performed and wrote a one woman piece entitled Women Keepers of the Light. She has created experimental works with The Actors' Ensemble in New York and has performed in regional theaters such as the Folger Theater and Horizons Theater.

The interview:

What is MIRACLE TOMATO for you?

It is the history of the cultivation of the tomato told by Angelina, a triplet who, with her sisters Valentina and Josephina, was birthed in a tomato plot. But functionally Miracle Tomato is an opportunity, for me, as a performer-writer to mingle my research with my art and to meet audiences, farmers, chefs, other artists on theatrical terms. To me Miracle Tomato is an invitation.

What inspired you to write the work?

Working on the play began as an assignment in graduate school. Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski and Greg Perotti of the Tectonic Theater Project were teaching us the tools of how they devise work in their theater company and I began developing material about the genetically engineered tomato and about a set of triplets. The piece, however, transitioned from fulfilling an assignment when I began interviewing people about the tomato. The more I talked to people the more I was compelled to craft a theatrical event that could contain all of their stories and some of my own, too.

I loved the line, "history ain't as simple as rhymes." What does that line mean for you the performer/creator of the work? Is that meaning different than Angelina's understanding of it?

When researching the tomato I fell into the legacy of Christopher Columbus. For me that line of the story is an opportunity to introduce some of the more serious themes of the play. In it I reference the mis-education of America and the obsessive desire in our culture to sound bite history and events. For Angelina, the argument over Columbus has divided the family and has distracted everyone from addressing what the real issues are in the here and now. In this moment Angelina reveals that her family history is as complicated as the history of Columbus and that she is at a loss of what to do about it.

MIRACLE TOMATO, while playful, also manages to straddle political realms - addressing aspects of American colonialism, ethnic identity, and questionable practices of modern food production. How central are the political questions the play raises to your ultimate intent regarding the performance? Was it difficult to find the right balance between the play's "message" and its value as "entertainment."

All of those issues are very important to me but with Miracle Tomato I am not trying to tell people what they must or must not do. I have, however, done my research and like you, I go grocery shopping every week and struggle over what I should or should not buy and this information, this consciousness, is present in the play. All the political and historical themes that contextualize both the tomato and the characters are a part of the story. And some of those events, like when Valentina moves to California to help develop the Flavr Savr Tomato, and when Josephina moves to Texas to help fight the Flavr Savr Tomato, directly impact Angelina's life.

I suppose the issue of identity is an issue I feel the most connected to during the actual performance. As an Italian-American I often see popular culture represent me in ways that I don't identify. And so when I, as Angelina, stand on a stage I feel the gaze of the audience and those 'other images' are also in the room. So, if there is anything political that I am doing in the play it is in having a character like Angelina, with her accent and her physicality, stand in front of an audience for an hour and talk. Just in this act I hope to make a connection with the audience and to advance the stereotype that is perpetuated in the media. The fact that a person like Angelina can say thoughtful and intelligent things, that she can laugh and cry and embrace her audience is paramount.

When you performed the piece at The Garde Arts Center in New London, local food growers set-up a mini food fair in the lobby. The mixing of a theater event with a local farmers market was a lot of fun and served to get audience members to arrive early, to connect by milling around, sampling foods, and learning where they can go to get local food products. Is this a typical response to your show coming to a space?

Yes. And this goes back to what I said earlier about Miracle Tomato being an opportunity. Whenever I perform the play I always ask the host theater or organization how this play might go about celebrating the local community. Depending on the community the results vary. Sometimes it takes the form of a post show disussion with local farmers. In New London Steve Seigle and Ken Kitchings at the Garde were very excited about the possibilities and introduced me to Art Costa who is instrumental in the sustainable and local food movement in New London. Art and I met for coffee at the Bean and Leaf and shared some ideas about how to involve the local farmers and businesses and the New London event took off from there. To me the play and the events surrounding it are all part of the same thing - I see the theater as a meeting place. Often it is a place where some people come and sit in seats and meet the other people who are up on the stage. But with Miracle Tomato I try to enlarge that. With the support of the Garde and Art this enlarging happened on a big scale. In addition to all of the wonderful chefs and farmers sharing food and info in the lobby we had students from Fitch High School milling about performing and students from the Isaacs school were throwing rubber tomatoes during the show, in addition to which Kate Fioravanti, a teacher at the Isaacs school, performed the role of Joanie in the show that night. So the number of community member involvement in the New London production was exceptional.

What has performing a solo-piece (or an almost solo-piece) revealed to you as a performer that is unique from your experiences as an ensemble member?

Creating and performing an 'almost solo piece' has shown me the creative power of the performing artist. I realized that my years as an actress left a part of me unexpressed. It is the difference between interpreting a role and creating performance. With Miracle Tomato I relish in creating the role from scratch and making changes based on the current political situation or the current mood of an audience. As a solo performer I chose where and when I perform. There is a lot more freedom in it. Depending on my interest I work with different directors and sometimes without a director at all. In Miracle Tomato, the script serves as a map but if I feel like it, I can go on a diversion. After years of development the structure is now strong enough to support that. As for the ensemble element, I think that is most present in my working relationship with the audience and the actress playing Joanie. And of course it is also very improvisatory when I consider the whole business of touring and engaging with the people that I meet along the way.

Had you written for the stage before MIRACLE TOMATO?

I had devised work with ensembles before but had never authored a full length performance by myself.

Have you written since?

I continue to devise work. Right now I am teaching at Whitman College and we are devising a piece called 'Waiting' and working with some inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary.

Where have you performed the show?

The show opened at P.S. 122 in New York in 2007. Since then I have performed it in a variety of venues from traditional theaters, like the Garde, to art galleries, a sculpture center, back yard gardens, livingrooms and blackbox theaters. This spring I will perform in Walla Walla, Washington at a local restaurant. Sometimes I take selections from the play into farmers markets and comedy clubs. Once I performed at the Italian Language and Cultural Center's Holiday Party and ended up singing 'O Sole Mio' with a priest.

You have a solid background in Russian theater techniques - most notably in Michael Chekhov training. What draws you to these forms? And how do you incorporate the various techniques that you have studied?

The Michael Chekhov technique was the foundation of my acting training. Initially I think I was drawn to the lineage present in the technique. Chekhov had worked with Stanislavsky and he had disagreed with Stanislavsky and eventually moved from Russia to the United States. Because I love history and stories I was drawn to the Russians. I even went to Moscow and Siberia to study. Once I got beyond my fascination with the lineage of it all and dug into the technique I started to develop my imagination and was able to work with it, to teach with it, to live with it. It was with Michael Chekhov's help that I realized that the performer is the theater. That in the end it is she who places herself in front of an audience and plays for them that is the thing itself.

What advice do have for a performer thinking of creating their own show?

I think when you create your own work it is important that you work in the way that is best for you. To do that you need as little outside input as possible. It sounds simple but it is hard to stand on your own two feet. Most important I guess is just the advice of "Yes, get on with it and do it!" Of learning to follow through and work at your own pace. Along those lines I would suggest not working with a director until you absolutely need one.

What's the craziest thing that's happened either during your show, or as a result of it?

Once, after a show I was introduced to an Italian American woman who was the friend of a friend and this woman told me that I couldn't wear the costume that I was wearing. (I was in jeans and a red sweatshirt) She actually said I couldn't "represent our people" that way. And so this woman, her name was Valerie, asked me my size and the next day went out and bought me the clothes she thought I should wear. The next night I was on stage in the costume that she purchased.

Will you do another solo-show or is this one it?

As soon as something comes along and takes my attention the way the tomato took my attention a few years ago I will write another show. But it might not be 'almost solo.'

Do you have a motto or mantra that helps you as a theater artist?

I'm afraid it is terribly transparent. My motto, or rather my image at the moment is the August-ripe, thin-skinned tomato. I am cultivating my vulnerability as a theater artist.

Angelina says, "When I see a ripe one, I gotta pick it and I gotta eat eat it -- or I'm gonna miss it." What is that taste for her as the character, and for you the creator/performer of the work?

In this play Angelina, and also the actress playing Angelina, is learning how to embrace the life that is in the present. They are on an adventure and are simultaneously mourning all that has been lost. And so I suppose the taste would be all of them%u2026 sweet and sour and bitter and salty; the taste would be full. And whenever something is lost in this play - be it an heirloom seed or a member of the family, or even an entire population of peoples, there is room in this play to say goodbye, to let go, to mourn the loss that is present in our lives. So in addition to the fullness there is also a degree of emptiness.

Anything else?
Well, it's nearly April. Time to start planting seeds for the summer garden.

There are endless variations on types of workshops. The thing that unifies them is that they all posses the potential for radical insight and enlightenment about your work, or devastating painful disaster. Those are extremes, but either can happen during something as simple as a seated public reading of your work.

There are three general categories of workshop levels:

Concert Reading: a reading of the play from a stationary point. Sometimes actors are seated throughout, sometimes they stand when their characters have "entered" a scene. Usually there is a formal aspect to the actor's placement, indicated by a stand to hold the text of the play. Stage directions denoting major actions, descriptions that are not apparent or actable by stationary performers, and scene changes are read aloud.

Staged Reading: a script-in-hand staging of the play. Minimal props, lighting, sound effects, and suggestions of costumes are present. The dialogue is read, but most of the stage directions are omitted unless some action is impossible to perform in the context of the staged reading (an elaborate dance sequence, a large set requirement, or some other aspect unable to be evoked through a minimal staging).

Workshop Production: an off-book staging of the play. Minimal props, lighting, sound effects, and costumes are present in bare-bones but complete performance of the work.

Meet America's best-loved unknown cartoonist, Nina Paley, creator of the internationally acclaimed animated film Sita Sings the Blues. This weekend with Nina is an invitation to experience, create, and express. Everyone is welcome. You don't have to be a cartoonist or professional animator, you just have to be willing to "show" a story through images-and enjoy yourself.

Visual storytelling applies narrative concepts traditionally associated with writing directly to image-making. The workshop explores both the techniques of visual storytelling (storyboards, animatics/board-o-matics, comics) and the meaning and structure underlying all stories and time-based media.

Together we will

* Learn to express and develop visual impulses and story inspirations with clarity
* Design characters and make stories from nothing but pencils and index cards
* Explore what makes comics, storyboards, and short films work, what holds viewer interest, and what makes people laugh
* Understand how we "read" pictures
* Make lots of stories, collaboratively and individually, and keep sketchbooks.

Our time together will be primarily devoted to creating and telling stories through fun, collaborative drawing exercises and games.

Recommended reading Keith Johnstone, Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre (Theatre Arts Book), and Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (Harper Paperbacks).

Note Tuition includes art supplies.

http://www.kripalu.org/program/view/VS-101/visual_storytelling

http://www.kripalu.org/presenter/V0005738

Writing Programs @ Kripalu

Writing as a spiritual practice, a creative path, or as a way to re-vision your life story helps you access the thoughts behind your thoughts and experience a new intimacy with yourself. Writing helps us make friends with our inner critic, freeing us to create and express without inhibition.

Kripalu provides a welcoming environment in which to turn inward toward the words that are calling you-and offers you a variety of skilled teachers to guide you on the next step of your writing journey.

Check out the calendar for ongoing workshops and retreats.

"It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womprats in my T-16 back home. They're not much bigger than two meters."

--------- Luke Skywalker, taking on a skeptic regarding the rebel's chances of destroying the Death Star.

Gunning for womprats
by Kato McNickle

Sending out your play to a theater and getting a production out of it is a lot like the chances the Rebel Alliance had in destroying the Death Star, but they had to try. For them it was a life or death battle. For you and me it's a matter of credibility and identity. Will my life as a playwright survive? Without that production coming along, the answer is "no."

How do you get that production? First you have to bullseye a whole lotta womprats in your T-16 back home.

Where are these elusive creatures? They take on a variety of forms, from reading books on playwriting, to taking a class, to going to the theater, to reading new plays, to local readings of your latest play, to 10-minute play festivals, to concert and staged-readings of your work. Womprats are everywhere. So why can they be so hard to see?

Read the rest

Playwright Zoo Archive

• Monkey House Musings

• Featured Playwright Bios and Links

• Essays about the business of the biz