{"id":29322,"date":"2021-03-25T08:46:08","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T12:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=29322"},"modified":"2021-03-25T08:46:16","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T12:46:16","slug":"on-stage-an-exploration-of-dull-space-at-candlelight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/?p=29322","title":{"rendered":"On Stage: An exploration of ‘Dull Space’ at Candlelight"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff<\/strong>, Entertainment Editor, The Times\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Cast members (left & right) Rebecca Schall
and Dan Healy and ‘Dull Space’ writer and director Brian McCole (center).<\/p><\/div>\n

Picture a couple living together who for the last year \u2013 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown — have never been out of each other\u2019s company.<\/p>\n

Both work at home and rarely leave the safe confines of their house. They even have all their food and necessities delivered. Life together is 24\/7.<\/p>\n

It is similar to being together in a two-person spacecraft hurtling through space. There is no exit and no-one else with whom to talk.<\/p>\n

Anyone living with this condition \u2013 or a situation even mildly similar \u2013 should be able to easily to relate to the two-person play being presented on March 26 and 27 at the Candlelight Theatre (2208 Millers Road, Arden, Delaware,\u00a0www.candlelighttheatredelaware.org<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The full title of the event is \u201cThe Candlelight Theatre presents a Light Street Pictures Production \u2018Dull Space — A Journey to the Very Fringe of Human Endurance,\u2019 starring Dan Healy and Rebecca Schall — written and directed by Brian McCole. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the second time we\u2019re presenting this show,\u201d said McCole, during a phone interview Tuesday night from his home in nearby Conshohocken. \u201cThe first time was at the Philly Fringe Festival in September 2019 and it had the same cast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never worked with Rebecca before, but I worked with Dan a number of times in shows at the Candlelight \u2013 \u2018Fiddler on the Roof,\u2019 \u2018A Christmas Carol,\u2019 \u2018Camelot\u2019 and \u2018Spamalot.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Dan and I first met, we hit it off immediately. We have similar tastes in movies and storytelling. He was my first call when I was casting for the Fringe show. And Rebecca \u2013 Rebecca is stunning and energetic\u2026and available.\u201d<\/p>\n

Healy plays the role of Dale Darnon and Schall plays the role of Gr\u00e1inne Geary.<\/p>\n

McCole, who moved back to this area from Los Angeles in 2008, has a lot of local roots. He was born in Levittown and grew up in Ambler. After graduating from Lansdale Catholic, he got a degree in theater from Allentown College (which is now DeSales University, a school known for its excellent Shakespeare program).<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent a number of years living in West Hollywood and a number of years in the San Fernando Valley,\u201d said McCole, who spent three years prior to moving to L.A. working as Big Bird at Sesame Place in Langhorne.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved to L.A. in 1995 to work in the film industry. I worked in film and commercials and doing voices for video games. After a while, my time in Hollywood had run its course so I moved back to the Philly area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ironically, \u201cDull Space\u201d started as a film project \u2013 and will ride again as a film project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first stage play I\u2019ve written,\u201d said McCole. \u201cI\u2019ve written a number of screen plays. This was intended to be a film \u2013 but it took on a life of its own and became a stage play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inspiration came from sitting in L.A. traffic for hours at a time. The 14-mile drive between Canoga Park and Thousand Oaks takes 90 minutes and there are only two routes \u2013 the highway or a service road.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever driven on L.A.\u2019s freeways, you\u2019ll understand his frustration \u2013 especially riding on Highway 101.<\/p>\n

According to McCole, \u201cThe front seat of my Saturn became my cockpit. Work and home morphed into earth and the\u00a0moon. The 101 Freeway was the \u201cdull space\u201d in between. The long, daily commute from earth to the moon gave me lots of time to ponder my dissatisfaction with most contemporary science fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpace travel in the movies and TV has no \u201cchallenge\u201d anymore. If someone wants to go to space, they just hop into the ship and go there, like driving to the shore. If someone wants to travel faster-than-light, they simply \u201cspin up the FTL,\u201d or \u201cactivate the hyperdrive,\u201d or \u201cengage the warp engines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile traveling from one star system to another, \u201cthe shields\u201d protect the ship from the Oort cloud and any other particles that would tear a ship to pieces in interstellar space. Science Fiction doesn\u2019t address the danger of simply going into space anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to try to take an honest, realistic look at the near-future of human spaceflight, infused with honest, realistic human drama. I wanted to translate my day-to-day frustrations into the day-to-day frustrations of those who will occupy or escape this world after we are gone. I wanted to create \u201cslice-of-life\u201d science fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs \u2018Dull Space\u2019 began to write itself, I realized it was no longer a story about frustration, but about basic human love and the need to be understood. We interact with so many people each day based upon our preconceptions of them, and they do the same to us.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo often, our first impressions are wrong. \u2018Dull Space\u2019 began as a simple science fiction exercise, but it is really about people\u2019s need to be understood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe characters of Darnon and Geary have gone through many revisions over the years, often to fit the personae of the people who have come through my life. I wanted to show that people are seldom what our preconceptions lead us to expect. We may meet someone whose first impression puts us off, but we don’t know what he or she is going through in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCole was involved on yet another level at the beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first started writing it, I wrote it for myself and a friend,\u201d said McCole, who has been The Rock School for Dance Education\u2019s Production Manager for more than 12 years.121\/2 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe characters evolved. I did a reading of the screenplay in 2012 at The Rock School West in West Chester. I had Brian Anthony Wilson with me. I had to write this role for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had it planned for more than two people \u2013 multiple characters with different scenes and settings. But money was a problem so I changed it to two characters \u2013 a Tennessee redneck and an Irish girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is an edited version of the story\u2019s \u201clong synopsis\u201d —<\/p>\n

Roughly 100 years in the future, we find ourselves in the cockpit of Bonnie Davine, a privately-owned spacecraft on its way to the Moon. The pilot is Darnon, a middle-aged, veteran astronaut who grew up in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. The passenger is Geary, a young, pretty Irish woman who is an employee of the EU government\u2019s lunar colony.<\/p>\n

We open with Geary gushing about her excitement to be traveling into space for the first time, but she quickly realizes her host has been asleep the entire time. A control panel starts beeping 15 hours into a 17-hour flight, and Darnon jolts himself awake. Geary is concerned, but Darnon reveals it is just some of the mundane communication intrinsic to space travel.<\/p>\n

Darnon and Geary have an immediate clash of personalities arising from misunderstanding of culture, and Darnon\u2019s seeming lack of hospitality. The stage is set for tense-yet-humorous banter involving music, language, and Darnon\u2019s fatigue and pessimism about the purpose and future of space travel.<\/p>\n

Geary asks him why he does it if he hates it so much. He responds with his impressive educational and career resume, which surprises Geary greatly. Darnon responds in-kind by inquiring about Geary\u2019s linguistic abilities. Responding in a series of phrases in a dozen languages, Geary reveals that she is a polyglot and professional translator for the EU.<\/p>\n

A well-intentioned but insensitive reply from Darnon compels Geary to reveal that her father has recently died, and Darnon understands that her abrasiveness comes from a place of emotional anguish. Darnon apologizes, and he and Geary begin, at last, to have an understanding of each other.<\/p>\n

Communication from a traffic control center informs Darnon of some space debris along Bonnie Davine\u2019s trajectory. An unseen piece of debris crashes against the hull. The cabin lurches violently. ALARMS start beeping all around the control panel. Systems rapidly fail, and Bonnie Davine loses communications. Darnon quickly determines that they do not have enough velocity to reach their destination, so they will have to make a crash landing on the Dark Side of the Moon.<\/p>\n

Hours later, Bonnie Davine skids into the lunar surface. Geary and Darnon survive the crash landing. Darnon informs Geary that they will be safest in the cabin waiting for rescue.<\/p>\n

After a while, Geary awakens gasping for air. Darnon discovers her O2 supply has been damaged, and she is going to die. Without telling her why, he exchanges their supplies.<\/p>\n

Darnon is out of oxygen. Geary quickly realizes what he has done. She is incredibly sad and does not know how to thank him. He tells her she has lots to live for and tells her to live for it. Darnon knows he\u2019s about to die and tells Geary to \u201cKeep breathing.\u201d They embrace, and Darnon dies in Geary\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n

McCole talked of the challenges for this weekend\u2019s productions.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne challenge was to get Dan to learn all the techno-babble,\u201d said McCole, who returned to acting after a 10-year hiatus in 2014, playing \u201cThe Constable\u201d in The Candlelight Theatre\u2019s production of \u201cFiddler on the Roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother was teaching Rebecca how to speak Irish Gaelic. I studied Gaelic for two years at the Celtic Arts Center of Los Angeles. I had to write phonetic pronunciations for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schall, in her role as an EU translator, also had to learn to say phrases in a wide variety of languages including German, Arabic, Spanish, Danish, Japanese, Italian, Farsi, Norwegian and Chinese.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next step now is making it into a motion picture,\u201d said McCole. \u201cWe\u2019ll start shooting in August.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDull Space\u201d on the surface is a story about an unsuccessful journey into space. Underneath, it is a story about the day-to-day need each of us has to be understood — and the need each of us has to love.<\/p>\n

Somehow, it would be fitting at the end for Geary to teach Darnon some Gaelic \u2013 teach him how to say, \u201cGra Go Deo, Mo anam cara\u201d<\/em> (Love forever, my soulmate) — and then say to him, \u201cSl\u00e1n agus beannacht leat. T\u00e1 gr\u00e1 agam duit!\u201d<\/em> (Goodbye and blessings to you. I love you!).<\/p>\n

The show will also feature an opening act. Veteran Candlelight Theatre actor Anthony Connell will give a reading of Edgar\u2019 Allen Poe\u2019s \u201cTell Tale Heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for \u201cDull Space\u201d — https:\/\/youtu.be\/7jMYJxNi-S4<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. on both March 26 and 27. Tickets are $20. A cash bar is provided, and table snacks are included. Free parking is available adjacent to the theater.<\/p>\n

When it comes to presenting options to hear live music, the Sellersville Theater (24 West Temple Avenue, Sellersville, 215-257-5808,\u00a0www.st94.com<\/a>) has been a beacon in a pandemic-created thick-as-pea-soup fog.<\/p>\n

The comfortable theater in Bucks County has a variety of shows scheduled for this month including Tim Farrell on March 26, Jawn Of The Dead on March 27, and Ben O\u2019Neill on March 30.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tim Farrell<\/p><\/div>\n

Farrell is an accomplished musician who wears many hats \u2013 performer, composer, recording artist and educator.<\/p>\n

As a performer and composer, Farrell is known for the elegant simplicity he displays in his fingerstyle playing and original compositions. It is a simplicity that celebrates the purity of the acoustic guitar.<\/p>\n

As a recording artist, Farrell has the rare ability to inspire listeners to experience music on a multitude of levels. Through his mastery of the intricacies and melodic grace of fingerstyle guitar, he has created a sound that evokes emotion — a sound that is to be felt as well as heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started guitar lessons as a kid,\u201d said Farrell, during a phone interview last week from his home in Bucks County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI jammed with friends on rock tunes and eventually got into progressive rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was playing electric guitar with my friends \u2013 playing songs by the Sones and Neil Young. Then, we started creating our own thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn college, I studied jazz guitar initially. I hadn\u2019t really listened to jazz guitar before that. I was more into progressive bands like Genesis and Pink Floyd \u2013 and some jazz rock. I also listened to some Dave Brubeck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell, who was born in Philadelphia, grew up in Bucks County and graduated from Council Rock High, also became a talented piano player.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a time when I was playing both guitar and piano,\u201d said Farrell, who is one of only four artists to be honored as of the 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists who have also won Best Instrumental in the International Acoustic Music Awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was playing old piano standards at cocktail hours. Then I decided I wanted to study classical guitar.<\/p>\n

\u201cLater in college was when I switched to classical guitar. That really opened my eyes to a whole different approach \u2013 melody, chords and bass all together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt progressed from there and evolved into the fingerstyle stuff I do now. Without classical training, I wouldn\u2019t have the versatility.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a natural evolution for Farrell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always played steel-stringed guitar,\u201d said Farrell, who has performed worldwide at concert venues such as the Kimmel Center, Montreal Jazz Festival, Carnegie Center, Hard Rock Live, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was listening to classical players like Segovia, John Williams, Julian Bream and, of course, Leo Kottke. I got more into fingerpicking. It just evolved that way. I got more known for fingerpicking style and it took over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell has released five albums \u2013 \u201cVery\u201d in 1995, \u201cSkyDancer\u201d in 1998, \u201cSongs from Clarowood\u201d in 2001, \u201cCODAS\u201d in 2010 and \u201cCascadia\u201d in 2014. He also released a Christmas album, \u201cThe Gifts of the Season\u201d and \u201cBONUS,\u201d a digital only release of songs that were previously available on two different limited release EPs.<\/p>\n

As a guest educator at various institutions and events, Farrell conducts workshops, seminars, and residency activities. His activities as an educator have included programs for Woodstock Invitational Luthiers\u2019 Showcase, U.S. Navy, Newport Guitar Festival, Montreal Guitar Show, The Midland Theater, Healdsburg Guitar Festival and Memphis Guitar Festival.<\/p>\n

Farrell is also a distinguished faculty member of The Conservatory in Doylestown. He is the Artistic Director of the Stretched Strings Concert and Workshop Series there and also provides private lessons and conducts interactive workshops in \u201cFingerstyle Guitar, Arranging and Composition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Tim Farrell — https:\/\/youtu.be\/kidQgelWqdc<\/a><\/p>\n

The show on March 26 will start at 8 p.m. and will also be available online via Livestream. Tickets for the theater are $19.50 and $29.50. Livestream tickets are $10.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jawn Of The Dead is a Philly band centered around the nucleus of guitarists\/vocalists Rich Hill and Jim Tauscher. The Grateful Dead tribute band just celebrated a milestone event for a young music act \u2013 its second anniversary.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jawn Of The Dead<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cWe started on March 20, 2019,\u201d said Hill, during a phone interview last week from his home in nearby Ridley Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was supposed to be a one-off show at The Fainting Goat in Glenolden. I play there once a month with my bar band so I asked if I could do a (Grateful Dead) show. I invited some musician friends to get together to play Dead stuff. I took people from different bands and we rehearsed 30-40 songs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed up at the club with our gear and the place was packed. Deadheads from around the area got the word and showed up.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter we played the second set, people were coming up to us saying that they loved it. I said to the guys \u2013 I think we have a \u2018thing.\u2019 They said — yeah, we do have a \u2018thing.\u2019 We didn\u2019t have a name, so we came up with Jawn Of The Dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time out here for a Philadelphia based etymology lesson.<\/p>\n

If you live more than 35-40 miles from Philly, you might not have ever heard the word \u201cjawn.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJawn\u201d\u00a0is a\u00a0slang\u00a0term local to\u00a0Philadelphia\u00a0and its\u00a0metropolitan area. \u201cJawn\u201d is a context-dependent substitute noun, meaning it is a noun that substitutes for any other noun \u2013 and it can be singular or plural.<\/p>\n

\u201cJawn\u201d is a word loved by Philly residents. Because it has no specific meaning, it can be used to mean all sorts of things. One of the only points on which everyone can agree is that \u201cjawn\u201d is a noun \u2013 and that now it is part of the name of a Philly area band.<\/p>\n

Lesson over!<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played a handful of shows from March through August 2019,\u201d said Hill, who grew up South Philadelphia and graduated from Neumann High. \u201cThen, we got a call from the World Caf\u00e9 Live about its Tuesday Dead Jam. One of the bands canceled and they asked us to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe audience liked it. We kept the band going \u2013 playing a few places around Philly. Last February, we played the Boot and Saddle. We figured that if we got 50 people, it would be a good start. We got 170.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were just getting started and then we had to shut down because of COVID-19. We played some private events in the summer and then started to play at 118 North in Wayne. We also did a Livestream show from the Kennett Flash.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billing themselves as \u201can energetic tribute to the\u00a0mystique\u00a0and musical mayhem of The Grateful Dead,\u201d Jawn Of The Dead posted this message on its website \u2013 \u201cThe dedication of the band to both the songs of the Grateful Dead and their spirit of musical exploration sets JOTD apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not a tribute band in the sense that we\u2019re trying to be the people in the Dead,\u201d said Hill, who was a music major at West Chester University.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur commitment is to excellence \u2013 to playing the music well and to also honor the songwriting. We play a whole catalog of Dead songs along with cover songs the Dead played.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jawn Of The Dead have been champing at the bit to play before a live audience for a long time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our first ticketed event since the Boot and Saddle show in February 2020 — and it\u2019s our first time to play the Sellersville Theater\u201d said Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played there before as part of the Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret. It has great sound and is a great environment. We\u2019re all looking forward to our show there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jawn Of The Dead has already become a favorite of Philly area Deadheads so the band must be doing something right.<\/p>\n

Hill and his mates aren\u2019t looking to conquer the world. Right now, they\u2019re happy just \u201cPlaying in the Band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Video link for Jawn of the Dead \u2013 https:\/\/youtu.be\/p6qxYa6p20o<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The show on March 27 will start at 8 p.m. and will also be available online via Livestream. Tickets for the theater are $19.50 and $29.50. Livestream tickets are $10.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times\u00a0 Picture a couple living together who for the last year \u2013 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and shutdown — have never been out of each other\u2019s company. Both work at home and rarely leave the safe confines of their house. They even have all their food and necessities […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29319,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5166],"tags":[3836,10500,3912,10502,10501],"class_list":["post-29322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-d-arts-entertainment","tag-candlelight-theater","tag-dull-space","tag-featured","tag-jawn-of-the-dead","tag-tim-farrell"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29323,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29322\/revisions\/29323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coatesvilletimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}