Meet the Cast of "The Fisherman and His Wife": Storyteller and the Kokken
October 02, 2014 12:00 AM
Haley Flanders
by Haley Flanders, dramaturgFisherman and His Wife is currently up and running on BYU's Nelke stage. To celebrate our production, we wanted to give you the chance to get to know the cast that is bringing this story to life. You can meet the Fisherman and his wife, Isabel, here. You can also meet the Flounder and the Seahorse here. Today, we finish up our introductions with the Storyteller and the Kokken.
Name: Mariah Bowles
Character: Storyteller
If you could have a supernatural helper, what would you have? I would definitely want a fairy godmother. A genie in a lamp limits your number of wishes, and the last time I caught a magic flounder it took weeks to get that fish smell off my hands.
What would you wish for? I'd wish for an increased amount of love for others. A yacht wouldn't be bad either.
What is the overall message of this play? The person we become is determined by what we chose to set our hearts on. We all have the potential for goodness or evil, but who we become is a result of what we've sought to surround ourselves with.
What has this message taught you? It has taught me to be grateful for the things that I have, and to focus on those aspects of my life that are most important. It's also taught me that I have the potential to make the mistakes Isabel did. However, I can avoid that by choosing each day to go after what is right.
What was your favorite part of working on this show? Working with and learning from our fantastic director, cast, crew, and collaborators! I've grown a lot from the insights they've given me, not only as an actress, but as a person.
Name: Nicole Ganowsky Schofield
Character: Kokken #1
If you could have a supernatural helper what would it be? I'd have to say a genie in a lamp, but he'd have to be super cool like the one from Aladdin. We could do pretty sweet musical numbers together, play lots of fun games, and once I used up two of my wishes, I'd use the third to set him (or her) free! But we'd still be best friends for life!!
What would you wish for? I'd wish for my dream house; 5 bedroom, 3 bathrooms with an amazing kitchen, movie room, and a beautiful back yard with lots of grass! My second wish would be for my husband and I to die at about 90 years old, in our sleep, together (cue adorable sigh here).
What is the overall message of this play? "Be careful what you wish for." Sometimes wishes have a way of backfiring on you and your loved ones.
What has this message taught you? Before you can be happy with what you want, you must be happy with what you have. Learn to be content with where you are at in your life. If not, you will always find something wrong, something more you want, and nothing will ever be enough.
What was your favorite part of working on this show? Becoming friends with all the cast members and crew, and getting to know each of their lovely selves. I love you guys!
Name: Rachel Belt
Character: Kokken #2
If you could have a supernatural helper, what would you have? A Fairy Godmother.
What would you wish for? I would wish for my family and friends to be happy.
What is the overall message of this play? Greed is all-consuming and never brings true contentment.
What has this message taught you? It has taught me that I can be happy with the little things in life, and that if you allow yourself, you can be happier with little than with everything.
What was your favorite part of working on this show? The people and the collaborative experience. In some ways, it’s a little scary that things are so fluid and flexible, but it’s cool to be able to see all of our ideas melding into one to create one fun and meaningful show.
Simple is Best [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Indeed.[/caption] by Adam White, dramaturg I write this blog post on the day of final dress rehearsal, on the eve of opening night! Everyone involved in this production of A Man for All Seasons has done marvelous work; the set and costuming and make up are all beautiful, and the cast is eager to put their performance in front of a live audience. I guess one could wonder if a dramaturg would give anything but a glowing report of their play that's about to go up, but quite truthfully: I'm eager for you to see this play! On the subject of wanting you to see our production of A Man For All Seasons, I want to relay to you an interesting experience I had just two day ago. Every BYUarts theatre production gets a promotional video, and I was asked by the video makers in charge of the promotional video to be interviewed for the piece on A Man for All Seasons. I accepted, and when I was in the interview, they had two questions for me: 1.) What is A Man for All Seasons about? 2.) Why should people go see A Man for All Seasons? As a dramaturg, I had a great answer for number one. Summarizing the events of this play in an interesting way was no problem. But that second question? That question gave me the hardest time! In the interview moment I was so flustered by my lack of an a concise answer. I quickly babbled out some gibberish to the camera man, after which I apologized and told him if he needed something more intelligible he shouldn't hesitate to call me back. Needless to say I was pretty embarrassed after the experience. Here's the thing: I'm the dramaturgy for this show. I should have some insight as to why people should go see this play (and I do). As I've thought about this experience and about my work as a dramaturg, I've come to the realize that in this situation what I needed was simplicity. Simple is best. See, during that brief interview with the promotional video guys, I was trying to make up a reason for people to see this show that sounded meaningful, or at least scholarly. That wasn't the right attitude for me at all because it meant that I was reaching beyond the play, maybe for selfish reasons, to lend what I deemed to be credibility to a piece of art that, maybe, doesn't need to be legitimized at all. I was being long-winded and downright silly. What the play really needed was for me to speak its simple 'truth.' To redeem myself a little bit and to put my new motto for dramaturgy into practice, I will tell you why I think people should see A Man for All Seasons. I firmly believe, in the words of Oscar Wilde, that "Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life." This play, this conflict between Thomas More, his family, and King Henry VIII, informs our understanding of what it means to have a conscience. Bolt challenges us to explore what it means to have an integrity and what having integrity means in our most intimate relationships. Also revealed in this play is the corrupting influence of political power. I think that every person grapples with these themes, experiences, and issues.A Man for All Seasons is an important play for people to see. The promotional video guys didn't end up using my interview for the promotional video. Frankly, I feel so relieved; it was awful. May you forego the trappings of intelligent-sounding language the next time you are in an interview. Enjoy the show!
