Long Wharf Theater's Cinderella story

Physician-assisted suicide just isn't very funny. A good Dr. Kevorkian joke is a rare commodity indeed. And yet, the rehearsal process for the Long Wharf Theatre's upcoming production of David Rabe's A Question of Mercy is by no means devoid of lightsome moments. Euthanasia may not be a guaranteed crowd pleaser, but leave it to director Doug Hughes to use Rabe's painful subject matter as a mock-selling point. "We will bum you out!" he avowed at a recent rehearsal. "Give us two hours and $25 and we will bum you out! You think the Yale Rep's gonna bum you out? You think Stan Wojewodski, Jr.'s gonna bum you out?" he queried. "We will out-bum the Yale Rep!"

Doug Hughes ought to be ashamed of himself. If he purports to foster distress and dejection in his audiences, his first season as the Long Wharf's artistic director has been an abject and dismal failure. From the cheeky innuendos of She Stoops to Conquer (also directed by Hughes), to the bluesy strut of In Walks Ed, to the breezy wit of The Country Club, the Long Wharf's roster of plays has proved a delight to spectators and critics both. And Margaret Edson's Wit, a play about an English professor battling terminal cancer (that's right, folks, ontology and oncology!), performed so well that the management extended its run. Yes, even the play about terminal cancer was a hit. Seems like Hughes can't depress an audience even when he tries. And no one is happier than the Long Wharf itself.

Driving down I-95, one can easily miss the Long Wharf. As play-goer Kate Sandberg, SY '98, notes, "It's bizarre.... It's kind of a surprise, you can't imagine a theater there." Housed across from a sleazy Howard Johnson's and next to a meat-packing plant, the Long Wharf's low-slung, industrial gray exterior bears little resemblance to the gingerbread spires of the Yale Rep. But at the Long Wharf, the fairy tale happens on the inside.

Once upon a time, just over a year ago, in fact, the Long Wharf seemed to be a theater in decline. Though long acknowledged as a source for challenging premieres and revivals, it was experiencing an aesthetic and financial slump. The number of subscribers continued a marked downward spiral, funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) had been cut off entirely, and budget constraints had forced the closing of Stage II, the Long Wharf's smaller theater, long a forum for new and experimental works. Additionally, Arvin Brown, the artistic director for 30 of the Long Wharf's 32 years, announced his impending retirement. It seemed as though the carriage had disappeared and Cinderella was left holding a pumpkin with no idea how the hell she was supposed to get home from the ball. Where's a handsome prince when you need one?

In Minnesota, apparently. Doug Hughes, a much-admired director and general golden-boy of regional theater, had been at Minneapolis's respected Guthrie Theater for only a year when he left to helm the distressed Long Wharf. His arrival coincided with several other changes, including a new assistant artistic director, a new managing director, and a new literary manager. The smiling faces of the revamped staff can be seen in the black-and-white photos in the lobby of the reopened Stage II, right near the large sign which reads "Sponsored by SNET." Doug Hughes's likeness is there, too. Dressed in a sports coat and sneakers, hair rumpled, his cherub-like face stares placidly at the camera. It betrays only a hint of the energy and drive Hughes radiates in person. "Oh," the theater's media relations director enthuses, "you'll love hearing him speak. He's like an evangelist of the theater." He is indeed, and an ace raconteur to boot.

As Hughes described at a Branford Master's Tea on Mon., Jan. 26, his top priority is to "get things quickening at the place. The theater I inherited," he said, "was very different from the theater that would have produced Streamers or The Changing Room." Hughes felt that monetary constraints had stymied the Long Wharf, and refused to cut costs in order to lessen the budgetary shortfall. After all, he argued, non-profit theater is not exactly a lucrative business, and the most prudent course, financially speaking, would be to shut down the theater altogether. Eschewing a path of fiscal security, he chose to reopen Stage II and present a varied and provocative season of eight plays--five on the main stage, three at Stage II. He signed on to direct four himself. Modifications in the Stage II schedule, including an exchange with London's Bush Theatre and the substitution of a one-woman show starring Tyne Daly for a Tim Blake Nelson play, have reduced Hughes's directorial contribution to three plays. And, if the truth be told, charming and innocuous plays such as She Stoops to Conquer, Blithe Spirit, The Country Club, and In Walks Ed may be varied, but they aren't likely to provoke anyone. Nevertheless, the line-up still stands as a rather impressive undertaking for an inaugural year.

Although the budget totals and demographic breakdowns won't be available for some time yet, the Long Wharf appears to be on its way back to solvency. Despite beginning the season with an accumulated debt of over $500,000, the Long Wharf, according to managing director Michael Ross (an import from Hartford Stage), was able to increase its operating budget from $4.8 million to $5.6 million. Aided by a $500,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven and a special $1.5 million fundraising campaign (in addition to the normal $1.8 fundraising campaign), the theater has been able not only to sponsor a full docket of plays, but also to fund some much-needed renovations. Hughes joked that, "Just because The Changing Room was a great play doesn't mean we need to still be using the sound equipment from it." And Ross revealed that up until this year, sound operators were working with a reel-to-reel analog tape deck--a technical dinosaur.

On the whole, Ross spoke with justified optimism. Subscriptions are up for the first time in nine years, as are single ticket sales. He remains hopeful that NEA funding will soon be restored. And while he admitted that the Long Wharf's location poses some difficulties, Ross insisted that "Theater can and does happen anywhere; the important part is the work."

And the Long Wharf is working overtime to see that this work reaches the surrounding community. It offers special programs such as Pub Night (much like the Yale Rep's Ale Night), family nights, panels, college forums, and discounted student rush tickets. On a more personal level, Doug Hughes has signed on as a fellow of Morse College. "He's been present in Morse on several occasions," notes Steve Klein, MC '98. "He was very interested in the theater program and what we're doing and getting our opinions." Hughes's interest in the undergraduate theater program extends further than Morse College. Four seniors with multiple semesters of Advanced Directing under their belts are receiving course credit for directing internships at the Long Wharf. In addition to assisting with script reading and providing some low-level dramaturgical aid, they are present once or twice a week for rehearsals of A Question of Mercy--rehearsals often lasting seven or eight hours.

Although rehearsal participation often consists of little more than observation and note-taking, the students speak of the internship positively. "It's great to watch a professional work," Stephen Aleman, PC '98, commented. "I wish I had a more active role in the directing process, but that's a lot to wish for." Michelle Tattenbaum, DC '98, echoed his sentiments, adding praise for Hughes. "He's very funny and supportive, he creates a very supportive environment, the actors seem to be having a lot of fun," she said. And why not? A man who can joke successfully about euthanasia has to be a treat to work with.

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