English Professor Frederick Burwick kept a secret during the
casting process of “Death’s Jest Book,” the
Thomas Lovell Beddoes play he is currently directing: he had
already been invited to bring the performance to New York’s
Lincoln Center.
“If he had told them that they were auditioning for a
Broadway show, some people would have backed out, which would have
been a shame since they’ve got so much talent. At the same
time, if (Burwick) had advertised it, who knows who would have come
in ““ it would have been a stampede,” said Francine
Maigue, a third-year world arts and cultures student and the
play’s choreographer.
Burwick decided to direct “Death’s Jest Book”
after he was asked to make a contribution to the celebration of the
Beddoes Bicentennial (1803-2003) to be co-hosted by the North
American Society for the Study of Romanticism and the British
Association for Romantic Studies in New York this summer. As a
scholar and longtime fan of the 19th-century romantic playwright,
Burwick is thrilled to be bringing the world premiere of this
controversial play to UCLA’s Northwest Campus Auditorium this
weekend.
With the exception of some radio performances done by the BBC,
the play has never before been produced. When Beddoes wrote the
play in the late 1820s, it was flatly dismissed as unperformable.
Beddoes’ contemporaries warned him that the play, which
implicitly addresses the taboos of homosexual desire and mocks the
pervasive notion of public morality, would never be accepted by
society.
Beddoes had a history of railing against the established norms
of his day. He was routinely dismissed from universities for being
an outspoken champion of free speech, both in academia and for the
press. Though he continued to work on “Death’s Jest
Book” for another 15 years, the disappointment he felt after
the play was rejected by his friends and colleagues led Beddoes to
become a recluse and an alcoholic. He eventually committed suicide
in 1849 after losing a leg to a gangrenous infection.
“Beddoes eventually became an MD. He was performing a
dissection and scratched his leg and it got infected. His suicide
note was, “˜Life on one peg is not worth living,'”
Burwick said.
Better known as “Frederick from Hedrick” because of
his faculty-in-residence position in Hedrick Hall, Burwick has
directed a half-dozen plays with the support of the Office of
Residential Life over the years, including last year’s
production of Grabbe’s “Jest, Satire, Irony, and Deeper
Meaning.” One of the only theatrical opportunities for Bruins
who are not theater students, this year’s production offers
those involved the unique chance to show off their talents to a
much wider audience than they may have anticipated.
In order to bring Beddoes’ sprawling work finally to the
stage, Burwick has turned to a recent adaptation by University of
Virginia professor Jerome McGann. McGann’s version omits
Beddoes’ original subplot and turns the main role of Isbrand
into the playwright himself.
Also enlisted in the production is composer Brian Holmes.
Burwick discovered Holmes, a physics professor at San Jose State
University, in a Beddoes-themed Internet chat room. After
completing an entire original score for “Death’s Jest
Book,” Holmes has also flown from San Jose to Los Angeles
every week of rehearsals, often sleeping on Burwick’s floor,
to serve as the production’s musical director.
“I had long intended to write such a piece,” said
Holmes of his interest in Beddoes. “Fred Burwick sent out a
request through an e-mail group, and I just started sending him
songs.”
With its unique combination of singing, period-style music,
abstract dance numbers and controversial subject matter, all
delivered in 19th-century English prose, Burwick draws a surprising
parallel between his production and “Rocky Horror Picture
Show.” Just don’t expect any fishnets or tight leather
codpieces.
“When it appeared in 1975, “˜Rocky Horror Picture
Show’ spoofed the B-movie horror flicks and provided a
head-on assault on homophobia. Even though it was written 150 years
earlier, “˜Death’s Jest Book’ also spoofed the
Gothic drama popular in that era, and it, too, addressed the taboos
and extreme repression of homosexual desire,” Burwick
said.
“Death’s Jest Book” plays at Northwest Campus
Auditorium 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, as well
as Balch Auditorium at Scripps College Thursday, Mar. 6 at 7:30
p.m. The Lincoln Center performance will be Aug. 6.