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Local theater trains actors for the stage, and life

Lindsay Christians  —  10/09/2008 2:49 pm

Local theater groups typically distinguish themselves by the plays they stage, whether it's musicals, classics, comedies or edgy drama. But Madison's Encore! Studio for the Performing Arts has the unique charge of both producing theater and providing vocational training for actors who have cognitive and developmental disabilities.

Funded partly by the Dane County Department of Human Services and private donations, Encore launched with almost nothing.

"When we started, it was so bare bones," said KelsyAnne Schoenhaar, founder, artistic and executive director of Encore. "We had four people, no money, and there's no repertoire for people with disabilities, so I needed to write things."

Encore recently opened its eighth season with Schoenhaar's "Walk with a Vampire," a play based on a true story from the lives of two former Encore actors. The drama, running now at the Bartell Theatre, centers around the friendship between Sarah and Alex, two women who struggle with homelessness and cognitive disabilities. The cast for "Walk" includes actors without disabilities and support staff.

Sarah is living "outside the system" with no government support and gets involved with a man who is paranoid-schizophrenic. She implicates Alex in a crime, and the play explores the effects of that action on their friendship, at their workplace and in the context of the mental health system.

"It's always been blood and guts. We put it out there, it's always been in your face," Schoenhaar said. "From the beginning, we've offended people."

In the repertory company, which has now grown to 16 people, actors deal daily with personal challenges that make it hard to learn or focus or relate to others. They may be blind or use a wheelchair, living with autism, brain injury or mental illness.

"However they express themselves, we can make it work onstage," Schoenhaar said. She's choreographed pantomimes and worked individual personality traits into her scripts.

Sarah Luedtke trained in theater at Edgewood College, works with many companies (like Mercury Players and Strollers) and acts as a caregiver to two elderly men, a background that makes her particularly suited to work at Encore. Luedtke is an artistic associate (technical designer, actor, and all-around aide) for the company and a recent addition to the Encore crew.

About 20 percent of the time, "You get your easy days, the nice quiet, mellow, easy days," Luedtke said. Other times, the stress of working with actors with a myriad of cognitive and physical disabilities is extremely trying.

"There are days where it's just, like, everybody's out of control," she said, like "a snow globe of chaos. We had a day a couple of weeks ago (where) nobody could keep control."

Still, for Luedtke, that's part of what theater is -- life, psychology, mental stability and instability. Working with Encore makes her feel grateful, appreciative and humbled.

"People think of (theater) as fun, and for some people it is," said Schoenhaar. "But it's a ton of work, as any other professional theater would be. Our actors learn that very quickly."

In some ways, the vocational training at Encore resembles what actors experience at a drama school. They learn how to memorize lines, how to behave in rehearsal, how to use their voices and various acting techniques.

The challenge for Encore staff is adapting to the different ways the actors learn. Some need recordings. Some need braille. Others can memorize an entire script in a day. It's training for life as well as art: learning to collaborate and producing a finished product are key skills no matter what future field they choose.

Encore, a professional theater company that pays actors and staff, produces mostly original work. Staff members like Schoenhaar and Program Director Wendy Prosise write the plays.

"I started out just helping the actors with any physical or emotional cares they might have," said Prosise, who was hired in 2003. Now she's involved with many aspects of production, playing Cheryl, a stressed out social worker, in the current show.

To see a group of people with mental and physical challenges produce a work of high artistic quality is, one imagines, its own reward, but Encore is constantly seeking a larger audience.

"It's a good reality check for people," Luedtke said. "It's important for people to come and see this work, so they will be motivated to connect, to help in any way."

IF YOU GO

Encore! Studio for the Performing Arts presents "Walk With a Vampire" at the Bartell Theatre weekends through Oct. 18. Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays with one matinee at 2 p.m. Oct. 11. Tickets cost $15, or $10 for seniors or students. To reserve tickets, call 608-661-9696, ext. 6.

Lindsay Christians  —  10/09/2008 2:49 pm