experience — and talk about — theater
Electricity changed the way theater happens, according to Catherine Stewart. Before electric lights, theaters were evenly lit, and there was no signal to the audience that said, “Quiet down, the show’s about to start!” And so the audience was free to talk to each other, and maybe even talk with the actors on stage. There were fewer barriers, more interaction, and more opportunities for conversation.
“I think we’re returning to that” style of theater, Stewart says. “Something magical happens in the room, and conversations continue because (the show) is bigger than itself.”
She’s helping to bring it back. Stewart and Emily Karel are the organizers behind Tiny Mayhem, a monthly experimental theater series running through September that kicks off on Tuesday, April 14, at The Red Door in Portsmouth. Stewart and Karel initially launched Tiny Mayhem under a different name — Pint Sized Plays — last November. After the first show, however, the two decided to take an extended break and further refine and rebrand the series.
Michael Rodriguez Torrent performs in Pint Sized Plays last November.
For Stewart and Karel, Tiny Mayhem is all about small surprises. Each edition will feature four to five main performances, each ranging in length from a couple minutes to a full half-hour. A house band, led by musician and actor CJ Lewis, will play original music between the performances; the music, Stewart says, will connect each piece. As for what form each segment takes, it’s up to the artists. There may be monologues and short scenes or dance and performance art. A theme will connect the pieces (April’s is “Odd one out”), but otherwise, the night’s program will be a surprise for the audience.
“The audience has to be brave to come and see this stuff. They don’t know what it is,” Stewart says.
Stewart and Karel don’t want the audience to simply focus on what’s happening at the front of the room. As the series’ name suggests, small pieces of art will be hidden throughout The Red Door, ready to spring on the unsuspecting audience members who find them like little traps of creativity. Though the element of surprise is key, Stewart says that, during April’s show, the audience might encounter an installation that will ask them, “If you’re alone in a room, can that also be a performance?”
Those unexpected installations are the sort of thing that makes physically going to a show vital — it’s impossible to be surprised on our phones and tablets, where we’re in control of what we see and hear.
“We communicate a lot through our phones and our laptops, but it’s one step removed. What I love about theater is that it’s an ephemeral, visceral (experience),” Stewart says.
Part of a poster promoting the Tiny Mayhem event coming up at The Red Door.
And, as Tiny Mayhem takes audiences out of their comfort zone, Karel and Stewart hope it also pushes artists out of their own boundaries.
“As artists, we get plugged into one or two organizations or communities, and we find a home there and tend to stay there, not because we’re trying to be exclusive, but … that tends to become your home,” Karel says. “But you lose the opportunity to go outside your comfort zone and meet new people and do different things.”
The series has an open submissions policy, and artists can propose a piece at any stage of development, from a polished monologue to a few notes for a scene. For example, April’s show features a short play by local writer Lauren Garza. Though well versed in stand-up comedy, Garza had never written a play before, and so Stewart and Karel worked with Garza on developing the piece.
Titled “What Happens to the Future Orphans?,” the piece is a dramatization of text-message conversations Garza had with a friend in New York and explores how technology can bring people together, all while seemingly taking over our lives.
The piece’s development is a good example of how crucial theater can be, according to Stewart. The last few weeks have seen the piece shift in structure as Stewart and Garza have tried to figure out how to represent the texts on stage. A narrator was added to the script just last week, Stewart says.
The series will also feature works by Stewart and Karel. The first Tiny Mayhem includes a monologue that Stewart wrote after a Dalmatian collided with her while she was walking up State Street.
“I would love to grow a greater sense of a connected theater community, not only on the Seacoast, but branching into the greater Boston area, New York, and even Washington, D.C.”
— Emily Karel
Karel is an actor — she’ll be performing the monologue Stewart wrote in April.
“I would love to grow a greater sense of a connected theater community, not only on the Seacoast, but branching into the greater Boston area, New York, and even Washington, D.C.,” she says.
The two see the series as a place for artists to build an audience and try out more experimental pieces. With a small audience and an intimate venue, Tiny Mayhem can be cozy, yet challenging. It’s “small enough that you can take the risks you want to take in a safe environment,” Stewart says.
Karel agrees. “I think there’s a need for a platform like Tiny Mayhem for artists who are making work, but aren’t quite sure where that work fits in the traditional art or theater scene,” she says. “I’m hoping that (it) will help facilitate the making and showing of art, and also relationships between other artists.”
Stewart and Karel want Tiny Mayhem to extend beyond the monthly shows at the Red Door. Everything, from the event’s posters to social media posts, helps tell a story, Stewart says. They’ll also record and release a podcast in the lead-up to each show.
“We’re trying to make everything we do be a performance or an outlet for an artist,” she says.
Tiny Mayhem takes the stage Tuesday, April 14 at 8 p.m. at The Red Door, 107 State St., Portsmouth. Admission is free. Visit tinymayhem.com for information.
Top of page: Catherine Stewart performs in Pint Sized Plays last November.