The Acting Company Brings "Moby Dick" to Mason

By Broadside Staff Writer Amanda Loerch

Last Saturday, The Acting Company performed Moby Dick Rehearsed in George Mason University’s Concert Hall. Casey Biggs directed renowned actor Orson Welles’ take on the classic novel written by Herman Melville and blew the terrifying adventure out of the water.

The Concert Hall’s pre-performance discussion gave eager patrons the opportunity for Q&A with two members of Moby Dick, Seth Duerr, whose main role is Captain Ahab, and staff repertory director, Jessi Hill.

Hill spoke for the entire company, including its founders John Houseman and Margot Harley when she said how much “everyone enjoyed performing for a diverse number of audiences and venues.” Nearly half of their tour is at college venues and she said every evening, they can “feel the energy from the audience which inspires them all to continue to do what they love.”

Duerr spoke of the similarities he found with the tragedy of Moby Dick and the reality that was Orson Welles’s life.
“[Both the play and the person were about] something terrible happening to a man of great skill, and what he has to learn to cope with it for the rest of his life,” Duerr said. Though he has been performing Moby Dick for more than a year, he never tires of his roles or the story. Duerr also noted how interesting the script read in rehearsals which was just a glimmer of the “gem” of the novel he has read 12 times.

Even when no one may have been watching them, the actors and actresses continued to sway almost always in unison on the boat to the waves that grew more and more realistic. Patrons did not walk out with sudden sea legs, but the lights from outside the house was enough of a contrast from the dark stage and misty painted background that it led many to feel like they just came up from under water.

When performers are facing different directions, most cameras can shoot from every angle, but in a live performance, this wasn’t possible. In the scene with the church service, the Company cleverly decided to have the preacher and congregation both face the audience, to show the scene from all sides. The congregation members sang beautiful four-part hymns, which is a talent not every actor also possesses, not to mention the entire ensemble. The preacher, Father Mapple, also played by Duerr, stood on a large wooden crate and used a taller ladder as his pulpit to speak the biblical message of Jonah and the Whale.

Not only was there dramatic speaking and singing, there was also a hint of whip cracking, percussive effects, and even some spitting on stage – fortunately, that was the only scene that got any of the viewers wet. The scenes at sea were filled with sounds of creaking boards and the ominous groaning of the whale, along with waves of lightly colored linen crashing about.

While many live or taped productions will not fare as true to the original novels, this two-hour Reader’s Digest version of Moby Dick was much more exciting to watch than it would have been to stay at home and delve into the book.