By Ron Evans
We here at The Comet always get excited when we see a new creative entity step out into the limelight. We also get excited when we see the words “for mature audiences only,” and when they happen at the same time - well… we just have to see about it.
A new local production company, Speakeasy Theatre, will be taking its inaugural step onto the stage with a performance of Tracy Lett’s dark and explicit play, Killer Joe. The show premieres June 23rd at The Riverside Playhouse in Wenatchee. If sex, violence, nudity and twisted humor attracts you more than it repels - you will want to find yourself in the theater for this show.
Speakeasy founder Jared Morgan is certainly not new to the local theater scene. “I acted in half a dozen shows with Sherry Schreck at WVC in the early 2000s. That’s when I caught the bug. I went on to get my BA in Theatre Arts at CWU (then had to get a real job, as one does). In the meantime I spent several years doing local shows in Wenatchee and Leavenworth. A traveling medical lab technician job pays the bills but theater’s been my raison d’etre since I was a teenager. I don’t have much time for theater these days so when I do, I go ham.”
That’s a fair statement considering the bold material Morgan chose for the company’s first production. I chatted with him to find out more about this intriguing new company and to seek clues for what we’re all in for as the lights dim on opening night for Killer Joe.
First the annoying, cliché but always interesting to read about question - tell us about your influences - on stage or otherwise.
I would say Ives, Durang, Stoppard, Magnier, Beckett. I’m into philosophy delivered through absurd premises. Also, Tennessee Williams, Lynch, Tarantino, and the Coen Brothers, because I love to laugh at the dark and uncomfortable. I rewatched the film version of Killer Joe (2011 - starring Matthew McConaughey in the title role) a few years ago. I had the same reaction as the first time I saw it. I felt a little nauseated. This time, however, I saw that it was based on a play. My reaction was “How on Earth do you put this on a stage?” The content is so graphic and so disturbing. I couldn’t picture how one could make it palatable without having the solid fourth wall of a screen to give some separation between the audience and the actors. I bought a copy of the script and became obsessed with that puzzle. It’s technically a dark comedy with incredibly funny parts but sometimes the jokes are happening concurrently with violence that could haunt a person’s dreams. Do you tone down the violence to give the audience a smoother ride or do you lean into it and really put them through the ringer? I think in the end we made it just about as awful as possible.
Tell us about your new theater company, its inception and what kinds of productions you hope to unleash onto the unsuspecting public.
The content of Killer Joe was the impetus for starting my own company. The author has referred to the play as “X-rated” and indeed, you must be 18+ to attend our production. Knowing the graphic nature of the material I was confident I wouldn’t be able to convince any local theater groups to put it on, so I had to figure out how to do it myself. The result: the inception of Speakeasy Theatre. The company is still in its infancy, but we’re hoping in the future that it can help fulfill the same need that Killer Joe experienced and be surrogate to other shows that might fall outside the norm for Wenatchee theater.
Who is involved with the group? And will you have a home-base theater for your productions? Speakeasy is really just me at this point.
The business end of this whole process has been a learning experience for me. I had to learn about EINs, marketing, and licensing shows. Cynthia Brown is producing Joe and has been walking me through it all. She knows what she’s doing. Once we have staged a successful production we’ll start looking into giving people official positions and titles. You know, flesh the organization out more. We have no theater to call our own. Music Theater of Wenatchee has been gracious enough to let us rent The Riverside Playhouse for our first endeavor.
Tell us a little about the story of Killer Joe and about your cast and crew.
Killer Joe is about Chris, a self-pitying drug dealer in west Texas. When his stash goes missing he has to come up with some fast money before his criminal associates bump him off over his debts. Enter Joe Cooper: hitman for hire and Chris’s only hope to recoup his losses. When Joe takes an interest in Chris’s virginal sister he makes himself at home with Chris’s family until their relationship becomes strained. I’m thrilled to be working again with Matthew Pippin (Joe Cooper) and Brian Higgins (Ansel Smith, Chris’s dad). This is my first project with Jane Standerford (Dottie Smith, Chris’s little sister), Shannon Jaynes (Sharla Smith, Chris’s stepmom), and the man himself, Caleb Seims (Chris Smith). The cast had instant chemistry. I think we all bonded pretty quickly over the uniqueness of the story and the challenges presented by the script.
So one decides to start their own theater group. How the hell does that work? Talk a little about the licensing, logistics and financials that go into something like this.
Currently, I’m paying for the whole thing out of pocket. Again, this show would be difficult to find investors for who want their name on a project like this. I’m not looking to turn a personal profit, though. As soon as I’m back in the black, the rest of the money goes to my actors.
Is there a dream project you have in mind - maybe further down the road?
Somewhere down the road I’d love to do Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead. That one has Marx Brothers level banter. It’s purely cerebral. Quite different from Joe. I dunno, maybe we could make them fight to the death with shovels or something.
Are you looking for others to get involved - if so, how can they reach you?
Look us up on FB:/SpeakeasyWenatchee and Instagram: @speakeasy_theatre_productions. Tickets are on sale now at The PAC at numericapac.showare.com or call 509-663-ARTS or drop by their box office.