August 20, 2008 Special Sections » Fall Guide

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A Tarantino film on stage 

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You have to be off-book to even start rehearsal on this scene?

Blamy: That's exactly what Chip said. I held the script in my hand, and it was virtually impossible to read. It helps, though. Because I've got to be checking on my toes and limping around a bit. There's not a whole lot of acting there, and I'm just trying to get my bearings.

Decker: That scene is tough for me, though.

Oh, yeah!

It's hard.

Gentile: I've got to touch his nipple.

Aww...!

Gentile: I know...

That really has to rank among the most absurd things that you've done on the stage here in Charlotte.

Gentile: Yes. Touching another man's nipple was not what I came down here for. It was just kind of a side effect.

Just what impression do you expect us to come reeling out of the theater with after seeing all this?

Gentile: That's a good question.

Decker: For me, Perry -- we're actually going to be planning talkbacks twice a week each week during the run. People really want to talk about it. They want to talk to Dave about how it was like to hang upside down. They want to know how the effects were done, how the people dealt with all the different things that are going on. They really have a connection to it. It's one of those where you get the message. You just get it. No one has to hit you in the head with it, it doesn't preach to you. People just walk out and they go, "Duh."

Especially now. Like where are the weapons of mass destruction? Of course it's stupid, people. We get it. And it doesn't preach, but it makes its point so under the radar that you go, "Oh, yeah!" And you've had a great time the whole time you've been there because you're laughing one second, and then you're doing one of those "Eeñyew! Gross!" moments out loud. The audience is like -- one minute they're rolling in the aisles, and the next they're kind of rolling with revulsion.

I really think people are going to walk out feeling that they've had a wonderful time, number one, seeing brilliant writing, number two, and three, they're going to say, "He's right. This is stupid." It's stupid that we go to war. It's stupid that Catholics bomb Protestants in the name of religion. There's none of that 2-1/2 minute, three-minute monologue where we talk about the foibles of society and how wrong this all is. It's all there. It's just so cleverly wrapped up in a story that twists and turns.

It's one of those where you know where Scene 2 is going. Then Scene 2 happens, and you're completely wrong. But you know where 3 is going, and when 3 happens, you know where it's going, but you're wrong. All the way up to the very last minute of this show, you think you've got it figured out -- and then it blows your mind just one more time.

Speaking of blowing. What about all this technical stuff? Are you handling all the technical stuff and the directing, or are you calling in some reserves to take care of all this blood and gore and dead cats and explosions?

Decker: We've actually got all our dead cats. We've built rigs. We spent the entire summer doing a lot of this work. We have a whole day planned, where it's working with nothing but the rigs that blow -- these are going to look like movie effects. When Padraic walks up and puts two guns to somebody's head and shoots, brains are going out the other side of his head and up the wall. I guarantee you that's going to happen, and it's going to be awesome.

Well it didn't happen in Bug, so I was disappointed. This time around we're going to get the full off-Broadway effect, right?

Decker: You're going to get the full effect.

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