Patrick White – In The Spotlight

Patrick White – In The Spotlight – by J Hunter.

It’ll soon be Winter in the forest, and the rich Gray Squirrels literally have it all: The best nuts, the best tree, you name it. The outcast Fox Squirrels want what the Gray Squirrels have, and they’re not the only ones, as hardship gets worse as you get farther and farther away from the center knothole.

No, this isn’t the latest anime saga from Cartoon Network; it’s the Robert Askins play The Squirrels, the latest offering from Harbinger, the Capital Region theater company with its gaze set firmly forward. Although it’s only been around 3 years, Harbinger has already made a big mark on theater in RadioRadioXLand, presenting plays that normally wouldn’t get a sniff from the more established companies, and the results have been off the charts – most notably with last year’s groundbreaking productions of Theresa Reback’s Dig and Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherfucker with The Hat.

The person we have to thank for all this divine theatrical madness is Patrick White. If you’ve been around the RRX Theater scene, you’ve seen Patrick: Writing up a play for our Extinguished Competition; appearing in Tracy Letts’ The Minutes at Albany Civic Theater; holding acting classes and Scene Nights at Albany Barn; attending any number of plays with his Life Partner/longtime co-conspirator Chris Foster; keeping Facebook people updated with the 518 Theatre page; and talking about Capital Region Theatre on the podcast The Play That Changed My Life.

If you want to get excited about theater (both inside and outside RadioRadioXLand), you need to talk with Patrick. He was nice enough to step Into The Spotlight to talk about Harbinger, The Squirrels, and all the other irons he’s got in the fire.

RRX: You’ve been in the Capital Region theater community for parts of three decades. What made you look at the array of companies plying their trade in the area and decide, “We need something else”?

PW: I’m a lot to take. I’ve happily collaborated with most of the theaters in the area, but I’ve also seen a lot and read a lot of theater and there are possible productions that I get very excited about that, how shall we say, not everyone shares the same level of enthusiasm to produce. If you look at Harbinger’s short history, there are a significant number of plays that wouldn’t be produced elsewhere. Our inaugural production was The Christians in December of 2021, which turned the Albany Barn into a mega church with a choir of 15 to pose the question what happens to a man who follows his conscience and tries to sway his congregation into no longer believing in Hell?

RRX: You’re bringing The Squirrels to Sand Lake Center for the Arts this week, and you’re bringing your next show Maggie May to Albany Civic Theater this September. Why go to other theaters when you’ve already got a brick-and-mortar base with Albany Barn?

PW: I have always done Scene Nights with my acting class in Albany Barn, and I am eternally grateful that I was able to move from the Masonic Lodge (who wouldn’t admit us due to COVID restrictions) and resume my classes at the Barn in October of 2020. As soon as the State allowed for public performances, I produced a Scene Night in April of 2021 which immediately led to the Class producing Death Tax by Lucas Hnath with the invaluable help of Nicky Lightz in June, leading to the formation of Harbinger that Fall.

That was the first play I produced at the Barn and frankly, the Barn has some issues: It’s a wide-open space and very difficult to direct concentrated attention for a sustained period; and it has sound issues, so it likes big plays that demand the full space and can kick the speech out there. Happily, since one of the goals of Harbinger is to do things that our audience hasn’t seen before, as a wandering company we can offer a different venue with each production as we’re doing this season, and we get to collaborate with more theater artists (another goal) by producing from Sand Lake to Schenectady. We get to match a location to a space (that) feels right for this play – like Destroying David by Jason Odell Williams about a grief-stricken art restorer (which was) produced at the Opalka Art Gallery on the Sage campus, again with Nicky Lightz’ huge help.

Working in different spaces also gives us fantastic opportunities to collaborate and benefit our fellow Capital Region Theatre makers. Dig by Theresa Rebeck – which was the country’s first community production – broke box office records at SLCA last season, and this year The Squirrels has amazing trees and nuts built for the show by Averill Park artisans Barbara Berti and Bud Whitney. Hundreds of hours of painstaking work to create this imaginary world for two weekends.

RRX: Did The Squirrels come out of Harbinger’s play-reading committee, or had you seen the play during your never-ending tour of NYS theater?

PW: The Squirrels did come from the playreading committee – as everything we produce does – and no, I have never seen this play. In fact, although Chris and I attend 300 plays a year, we have never seen anything on our schedule this year. The company is just an elaborate facility generating more plays for us to attend. If I remember correctly, The Squirrels was in a package as a member of Dramatists Play Service. Every quarter they send you seven new plays randomly.

RRX: “The Haves versus the Have-Nots” is a plot theme going back to the beginning of the written word. Besides the costumes, what makes The Squirrels different from other plays that have worked this theme?

PW: Well, the war is over nuts. I think everyone smiles when they think of the show and our cast of 12 playing squirrels with the costumes and the tails, the setting and the language. It’s about seeing us in this fanciful setting where the center knothole is the privileged comfort and if you live out on the far branch, you are less fortunate. Some don’t even have the security and comfort of the community in the tree and come from as far away as the 7-11 or (Horrors!) live on the golf course. The characters don’t speak or talk, they squeak and squawk and their love making is mukking. It’s identifying our challenges and opportunities but having a blast doing it!

RRX: Having just finished Web, I know how picking up an animal character is a lot more than just putting on a costume. How much of a challenge has it been for the cast of The Squirrels to get the anthropomorphic changes dialed in?

PW: The cast has gotten their squirrel on! From auditions, they have jumped in with all paws. There has been a lot of YouTube, but we can also pick up pointers with every walk we take in the city. Vocally, non-verbally, physically, character revealing… There’s a lot going on in the dray (Squirrel’s nest). Thanks to Aaliyah Al-Fuhaid, our choreographer.

RRX: The pictures you’ve posted on social media of the cast out in the world are both beautiful and hilarious. How was the experience for you and the cast, and what was the reaction from the civilians?

PW: We got permission to do it when Crossgates Mall was closed but there were still plenty of shoppers taking selfies with our wildlife. We should have called the news channels! It was a great collaboration with Crossgates, and we hope to work with them again soon.

RRX: Harbinger also promoted The Squirrels as part of the group’s appearance at Capital Region Pride. Was this Harbinger’s first appearance at Pride, and how was the reaction?

PW: This was Harbinger’s first Pride and my first time marching. It was amazing! My family came down and marched and we had a bunch of people from class, workshops and previous shows. We gave out hundreds of postcards and buttons and met dozens of people at our tent, many who were interested in technical theater. We heard again and again “Ooh!! A theater company!!”

RRX: I was bummed about not being able to audition for Maggie May because I believe some music we hear stays with us all through our lives. I know it’s not coming up for a few months, but please tell us about Harbinger’s next production.

PW: Maggie May is an incredibly joyful, life-affirming play about a family who connects and communicates with their matriarch – who has dementia – using 70’s pop music. We’re still pinching ourselves that we are producing the American Premiere of this gem of a play by Frances Poet! It’s our first co-production with Albany Civic Theater and we are very excited to share this fun, beautiful play about a devastating topic that has touched everyone’s lives – myself included.

RRX: So you have Harbinger, your own acting, writing theater reviews for my former journalistic home, and your various acting classes. On top of ALL THAT, you’ve also joined the Podcast world with The Play That Changed My Life. Please talk about the thought that started it all, and what’s your assessment of how it’s gone so far?

PW: The most beautiful thing about Capital Region Theatre is that there are thousands of opportunities, and anyone can try anything. If I could fill every minute of my waking life with theater, I might. So, it’s an elaborate boondoggle to get more theater in my life! I did a podcast connected to The Gazette with Kayla DeMicco promoting Custom Cuts last Fall, and the OSM engineer, Jeremy Clowe, said if we knew anyone who wanted to do a podcast…I grabbed it! I’ve loved inviting old friends and people I’ve never met before and talk about how theater takes primacy in their lives. Episode 19 features The Orchard Project’s Ari Edelson, and I cannot wait!!!

RRX: I know the answer changes every time the question’s asked, but I’ll ask it anyway: What’s the play that changed YOUR life?

PW: The Glass Menagerie gave me a calling; my first Capital Region show was Prelude to a Kiss, I met Chris doing Gross Indecency; but when I’m working on a show, I’m pretty much consumed by it and think about all the possibilities and opportunities introducing this cast & this new script to new audiences and who I might meet. Somebody could show up and offer us a new performance space, or I’ll meet a new student or collaborator… so, The Squirrels by Robert Askins has changed my life today!

Harbinger presents The Squirrels at Sand Lake Center for The Arts, 2880 Route 43, Averill Park, June 21^st thru 23^rd and June 28^th thru 30^th, with a FREE preview on Thursday, June 20! For tickets, please go to www.actingclasswithpatrickwhite.net.

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