The narrator of The Lost Colony is known as The Historian and what to do with him is a decades old problem for directors.
In the early decades of the show (as I understand it) he stood at a podium to one side of the stage and read from a great book.
It was Fred Chappel in the 1980s that decided to take him from behind the podium and make him part of the show. The Historian became “Everyman.” He would be part of the crowd and then step out to give his narration, and also played minor characters like explorer Phillip Amadas and the Queen’s messenger.
After Chappel was three years of severe foundering about The Historian. One year he was a portly older gentleman in a light blue suit. He would just wander jarringly into scenes and start talking. The next year was the infamous “Greek Chorus.” There was no character of The Historian. His lines were broken up among all the cast. Prologue started with the entire company (including The Queen) streaming out in a wide half-circle across the stage and up both side stages. Lines were randomly distributed and we spent a lot of rehearsal time learning to whisper/echo the narration. From then on it got weird with, for example, Mrs. Manteo suddenly speaking Paul Green’s unctuous narration.
Other notable attempts at doing something different with The Historian that come to mind include having him be Native American in jeans and buckskin jacket. One year he was an archeologist who dug things like a red soldier helmet out of the sand. Once they went to great lengths to make his costume the color of the sand in the hope that he would seem to appear out of nowhere (didn’t work).
The current director Robert Richmond has a pretty good gimmick going (in my opinion). The Historian and Raleigh are played by the same actor and there is this thing that happens. If you’ve seen it you know what I mean, and if you haven’t seen it I won’t spoil it for you.
(Mary here) In the 1970s, the Historian wore a long black robe (like a choir robe) that had velvet stripes on the sleeves, and there was a cowl (is that the right costume term?!?) that he wore over his head. He wore a white shirt and black tie and black pants under the robe. See the 1974 Souvenir program cover. It wasn't terribly exciting-looking, but the Historian was supposed to be able to move in and out of the shadows (and sometimes the shrubs!) without being noticed much.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Don, I didn't find the gimmick very engaging!
ReplyDeleteI'm biased because I'm from the late 80's period, but I thought that Fred's take on the Historian worked as well as anything I've seen since. Not that it was the "right" way, mind. But that I thought that it was effective and managed to not seem like an affectation.
ReplyDeleteHope you're havin' fun in the Goodliest Lande, pal. Miss you and your fam.