On Friday night the curtain came down on the Elden Street Player's latest performance, "Love! Valour! Compassion!" The commotion that the controversial Tony Award-winning play caused, however, has yet to die down.
An admittedly cutting-edge play centered around eight gay, and frequently naked and foul-mouthed, men has caused a stir among a number of Herndon residents, council members and even a few Elden Street Players board members.
"That's a story that is best not told," said Richard Downer, a board member, said about the company's most recent production. "I can tell you, that will never happen again."
IN THE PAST, the board of directors selected its upcoming season on one up and down vote, without requiring the individual members to read the submitted plays before hand.
As a result, Herndon's little-theater-that-could developed a reputation, Downer said, of being a good spot for a director who wanted to experiment with a play, no matter how edgy.
After a few "edgier" plays, the Elden Street board members now have 60 days to review the plays submitted by the group's artistic director. The board will be meeting on April 29 to approve or reject next year's slate of shows, and according to several board members discussion on the as-yet-revealed list has been heated.
Mayor Richard Thoesen has heard the talk about the now darkened play and he has seen a few e-mails, and one letter, complaining about the subject matter and what some people have called the play's graphic and explicit presentation. "I'm not too concerned," said Thoesen, who chose not to see the play. "The Elden Street Players have a tremendous history of success."
Ellen Kaminsky, the chairman of the Cultural Arts Advisory Committee, praised the group for its willingness to take chances. "The Elden Street Players are an award-winning group because they are edgy and they are not afraid to embrace their uniqueness," she said. "I salute them for continuing to try and stretch themselves. I wouldn't have it any other way. Art is a very edgy thing, otherwise we would be left with pretty vanilla stuff."
Richard Klare, the group's former president and current board member, was the producer of the show. He was aware of a few complaints about the show, but added that each one had a different reason. Before the show ever started, Klare knew he might turn off some of his theater regulars.
FRED KROCHMAL lives in Vienna but he has a dental office in Herndon. He and his wife, Phyllis, were longtime Elden Street Players season ticket holders, until this year. "Their selections had begun to be sort of depressing, so avante-garde," Krochmal said.
Krochmal still goes to the Herndon theater and he was in the audience for one of the showings of "Love! Valour! Compassion!" While he praised the acting, he felt the nudity was over the top. "I understand trying to make a point, but after awhile," he said. "It wasn't tasteful nudity. It was more of the in-your-face type. They could have worn Speedos."
Krochmal brought some friends to the show, not realizing how graphic it was, he said. "We were a little bit embarrassed, but we will be back."
Klare, the producer, said they went out of their way to make sure no one was surprised by the adult content of the play. During intermissions, Klare even positioned himself in the theater's cramped lobby before and after each show to address any concern's the audience might have had. "We didn't want anyone to be surprised."
While he said he took each complaint seriously, he pointed out that "Love! Valour! Compassion!" was one of the theater's most attended shows. Playing to several sold-out audiences, nearly 700 people saw the show during its month-long run. "I understand that not every show is for every person," Klare said. "The artistic decision lies on the director's shoulders."
The producer insisted that the one show shouldn't represent the entire body of work. People will always find fault with one show or another, Klare said. "We have a great children's theater program," he said. "Should one show, that someone might object to, discount all those other good shows? I would hope not. That's part of art, to try different things, but you just have to know that not everyone is going to care for everything we do."
KLARE HAS HEARD the complaint that Elden Street Players has become too "cutting edge" for its own good, and that the plays being put on are "edgy for the sake of edginess." And he couldn't disagree more.
"Our next show is "Art," and this summer it will be "Suburb." That is a show that has songs about mowing the lawn. Not exactly edgy," he said. "We do not put on edgy shows just for the sake of being edgy. This is not indicative of an aim. We have always just tried to do good shows."
Board member Dave Sinclair, who works as a house manager at the Industrial Strength Theater, said when he saw the play, he was taken aback by the strong sexual overtones to the show. "I think the gay sexuality shocked me the most," he said, "I've been in a locker room before, the nudity didn't bother me."
Having sat through all of the showings, Sinclair said he was impressed with the overall production. "It was almost a full house every night," he said. "I think it is a vocal minority of people who are screaming."
Sinclair's wife Stacey is president of the Council for the Arts of Herndon, which has given grant money to the theater company in the past but has no official relationship with Elden Street Players, and also served as a house manager for the production. Stacey Sinclair is also a big supporter of the proposed Cultural Arts Center and she hopes that, no matter what people felt towards one play, that they wouldn't let it affect their politics regarding budgetary questions currently being debated in the town. "I think there are people who are playing too much politics and letting their personal feelings influence their political decisions," she said. "You can't do that."
And while Kaminsky saluted the Elden Street Players' "edginess," she didn't deny her disappointment about the timing of the play, as she leads an effort to build a downtown cultural arts center. "Is it unfortunate that the timing was such?" she asked. "Yes."
The mayor, another supporter of the arts center, is not as concerned as some about the play's timing. Thoesen said he thought the theater company would use this opportunity to get "feedback" from the audience about future shows. "None of us is going to agree with everything. Art is art and it is enriching our community," the mayor said. "Hopefully, the community will see that it helps us explore social issues. If I had any advice for the community it would be to relax. We have responsible thespians and while we all have different values, our goals are all the same."