Rougemont Louis de - Shipwrecked!: an entertainment: the amazing adventures of Louis de Rougemont (as told by himself)

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Table of Contents

CAPTAIN, TAKE MY HAND!

For my son, Miles

This play was inspired byThe Adventures of Louis de Rougemont, a publishing sensation in England at the close of the nineteenth century.

The chapter on de Rougemont in Sarah Burtons book Impostors: Six Kinds of Liar (Viking, New York, 2000) and The Most Amazing Story a Man Ever Lived to Tell by Geoffrey Maslen (Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1977) were invaluable resources.

PRODUCTION HISTORY

Shipwrecked! An EntertainmentThe Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself) was commissioned by South Coast Repertory (David Emmes, Producing Artistic Director; Martin Benson, Artistic Director; Paula Tomei, Managing Director) in Costa Mesa, California, where it received its world premiere on September 23, 2007. It was directed by Bart DeLorenzo, the set design was by Keith E. Mitchell, the costume design was by Candice Cain, the lighting design was by Rand Ryan, the original music and sound design were by Steven Cahill and the shadow scenic design was by Christine Marie. John Glore was the dramaturg, Jeff Gifford was the production manager, Erin Nelson was the stage manager and Laurie Smits Staude was the honorary producer. The cast was as follows:

LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT	Gregory Itzin
PLAYER #1	Melody Butiu
PLAYER #2	Michael David Cassady

.

Shipwrecked! received its East Coast premiere at Long Wharf Theatre (Gordon Edelstein, Artistic Director; Joan Channick, Managing Director) in New Haven, Connecticut, on February 13, 2008. It was directed by Evan Cabnet, the set design was by Lee Savage, the costume design was by Jessica Wegener, the lighting design was by Tyler Micholeau and the sound design was by Drew Levy. The movement coach was Tim Acito, the dramaturg was Katherine McGerr and the stage manager was Bonnie Brady. The cast was as follows:

LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT	Michael Countryman
PLAYER #1	Angela Lin
PLAYER #2	Jeff Biehl

Shipwrecked! received its Los Angeles premiere at the Geffen Playhouse (Gilbert Cates, Producing Director; Randall Arney, Artistic Director; Stephen Eich, Managing Director) in collaboration with South Coast Repertory on June 25, 2008. The cast, director and design team were the same as the South Coast production, except the production stage manager was Elizabeth A. Brohm; there were some changes in text and staging.

Shipwrecked! was first produced in New York City by Primary Stages (Andrew Leynse, Artistic Director; Elliot Fox, Managing Director) on January 27, 2009. The director was Lisa Peterson, the set design was by Neil Patel, the costume design was by Michael Krass, the lighting design was by Stephen Strawbridge and the sound design was by John Gromada. The production stage manager was Matthew Melchiorre. The cast was as follows:

LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT	Michael Countryman
PLAYER #1	Donnetta Lavinia Grays
PLAYER #2	Jeremy Bobb

CAST OF CHARACTERS

LOUIS DE ROUGEMONT

PLAYER #1 (female)

contributes sound effects and portrays or gives voice to

LOUISS MOTHER
CAPTAIN JENSEN
YAMBA, an Aborigine princess, later his wife
FITZGERALD, a magazine editor
A SOCIETY LADY
ALBERTS MOTHER
AN OCTOPUS EXPERT
A MAP MAKER
A REPORTER
A LIBRARIAN

PLAYER #2 (male)

contributes sound effects and portrays or gives voice to

A BARKEEP
BRUNO, a dog
GUNDA, Yambas father, a tribal chief
BOBO, her brother
AN AUSTRALIAN PROSPECTOR
A SOCIETY LADY
ALBERT, a boy
QUEEN VICTORIA, a queen
A TURTLE EXPERT
A WOMBAT EXPERT
DR. LEOPOLD, an alienist
A PICKPOCKET
A NEWSBOY
A REPORTER
A LAWYER

PEDESTRIANS, SHIPMATES, PEARL FISHERS, CHILDREN, PEDDLERS, PROSPECTORS, TRIBESMEN AND WOMEN, SPECTATORS, THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY AND HECKLERS

NOTES ABOUT THE PLAY

Shipwrecked! An EntertainmentThe Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself ) is the deliberately hyperbolic title of a play about the very nature of artifice and storytelling. Intended as a celebration of theater, its presentation should be alternately thrilling and cheesy. The special effects should be clever, but determinedly low-tech; I want audiences to see the mechanics of theater, whether its a puppeteer in plain sight, or an undisguised wire cable. The costuming should seem as if children raided their parents closets for a game of dress-up.

No scenery is necessary. What scenic design there is should be minimal but elegant, the simpler the better. Scenes must flow seamlessly. The lighting design should be unsparingly gorgeous. And so should the music. Sound should be created onstage, in full view of the audience, by the actors. Avoid high-tech recorded sound and synthesized music.

If projections are used, they should not be photographic; they should look instead like nineteenth-century crosshatched engravings, possibly hand-colored, and they should appear to be controlled by a lantern slide projector.

The use of cute puppets or costumes suggestive of animals are forbidden. They would sink the play. I prefer an expressionisticas opposed to literalevocation of the events described.

The actor playing Louis must be charismatic, agile and utterly mutable; his age is unimportant as long as he is able to convince us he is an old man one minute, and a boy the next.

The play may be performed with as few as three principal actors: one portraying Louis; a second, female actor of color; and a third, male actor, dividing most of the other characters. If a company or amateur group is blessed with a large cast and few financial constraints, roles may be distributed accordingly. Try it. See how it works. (Although I still suspect the fewerand simplerthe better.)

Directors are urged to avoid cuteness (did I already say that?) and sentimentality at all cost. Actors mustnt resort to facile caricatures. They must keep their choices subtle and true at all times, and never condescend to their characters or to their audience.

Allusions to contemporary pop culture (i.e., references to movies, television shows, celebrities, hip-hop music, etc.) are strictly forbidden. That means no slogans on T-shirts, no cheap jokes, no pandering of any kind.

Shipwrecked! is a timeless tale and should be presented as such.

A ghost light stands in the middle of a bare stage.

With the house lights still on, Louis de Rougemont, a proud, ancient man, emerges from the darkness, and looks out over the audience.

LOUIS

(To us) Well well well!

Look at all you lovely-looking people out there!

My! So many of you!

(To others; surprised) Oh! There, too!

Greetings!

You vital, hummingbird-hearted creatures!

Hello and welcome to this temple of the imagination!

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