Androcles and the Lion

THEATER 29
-fall 1990
Another part-time professor had come to West Chester that fall, Mark Cofta. Enthusiastic and intelligent, and quick with a laugh. He taught a smashing advanced acting class, with nearly all the senior students in it. It culminated in my final project with Lou and Stephanie and Deremigio, CHRISTMAS AT KIRKBY COTTAGE, a Dickensian piece we performed in Philips Library, for the university bigwigs. I was almost sentimental about the end of two eras with Lou. I'd hung out with Mark a bit, and when he asked me to audition for a play he was directing at the Hedgerow Theater, i was excited. It was by Shaw, one of those writers whose voluminous output i had devoured. The Hedgerow was a semi-professional theater south of Philadelphia, with a semi-prestigious history. Located in the woodsy, well-off town of Media, they employed a full-time troupe of ten actors who worked for room and board and $50 a week, and rounded out their casts with non-paid actors. ANDROCLES is the tale of a lion with a thorn in his paw, which Shaw molded into a humorous morality play about Christians and Romans and persecution. I was cast as the centurion, and the menagerie keeper. I quickly knew that these were smaller roles i would thrive in. The centurion in particular; playing a blowhard authority type wasn't something i'd done much, but i slid into the bullying role like it had been waiting for me. I captured both forceful and funny, and it felt so great. Mark put a good group together. David Zum Brunnen, the theater manager, played the mocking Lentulus. A tall, talented actor with not much brawn played the supreme warrior Ferrovius. We gave him an incredibly thick wooly vest, which bulked him up. Bob Tochick played the lion and Spintho, the cowardly Christian. A New York actor named Rob was cast as the gentle Androcles, and a sloth-like troupe member played the Emperor. Miles Chapman played the Captain, and he and i became buddies. The theater was an amazing space, a stone edifice which had been built at the turn of the century. The rafters and balconies were beautiful. There had been a devastating fire two years before, and ours was only the second play since they'd reopened. You could still find charred wood. Rehearsals went wonderfully, until Androcles dropped out, on the advice of his agent. Mark asked me to take over the role...which was kind of crushing, for i had been so in love with my characters. But a trooper must troop, so...Androcles became a great role. Sweet and gentle, willing to die if he must, but unwilling to kill. I had good chemistry with my bullying wife. Saving the Emperor's life, and then dancing off with the lion at the end, was such sweet joy. I was also the torchbearer of a piece of history. The previous Hedgerow Androcles had been famous early twentieth-century actor Jasper Dieter. There was a painting of him on the wall, and i had heard of him in college. It was a December run, so i was still at college during rehearsals and most of the performances. I would drive the twenty-minute trip nightly, in my diesel VW Rabbit (which had no heat). The theater was cold, too, and had one of those industrial jet-engine heaters. One night after rehearsal, my car wouldn't start. I was offered a ride, but in the mood for adventure, i decided to hoof it. Sixteen miles of fartliching, much of it through the countryside. At one point i began hearing a scary, recurring growl in the far distance, which grew as i approached. It sounded like a bull gator. I finally discovered that it was a metal grated bridge, which roared when a car crossed it. In another deserted stretch, i felt a presence following me. A strange blue light began to grow, from where i could not tell. It seemed to be following me, but then disappeared. I stopped at an Acme store a couple miles outside of West Chester, and accepted a ride from a buddy i ran into. The trip took almost three hours. It was the furthest i'd ever gone on foot. The production was very well-received, and when it closed, i knew i'd be working with Mark again.