Jeremy Tow
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I'm often asked the question, "How can you possibly tell that story on stage? It's so large and it happens in so many locations?" It would be simple to come up with some pat answer like, "Well, that's theatre"; however, the fact is that the size and scope of a story like Miracle on 34th Street could be easily overwhelming to anyone: the images from the movie are so indelibly etched in our minds, and the play has over 30 scenes, 15 locations, and dozens of characters.
But rather than start from the details or the iconic images of the movie, my job, as a story teller, is to go back to the actual text of the play. That process of listening to the text...
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simplifying, getting rid of my preconceived notions, and finding the time to really hear the playwright's voice...is never easy. Especially when I have to build budgets for a production like this 20 months in advance, create marketing images 18 months before the opening of the show, and when I have to cast the play and work with the designers many months before we begin rehearsals. I have to make the time to read the play numerous times, decide what I absolutely need to tell the story, and then convey those needs to others who will create images, sounds, colours, costumes and characters that will help me bring the text alive. I must actively listen to the playwright and to the other artists involved in the process, and then have faith that the decisions we make will help us to convey the story, clearly.
The "miracle" of 34th Street, is that Kris Kringle does the same thing. He enters the glamorous metropolis of New York on the biggest spending day of the year: American Thanksgiving. Amid the noise of a parade, the pressure to be "a boon to the sales department" at Macy's, and the very grown up idea that common sense always outweighs faith: he listens. He listens to the voices of the children, of an overworked doctor, of a misguided businesswoman and a lonely little girl, and he finds a practical way to supply them with what they need. He uses the resources he has: the knowledge of where to buy a specific toy, giving away his Christmas bonus, getting lost so that two individuals will be forced to spend time together, and scouring the real estate section of the paper for a house that will look just like Susan's drawing...to fulfill the needs and the deep desires of the hearts of those around him.
I hope that the inspiration of this miracle is what you leave the theatre with today. Yes, the actors are marvelous, the set and costumes are beautiful...and hopefully, you'll like the direction, too...but the heartfelt meaning of this story is why we wanted to tell the story in the first place: actively listen, don't make assumptions, look beyond the details, and do all that you possibly can for your family and the community that surrounds you.
Enjoy...and Merry Christmas.
Biography
Jeremy is an actor, director and a playwright, and is the Artistic Director of the Chemainus Theatre Festival (CTF). Recent credits include the title character in Hamlet for The Globe Theatre of the Great Southwest, and directing Murder On The Nile here at CTF . Other favourite shows at the festival include Driving Miss Daisy, Private Lives, The Heiress, and A Streetcar Named Desire. Acting highlights include Hally in Master Harold...and the boys for Pacific Theatre (Jessie Award, Best Actor in a Leading Role, 2000) Hal/Henry in Henry IV, Parts I & II and in Henry V for The Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, Proteus in The Two Gentlemen of Verona for Bard on the Beach, and Marchbanks in Candida for CTF. Jeremy trained at the actors' Space in New York City and he lives in Chemainus with his lovely wife, Anita Wittenberg, and their children, Emma and Sebastian.
