Strathairn going solo with ACT's 'Lintel'
Strathairn going solo with ACT’s ‘Lintel’
Jesse Hamlin Published 2:50 pm PDT, Wednesday, April 10, 2013
David Strathairn says “Underneath the Lintel,” the solo show he will perform for ACT, “is a lot of things all in one.” Photo: American Conservatory Theater
Photo: American Conservatory Theater
David Strathairn says “Underneath the Lintel,” the solo show he will perform for ACT, “is a lot of things all in one.”
David Strathairn: ‘You build a vernacular,’ he says of ACT show collaboration with Carey Perloff
David Strathairn wasn’t looking to do his first one-man play when American Conservatory Theater Artistic Director Carey Perloff sent him the script of “Underneath the Lintel,” Glen Berger’s rich 2001 mystery about a Dutch librarian who travels a circuitous route through time and cultures after finding a note in the margin of a recently returned book that was 113 years overdue.
Despite the daunting prospect of going solo, “I was sold right away. I loved the piece,” says the sterling screen and stage actor, a San Francisco native and longtime Perloff associate who will star in Berger’s well-traveled drama as part of ACT’s forthcoming 47th season. The company also recently announced another addition to its 2013-14 lineup: “Napoli!,” a World War II-era comedy by Eduardo De Filippo featuring another native son, Marco Barricelli.
“Underneath the Lintel,” which plays in October under Perloff’s direction, “is a lot of things all in one,” says Strathairn, 64, on the horn from his home in New York’s Hudson River Valley.
Strathairn going solo with ACT’s ‘Lintel’
Jesse Hamlin Published 2:50 pm PDT, Wednesday, April 10, 2013
David Strathairn says “Underneath the Lintel,” the solo show he will perform for ACT, “is a lot of things all in one.” Photo: American Conservatory Theater
Photo: American Conservatory Theater
David Strathairn says “Underneath the Lintel,” the solo show he will perform for ACT, “is a lot of things all in one.”
David Strathairn: ‘You build a vernacular,’ he says of ACT show collaboration with Carey Perloff
David Strathairn wasn’t looking to do his first one-man play when American Conservatory Theater Artistic Director Carey Perloff sent him the script of “Underneath the Lintel,” Glen Berger’s rich 2001 mystery about a Dutch librarian who travels a circuitous route through time and cultures after finding a note in the margin of a recently returned book that was 113 years overdue.
Despite the daunting prospect of going solo, “I was sold right away. I loved the piece,” says the sterling screen and stage actor, a San Francisco native and longtime Perloff associate who will star in Berger’s well-traveled drama as part of ACT’s forthcoming 47th season. The company also recently announced another addition to its 2013-14 lineup: “Napoli!,” a World War II-era comedy by Eduardo De Filippo featuring another native son, Marco Barricelli.
“Underneath the Lintel,” which plays in October under Perloff’s direction, “is a lot of things all in one,” says Strathairn, 64, on the horn from his home in New York’s Hudson River Valley.
“It’s a mystery – there’s the quest to unravel the secret of the book this librarian finds – and then there’s the character himself, who’s a complicated person. The story has a lot of spiritual overtones, and deals with the myth or the existence of the Wandering Jew. It has so many twists and turns.
“It’s pretty entertaining on the page, so I imagine it being pretty engaging onstage if we do it right – if we unearth what I believe is a lot of pathos. I think the play has great appeal for people who might love very human stories, but also stories with allegorical and metaphorical stuff, too.”
A subtle actor known for his understated presence and intensity, Strathairn last appeared on film as Secretary of State William H. Seward in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” and onstage in the 2012 Broadway revival of “The Heiress” with Jessica Chastain, who received an Oscar nomination in 2013 for “Zero Dark Thirty.”
Strathairn’s many memorable movie roles include his Oscar-nominated portrayal of newsman Edward R. Murrow in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the elegantly cool procurer Pierce Patchett in “L.A. Confidential” and Tom Cruise’s laconic jailbird brother in “The Firm.” (“I love your crooked little mouth,” he tells Holly Hunter, who gamely informs him that’s not her best feature.)
Strathairn first worked with Perloff in the late ’80s at New York’s off-Broadway Classic Stage Company, where she was artistic director. She directed him in Pinter’s classic “The Birthday Party” and the American premiere of the playwright’s “Mountain Language.” In 1996, when the quake-damaged Geary Theater was reborn, Perloff cast Strathairn as Prospero in “The Tempest,” and brought him back last year to star in “Scorched.”
“I always learn something from Carey’s insights into the text,” the actor says. “She likes to bring things to the stage that give people something emotionally and intellectually. You build relationships over the years, and that streamlines the process. You know how they work and they know how you work. You build a vernacular, and that makes it welcoming to get back in that room.”
At the moment, Strathairn is between gigs, doing some readings for writer friends looking for producers, and waiting to see what crops up.
“You always think you’re only as good as your last job,” he says, “and you’re always hoping you get another one.”