Photographer: T Charles Erickson
“Small Mouth Sounds” gets its South Florida premiere this week, bringing to life a tragi-comic story built around six characters who must convey their lives to the audience, using very few words.
For most of the play’s 100 minutes, the characters do not speak. The action takes place at a weeklong spiritual retreat, where the characters are forced to react – mostly in silence.
Actress-turned-playwright Bess Wohl is also the author of “American Hero,” “Barcelona,” “Touched,” “In,” “Cats Talk Back,’ and the original musical “Pretty Filthy.” She also writes for film and television and as developed projects for HBO, ABC, USA, Disney and Paramount Pictures.
In his review, New York Times critic, Christopher Isherwood called "Small Mouth Sounds" when it played off off Broadway in 2015 a gem, saying “The sound of silence onstage has rarely made such sweet music.”
miamiartaine.com spoke to Wohl about her nearly dialogue-free play just before its opening at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Carnival Studio Theater on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 7:30 p.m. The show runs through March 4.
Photographer: Joanna Eldredge Morrissey
Bess Wohl, playwright, "Small Mouth Sounds."
miamiartzine.com: How would you describe “Small Mouth Sounds?”
Beth Wohl: I generally say it’s about six strangers who meet for the first time at a silent meditation retreat, and their search for enlightenment against all odds.
MAZ: What gave you the idea for the play?
BW: I was semi-dragged by a good friend of mine to a silent retreat. I thought it would be a fun, bonding weekend away. So, there I was, with my snacks and bottle of wine and then, at the first lecture, the teacher said we would be in silence, and I said, “What?” Somehow, I had missed that. But, before long, I thought, “This would be a great setting for a play.” From then on, I was participating, but I had my writing hat on.
MAZ: How did you develop your characters?
BW: After I decided that I would write a play, I started going to silent retreats, to observe people. The right archetypes began to emerge, although of a few of my characters are inspired by my fantasies of what some of these people might be.
MAZ: Did you ever occur to you before this to write a play without dialogue?
BW: Before I wrote this play, I thought that dialogue was the primary part of a play, but now I think that it’s the non-verbal parts that really tell the story.
Photographer: T Charles Erickson
MAZ: How did you come to realize this?
BW: In my first draft, I had all the characters come to the retreat, learn that they had to be in silence, and then I immediately had them all breaking the rules left and right. I showed this to a few friends and they said, quite rightly, “You set up this great challenge, and then you abandoned it. Why don’t you try living it a little.” So then I wrote a draft where there was complete silence, and that didn’t work either. So then I came upon a happy medium.
MAZ: So it’s not completely silent play?
BW: No, the play is more about the effect of silence, rather than having to be completely in it all the time. Especially when the characters find themselves in deeper and deeper crisis, there are a few quick outbursts, although some of the characters literally walk.
MAZ: I yofu can’t use dialogue, what do you do to tell the story?
BW: Physical movement becomes very important. Most of the play is told through the character’s physical lives, from their tiny, tiny gestures to larger movements. You can also tell a lot from what they are wearing. I’ve always felt you could tell so much about a person, like if they’re angry, without their having to say a word.
Photographer: T Charles Erickson
MAZ: And how does this work into the casting process?
BW: Choosing the right cast is one thing we are very careful about. We need to pick actors who are interesting, even in silence. The audition process involved them coming in, and they’re sitting in silence as we read a story to them. They had to be compelling, even in their silence.
MAZ: Does the fact that this play largely unfolds in silence affect the audience’s reaction?
BW: I was very interested in what the audience’s reaction would be. Members of the audience seem almost like detectives as they watch the play. They are putting together clues. Sometimes they are right, and sometimes they are wrong, and sometimes they never find out. The experience of working a puzzle is what I hope they get out of the show.
"Small Mouth Sounds" will be performed from Saturday, Feb. 17 through March 4. Carnival Studio Theater of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami, Fla., 33132. Tickets are $50 and $55. Call 305-949-6722. www.arshtcenter.org.
