'The Big Random' Makes Sense at the Flynn

Author: Abbie Beane

From the outset, I wanted to establish only one thing. "So, do you spell theater like a Frenchman?" I asked. He replied in the affirmative, yet followed through with his defense, asserting that 80 percent of theaters now spell "theater," "theatre."

"He," is the increasingly famous Dana Yeaton, and though he is partial to the French spelling of theater, he is in fact a native Vermont playwright and professor of theater at Middlebury College.

Yeaton has drawn much attention in recent months as a result of yet another scripted success, "The Big Random," which has launched him into a position as The Vermont Stage Company's "playwright in residence" at the Flynn Space in downtown Burlington, Vt.

Graduating from Middlebury as an independent scholar, Yeaton has been teaching dramatic writing to graduate and undergraduate students since 1991 at places such as the Vermont Summer Writing Institute, and sharing his crafty techniques with Middlebury students for approximately four years He teaches the classes Play Writing I, Play Writing II and Going Solo, a class designed specifically for writers who wish to be published.

Mark Jacobson '02, one of Yeaton's former students, commented, "[He] loves theater, and he communicates that love to his students. Even if a student starts the semester hating stupid theater, their attitude will change to one of real respect by the course's end. It's unavoidable." Jacobson continued by attesting to Yeaton's patience and the positive classroom environment he creates, concluding, "Dana has truly become an important benefactor of student-written theater here at Middlebury."

Yeaton is also the recipient of the Heidman Award, which he won at the Humana Festival ("the biggest new play festival") in Louisville, Ky., and the Moss Hart Award, which he received at the New England Theatre Conference for his piece "Mad River Rising," among other honors. All are testaments to the recognized successes of his numerous plays.

His most recent accomplishment has been The New Voices in American Theatre award, which he accepted in Kansas last week at the William Inge Theatre Festival for his latest work, "The Big Random."

Artistic Director of the Vermont Stage Company Mark Nash revealed his affinity for the piece, saying, "We're so pleased to be presenting the work of one of Vermont's finest playwrights, and one of its most celebrated. We are so thrilled to be bringing this new play to life."

According to Yeaton, "The Big Random" is his personal favorite out of all of his plays.

The weight of the story falls on a girl named Claire who escapes a psychiatric ward with a man of French Canadian descent, who also speaks French but is from northern Vermont. He claims to be her godfather, yet Claire harbors some uncertainty about him. Nevertheless, Claire decides to trust him, whereupon these two strangers embark upon a road trip through the Vermont wilderness and various engaging regions of Quebec. As Yeaton explained, the entire time this road trip is "under duress," where the audience feels that the godfather is "haunted" and that Claire is getting closer and closer to reality. "All along we want her revolutionary sprit to win out," says Yeaton, and as Claire begins to put herself into her own fantasies, which she has been constructing like scripts in her mind, we begin to see this evolution unfold.

The play's New York-based director Jim Gaylord admitted, "I have a prejudice for smart characters, but I also like characters with heart, and I think that "The Big Random" is a good example of setting a very smart character opposite a character who isn't as smart, but has a great heart."

When asked why he is attracted to this piece in particular, Yeaton explained that it is what matters to him "culturally" right now. He has always been fascinated by people he cannot understand, such as those from different cultures, and particularly French speakers whom he grew up with in Vermont. He says that he wanted to "dive into diversity, Vermont style." Furthermore, Yeaton is more specifically intrigued by Claire's character, due to the fact that he is currently raising children himself and extremely interested in children's issues and depression.

At the same time, Yeaton explains that this play also "tries to use humor to get under the surface," and concludes "just when the story becomes unbearable, the laughter makes it bearable again, only to make it unbearable again later." Yeaton admits that he uses this tactic to discover just how far he can go, and still get people to laugh.

As for the effort, that Yeaton invested in "The Big Random," it is best described by the stories Yeaton recounts, of nights when he would spend hours of precious time secluded from his family, sometimes to be productive and other times to be disappointed. Yet for every draft he wrote, Yeaton said he felt that "there was a deepening of where it had come from before. He explained that one last revision can be everything; it can "double or triple" the significance and intensity of the play.

"The ending is all anyone ever talks about after the play," Yeaton recalled, "and this is very interesting, because people can love [a play] for 59 minutes and if you disappoint them during that last minute, that's all they'll talk about." This, he admitted, is one of the most difficult aspects of play writing.

As for writing in general, Yeaton explained that it is even difficult to write something very mediocre. "You have to be incredibly skillful and incredibly lucky," he says. "Not every work will succeed, but you must mix up the chemicals and hope that you mixed the right ones."

Nevertheless, Yeaton seemed to think that this dangerous chemistry experiment is well worth the effort as long as one has a passion for what he is doing.

As he wisely advised, "If you do the thing that makes time disappear for you, you win, and you win every time.

The Vermont Stage Company will be presenting "The Big Random" on an extended run from April 24 to May 5, at the Flynn Center in Burlington.

Tickets may be purchased by calling the Flynn Box Office at 86-FLYNN ((802)-863-5966).