SPOTLIGHT: Rachel E. Flynn '09

When a director says her play is about “The Gay Holocaust,” it’s tough to know exactly what the audience is in for. Rachel E. Flynn ‘09, a comparative study of religion concentrator from Quincy House, is directing Martin Sherman’s 1979 play, “BENT,” which will run from October 5-13 in the Loeb Experimental Theater. BENT follows the life of a gay couple during the Holocaust, focusing on everything from the hilarious foibles of romance to the chilling reality of death.

"It seems at the outset to be a play about these two guys who are in love, the crazy antics that they do, and the events that they go through in their lives. I love the comedy that we’ve found, and there are moments when people burst into song in the first act that just are smart and funny. And then there’s this very serious second act where you can’t even, sometimes, believe it’s the same show, that they’re the same people."

Aside from the work’s power in tactfully navigating the comic and the tragic, Flynn and her cast are endeavoring to add their own touches to the work. This is Flynn’s debut as a director, and she’s hoping to shape the piece in a way that is truly her own—so much so that she’s avoided watching other stage productions and the 1997 movie adaptation to keep her creativity uninfluenced.

"I came to Harvard as an actor. I still am very involved as an actor on campus, but I’ve taken [former American Repertory Theatre Artistic Director] Robert Woodruff’s directing class last semester. His is not your typical directing class. You don’t sit down and say, “Ok, here’s the scene. Here’s how I would block it.” He teaches by the principles of, “Here’s what they want you to do. Now go do something else! Now go screw it up! Or go make it more complicated, make it not make sense for a little while and see what that tells you about the piece.” So, it’s been fun to pull together my experiences as an actor and my experiences seeing other people direct in literal ways, in angry ways and trying to pull all of that together, and see what I come up with for my own directing style."

Flynn has a number of ideas for how to help the play make the transition from written word to stage; to spice things up a bit, yet maintain the play’s integrity.

"We’re definitely playing with the structure, but we’re playing with the relationships that seem apparent upon reading it that maybe are an entirely different thing when it’s visually up on the set. When you imagine these things in your head, they can be anything, as trite as that sounds."

Despite the artistic fun that the cast is having, there are of course obstacles to putting on a show about the Holocaust in a college theater setting.

"There are moments of this play that I think are difficult for anyone to do—professional actors, professional directors—let alone college students. Obviously, it’s a Holocaust play, and you can’t pretend like that’s something else when you’re doing it. We can’t mine from our own experiences. There’s dialogue that’s very difficult to address, let alone portray and explore."

Aside from producing a show that takes a different look at one of the most terrifying and painful pieces of human history, Flynn and her cast are still trying to ground the piece in elements of traditional, solid fiction to keep their audience interested. She wants to keep the play about people.

"I want to stay away from the idea of “Important” with a capital “I,” because, you know, that’s boring. That’s boring, and it’s also pretentious. I would like [the audience] to leave with the idea of these people as individuals and their relationships because the play, more than anything else, explores the idea of communicating, of how effectively communicating can act as salvation—communication coming in to save the day when all else fails, when your own faculties fail. Oh God, I do sound pretentious… It’s, I guess, not just pretending like we’re the first people to do that on stage, but rather staying away from the idea of this being a play about ideas."

Flynn hopes that the sum of her efforts will leave the audience impressed.

"It’ll be fun to see what people’s reactions are. Or rather, it’ll be even more fun to see what people’s reactions are given how they’ll show up at the play. It’s not a secret what this play is about. We’re going to hopefully play with people’s expectations a little bit about the idea of going to see a Holocaust Drama, with capital letters and everything."

- Scott A. Zuccarino