PigPen Theatre Company’s newest work “The Hunter and the Bear” is a fleshed-out reworking of an idea that first germinated when the seven members of the ensemble met as freshman theater students at Carnegie Mellon University. Once every school year, the theater department shuts down classes letting students take part in Playground, a weeklong festival in which student directors, designers, actors, technicians and playwrights collaborate and stage a variety of shows.
‘The Hunter and the Bear’ When: To Jan. 22, 2017 Where: PigPen Theatre Company at Writers Theatre, 325 Tudor, Glencoe Tickets: $35-$80 Info: writerstheatre.org
“We embraced this idea of ‘playground’ pretty heavily,” recalls ensemble member Arya Shahi. “Because we were freshman and because we had never seen the festival before, we didn’t really realize that other people were staging their version of ‘Macbeth’ or something. We got together and made something up that included shadow puppetry and music. It was definitely something different.”
“The Hunter and the Bear,” a ghost story/folk parable making its world premiere at Writers Theatre, tells the story of a young boy and his father in a world teeming with dark secrets and supernatural threats.
“Back then it was barely a play, but the story stayed with us over the years,” says Matt Nuernberger, another PigPen member. “There was interesting content in it that we wanted to expand.”
New York-based PigPen first came to Writers in 2013 with its critically acclaimed “The Old Man and the Old Moon,” another original homespun work that showcased the company’s unique brand — a DIY aesthetic embroidered with creative puppetry and indie-folk music.
In addition to Shahi and Nuernberger, the PigPen ensemble also includes Alex Falberg, Ben Ferguson, Curtis Gillen, Ryan Melia, and Dan Weschler. In addition to its stage work, PigPen also is a touring band that has performed at Schubas and the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Stuart Carden, who first met the PigPen players when he taught them at Carnegie Mellon, returns to co-direct “The Hunter and the Bear” with the ensemble. He first reconnected with his students when they sought out his feedback on “The Old Man and the Old Moon,” which he also co-directed.
“I had a huge positive response to that piece,” Carden says, “because of its inventiveness and the way they were incorporating music into their storytelling. They really let the idea of a band that is also a band of storytellers drive the work. It renewed my excitement about telling stories and telling them in highly imaginative ways.”
Creating a PigPen work is an intensive democratic process; each member has his say and a consensus is reached for each creative decision. It can get hectic but the mantra they stick to is “the best idea wins and nobody is right all the time.”
“We all have out strengths as far as writing and music and structure and dialogue,” Nuernberger notes. “We work more like TV writers in that we spin around ideas at each other until something comes along that the majority wants to pursue. The process is slower; we let things simmer a little longer.”
Where “The Old Man and the Old Moon” was light and engaging and life-affirming, “The Hunter and the Bear” has some darkness and complexity to it. As the ensemble has gotten older, they are now in their late 20s, Shahi says the writing process has gotten more personal. And as they have grown into the ups and downs of adulthood, Shahi feels that going through some difficult moments has “completely informed” the new work.
One thing that hasn’t changed is PigPen’s affinity for putting a new slant on traditional fables and ghost stories.
“Their work feels ancient and connected to the very roots of why we tell stories,” says Carden. “They put their own contemporary spin on the genre that I think puts one foot very firmly in the now and one foot very firmly in the past.”
Music also was a huge draw for PigPen, which has a growing fan base for its indie-folk songs. In 2015, they toured as a band behind their sophomore album, “Whole Sun,” a soulful collection of new songs. (The band side of Pigpen performs at the Old Town School on Dec. 19.)
PigPen plans on continuing to work both sides of the fence. It’s an interesting and unusual cross-pollination that they hope brings music fans to the theater and vice versa. (Last time around, Carden says Writers did see an injection of younger theatergoers.) The ensemble is in the early stages of two new projects — adaptations of two very well-known novels is all they would reveal.
“It really is about creating a space where all of us feel artistically satisfied, fulfilled and challenged,” Shahi says, adding, “I think that is what is most exciting about the future.”
Mary Houlihan is a local freelance writer.
