The Motherfucker with the Hat: BU Theatre Starts Season with a Band
Binghamton University’s students have returned to town, and brought with them, among other things, the start of the University Theatre Department’s annual season. Newcomers fearing a series of dryly academic selections can be assuaged from the start, as the first play of the season is Stephen Adly Guirgis’ The Motherfucker with the Hat.
There’s much more to The Motherfucker with the Hat than its shocking title, though. The play is a 2011 work by the author who won last year’s Pulitzer Prize for Between Riverside and Crazy, and is a very relevant work that raises the difficult subject of recovery from addiction, and examines it through a humorous lens.
For director Carol Hanscom, that juxtaposition is at the center of what makes a play like this so vital. “The play is also my favorite genre of theatre,” she says, “which is dark comedy. It goes right into my wheelhouse. It’s what I love to do, because I think life is a black comedy. Black comedy reflects the real world for me more than any other genre that I know.”
Hanscom’s enthusiasm for the material she is working with is obvious and infection, and she expresses it with a determination to understand the work as deeply as possible. She recalls, “I can’t remember how I came across the script initially, but when I read it, I immediately found it riveting - compelling. I could not put it down. I was so invested in the people and how things play out in their lives.”
For her, the piece is not just about story, but also the richness of language and expression. Scripts, of course, are made of words, and Hanscom takes an approach that seeks to honor Guirgis’ mastery of his medium. “Certainly, if you’re doing a play called The Motherfucker with the Hat, it’s going to be quite a bit about language. The language in the play is profane, as indicated by the title, but it’s also very beautiful. It’s almost poetic the way he strings words together. These lines pop up that are so authentic. It just resonates in a way that gives you a thrill. His mastery of language, and matching language choices to characters and their goals and relationships is just stunning to me.”
This verbal richness led her naturally to take an approach to directing that emphasizes the power and evocativeness of the words themselves. “I’m working with each of the actors on how to use the language as successfully as we can in order to make an impact on the other characters,” she explains, “so a lot of what I’m doing is language work. An appreciation and a love of the language is where I started with the play.”
The piece and its place in the season lend itself to an approach that highlights the verbal element so heavily. Binghamton University’s Theatre Department seeks to choose a small cast play with lighter set and costume requirements to start its seasons, simply because their personnel haven’t been around as long at the start of the year to prepare elaborate productions. And according to Hanscom, Guirgis’ play, requiring no elaborate scenery and running only about ninety minutes, fits the bill perfectly: “We’ve scaled down anything in terms of scenery. It’s really minimalist and bare so that we could focus on the language. The fact that Burgess is able, in a short play, to develop such clear pictures of the people involved through language is incredible.”
The Motherfucker with the Hat also provides an opportunity to ensure a diversity in casting that theatres often do not achieve, due to the types of roles written into the plays that they choose. For Hanscom, this is a source of excitement. As she put it, “It’s a beautiful to work with a multi-ethnic cast. Guirgis, although he is not Puerto Rican himself, has written Puerto Rican characters in the play, and it’s a great chance to give Hispanic actors leads. So many times you have them in a movie or a play, but they’re not important - and here this is completely about them. In this play we have Hispanic actors, and it sounds best in their mouths.”
When asked if she was concerned that the play’s raw title and content might put off potential theatergoers, Hanscom was undaunted: “I think it will shock some people,” she said, “but in a good way. In a way we need to be shocked.”
The Motherfucker with the Hat takes the stage at Binghamton University’s Studio Theatre A in the Fine Arts Building at 4400 Vestal Parkway East, in Vestal, at 8pm on October 14th, 15th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd; and 2pm October 15th, 22nd, and 23rd. Tickets cost $18 for general admission; $16 for alumni, faculty, seniors, and staff; or $8 for students. They may be purchased at andersoncenter.showare.com, or by calling (607) 777-2787.
