STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: THEATRE - “Anton in Show Business”
“The American theatre’s in a sh*tload of trouble.” Cue the lightning and flash. Bizarre opening line, huh?
Written by Jane Martin, Anton in Show Business is a backstage comedy about a theater production of The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov being performed in Texas. The three actresses portraying the sisters are the main characters.
The play has a cast of seven, but only 5 actresses play a singular role; the other two rotate roles throughout the story; specifically actresses because all the roles are played by women, even if the characters who show up are male.
This is also probably one of the first plays I’ve seen that constantly breaks the fourth wall. One of the characters literally sits in the audience who occasionally interrupts the play because of whatever reason.
I’m very unaware of the world of plays and how accurate Anton in Show Business is when satirizing is. However, I’m familiar with what actors have to go through, and the archetypes of actor characters there are: the wide-eyed, optimistic who’s excited to get her first role; the polar-opposite, cynical actor who’s seen it all but still does it because it’s all he knows how to do; the diva... that’s it, just “the diva.”
No matter how unfamiliar you are with the theater world, the play educates you enough to understand the jokes. Though, that may be just me because I actually familiar with theater/film history.
(Anton in Show Business director Jon Jory... is he the real Jane Martin?)
I came across this play when it was playing at my college, and I had to watch this (and the rest of the semester’s plays) for my class. It stuck with me because of the fourth wall breaking, and it taught me that the limits of storytelling could be easily manipulated.
Anton in Show Business is, to me, a play with a familiar story told in such a unique way, if you don’t mind fourth wall breaking being an element you’re okay with.
Hit the lights, and check it out.
(photos can be found on here: http://www.nytheatre-wire.com/lt00042t.htm)
