Self Destruction Opera

I'm flying out of here in a few hours to see my oldest son's play, "Self Destruction Opera" in South Carolina.

The proudness I feel...it is overwhelming.

This morning Pookie asked me what I am ever going to do with all the flight time I'll be experiencing (a whole 1 1/2 hours). I told her that I'd be most likely bothering the person sitting next to me about how my son is a playwright and how wonderful he is and how he was reading at a 3rd grade level at the age of 18 months old and how he has a brilliant mind and how I'm on my way to see a big production of one of his magnificent plays and how I'm not going to let this person, whomever he or she may be, get a word in edge wise because I'm so excited about my son DAVID.

Here is where you all might want to say a prayer for that poor person that is going to be sitting next to me.

I do find it funny though that Pookie gets all concerned when I have a few moments of nothing to do. In her world - No IPod, no Laptop, no GameBoy....well, what on earth does one do then?

Oh teenagers.


Here is what was written about my son David Jacobi's play:

CLEMSON — After starting with superheroes and capes, young David Jacobi graduated from comics to gritty graphic novels, like “Watchmen.” By the time he was a teenager, he was knee-deep in film noir, Stephen King and “The Twilight Zone.”

Jacobi, now a 28-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y.-based playwright, continues to chase shadows. His “Self Destruction Opera” is a dark comedy twisting together two separate plots — one: a 1940s-style drama; and the other: a modern tale of horror.

A Clemson University production of the play will make a six-day stand at the Brooks Center for the Performing Arts, Sept. 30 – Oct. 5. Clemson Theatre Director Mark Charney is helming the show.

“‘Self Destruction Opera’ is based on the idea something happening to one person can also happen to someone unrelated at the same time,” Charney said. “The two stories consistently overlap. It’s very contemporary, and suggests even in the worst of times, we’re all connected.”
Sundry characters populate “Self Destruction Opera,” which centers on the lives of two principals: suicidal landlord Bobby Newmark and chemically addled chef Franklin Pinkerton. Newmark finds the love of his lifetime, while Pinkerton buries his murdered wife. There’s a soul devouring demon — or is it a tormented brother? — calling from the super’s basement. (I told you it was dark.)

Jacobi began writing the play in China during summer 2007. At the time, he was studying language and culture at Beijing University and exploring the local theater scene. While laid up sick in his hotel room one morning, Jacobi hammered out a 10-page skeleton script. He fleshed out the entire story upon returning to the U.S. and his classes at State University of New York; as per a writing class assignment, Jacobi finished a full version in 48 hours. He recalls the whirlwind session as “exhausting” and “painful.”

Charney became aware of “Self Destruction Opera” when Jacobi submitted the script to WordBRIDGE, a cutting edge Clemson theatre initiative giving young playwrights access to real-world production resources. Out of 100 entries, Jacobi was one of seven writers selected for WordBRIDGE 2008.

“I loved the script. I’d rarely seen something so dark yet with so much hope,” Charney said. “There are two compelling stories coming together in a completely original way.”

At WordBRIDGE, Jacobi showed a willingness to experiment with his play and shift things around. After a pair of stellar auditions for the narrator, the role was split into two.

Like other WordBRIDGE playwrights, Jacobi was offered access to big-shot dramaturges, choreographers and other pros. The experience jolted his text.

Said Jacobi: “The play would not be where it is without WordBRIDGE. I was given unlimited research and was able to work with people I already admired. It’s absolute paradise for playwrights and writers.”

Now, a 12-person Clemson Players student cast is making Jacobi’s words reality. The production is ambitious for a collegiate project. A wall of light. Trap doors. Spiral staircase. Four-level stage. A pregnant woman spewing confetti from the womb.

It’s all in there.

“I think ‘Self-Destruction Opera’ is a play trying to be a movie,” Jacobi said.

In a small New York production of the play, Jacobi even rolled credits on a screen before the actual show.

“Theatre is kind of too smart for its own good. I don’t want to dumb it down, but I want something entertaining to bring people in with kind of a film mind. Theatre offers intimacy, but I wish it had more of the accessibility of cinema,” Jacobi said.

Charney compares the play to films from bent auteur David Lynch, like “Blue Velvet.” And while Jacobi will cop to the influence of filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, he also said Irish playwright Nick Donohue casts a shadow.

A stint as a sous chef also shaped “Self Destruction Opera.” Jacobi said, “I wanted to see two things like film noir and horror fit together, how they would complement each other and what the similarities were.”

Currently, Jacobi is collaborating with a New York writers’ collective, Heart/Punch. Although the tone of his next project is yet to be determined, for now Jacobi is basking in the smoldered contours of dark comedy. Jacobi said his connection with the genre expanded after reading the work of novelist Kurt Vonnegut.

“I think there’s something cathartic about laughing about something horrible, whether it’s your own fault or a tragedy. Vonnegut would say these things — ‘isn’t this world a terrible place’ — but place them in a light and humorous fashion. There’s something very calming about that.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Production Staff
Director ......................................................... Mark J. Charney
Assistant Director.......................................... Clint Boswell
Stage Manager .............................................. Kirsten Head
Scenic Designer ............................................ David Hartmann
Lighting Designer ......................................... Tony Penna
Costume Designer ......................................... Rebecca Eastman
Sound Designer ............................................. Jeff Russell
Music Composed by ..................................... Jeff Russell and Robert Allen
Technical Director ........................................ Richard Cowan
Dramaturg ..................................................... Anna Chovanec
Assistant Stage Manager ............................... Teresa McClernon
Asst. Costume Designer ................................ Corinna I. Miller
Fight Choreographer ..................................... Paul Savas
Fight Captain ................................................. Ryan McCrary
Properties Designer ....................................... Corinna I. Miller
Makeup Artist ................................................ Corinna I. Miller
Cast
Bobby/Franklin .............................................. Ryan McCrary
Rebecca/Penny ............................................... Erin Lovelace
Gerald/Detective Moon .................................. Andrew Christian Herrera
Beth/Anne ...................................................... Maxine LeBron
Abraham/Killer .............................................. Shayan Shojee
Bastard Operator/Chorus ............................... Jazzma Pryor
Jesse James/Chorus ........................................ Bradley Zellars
Mr. Rictus ....................................................... Nick Mazzuca
Walter/Chorus ............................................... Harry Averett
Carl/Chorus.................................................... Michael Jasper
Jimmy/Narrator/Chorus ................................. Miles C. Ware
Narrator/Chorus ............................................. Kristi Laffler
Crew
Greg Bateman, David Williams, Charlie Jenkins, Megan Dorris, Andi Stone

Did I mention how proud I am of him?