Writer-Director Mark Valdez on Rehearsals, Mental Health, and A Certain Little Rabbit
Mark Valdez describes the call he got from the Alliance Theatre asking him to write and direct Into the Burrow as “one of the best phone calls [he has] ever gotten.”
“Of course, I immediately said yes!” he says. “For many years now, I have been curious and interested in creating immersive pieces that let the audience be a part of the action. Their presence is important to the action of the story. The characters can see them. There is no fourth wall. This aspect of the project was very exciting.”
Although Valdez didn’t grow up with the Peter Rabbit™ stories, he was familiar with the name and, over the course of this project, has become a huge fan. “[Beatrix Potter’s] illustrations are so good! There's detail – the fur, the color, the eyes; she's a master artist. And what I appreciate about her stories is that they are not sentimental – quite the opposite, really. They are often very matter-of-fact. They can be sweet, but they're never treacly. And when bad things happen, the animals find ways of moving forward, which I really like.”
These animals are very important to Valdez as well. Although he says that writing a story based on such beloved characters is “exciting and daunting,” he really enjoyed fleshing out the characters. “Peter Rabbit™ and the other [characters] are a mainstay of our culture,” he says. “It was very exciting (and more than a little daunting!) to have the opportunity to create a new story for these well-known figures.”
To begin the process, he spent a lot of time with the original stories, poring over the illustrations and trying to imagine each character’s life beyond the page. “For instance,” he says, “I was asking myself, ‘What do they sound like? What would they do at a party? What is the thing they most enjoy and that makes them laugh?’ By asking these questions, I got to know them better and then I was able to select which ones needed to be in this play. I knew I wanted them each to have a talent or skill, so part of my imagining was picturing them performing for each other. That was a fun exercise.”
The characters he ended up selecting to be featured in Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit™ Tale, were Benjamin Button, Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, Squirrel Nutkin, Mr. Alderman Ptolemy Tortoise, Jeremy Fisher, Mr. McGregor, and, of course Peter. By parsing out the relationships the characters have with each other in the books, he was able to select the ones that he felt would carry along the story. “I could recognize them as a community, as friends. That informed the message I want to convey, which is that we need each other to get us through the difficult moments and to celebrate the wonderful times, too. Community and friendship are important. And sharing the land and the food. It’s about taking care of each other in all the different ways.”
When describing the rehearsal process, Valdez says it involves “a lot of working and a lot of laughing.” There have been a few workshops with test audiences before the official rehearsal process started, and the overwhelmingly positive feedback gave Valdez and the entire creative team the energy to go forward, knowing they were on the right track. In the rehearsal room, they spend time at a table (“doing a lot of talking to make sure we are all on the same page, understanding how the story is unfolding and how the characters are changing”) and then time staging the show, on their feet (“making sure that movement can help tell the story, which is everything from the way characters walk and move to the pictures we create with all the bodies on the set”).
“The thing that remains consistent, though,” Valdez adds, “is the sense of fun. I try very hard to make space for the actors to be playful, to manifest joy, especially in a story like this that's about friendship and community.”
One thing that was very important to both Valdez and his partners at the Alliance from the very beginning of the process was the emphasis on mental health and maintaining healthy coping skills. Although these subjects of conversation may seem too heavy to discuss with children, they are crucial. Valez and his team integrate this topic well in the play, giving kids a great opportunity to jump-start conversations with their grownups.
“At one point Peter lashes out,” Valdez says, describing one of these discussion starting points. “His feelings are too big for his little body and all he can do is get angry. Not because he’s mad, but because he’s frustrated that he doesn’t know how to talk about it, and that frustration builds up and becomes anger. I want young people to be able to see this so that they know it’s okay and for them to know that they can be sad sometimes. I want them to also know that they have friends and family to help them get through those difficult times.”
“I think the last few years have been very hard on everybody,” Valdez continues, “and especially [hard on] young people because grownups sometimes forget that young people experience the same sense of loss, grief, and trauma as adults. We try so hard to shield young people from these difficult things that we convince ourselves that youth don’t feel these things. The truth is that young people feel all the feelings that adults do, they just don’t always have all the words to talk about them [in] the ways that grownups can.”
When asked what he hopes audiences leave the building with, Valdez says he hopes that he and the entire cast and creative team can “make clear the message of community – that we all need each other. This plays out in multiple ways – that humans and animals need to share the land to live together. Also, we need our friends to help us get through the difficult times in our lives. Throughout the play we repeat this saying: “Take care of your friends; take care of the land. Share your food and lend a helping hand.” If everyone can remember that, if they can carry that message in their hearts, then I think we can make a truly wonderful world for everyone.”
Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit™ Tale runs on the Hertz Stage from October 14 – December 23, 2023.
