The Little Mermaid.
 

Disney’s The Little Mermaid marked my second appearance in Dallas Theater Center’s Public Works Project as part of my creative research for my UNT tenure track--a fully-mounted theatrical production which offers nearly a hundred members of the Dallas/Fort Worth community (from grade schoolers to senior citizens) the opportunity to work alongside professional artists and collaborate in the creative process.

As I observed previously with Public Works Project The Odyssey in the summer of 2022, the entire experience is a celebration of the craft of theatre. Cast members range from those who regularly participate every time the project is done to some who have never even seen a play in their lives. One thing unites them all—a total joy in the art of making theatre.

From the standpoint of my own creative research as an artist and pedagogue, this production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid demanded of me something that I frequently discuss in my acting classes—the need to bring truth to the characterization, regardless of the universe in which the play takes place. To the characters in this fantasy, this is their reality, and the actor cannot be detached from that. King Triton, as I discovered, is actually complex at the level of a Shakespearean character. He lives a mix of emotional layers: grief at the recent, sudden death of his dear wife under unknown circumstances, rage at the humans he believes are responsible, deep love for the daughter who reminds him so of his murdered spouse, and crippling fear that he could lose his daughter to the same fate as his wife. When one looks at the role through that lens, it becomes so much more than “presenting a fairy tale.” It is the telling of a profound story.

As well, through the lens of 2024, the themes of women being able to speak for themselves and people being allowed to love whom they want also resonated deeply under the astute direction of DTC’s Executive Director, Kevin Moriarty.

This production also marked my second time to perform a work written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Doug Wright. He played an active role in an earlier part of my creative research with his mentorship in New York City on my performance of his one-actor piece, I Am My Own Wife. When I corresponded with Doug that I was working on yet another of his works, he told me to expect the message the play sends about the relationship between fathers and their daughters.to land very solidly on all of the young dads in the audience, many of them who would be seated next to their little girls. Doug was absolutely right about that; I could sense young fathers getting misty every night when Triton faces the realization that there comes a time when a father, out of love, has to be willing to let his daughter make her own decisions. It never failed to move me.

And, of course, propelling the entire experience was the genuine joy and excitement that these community members felt in every performance. It reminded me of what originally drew me to the craft of theatre as a child and the power that art can have. I feel so fortunate and privileged to have worked with these people, and I will always be grateful to Dallas Theater Center for the gift of these productions. It felt, as an artist, like “coming home.”