A Guest Post From Peter Parolin

A Walk in the Woods is my third show for Relative Theatrics. I keep coming back to this company because artistic director Anne Mason programs the most beautiful, intimate scripts that are thought-provoking and challenging for actors and audiences alike. As an RT audience member, I have always been stimulated by the plays the company has done investigating relationships (family relationships, romantic relationships, friendships), vulnerabilities, our efforts to make sense of the past, and our determination to participate meaningfully in the present. As an actor, I’ve had the chance to play tremendous parts that push me outside of my comfort zones to realms where personal learning and theatrical development can occur. My roles for Anne have taken me to exhilarating but also difficult places, where I’ve been able to investigate what drives my characters as well as myself – why do these characters make art, how do they handle marriage (and divorce), how do they face the fear of aging, and, always, how do they connect with other people.

​In A Walk in the Woods, my character, Andrey Botvinnik, a Russian arms negotiator, has to consider what gives his life meaning: he is a jaded diplomat whose years at the negotiating table have not made much of a difference in terms of arms reductions. He seems to have settled for a life of professional mediocrity. The thing he likes most about his work is the chance to extend beyond the Iron Curtain and get to know the American diplomats with whom he negotiates. What he wants, in fact, is friendship across cultural, political, and geographic borders. The thing about friendship, though, is that if it is real and deep, it changes you. In this play, my character’s friendship with the idealistic American negotiator, John Honeyman, inspires Botvinnik to transcend his cynicism and try once again to make a difference in the world. The trouble is, he works within an international system that may not actually want to see arms negotiators succeed. So the play stages this classic tension between, on the one hand, our desire to make a difference, to achieve our goals, and, on the other hand, all the constraints imposed on us by forces we cannot control.

​​Exploring the characters and their dilemmas in rehearsal has been a joy. Anne is such a smart and insightful director – her questions always manage to isolate the most interesting and difficult parts of the characters and their relationships. For example, she might ask, “When your character says x, what is he revealing about his fears,” and all of a sudden a line I might have taken for granted takes on a special new significance. Anne also creates a wonderfully safe space to explore the questions she poses – she makes sure you know that you and your fellow actors can take artistic risks in the rehearsal hall without worrying about how you’re going to look or what happens if you fail. I’ve worked with my fellow Walk in the Woods actor, Mark Mieden, many times before, in productions for UW Theatre and Dance, and I think he’s remarkable. Our familiarity with each other has definitely helped our rehearsals for the current show. Mark is an inventive and generous actor. Whenever I am struggling with my character, ​he will always throw me something that makes me see my guy in a new light and open up a new path for exploration. ​It’s really rewarding, too, to see Mark run with things I put on the table – ours is a true collaboration, which is what all good theatre should be.

So as we enter our final few days of rehearsal, I find myself really grateful to be in this production and really excited to welcome audiences to share in the story of A Walk in the Woods. Our show is about friendship, about efforts to communicate with and find common ground with someone who does not share your political and cultural assumptions. As such, it’s a particularly thought-provoking piece for the current election season. I hope our audiences will enjoy the show in the moment and also that they will go home with lots of ideas to discuss with their friends.

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Peter Parolin chairs the English department at the University of Wyoming, where he teaches and researches on Shakespeare and Renaissance drama and culture. He has acted in several productions for UW Theatre and Dance, including Mad Gravity and Legacy of Light in 2015. With A Walk in the Woods he makes his third appearance for Relative Theatrics (after Red, 2013, and Honor, 2014). He is thrilled to be back with this wonderful company and he thanks audience members for supporting this exciting local venture.