Franklin Stage Company continues its summer season with the world premiere of The Civilities, a new play by acclaimed playwright Kyle Bass. Set in Ithaca during the 75th anniversary of the Civil War, the drama brings together two strangers whose conversations uncover hidden truths and test the limits of civility.
The play's title reflects more than simple manners. Bass said he was intrigued by the contradictions suggested by the word "civil."
"I was really thinking about the ways in which we are civil to each other, the ways in which we are not civil to each other," Bass said. "The idea of a Civil War has the sound of an oxymoron. How can wars be civil? But it's also civil because it's among ourselves."The two-character drama centers on Blessah Hart, a young African American graduate student at Cornell University in the 1930s, and Silas Jackson, a former Confederate soldier now in his nineties who has become a nationally recognized poet living in Ithaca.
"Blessah is doing research on Confederates who live in the North, and he has agreed to be the subject of her scholarly research," Bass explained. "That opens up a line of questioning which leads to their relationship and ultimately to drama."Their meetings begin as formal interviews on Jackson's front porch, but the relationship gradually becomes more personal.
"They get along fine until they don't," Bass said with a laugh.Without revealing the play's twists, Bass said the conflict grows as Blessa begins to suspect her subject is withholding important information.
"She begins to suspect that he's not being as forthright as she would want or hope," he said. "Certainly by the end of Act One, all manner of questions are left pending, which are resolved in Act Two."Bass said he builds dramatic tension not through elaborate plotting, but through character.
"Character is the best plot," he said. "I'm not as interested in what happened as I am in who it happens to."He believes the power of theater lies in language itself.
"Characters speak not only to reveal, but they also speak to conceal," Bass said. "That's where the tension is. The great gift and power of theater is its ability to communicate language under pressure."The Civilities marks the play's first full production, and Bass has remained actively involved throughout rehearsals, revising the script in collaboration with director and cast members.
"The rehearsal process is part of the development process of the play," he said. "We continue to ask questions through rehearsal, and I make adjustments as necessary. We make discoveries along the way."He also values hearing actors bring his words to life, sometimes finding that a small change reveals a better way to express an idea.
"What I write, I write to give away," Bass said. "I give it away to the director and the actors, who give it away to the audience. The collaboration is absolutely necessary."The production stars Taji Senior as Blessah Hart and Mitch Tebo as Silas Jackson.
The Civilities runs August 7 through August 23 at Chapel Hall in Franklin. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. and Sunday performances at 5 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit Franklin Stage Company.