Topsy Turvy: A Musical Greek Vaudeville, from The Actors’ Gang, is about a chorus of mortals who suffer a mysterious illness. To restore their singing abilities, they ask the gods for divine intervention. The man behind the play, actor and director Tim Robbins, discusses the role of theater in fostering empathy and understanding during the pandemic.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why the name “Greek Vaudeville?”
Robbins: “Greeks, being the inventors of theater, intended it to be a public forum where actors can perform something that is relevant to the audience. In each of these plays, there was a chorus that represented the citizenry, depending on the current issue. This allowed a theatrical representation of a problem or issue that everyone had. And usually, in the course of these plays, there's a certain amount of chaos that exists in society. And in that chaos, the chorus calls on the gods for answers. But we wanted to lean more towards comedy than tragedy, thus, vaudeville.”
Is it because we have too much tragedy these days? Why comedy?
“Because it’s the way in. Audiences have diverse opinions but they will all laugh at the same thing. Thus, the importance of theater — it brings dispersant individuals in a room for several hours.
I started to write the play early in lockdown around the same time theaters shut down. I wondered: What would Dionysus, the god of theater, think about this? Once we got isolated, we got into our silos of thought that exacerbated the problem of division that already existed in our country. So, we wanted to do something that we hope could produce some kind of healing in our audience. And healing happens through shared experience, laughter, shared emotion, and a reminder of our common humanity.”
Actors perform in “Topsy Turvy: A Musical Greek Vaudeville.” Photo by Ashley Randall.
Why did you name the play Topsy Turvy?
“Everything had turned upside down. Things didn't make sense anymore. I think we all experienced topsy turvy of some kind in our lives.”