Painting by Mekhi Hall
Periodically, TheBurg highlights the work of student writers at Capital Area School for the Arts.
It’s 7:15 in the evening as patrons flood into Gamut Theatre, located in Strawberry Square in Harrisburg. This is my second performance with the company, playing the role of the 4th Volsce, or tribesman, for the fifth night of the Shakespeare tragedy, “Coriolanus.” I peek through the crack of the dressing room door as audience members file in line at the concession counter, while others rush in to grab the best seats.
A female voice nearby says, “I finally get a chance to see ‘Coriolanus.’ I heard great things about this show.”
A toothy grin stretches across my face.
“Fifteen minutes until show time!” shouts Hannah, a stage manager.
Actors and actresses don their 19th-century soldier uniforms and Victorian-style dresses. We tribesmen grab our battleaxes and machetes, quietly hooting and chest-banging our warrior chant, “Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!” Green and red paint covers my face with a yellow streak down the middle. I hop on one foot to the other, psyching myself up to fit tonight’s character.
Gamut, a crown jewel in the south-central PA theater scene, introduced itself to the local acting community 22 years ago, when it began as The Popcorn Hat Players Children’s Theatre Company.
“Melissa and I were regional actors…but we wanted to settle down and open our own theater,” said Clark Nicholson, artistic director and part owner.
For the first two years, the plan for the company was to collect a lump sum of money and move to an area where the theater market thrived. If not for a friend convincing the founders to put on a Shakespeare play, the Harrisburg Shakespeare Company half wouldn’t exist at all. Both entities operated under different boards of directors until 2000, when the directors formed the umbrella name, Gamut Theatre.
Act 1, Scene 4—the first major fight scene.
I rush to Titus Lartius (local actor Aidan Roth), battleaxe in hand, driving it down to his sword. Titus smacks me aside with his cane. I stumble back to my feet, parrying a right and left shoulder cut. I swing Titus’ sword out of the way, screaming at him until he scuttles off, down stage left. I retreat through the scaffold, my heart beating faster and faster, adrenaline coursing through my veins. Sweat travels down my forehead as the cool air calms me. The audience’s hands clap like popping oil, applauding the fight choreography.
Like Gamut, many of the major theater companies rooted themselves into Harrisburg’s artistic culture through the years. The grandfather, Harrisburg Community Theatre (now Theatre Harrisburg), has been around for 88 years. Open Stage of Harrisburg was formed in 1983, thanks to a Greater Harrisburg Foundation planning grant. Being a children’s theater in the early stages, Gamut built its patron base around the people who came to see its shows as children. “As those children grew up, they supported the theatrical arts in Harrisburg,” said Nicholson.
Kolbe Gelbaugh, a student at Capital Area School for the Arts Charter School, shares with me her exposure to Gamut Theatre.
“I was about 8 years old. My sibling always attended PHP shows,” she said. “Since sports weren’t my strong suit, my mom put me into their acting classes, and I loved it.”
Gelbaugh performed in many of Gamut Theatre’s Young Acting Company shows, noting her participation in “The Jungle Book.”
“From working with them for all of those years, they’re like a second family to me,” she said.
I first came in contact with Gamut Theatre during my ninth-grade year in high school. As I sat in Strawberry Square, bored out of my mind, a few people climbed upstairs to the third floor. I got curious, so I made my way up. Turns out, the company was holding auditions for the Shakespeare in the Park show, “Romeo & Juliet.” My best friend sat on a bench reciting her monologue in a whisper. I auditioned for Benvolio but failed to get the part. The director, Karen Ruch, called me back to “reset” my audition, and I got the role of Friar John. It was my first audition for a professional stage production, and I’m glad it was with Gamut Theatre.
Act 5, Scene 2—Coriolanus’ death.
We Volsces gather in our campsite with our general, Aufidius. We fall silent as Coriolanus enters. Aufidius brands him a traitor for not conquering Rome. 1st Volsce bludgeons Coriolanus with a blood egg-loaded hammer. Then I follow with two back stabs. 2nd Volsce stabs him in the gut. 3rd Volsce slashes behind Coriolanus’ knee. Aufidius finishes with a throat slit. The lights dim to complete darkness. The show ends as Aufidius strolls off center stage, laughing at the lifeless Coriolanus. I peek through the curtains once more. The audience stands, clapping and whistling at the great performance. I blow out a huge breath of relief.
“Only seven more shows until we close,” I whisper to myself as I travel to my placement for bows. All actors walk on stage. The crowd shouts and applauds even louder. Tom raises his right hand, leading the final bow of the night. A huge grin plasters across my face as I exit the stage.
“I think I’ll do this more often,” I think to myself.
Throughout a single year, Gamut Theatre presents more than 350 performances and workshops for more than 10,000 people. The theater reaches an additional 36,000 people with a combination of performances and classes.
Gamut Theatre is a priceless treasure among the Harrisburg theater community. It’s been an honor for me to be a part of a great company, and thanks to the close-knit patrons for supporting the theater community. Please do a great service by visiting Gamut and the other prominent theater companies in the area.
Bernard Joseph is a senior at CASA.
