An Interview with Actor Dan Clegg of Chester Bailey

-
By Shannon Stockwell
Marisa Duchowny (left) and Dan Clegg in A.C.T.'s
M.F.A. Program production of Once in a Lifetime 
in 2010. Photo by Kevin Berne. 
We are thrilled to welcome actor Dan Clegg back to A.C.T., where he will play the titular role in Joseph Dougherty’s Chester Bailey, premiering at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater on May 25. Clegg graduated from the A.C.T. M.F.A. Program in 2011, and he’s delighted to return and have the opportunity to portray this multifaceted and inspiring character. “The first time I read Chester Bailey, I just loved it,” says Clegg. “I thought the writing was excellent, and Chester Bailey is such a great role. The play really stayed with me.”

Just after Clegg got out of rehearsal, we spoke to him about his work on Chester Bailey and the challenging questions the play poses. 

How have rehearsals been going?

Rehearsals have been going well. We had a number of readings before we started, and David [Strathairn] and I had both done a lot of prep work, so we hit the ground running. We’ve got the basic shape of the play down. Now we’re experimenting and exploring.

Why do you think the play stuck with you?

It’s so beautifully written. When reading the play, I’m struck by the number of insightful comments about universal truths that are made in such poetic ways. Also, Joe’s written two great characters. Chester and Dr. Cotton have a complex relationship. The play is a great balance between two actors. It’s short, but the audience is taken to all sorts of different places. And the story is so moving and intense and reveals itself in a very compelling way.

What do you think this play says about the imagination?

When I tell my friends that I’m in this play, they ask, “What’s it about?” And I say, “I play this guy named Chester Bailey; he gets blinded by an oxyacetylene torch and he loses his eyes and an ear and his hands and he goes to a hospital, and he still believes he can see, so he’s sent to a mental hospital on Long Island, and then, believe it or not, things go from bad to worse.” [Laughs]

But despite that, the play is beautiful. Chester fights against those circumstances. He literally refuses to go to the dark place and heads toward the light. The strength with which he holds on to this reality he’s imagined for himself, and how he stitches it together and he justifies it—it’s inspiring.

It’s true; Chester’s delusion is a defense against reality. But would taking away his delusion be saving him or condemning him? His reality is that he’s lost his eyes and hands and whole family and he’s now stuck in a mental institution. By making him understand that reality, what are you really giving him?

What is imagination? What is its role? Chester Bailey wedges itself into the heart of this debate and challenges each point of view. That’s why the play stays with you.

----

Chester Bailey runs May 25 through June 12 at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater. Click here to purchase tickets!


Popular posts from this blog

“To Be or Not to Be”: The Iconic Speech’s Origins, Interpretations, and Impact

-
Image
By A.C.T. Publications Staff The opening line of Hamlet ’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy is theater’s most iconic, most referenced quote. What’s less known is the famous speech’s history, with Hamlet ’s earliest publications offering varying versions of its language. Also questioned is its meaning—is Hamlet contemplating suicide or is he weighing the consequences of murder? Though definitive answers are unlikely to arise, the questions “To be or not to be” asks have kept audiences, scholars, and actors engaged for centuries. Hamlet ’ s "To be or not to be" speech as it appears in the three original editions of the play. Photo by Georgelazenby. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons. The first edition, or First Quarto (Q1), of Hamlet was published in 1603. Because the text is much shorter than later editions and its language is less poetic, it is nicknamed the “Bad Quarto” by scholars. “To be or not to be” in Q1 reads as: To be, or not to be—ay, there’s the point. To die, ...
Read more

The American Sound: The Evolution of Jazz

-
Image
By Cecilia Padilla There is nothing so uniquely American as jazz music. In its simplest form, jazz embodies the essence of the American people: bold and inventive. The improvisation of the jazz ensemble can even be seen as a metaphor for the American democratic ideal: musicians playing solos have the liberty to express themselves as long as they adhere to the overall structure of the tune—individual freedom but with responsibility to the group. The evolution of jazz music also carries with it the social development of our nation from slavery to the swinging songs of World War II. Musically, jazz contributed immensely to the way contemporary musicians approach instrumentation, composition, and vocal arrangements. It is difficult to find a popular tune today that does not derive from such jazz icons as Joe Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Thelonious Monk. Jazz is the great equalizer; for more than a hundred years, it has been the common ground between blacks and whites, me...
Read more

A Hell of a Businessman: A Biography of Joe Glaser

-
By Simon Hodgson Born in 1897, Joe Glaser was the son of a successful Russian Jewish physician in Chicago. He originally intended to follow a similar career and entered medical school, but after passing out in the operating room, he realized he wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. He started off in business selling used cars, but found better luck managing prizefighters. In his biography of Al Capone, Laurence Bergreen notes, “Glaser’s power to fix fights earned him a reputation as a sage of boxing, especially among reporters.” With advanced word as to which fights were fixed, Glaser could predict the results—and even the number of rounds—of many bouts in Chicago. His connections with organized crime continued in his next career change, when he began running nightclubs and whorehouses in the South Side for the Chicago Outfit, the powerful underworld gang led by Capone. Glaser’s tendency toward illegal action nearly ended his career. In 1928, he was sentenced to ten years in prison for ...
Read more