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The Moonstone

by Brian Pastor, co-director, A Month of Development

The piece I’m developing through the Incubator program is a Victorian Detective novel called The Moonstone. It is widely considered the very first detective novel, though that term was not widespread at the time. In fact, its author, Wilkie Collins, called it a Romance.

The story is about a mysterious gemstone that is stolen from India and brought back to England. The stone is passed on to its owner’s niece after his mysterious death. Legend has it that the stone carries with it a curse, doomed to bring destruction to those who possess it.  The stone eventually disappears, setting up the mystery. The novel is broken down into three basic parts. The first part is a prologue describing how the stone got from India to England. The second is a long narrative by the butler describing the circumstances surrounding the stone’s arrival at the niece’s household and its subsequent disappearance. The final section is a series of accounts from each of the primary characters about their experience in solving the mystery.

The primary attraction to this piece, for me, is that it is a story told from many different points of view. I think it lends itself well to the kind of narrative theater I’m interested in. Part of what I’m trying to do with this piece is figure out ways to incorporate various staging techniques rooted in Chamber or Story Theater. I truly believe that narrative-based theater can be interesting and accessible and that’s what I’m trying to do with this piece.

Our rehearsals so far have been truly collaborative efforts. My two actors have been instrumental in figuring out interesting and creative ways to stage the action of the piece with only two characters and basically no set. I specifically chose the Prologue to the piece because it’s more of an adventure story. I’m hoping that if we’re successful in making the British army camp and the Hindu temple come to life using little more than beautiful text, the skill of the actors and the imagination of the audience, that we’ll then be able to more easily probe the rest of the piece for similar opportunities.

I’m anxious to see how our audience responds to what we’ve put together so far. It’s about a ten minute piece, but it should be really instructive in terms of projecting a response for the piece as a whole. Please join us on Monday to check out our work and see what kind of antics we’re up to!