Having grown up in northern California, Randal Myler remembers how his father “climbed poles for the telephone company” on the Redwood Coast, even through the storms. To make the job even more taxing, Myler’s father had recurring malaria — which he had developed while serving in World War II — that would “pop up” all his life. His dad never complained, though, because times were always tougher in West Virginia.
“My dad always said to me, ‘This is a lot easier than working in the coal mines,” Myler says. “I think, in some way, that (Fire on the Mountain) is a tip of the hat to my dad and other coal miners. What a difficult, courageous job they have.”
Fire on the Mountain, an “ever-evolving” production that debuted about three years ago and has been staged in San Diego, Seattle, Denver and Chicago, is essentially the story of Appalachian coal miners and the issues surrounding their lives. The performance — “not a musical or play in a traditional sense, but more like a Ken Burns documentary on stage,” says Myler — is Actors Theatre’s first of the 2007-08 season and runs Aug. 28 through Sept. 22 in the Pamela Brown Auditorium.
“You do have a sense of a mother, a daughter, a man who works in the coal mines. But they aren’t traditional characters,” says Myler, Fire’s director and co-author (he wrote and directed Hank Williams: Lost Highway and Love, Janis, about Janis Joplin). “In a way you track a family, but not so specifically, not like The Grapes of Wrath. It’s a people we’re talking about. A way of life.”
To make sure that way of life is portrayed accurately, Myler and co-author Dan Wheetman include traditional songs (think bluegrass rhythms) and only use authentic dialogue taken from interview transcriptions and coal mining museum records. (They conducted about 40 interviews themselves.) Gritty, black-and-white mining photographs from the Smithsonian Institute and other sources add to the realistic vibe. “It should have a sense of coming into their world — a day in the life or a week in the life of a coal miner,” Myler says.
Many of the actors have relatives who’ve worked in coal mines in states such as Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and West Virginia. But even if you’re unfamiliar with mining and the specific hardships the lifestyle presses on a family, Myler is confident that everyone will be able to relate to Fire.
“When I work on a piece — whether it’s about Janis Joplin or Hank Williams or whatever — I have to decide, ‘Is this interesting to an audience member who doesn’t know the subject matter?’” Myler says. “I think there’s a universal thing in the coal mines. There’s a resilience of the human spirit that is so powerful.”
Fire on the Mountain hits Actors Theatre’s Pamela Brown Auditorium stage from Aug. 28-Sept. 22. Tickets are $23-$58 and show times vary. Call 584-1205 for information or visit www.actorstheatre.org.
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Captions:
Up from the mine: scenes from past productions of Fire on the Mountain.
