Becoming Mercury: A Rising Stars Theater Experience
by Barbara Schermer
and Mark Mysliwiec
"We are enacting, telling, witnessing the Story of our Souls." James Hillman.
CHICAGO, Saturday,
February 20, 1992, 7:00 PM.
The Scene: The Rising Stars Astrological Mythic Theater is performing
for a videotaping with a small invited audience. Lights and camera are focused
on us: a group of ten actors and a producer/director who are creating a
series of performance pieces to recreate the healing theater of the past--an
environment in which astrology can be used as language for direct interaction
with the unconscious. (In antiquity, the embodiment of archetypal planetary
energies was integral to public theater. Theater was a sacred, cathartic
medium, designed to heal through direct contact with the deepest levels
of consciousness. Since those days, mankind has lost touch with these primary
influences on his daily life.)
Ten "planets" have spent three months preparing, struggling to embody and develop their planetary characters, and hardest of all, to write individual scripts, based on their own deeply personal experience of their chosen planet. In "everyday life" the planets are: a therapist and two others in social services, four professional actors, one attorney, one corporate woman, and one professional puppeteer. Half of the cast began with no knowledge of astrology. As so often happens the players were typecast from the beginning--A zoftig, jolly woman was surely Jupiter, an actress with her Moon in Cancer was a natural to be the Moon, the criminal attorney chose Mars, the actor with Sun in Gemini was Mercury by default, the therapist (who, by her own admission, is a Serious Person) was Saturn, the young Aquarian actor/comedian seemed fated for Uranus, the pretty corporate exec with Venus in Virgo in the first house played Venus, the woman approaching transiting Pluto conjunct her Mars/Saturn "owned" Pluto from the start.
All along our intention was to create a performance piece for the public that communicated astrological principles in a way that was creative and fun, yet had a healing purpose. As we struggled with this twin challenge, it became apparent that the creative process of the group was becoming exactly that--fun (oh, yes!) and healing for ourselves.. We provided a supportive, playful, risk taking environment from the start, and encouraged each other to creatively stretch, to contact and access their planetary energy and consciously shape it into some kind of performance. Some nights we came up with wacky improvisations around different planet themes that sent us into howls of laughter.
What was more subtle though about our process together was the healing that was going on in the group from week to week. To watch a woman with Venus in Virgo let go of her wounded Virgo heart and imagine she had a Venus in Scorpio and to see and feel her beauty unfold before our eyes was moving to us all. To share in the joy of a jovial (Jupiter) woman when she relished the memory of an encounter with a chocolate truffle cake, to observe so many little kindnesses between the actors from week to week made this group a multi-level delight!
To me it was our process together that was more important than the end result. I am reminded of something a friend said after watching a similar performance several years ago. "My strongest impression of this experience is that it is healing theater. Those receiving the most healing were the actors themselves. Being able to get out there and be those things, that's where the real healing was taking place. I've always been a fan of people's theater with an everyman quality to performance. Down the road in this process you should look to getting more people directly involved. That is where the greatest healing may ultimately lie. We all need to get up some time, and act out who and what we are." (David Hartwick)
[Fade onto Mercury, bicycle messenger with portable phone in one hand, back pack on back, riding gloves, and round blue-mirrored sunglasses.]
But I digress. I am de urge [ "deedle-dee" sound] to communicate. Not only in woids but tru all a'ya senses. For example: I am da ruler of da noives dat shoot de electrical impulses from ya hand to ya brain tellin' ya, "Hey, dis ting is hot--GET YA HAND OFFFF OF ITTT!!!" My travel is dat instantaneous. Quicker dan da speed of lightening I am. I am so quick I can be in two places at da same time and argue both sides of an argument! And boy do I love a great debate. I just can't sit still!
As a messenger I'm trowin' information attcha right and left. Duns and duns of it. And it's up ta you ta decipher whattcha wanna take in and digest. Fo anudder example--I'm just loaded wid examples--If somebody comes attcha wid a knife like dis...[takes phone receiver, growls, and assumes attack posture] You tink dey might be tryin' ta tell ya sump'in? I tink so.
And tinkin' about tinkin'--tinkin's what I do best! I always got my nose in a book. I'm kind of a mental kind of guy. I got dis insatiable need ta loin and study, ta figger tings out and understand 'em. [Standard British accent] I am extremely well educated. Only the finest institutions will do. [Gradually lose the affected speech] But I really like bein' just a normal kinda guy. None of dat heavy handed kinda crap. It's too limiting, and besides, what's more important is not necessarily da form but da ability ta relate and see dat da message is undastood! [pause] So maybe da form does play a key role? Hmmm. Sump'in ta tink about!
I love ta travel!! Wanderlust ist in mein soul!!! And I am at home wherever I go because [fake Russian accent] I am zee inventor of all languages!
See, whad it really boils down to is da ability ta see a bunch of symbols--A,B,C,D,E,F,G...recognizin' dere patterns--L,O,V,E... Figgurin' out what dat means ta ya--and den usin' em every day.
[Phone rings] Mercree!! How ya doin? Wat? Again? Are you sure? OK, OK, OK, I'll be dere ina flash [hangs up].
Library! I'm overdue again. Now where was I...oh yeah, it's tinkin' about dese tings and den usin' whacha tink! Look I gotta fly--but remember, it happens quicka den da speed of lightening! Bye! [Quick jump out of frame.]
The End
"I learned while playing Mercury that it was difficult for me to detach from the role--I was totally absorbed in Mercury, my mind was constantly going, constantly writing about Mercury, reading about it, doing twelve different things at one time, helping the other actors to write their scripts. It was really difficult for me to stop that energy. And I haven't still.
"I also started finding my voice again. I began voice lessons during this time and that has been so wonderful. I shut that whole part of me down years ago. During my childhood I started getting into fights and was told to shut my mouth--'Don't speak, it will get you in trouble.' So I shut down totally. Now I'm starting to find my voice again and I'm really happy with it--though now I'm still at a very shaky stage with it and asking myself what do I want to do with my new voice?
"As for facilitating the group, that was the biggest challenge for me. It was demanding -- facilitating planet after planet, moment to moment, trying to help the actors touch and "enter into" their own experience of that planet in their own life and to mold a performance piece from it. But the intensity of this process had a wonderful counterpoint--it was just so much fun! We laughed a lot! And had a finale of dancing and drinking Tequila!
"The most important part of this experience for me? There was an incredible awakening in my life. I am trying hard to synthesize the creative and spiritual currents in my life now, and this experience gave me the opportunity to do just that--to call upon and direct those currents. Each planet that I became, each urge that I was able to define, solidifed deep within and became a tremendous source of knowledge. The work has fed me in ways--way beyond the rehearsal and performance process. I call upon it constantly. I now have a way to work with astrology that makes me feel creative and alive. The marriage of astrology, the arts, and the spiritual that Barbara is encouraging is really important work.. It's good work., it's exciting work, and it's fun!"
*****
Now that you have a little sense of Mercury's
energy, you might like to know about Mercury
retrograde. When teaching my students, this is one of the first
cycles I suggest they pay attention to because it is more obvious. And
more people are learning how this cycle of Mercury affects them and
are learning to WORK WITH it.
P.S.: Mark is available for acting and singing parts in Chicago. Call him at (312) 486-5589.
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