Jennifer Schlueter playwright, director and associate professor of theatre at Ohio State, will be having her play North broadcast by the BBC on BBC Radio 4 as part of its “Afternoon Drama” series starting at 9:15 a.m. EDT April 28; it will also be available for download on the BBC website.

Now re-imagined for radio, North, constructed entirely from the writings of The Little Prince author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and the celebrated aviators Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, is an off-Broadway hit that tells the story of their meeting and its consequences. Delicate and touching, it tells the behind-the-scenes story of one the most celebrated couples in America, the famous and shocking kidnap of their baby and the conflicts which flying, family and writing brought to their lives. This was further complicated by their meeting with one of France's most iconic writers.

“This transformation to a radio version — which required adapting the play from one form (live theatre) to another (radio drama), as well as compressing it from its 80-minute run time to 45 — presented a wholly new opportunity for me to apprehend what we had built,” said Schlueter.

Originally, the idea for North first struck Schlueter in summer 2005, when she and her friend Christina Ritter, an actress, were in London. The two discovered they shared tastes and approaches in their theatre making. They started talking about working together, and Ritter spoke passionately about Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Schlueter took an immediate interest, and their research began.

“We dropped in to a bookstore, pulled a few of Anne’s books off the shelves, and knew that we had something exciting on our hands,” Schlueter said. “From there, we started researching and talking and dreaming and really zeroed in on one brief moment in Anne’s life — her meeting with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince. That moment, which carried huge significance for Anne, became the beginning point in our explorations.”

By 2007, Schlueter had built a script — completely out of works written by and about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Charles Lindbergh and Saint-Exupéry, who became the featured characters of the play. Ritter took the central role, and North premiered in Chicago at the American Theater Company in 2008. Following the play’s success, Schlueter was invited to take it off-Broadway to 59E59 Theater in 2012. Out of the collaboration on North, Schlueter and Ritter formed the for/word company, which focuses on dynamic stagings and innovative interpretations of material from historical record.

North came full circle from its inception point when British actor Samuel West picked it up and advocated for it at the BBC. From there, Schlueter was commissioned to adapt it for BBC Radio 4, where it was directed by Marion Nancarrow.

The BBC’s "Afternoon Drama" program has been broadcasting continuously since 1967. It goes out every weekday at 2:15 and lasts for 45 minutes, with 80,000 to 100,000 people tuning in to a given episode. There are 190 new Afternoon Plays commissioned and made every year. It is the largest commissioner of new work on the planet.

For the radio version of North, Christina Ritter is reading for Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Samuel West is reading Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and Ian Conningham is reading Charles Lindbergh. Ritter has been with the piece in all of its live iterations since Chicago, as has the play’s designer, Brad Steinmetz, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre at Ohio State.

Schlueter is very pleased with North’s performance over the years and the play has “absolutely” lived up to her expectations.

“‘Expectations’ is a funny way to think about it, because when I begin a project, I don’t know what it will end up becoming, or even where it will take its first steps. I’m primarily invested in the journey of the creative process,” she said, “and I revel in the exploration and discovery that happens in the rehearsal hall. I have lived with North for a very long time, and each iteration of its development has surprised and delighted me. I’m lucky to get to work with such smart performers and designers, and together we’ve gotten deeper and deeper into this play. We know it in our bones now, and continually push to bring it more legibly to life.”

Schlueter found it thrilling to be in the room as the piece was recorded at the BBC in January and got to witness expert professionals think about the auditory landscape her play offered.

As for the radio version, Schlueter says, “Marion Nancarrow as its director was sensitive and insightful, and the entire technical staff brought much acuity to bear on the play itself. It was a great gift to me, and I felt like I got to meet the play again for the first time, hearing it anew. When I directed the play for the stage, I emphasized its physicality, using swings and ladders to make flight (of thought, of body, of soul) active on the stage. I used the language of the live theatre to tell the story. Moving to radio meant I had to zero in on the small fluctuations of the voice, of the audible landscape of the world. And I really relished that shift in attention.”

Schlueter’s next step is the world premiere staging of Patience Worth in St. Louis in March 2017. Other productions that she has going up this month are Don Quixote: A Pilgrimage (being remounted at Cleveland Public Theatre from April 7-9), her adaptation of Coast of Illyria (being shown at the Ohio State Department of Theatre from April 14-21) and Disruption/Disparity, her commission at the Columbus Museum of Art (performs April 12).

Photo Credit

• North cast photo: L to R: Ian Conningham (Charles), Jennifer Schlueter (playwright), Christina Ritter (Anne), Samuel West (Saint-Exupery)
• Live stage photo: Christina Ritter (as Anne Morrow Lindbergh) and Kalafatic Poole (as Charles Lindbergh) (photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum)
• Live stage icon: Christopher Marlowe Roche (as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry) (photo by Isaiah Tanenbaum)

 
By Tatiana Tomley, ASC Communications student