Interview: David Garrison's Lovesong in the Berkshires

Best known in some circles for his role of Steve Rhodes on the FOX sitcom, Married…with Children, David Garrison has been an accomplished theater performer for five decades, including notable turns on Broadway in A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine and Wicked.

This summer, he’s performing alongside fellow Berkshire Theatre Festival alumnus and Raiders of the Lost Ark star Karen Allen in Abi Morgan’s Lovesong. The pair play 70-something couple Billy and Maggie, appearing on the same stage with the 30-something versions of themselves, as we watch the evolution of a sometimes-troubled marriage.

Garrison recently spoke to TheaterMania about his initial reaction to the play, working alongside his younger alter ego, what playing someone his own age means to him, and acting opposite Allen.

This conversation has been condensed edited for clarity.

How did this project come about for you?
Karen saw this play in Ireland about a year ago and fell in love it and then she sent it to David Auburn, our director. I got involved after Kate Maguire, the Festival’s artistic director, pitched me to them. I hadn’t worked with either of them before, but they chose me. I guess I’m the mail-order bride in this process.

Tell me about your first reaction to the play and how your feelings about the piece have changed during the rehearsal process?
I was caught off-guard. The play is like getting tangled in a web, and you don’t realize that’s the situation you are in at first. And ultimately, it packs a big punch— larger than you expected. In working on it, I’ve been gobsmacked by both its simplicity on the surface and the resonance of the whole enterprise. It feels like I am playing 3D chess. Sometimes you’re talking about something that happened three scenes back or will happen three scenes. It’s theatrical in a way very few plays are, and it’s really a play unlike any I have done before.

One of the things that makes this play so unusual is you and Karen are often working opposite the actors who play the younger versions of your characters, but you’re not interacting with verbally. What has that been like?
I think that has been the hardest part for all of us working on the script. Not long ago, Karen decided everyone should read the other roles just for one rehearsal. It was a brilliant idea; it both bonded the four of us and made the text more accessible for everyone. As time goes on, we’ve been examining each other physically and verbally more acutely; now, we’re really trying to walk and talk like each other. In fact, Shawn Fagan, who plays my younger self, even got a haircut to match mine. Above all, it’s been a joy to work with these people!

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You’re playing someone approximately your own age, in a play about aging. What do you relate to most about that?
I think for me, it’s that there’s so much talk in the play about legacy and what you leave behind. At this point in my life, I can see the end of the pier from where I’m standing. I am always thinking of what I could have done differently and how different choices might have affected my life and career. Did I make the right leap of faith?  I haven’t answered any of these questions for myself yet, but they’re on my mind, especially as I do this play.

This is the first time you’re working with Karen Allen. How is it going?
We got along from day one. My job in this play is to be in love with her and that isn’t hard. But we have totally different acting styles. For me, it’s important to originally know my lines and not bump into furniture; I probably got that from spending most of my life in musical theater. She starts with the character’s internal life and then tries to not bump into furniture.

What is it like working with David Auburn?
I think because of his work as a playwright, he can get into the structure of writing in some ways other directors don’t. He illuminates pieces of the script I wouldn’t have noticed. And he wants to make sure Abi’s intent is justified by what is put on stage. Most of all, David wants to make sure all the dots are connected from the playwright to the director. It’s a very tricky piece; I feel like David is deconstructing an elaborately knit sweater and then recreating stitch by stitch how it’s supposed to look.

Are you enjoying having a role that doesn’t ask you to sing?
Let’s just say, I am enjoying being able to have a cocktail in the evening.