“I’m convinced that my entire life is a TV show. But unlike Truman I’m okay with this. The writers of my life give me great material,” says Geremy Webne-Behrman. Shooing the camera crew further out of sight, we proceed with the interrogation.
Webne-Behrman has the challenging task of portraying Peter, the AWOL army deserter and spinner of conspiracies, in Bootless Stageworks most recent production of BUG. While Peter is initially depicted as soft spoken, perhaps even suffering intense bouts of PTSD, it all gets…well, buggy. Think government testing, illicit bombings, and information usually left for conspiracy theorist.
If you haven’t heard about this most recent production, despite its glowing (radiating?) reviews, you’re obviously not paying attention to your government mandated internet-caches.
This will be rectified shortly.
“Any play where the audience can empathize with the people on stage is important,” continues Geremy, speaking on the plays timeliness. “In this case Peter goes to drastic measures to make himself feel safe, and even loved. Real people experience the displacement and the psychosis that Peter and Agnes go through, and worse.”
For a man who started as the Ishmaelite in Joseph… – a character with only one line! – Webne-Behrman has certainly been given more to talk about (much to the chagrin of several vague government agencies). His character might appear, at first glance, firmly rooted in the “psycho villain” catergory, but Webne-Behrman has, without a doubt, tapped into an underlying humanity with Peter’s character.
“What made Peter immediately accessible for me were his two extremes. I can easily relate to how shy and soft-spoken he is when he first meets Agnes. I’m not good at meeting new people either and the way Peter awkwardly tries to start a conversation with her is very accessible. At the other end of the spectrum, Peter suppresses an aspect of himself that is loud, brash and chaotic. As a person who keeps close tabs on myself and only lets a few people see the real me I look forward to exploding every time I play Peter, and revel in it.”
With that, we feel we have enough evidence. The bag is once again placed over the actor’s head as he is carted out of the room (all normal rehearsal practices, he is assured).
The camera crew films all.
The cameras film all.