Romantic rapscallion at heart of passionate tale

Justino Brokaw, left, is Zastrozzi and Ashley Brown alternately plays Mathilde and Julia in the UNM theater production of “Zastrozzi, The Master of Discipline. (courtesy of margo geist)

Seduction, sword play and wicked wit. Those are the enticements the University of New Mexico is using to describe its upcoming production of “Zastrozzi, The Master of Discipline.”

The play, which is part comedy and part melodrama, opens Friday, Nov. 9, in the first of seven performances in Rodey Theatre.

Bill Walters, who is directing the production, expanded on those descriptions.

“It’s a play of language and style, which presents challenges for our actors and variety for our audiences,” said Walters, a UNM associate professor of theater.

The play, he said, is set in the early 19th century, at the end of the Romantic era. So for the actors and for the designers of the set and the costumes, the look, the mannerisms and way of speaking are of that period.

“In terms of being a language play,” he said, “it’s no Shakespeare; it’s not written in verse. But it’s a playwright who gives a lot of attention to how characters use language to convey their ideas and feelings. It’s a heightened use of language but not the way we speak in our day and age.”

Canadian George F. Walker’s play debuted in 1977. It was inspired by Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Gothic novella “Zastrozzi: A Romance.”

What’s interesting to Walters is that a contemporary playwright, Walker, is doing an adaptation of a romantic Gothic novel.

“Those novels by people like Shelley already contained a high element of fantasy because they were looking back to the Gothic, medieval era, choosing and borrowing what interested them, but not in an entirely historically accurate way,” Walters said.

Justino Brokaw, a junior theater major, has the title role in the production.

In the play, Brokaw said, there’s a contrast between the Zastrozzi who is seen and the Zastrozzi whom the other characters talk about.

“He’s described as the master criminal of Europe and he even describes himself that way, but at the same time he is singularly focused on revenge, and he seems very unstable,” said Brokaw, who attended Valley High School.

	If you go WHAT: “Zastrozzi, The Master of Discipline” WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, and Saturday, Nov. 10, and 2 p.m. Nov. 11. Repeats Nov. 15-18 WHERE: Rodey Theatre, Center for the Arts, UNM campus HOW MUCH: $15 general public, $12 seniors and UNM faculty, $10 students and UNM staff at ticket offices in the UNM Bookstore and the Pit, by calling 925-5858 or toll-free 877-664-8661, by visiting www.unmtickets.com or at the door

“So my guess for the subtitle, ‘The Master of Discipline,’ is that it’s probably trying to remind the audience subconsciously that he is in control, that he is hyper-aware even in the moments when he appears to be out of control.”

The lead character may be a murderer and a rapist, but Brokaw also appreciates the adventure and the passion in the story. Zastrozzi relentlessly pursues Verezzi, a disturbed artist.

Grey Blanco portrays Verezzi, Stephen Balding is Bernardo, Zastrozzi’s sidekick, and Jose Castro is Victor, who is Verezzi’s tutor.

Two other actors – Evening Star Barron and Ashley Brown – are alternating in each performance in the roles of Matilda, a Gypsy pirate-assassin, and Julia, a young educated aristocrat.

“Whenever Ashley is on stage I have to be watching her regarding (such issues as) blocking, intention. It sounds a lot more complicated than it feels. For me, it’s actually a boon. I get to see what she brings to the role and can pull from that,” Barron said.

“We’re working off each other and collaborating,” Brown added. “After working on scenes we talk about what we think worked, what we think didn’t. We have a framework that (Walters) gives us.”