A golden story
Duke City Repertory presents survival tale ‘The Call of the Wild’
Duke City Repertory is bringing Jack London’s brutal tale of instinct and survival to the Albuquerque stage.
The troupe will stage “The Call of the Wild” at 2420 Midtown Place NE beginning Thursday, March 8.
The six actors will perform atop a 4- by 8-foot platform, acting out both the characters and the sets of this physically tasking show.
The story opens with Buck, halfSt. Bernard, half-shepherd, the pampered pet of a rich California judge.
Then the gardener steals him to finance a gambling addiction. A dog trader ships him to Seattle, beats and starves him in a crate, then sells him as a Klondike sled dog.
“We are the characters; we create the boat that goes from California to Alaska,” artistic director Amelia Ampuero said. “We create the river that the gold is found in.”
The story takes place during the Yukon Gold Rush of the 1890s. London spent almost a year in the Yukon, and his observations formed much of the material for the book. The story was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903.
Playwright-in-residence Catherine Bush adapted the story for Virgina’s Barter Theater. Ampuero is a former member of its resident acting company.
Buck moves “from being a very sheltered and loved pet to being a dog in the Alaska frontier,” Ampuero said. “He has to learn how to be a dog and be wild. He has to learn to work on instinct. He has to honor the call of the wild. That story of survival and instinct really spoke to us.”
The company last staged a “platform” show with “The Jungle Book” about a year ago.
“We knew that we wanted to do another platform play,” Ampuero said. “We generally do some kind of literary-based show in this slot. We like to bring these classics to life.”