‘Sir Gawain’ on tap at dinner theater
An Arthurian tale is on tap t onight at a special Christmas madrigal dinner pr esentation of “Sir Gawain and the Greene Knight.”
Texas A&M UniversityTexarkana’s dr ama department will present this dinner theat er at 7:30 p.m. tonight and Saturday night at Smokin’ H ot Barbecue. The play will be directed by Dr . Brian Billings of A&M-Texarkana.
It’s an adaptation of a late-14th century Middle English poem, Billings explained.
“It is probably a good example of the beheading game, which is one of the games within the tradition of the Romance story where you challenge somebody to a beheading, ” Billings said. If you attempt the beheading and it doesn’t work, then the person can, if able to do so, return the blow. “It is p art of the Arthurian tradition,” Billings s aid. Ga wain is King Arthur’s nephew, and the story takes place around Christmas at Camelot.
“Arthur calls f or a great feat of some kind: a story, a challeng e, a tale , anything to usher in the new y ear—a hug e c elebration,” Billings said.
The Gr een Knight steps f orward t o pla y this beheading g ame, and the r est of the pla y is abou tS ir Ga wain’s travels as he pur sues the Green Knight t o his green chapel.
“I don ’t w ant t o gi ve anything a way at the
end, but there is an interesting little lesson to be learned about mortality and how you should be satisfied with the person you are and not try to be more than what you are,” Billings said.
A&M-Texarkana presented a mystery dinner theater event before, but that was held on campus. For this show, they’re doing some public outreach.
“We’re actually trying to go out into the community,” Billings said.
During a madrigal dinner theater event, the meal consists of different courses. In between each serving, the play itself is presented with eight scenes total. Seven student performers are playing various roles in the play, which Billings adapted himself for this presentation. He also wrote the music.
“It is very much in the old style in terms of singing. Everything is actually going to be advancing the action, talking about the events that are happening even as they unfold,” Billings said, calling the play a fun tale.
Though there is dialogue in Billings’ adaptation, songs are embedded throughout the play.
Billings said there’s not much of a tradition of adapting this Arthurian tale into a theatrical version, which surprised him.
“I’ve had this idea for a while. Way back when I was an undergraduate in school, I started playing with the idea, and I started looking it up,” he said, noting a couple of film adaptations and an opera.
Presenting this story as a dinner theater is unique, Billings said. In fact, hunts for different animals figure into the Gawain and Green Knight story, which will guide what’s served for dinner.
“And so each animal hunted will be represented by the plates,” Billings said.
According to promotional material for “Sir Gawain and the Greene Knight,” it’s billed as “like Medieval times without the horses.” “We couldn’t afford the horses,” Billings joked.
Autographed Broadway items will be auctioned at the madrigal dinner to benefit the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Foundation.
(Tickets are $15, or free for current A&M-Texarkana students; tickets include the show and dinner. Smokin’ Hot Barbecue is at 5205 W. Park Blvd. in Texarkana, Texas. Tickets are available at the door or at A&M-Texarkana’s Office of Student Life. For reservations, contact Celeste McNiel at cmcniel@tamut.edu or 903223-1351.)