Human Fruit Bowl, Andrea Kuchlewska's one-woman portrait of live nude modeling performed by Harmony Stempel, won the FringeNYC Overall Excellence Award and before that, took Best Production at the Prague Fringe Festival. It opened Off Broadway last week for a limited run.
Ms. Stempel talked to us about her career, the creation of the show and being naked and alone on stage.
Classicalite: Tell us a little about yourself: where you grew up, education, stage career, anything else that might interest readers and theatergoers.
Harmony Stempel: I grew up in upstate New York where I did a lot of community theater from the age of 11. I knew pretty early on that theater was what I wanted to do so I, later, studied performance at the University of New Hampshire, where I had the opportunity to work on some amazing roles. After doing my undergrad, I spent some time in Prague teaching English and getting to know a little of the theater scene over there, but after a short time realized I really wanted to have a go in New York City.
CL: Andrea Kuchlewska wrote the script for Human Fruit Bowl, but I understand that the play was your idea and that it was based on real experience. Talk a little about how you got the idea, how it germinated and how you worked with Andrea to create the play.
HS: After having lived in Prague and then living in NYC, I returned to the Czech Republic to perform in their Fringe Festival with some fellow NYC actors. While there, I saw this incredible one-woman show. And I remember leaving the theater thinking, "I need to come back next year with my own one-woman show." I had been modeling at the New York Studio School that first year of being in the city, and during that time, I was inspired to create my own work--the subject of nude modeling appealed to me as a performance piece.
I really had just a very vague idea of what I wanted, so when I made the decision to move forward after seeing that other show in Prague, I knew I needed a great playwright to get on board with me. And Andrea was the first person I thought of. I think I pretty much said to her, "I want to do a one-woman show about nude modeling. What do you think?" After she said yes, we (along with our original director and co-collaborator, Liam Billingham) went through several months of researching, re-writes, more re-writes, more research and finally had a draft that we took to the Prague Fringe Festival the following year.
CL: During the play, you show slides of Pierre Bonnard's many paintings of his model/mistress in the bathtub. Was the mystery of her death integral to the play from the beginning?
HS: The Bonnard story was something I just happened to mention in one of our jam sessions one day. I was repeating this story my boyfriend had told me about one of his favorite painters whose model killed herself in a bathtub. That really sparked Andrea's interest, and it became a focus point for the piece.
CL: What kind of reaction have you gotten from audiences generally? And are there differences in how it's been received in different places?
HS: My favorite reaction has been that audience members feel like they, like my character, need to stay still during the show. Watching this modeling session take place with little movement, they often become hyper-aware of their own bodies and feel almost obligated to stay still with me.
When we've done the show outside of the U.S., the language barrier was interesting to deal with. Andrea and my senses of humor are very dry, and there is a lot of New York humor in the play. So, it was difficult to gauge whether non-native English speakers really picked up on everything. It's a very text-heavy show, and I would often get a little freaked out at how quiet the audiences were overseas.
CL: Did being an artists' model teach you anything about humanity? About artists? About art? And have you found that it has any relevance to your stage work?
HS: Being a nude model is a very strange job, when you think about how much time you are sitting still, doing almost nothing. I pursued it in NYC because I wanted a job where I felt surrounded by creativity and people who take art seriously. I thought it would be a great place to meet people. I was totally right. It certainly lends to my training on stage. While I apparently was somewhat of a natural, it does take some focus when you're sitting still for so long. Your mood and attention really influence the artist drawing from you. If you're having a bad day or you're just bored, they know immediately--it affects how they do their job. It's a very interesting relationship that you have with artists who are somewhat dependent on you to create something, while coupled with feeling like you're doing nothing.
CL: There's plenty of gratuitous nudity around--on stage as well as in film. By contrast, the nudity in Human Fruit Bowl is foundational to the work. As a performer, what are your feelings about it, artistically/dramatically and/or personally?
HS: This is a hard question, because my answer is always, "I don't really think about it that much." As you say, the nudity in this show is completely in context. It's about a nude model, so there's was no question about me having to be naked on stage. Luckily, I don't mind it. I think it's great if nudity helps to tell a better story, but I do think it is often used just for shock value.
CL: What roles, either in solo or ensemble pieces, have you enjoyed playing (or not enjoyed playing) before Human Fruit Bowl? Favorites? Least favorites? Most educational or interesting?
HS: One of the best times I ever had was playing Shakespeare's Ariel in The Tempest. My UNH professors teamed up with Appledore Island in Maine, which is a wildlife preserve, and we did the show site-specifically on the island in the middle of August. One of my former professors at UNH, who happens to be blind, played my Prospero, and I still get chills thinking about how magical that was to work with him and everyone else in the middle of the ocean.
CL: What are your plans following the current Off Broadway run at Baruch? Either your own plans, or plans, if any, for this play?
HS: I will still be chugging away at this whole acting career thing. I am very excited to be joining the Maggie Flanigan Studio this summer to go back to the classroom and revisit my training. As for Human Fruit Bowl, we are open to all possibilities. Our dream would be to do the show in a gallery or a museum surrounded by Cézannes and Bonnards.
CL: How would you briefly describe Human Fruit Bowl for new audiences who have no idea what to expect? What will they come away with?
HS: Bring your sketchbooks!
Presented by Baruch Performing Arts Center in association with terraNOVA Collective & soloNOVA Arts, Human Fruit Bowl runs through April 11 at The Rose Nagelberg Theater at Baruch (55 Lexington Ave.--enter E. 25th St. between Lexington and Third Aves.).
For information and tickets, visit the Baruch Performing Arts Center online.
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