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UCLA Theater production takes funny look at an actor's worst nightmare

By Jennifer Richmond

Daily Bruin Staff

Just in time for the end of what could be considered the Gone with the Wind quarter comes the Theater School's second one-act festival and with it, Terri Hawkes' masterpiece, "I Survived the Search for Scarlett."

Hawkes' production shows this week at McGowan Hall along with F.J. Rudy's play, "An Abridged History of Colonialism, Part 1." The two are the last on-campus shows for fall quarter and both take a funny look at semi-historical events. Hawkes' play looks at a recent audition process while Rudy's takes "an anachrositic look the imperial impulse and the collision course it sparks."

Although Hawkes' third production, this is the first time she's poked fun at her line of work: acting and the craziness that sometimes comes with it. "Survived" is loosely based on Hawkes' (a second-year MFA) own audition process as one of the 10 finalists for the lead in the recent CBS miniseries, "Scarlett."

She was chosen for the lead, flown to Atlanta for a screen test along with nine other women and participated in a special live television broadcast to announce "the new Scarlett." There was one small catch ­ there was no winner. The producers decided to cast Joanne Whalley-Kilmer, who wasn't even a finalist. While the story is based on a real occurrence, Hawkes' stresses, "It's not a bitter account of the audition experience, it's just I have an amused perspective of how it works and continues to work."

And amusing it is. "Survived" creates every actor's nightmare, which is why it's so funny and easy to relate to. Candice Lean is a Canadian who's been doing B-type films since she began. Then she gets her big break as a finalist for what could be the greatest miniseries. So, she drops everything and goes straight to Atlanta. There she meets all the other girls who range from Vivien Leigh's great niece to a Dutch actress with a very heavy accent to an Irish girl whose father is on the brink of death. But it's not until after the tests that all the girls discover the entire event was a business move.

Even though several of the characters are based in one way or another on some of the people Hawkes met, she says, "All the characters are fictitious and any relation to real people is unintentional.

"The story's really about the casting process in general and how difficult it can be to go through," Hawkes says.

But it wasn't only difficult for Hawkes. Her director, Liesel Kopp, had quite a time directing the production. With 22 actors and her first time directing, Kopp says she was a little nervous. Although she had fun with the project, she says her cast reminded her of "a herd of animals ­ they smelled fear." But even with this slight phobia, Kopp said she's had a great time and plans to direct again; only this time it'll be a "serious drama" with less characters.

There's no doubt "Survived" is anything but a serious drama. Hawkes even added a few scenes making the production slightly more farcical. They include several scenes in which the chosen finalists become vampire victims complete with the typical neck wounds. Hawkes says she chose the bloodsucker because she wanted "a fantasy that represented Hollywood sucking the life out of Candice (and) the vampire seemed to fit best."

Complete with vampires, actresses with affinities for bizarre breathing exercises and a hysterically funny line of screen tests, there's no doubt Hawkes' description of her show is right on ­ "It's a tongue-in-cheek look at casting."

STAGE: "I Survived the Search for Scarlett," by Terri Hawkes. "The Abridged History of Colonialism, Part 1," by F.J. Rudy. Dec. 6-9 at UCLA's McGowan Theatre 1330. Performed together Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday at 4:15 p.m. Admission is free.

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