Get to Know John Brennan

The Get to Know the Cast and Crew just keeps chugging along.

We did Kit and now we do the dreaded Sir Walsingham. The charcter of Francis Walsingham has a proud tradition here at Rorschach, it was previously been portrayed by the legendary Austin Bragg in The Beard of Avon. Austin's performance can only be called unique, you don't often see Sir Francis popping out of a costume trunk and turning all gooey over The Regina Dentata herself Elizabeth One. It does however beg the question. Does appearing in two Rorschach shows qualify a charcter to be a tradition?

Now the devil, he keeps popping up every season. I think we are up to like 67 devils at this point. To be honest it is getting kind of rediculous. Can't throw a decapitated paper mache head around this place without hitting someone who has played the devil. What the hell is going on at this theater?

Anyway here is Mr. Brennan and his thoughts on working on Kit Marlowe.

Hi Scott,

This is John Brennan.

Here are my replies to the various questions.

1. What is your position, role or roles in Kit Marlowe?

I am playing Sir Francis Walsingham, spymaster for Queen Elizabeth.

2. Is this your first go around at the Rorschach rodeo? If no what have you done for us before? If yes, what has surprised you the most about working for us?

This is my first Rorschach production. Can't say anything has really surprised me yet, I will say that it's a pleasure to be working on a play with such talented people who are also very nice.

3. If this play were a Beatle which one would it be and why?

If this play were a Beatle it would be John Lennon: bright, spirited, cheeky, full of punny humor, but with a very dark streak that becomes apparent once you really get to know it.

4. What feature of Marlowe's London should Rorschach duplicate to really enhance the audience's experience?

The part of Elizabethan London that featured the theatres, taverns/bawdy houses, the animal baiting arenas, and the execution site at Tyburn. There one would see both the best and worst of what that world had to offer, with a great deal of what comes in between on display as well.

5. What was your best/worst haircut or body modification for a part in a play?

I don't believe I've ever had a bad hairstyle/body modification experience, which means I've been very lucky.

6. If you could go out for a wild night on the town with Kit Marlowe, where would you go and what would you do?

I'd love to have Marlowe as a companion at the theatre, preferably at a performance of one of his works (at a play by someone else he'd probably make nonstop catty remarks). Other than that, it would be interesting to accompany him to Sir Walter Raleigh's home. Otherwise, I think I'd avoid Marlowe's company, at this point in my life I prefer to steer clear of the sort of situations he seemed to relish.

7. Can you think of worse way of being killed than being stabbed in the eye? If so how?

I can think of a much worse way of dying than being stabbed in the eye, and Marlowe dramatized just such a death in his play Edward II. See any good history book for the horrifying details.