The end of term saw Willem Defoe come to Antwerp to perform in ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’, directed by Romeo Castellucci (see his video on the ‘Artaud video resources‘ page).
The piece as an adaptation and transposition of the Nathaniel Hawthorne short story, referred to as ‘dark romanticism’, and written in the early part of the nineteenth century. In the story, Parson Hooper covers his face from his parishioners by wearing a black veil and is from that moment on met with fear.
“I don’t like it,” muttered an old woman, as she hobbled into the meetinghouse. “He has changed himself into something awful, only by hiding his face.”
In the story, the veil acts as a metaphor for the mask that we wear to conceal the essence of our souls, and this point is made by Parson Hooper on his death bed when he is asked to remove his veil one last time
‘I look around me, and, lo! on every visage a Black Veil.’
There are obvious parallels between Hawthorne’s original purposes in writing about the superstition and suspicion of the New England parishioners faced with Hooper’s veil in the early nineteenth century, and current concerns with ‘the other’, whether that be discussions about the right of women to wear veils in France, fears expressed about immigrants, migration or any group perceived as presenting a threat to the perceived status quo. Castellucci’s choice of stimulus has allowed him to explore questions of identity that resonate equally well today as at the time Hawthorne was writing.
Dramatically, there are a few things to consider as an IB student. Firstly, this is a solo piece, similar to Part One (HL). The stimulus here is a short story, but the presentation style is different; the original omniscient narrator is replaced by direct address from the main character. The change in form from page to stage allows for the exploration of theatrical conventions related to staging, space, light, movement and sound. The choice of performance space, Sint Michielskirk, affects the audience’s reception. Most interestingly is the choice of actor. Willem Defoe is a very important US stage actor due to his work with the Wooster Group, as well as a movie actor famous for his roles in films as diverse as Spiderman, Finding Nemo and Platoon. Casting a star allows Castellucci to position the audience much like Pastor Hooper’s original congregation, eager to see the face of the star, yet prevented from doing so by his self-imposed black veil. In this way, Castellucci shows how the form selected allows for a complete integration of his artistic intentions and chosen performance style – a very good lesson to take away before progressing further with your own Part One, Part Two or Part Four assessment tasks.
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