Stern's Donnie Darkens Stage at A.R.T.

It’s either your favorite movie, or it used to be until you heard that it was everyone else’s. Richard Kelly’s “Donnie Darko” is a cult movie with a huge following. Centered on teenage angst, wormholes, and a big scary bunny, “Donnie Darko” remains the premiere sci-fi teen-epic of the decade, and its popularity has waned little since its release in 2001.

A fair amount of debate surrounds the movie, as the storyline depicted therein reads nebulously at best.

Purists may say that film is and can be the only medium appropriate for a proper treatment of the story, but director Marcus Stern of Cambridge’s American Repertory Theatre (A.R.T.) begs to differ—he’s preparing a theatrical adaptation of the film. How then does one take on the daunting task of retelling such a sacred cow as “Donnie Darko?”

SCREEN TO STAGE

“Of course it’s open to interpretation,” said Stern, “but I pursued one version that made sense to me. I’m sure there are 20 others.”

In Stern’s telling, the play focuses more on the human parts of the story than its science fiction aspects. Confused teen Donnie Darko sits on the brink of two realities, and he has to make an important choice. Helping him make the right one is “bunny-man” Frank.

Stern’s interpretation follows a different thread from the common perception of the story’s dark messenger.

“What Donnie doesn’t realize is that Frank is there to help him; he lays out all the clues for Donnie,” said Stern.

When asked why he would adapt the film to the stage, Stern replied, “We think it’s something that people might genuinely enjoy—the romance, the adventure, and the mystery.”

But there is a bit more to “Donnie Darko” than just your typical coming-of-age fare. Much of the film’s confusing appeal comes from elements like space-time worm holes and jet engines crashing through the roof.

Stern says he’s not too concerned about recreating these iconic moments. “To express the film’s larger visual effects, we combine small gestures with large sounds and lights, and a sense of emotional tautness.”

According to Stern, adapting the film to the stage hasn’t been too difficult, but there have been some tricky parts. “I’m trying to be very faithful to the film; it’s a pretty straight telling,” said Stern. “In translating the story to the stage, we’ve been trying to recreate the fractional elements of the film. The play uses ‘quick cuts’: no single scene is longer than two minutes.”

“Playing this role has been really hard; you’ve gotta jump into a scene right in the middle,” says Dan McCabe, who’ll be playing the title role.

THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS

Much like the film, time plays an important plot-driving factor. Stern envisioned the set with a clock counting down until Halloween as an ever present focal point of the set, which itself is a mystery.

Designed by Matt McAdon, the set will combine all the different scenes from the film into one piecemeal place divided into sections. Each scene of the play will take place in one lighted section of the set, with the rest blacked out, suggesting, for example, Donnie’s school or a field.

The costuming, rehearsal and adaptation processes have all been dynamic, the creators say.

“Marcus has been really receptive to people disagreeing,” said Flora Diaz, who plays Donnie’s love interest Gretchen. “The Bunny costume is really freaky,” she adds.

Diaz says that working on the story has been intense. “The play deals with the big questions that everyone is plagued with: what if we’re living the wrong life, or loving the wrong people?”

“Donnie Darko” self-reflexively opens this Halloween, at the Zero Arrow Theatre, and will run through Nov. 18th.

—Staff writer John D. Selig can be reached at jdselig@fas.harvard.edu.