Site-Specific Theater At SparkHampton

In real estate, location is everything. But in theater, it’s all about the space. And in site-specific work, the space is a main character.

It has a life of its own, a personality, a mood. It influences action and dialogue. It dictates the walls, the parameters. It’s living, breathing, moving. And for the first time, Manhattan-based theater company Hard Sparks is bringing three new, site-specific works to the East End.

Dubbed “SparkHampton,” the program will feature original plays by Hard Sparks founder J. Stephen Brantley, Crystal Skillman and Daniel Talbott, who is directing the three works that will be performed on Monday, June 25, in every nook and cranny of fashion stylist Irene Albright’s yard behind her traditional, shingle-style Southampton home, weather permitting.

The plays, to be acted out by Mr. Brantley, Kathryn Erbe, Brian Miskell, Seth Numrich and Jelena Stupljanin, are “simple, fast, kind of punk rock” pieces no longer than 15 minutes each, Mr. Brantley said. Hard Sparks is all about “daring performances of dangerous plays,” he said.

“Site-specific work is strange for audiences not familiar with it,” Mr. Brantley said. “It can be an adventure. I think I said to David and Crystal, ‘Let’s have a good time and not scare anybody too much,’ or

something like that. There’s a lot of this kind of work in the city. It’s the wave of the future, this site-specific work, but we’re not seeing it in the Hamptons yet.”

The playwrights had just two guidelines to keep in mind before going in: write for the space and write for the actors. Mr. Talbott, whose one-woman play, “Western,” kicks off the evening, already had the latter rule down. He’d penned the piece specifically for actress and friend Ms. Erbe of “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” fame (she played Detective Alexandra Eames for a decade). But it wasn’t written for the location.

Yet, much to Mr. Talbott’s surprise, his play and Ms. Albright’s backyard were a perfect fit, he said.

“What’s weird is, when I wrote it, I had imagined it as her being a recently single mom who is affluent and lives in the place like the Hamptons,” Mr. Talbott said of the female lead during a telephone interview last week. “It’s so funny, when I went to Irene’s backyard, I was like, ‘This is so bizarre. This is my dream place to put on this play. This is it.’”

Ms. Erbe’s character is a suburban mother sitting at her computer, reading the latest headlines when she gets a news update about kids being stoned to death in Iraq—children who are perceived as “emo,” which is code in the Middle East for “Western” or “gay,” based on their style, music taste and teenage moodiness.

Unexpectedly, the issue hits hard and strongly resonates within the character, just as it did with Mr. Talbott and Ms. Erbe.

“I can really relate,” the actress said during a telephone interview last week. “I have two kids, I have two dogs. I have my life and I can very easily go along in it and not be aware of anything that’s happening. And, in fact, I check out almost purposefully because things are so upsetting in the news much of the time. But then, all of a sudden, I’ll read an article in the New York Times or listen to NPR, and something can get through our armor, our disconnect, and I’ll wonder how I can do something about it.”

Inspired by the horrifying news, Mr. Talbott took action by sitting down in a Brooklyn café three months ago and writing his play, he said, and it will be adapted for the East End event. Mr. Brantley crafted his piece, which is tentatively named “Swan Song,” about two weeks ago at his Southampton home, just as the summer crowds were moving in.

“My play,” he laughed, “is about a disgruntled cater waiter who’s had enough of Hamptons high society and goes to pretty desperate measures to even the score. I don’t want to give anything away, but things get pretty intense and someone may well end up in the swimming pool.”

Site-specific work is brand new for Ms. Erbe, she said, and sees it as an extension of her first love: live theater.

“I feel like I did this job, I guess it would be my day job—my ‘Law & Order’ job—for so many years, but before that, I did a lot of theater,” she said. “I was on Broadway but never really had a lot of connections to the new, young playwrights. I’m now in the world in a way I haven’t been for many years.

“It really feels,” she hesitated, “‘kamikaze’ is not the right term because everyone is uplifted by it all, but it feels like it to me: jumping off this huge cliff together, doing it for art’s sake. It’s so invigorating and inspiring. I hope people will come out and play with us.”

Hard Sparks theater company will present “SparkHampton,” an evening of three site-specific, original plays, on Monday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the backyard of Irene Albright’s Southampton home. Tickets are $40 and include food and drinks. For more information, visit hardsparks.com.