Feejee Mermaid: Interview with Theater Director Pete Boisvert
“Feejee Mermaid” is a new play that premieres at The Flea in NYC and runs from October 16 to November 2, 2024. Written by playwright Clay McLeod Chapman, “Feejee Mermaid” is a production by Drops in the Vase that takes place on the eve of the 19th Annual International Taxidermy Championships. The action centers on four experts in the field who — fueled by alcohol — push their skills beyond the limit.
Pete Boisvert is a director, actor, and graphic designer who recently discussed this show via an exclusive interview.
Meagan Meehan (MM): What prompted you to get into theater and do you enjoy acting or directing more?
Pete Boisvert (PB): I enjoy wearing both hats, but I think of myself as a director first. I fell into acting early in high school, and chased every opportunity I could find in my rural corner of New Hampshire. Towards the end of college my focus shifted to directing, and after I graduated, I moved to NYC and started producing and directing shows with playwright James Comtois under the banner Nosedive Productions. We staged a couple dozen shows over the next decade, building deep connections and relationships in the vibrant indie theater community that thrived in the aughts. About ten years ago Nosedive closed up shop, and I stepped away from producing for a while; my focus has been on acting and occasionally directing small projects over that time. For me personally, launching Drops in the Vase has been an exciting return to directing and producing as my primary focus.
MM: How did you come up with the name “Drops in the Vase” and what is the main mission of the company?
PB: Theater is an inherently collaborative art form, so it’s not surprising that our name draws from a number of sources. We were initially inspired by a speech Branden Jacobs-Jenkins gave for the Soho Rep Gala, where he talked about the legacy of the theatrical tradition. To paraphrase: “What is theater, if not a bunch of idiots in a line passing an antique vase back and forth.” We were so tickled by this description of theater, and how it brings both levity and reverence to this art form. The vase is a vessel that we all contribute to, and which we all (both inside the company and in collaboration with the larger community) have a responsibility to carry forward. We also drew on something Tom Savini said in the horror film documentary In Search of Darkness. He was talking about his secret sauce to making believable blood on screen, and revealed his trick is, counterintuitively, to add 32 drops of green dye per gallon. This peek behind the creative curtain speaks to the artifice of theater and the effect that even a subtle addition can bring to the creative mix. Drops in the Vase lives at the intersection of these two ideas: unique, individual contributions that bring (to borrow a key concept from FEEJEE MERMAID — our inaugural production) the ‘spark’ of a true reflection of reality, combined with a shared responsibility to our artistic community to keep passing that vase around. The thing that excites us about the name Drops in the Vase is its ability to live in a space of play with each individual that encounters it, just like live theater does for both audiences and artists. The building blocks of our name — four single-syllable words — can be interpreted in countless ways, a tradition which, much like Branden’s proverbial vase, dates back to the inception of live theater. Drops in the Vase, in name and in practice, invites you to explore where that lives in your experience of our work. The many layers of our name speak directly to the mission of our company, which is committed to independent theater and community building. By providing artists with opportunities to create, promoting audience engagement, and producing live theater, we seek to foster the next era of artistic expression while maintaining a connection to our community’s past.
MM: What drew you to “Feejee Mermaid”?
PB: I’ve been a huge fan of Clay McLeod Chapman ever since I first saw The Pumpkin Pie Show, the twisted Southern Gothic-tinged storytelling series that he would stage annually for the spooky season, and I have been thrilled to see his career bloom as a horror novelist. We never worked together previously and I am incredibly excited to get to play in his sandbox with FEEJEE MERMAID. When we were beginning to plan our inaugural season we solicited scripts from a wide range of playwrights, and FEEJEE MERMAID quickly stood out as a favorite to all of us. The play is a remarkably balanced character study of four taxidermists attending a competitive convention. I love the way Clay bounces the characters off each other, using the contrasts between them to gradually draw the character’s secrets out into the open. It’s a pressure cooker of a script, building the tension up to the point of explosion. There’s nuance and depth as well, as the characters struggle with legacy, grief and the act of creation.
MM: What is your favorite part of the play and why?
PB: I find the world of competitive taxidermy as expressed in this play incredibly compelling. I didn’t know a lot about taxidermy before I started working on FEEJEE MERMAID, and it has been a fascinating experience to delve into the world of the play. Our effects designer, Stephanie Cox-Connolly, has been hard at work bringing to life fantastic pieces for the production. We’ve also enlisted a taxidermy consultant, Divya Anantharaman, who has been an invaluable resource to us. A highlight of the pre-production process was working with the cast in a taxidermy class with Divya, where we got to get our hands a little dirty (and also brought home a couple of friends, who may be lurking around the lobby of the show).
MM: How much of this is based on the real life “mermaid” that was exhibited at freakshows?
PB: The play touches briefly on the historical context of the “original” mermaid brought to America by Samuel Barrett Eades, and eventually sold to PT Barnum, where it came to fame. Barnum’s showmanship and passion for displaying the fantastic to his audiences provide one of the themes our taxidermists grapple with. A more direct source of inspiration is the non-fiction book Still Life by Melissa Milgrom, which is a deep dive into the world of taxidermy and its inhabitants. One of the many alleys it explores is the competitive field of Re-Creations, where taxidermists recreate extinct or endangered animals out of the hides of other animals (for example, a panda bear made from the dyed pelts of other bears that are legal to work with). Milgrom’s book has been an essential reference point in developing the show, along with a number of documentaries, articles and other resources.
MM: How did you secure a venue for this play and what kinds of feedback have you gotten so far?
PB: We looked at a number of spaces for FEEJEE, before discovering The Flea. We’re playing downstairs in The Siggy, which has a really unique and interesting stage shape that our scenic designer, Sandy Yaklin, has done an incredible job transforming into a convention center hotel room. We also did a workshop presentation of the show last spring upstairs in their gallery space, The Pete. We’ve had a fantastic time working with the staff at The Flea, who have been incredibly generous and helpful.
MM: What has been the best part of working in the arts/theater scene and what are some of your big dreams for the future?
PB: Getting to work with an amazing community of artists has always been the most important aspect of the craft to me. Theater is such a collaborative art form, and it is a true joy to bring such an incredibly talented group of artists together to build something bigger than the sum of our parts. Outside of our mainstage productions, we’ve been hosting a regular Salon series this year, showcasing a wide range of artists including musicians, dancers, visual artists, storytellers and more. We hold these events in casual venues such as living rooms, backyards, and the Coney Island boardwalk in an effort to bring together a diverse community in connection with each other and widen the artistic conversation. We’ll be completing our inaugural season with a production of Kayla Eisenberg’s LILITH IN PISCES next March. A little sneak peak: When Erin arrives to babysit Diane’s baby at her cozy townhouse in suburban New Jersey, it seems they have nothing in common — except their birth charts. However, when the moon is full, Lilith comes out to play, and the two women discover a bond they never knew they needed through the magic of this night. Beyond that we can’t get into specifics yet, but Drops in the Vase has some really big plans for productions down the road that I am very, very excited about.
MM: Where do you hope Drops in the Vase — and you — will be in ten years?
PB: I’d love to see the indie theater community revitalized over the next decade, with renewed energy, enthusiasm and resources. I hope that Drops in the Vase has a robust production history over that time, and that we can be a part of bringing new life to our community. Part of the reason that the core members came together to found this company was because we were seeing so many indie theater institutions fold in recent years, due to the hardships of the pandemic, the harsh realities of NYC landlord negotiations or the general grind of the times. Indie theater fills a vital and necessary role in the American theater, both as a creative laboratory and as part of the pipeline where artists hone their craft. We hope to work with other companies and individual artists to build up and support the community that is instrumental in creating this work.
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“Feejee Mermaid” runs October 16 — November 2, Tuesday — Saturday at 7:30pm, in The Siggy at The Flea (20 Thomas St, New York, NY 10007). Tickets are $30 — $45, available at www.dropsinthevase.com