Preview: Super Heroes and Shakespeare in Spirits to Enforce at Catastrophic Theatre

What if you had a cold call from a superhero?

And what if that superhero was trying to raise funds for an upcoming production of The Tempest by Shakespeare?

Would you immediately hang up the phone, being careful NOT to “press 1,” or utter the word “yes”? Or would you realize that rather than a scammer trying to access your private information, that this was playwright Mickle Maher (The Hunchback Variations, The Strangerer) playing once again with odd matchups that seem impossible until well maybe they’re not?

Jason Nodler, Catastrophic’s co-Artistic Director who is directing Spirits to Enforce (2003) had a difficult time discussing much of anything about the script saying he didn’t want to spoil the twists and turns. What he did say is that as it begins, the superheroes are on the phones, trying to elicit interest in this production. Fundraising, ticket sales and rehearsals are not going particularly well.

“The broad questions are: Why are superheroes doing this? Will they be able to pull it off? ” Nodler says.

These are real superheroes but don’t expect the buff outlines of Marvel or DC Comics fame, Nodler says. With names like Fragrance Fellow, The Pleaser, The intoxicator and The Snow Heavy Branch, their special talents lie elsewhere. “These are superheroes with very special powers. Their degree of intelligence varies.”

“You come to understand all of this by the end of the play.”

Maher’s one-act comedy as fantastical as The Tempest and a heartfelt examination of how difficult it is to keep art going. Incorporating superheroes into the mix, pop characters appeals to a different audience than just devoted fans of theater. Can the theater and its production be saved? Will the local superhero team save everyone?

“I guess what Mickle is circling there is it’s difficult to raise money for the arts, for theater.

“What’s expressed is the difficulty in raising funds and selling tickets even for a production of a very famous and well regarded play by our greatest playwright in theater history. It’s even hard when you’re doing that play and the local superhero team is saving everybody and is going to perform it. Why are they having such difficulty? So Mickle is sort of shining a light on this side of the arts, the administrative side and the difficulties in it. How that struggle feels.

“And then, why they do it anyway. Why it’s so important anyway. In this play Spirits to Enforce, why are they putting themselves through all of this when it’s clearly not an enjoyable thing to go out and try to raise money. For artists especially that’s not what we think of them as doing.”

Just as Shakespeare’s use of iambic pentameter is known for its musical rhythms, so too does the 12-member cast plunge deeply into the sounds of language almost musical in exposition. “We’re constantly working on the rhythms of it, the music of it,” Nodler says.

“It’s about theater, it’s about a play, it’s about actors, it’s about fund-raising. Obviously Shakespeare plays a great role in it and his characters. . And yet you don’t need to care about need to care about theater at all, you don’t need to care about Shakespeare, you don’t need to care about superheroes, nor about fund raising. You only have to be capable of laughing in order to enjoy this play.”

Performances are scheduled for September 20 through October 12 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays with a special Monday night performance on September 30 at the Midtown Arts and Theater Center Houston, 3400 Main. For more information, call 713-521-4533 or visit matchouston.org. Pay -What-You-Can.