For director, 'The Four of Us' is about more than acting

Jeff Orlemann (left) and Bhavesh Patel star in "The Four of Us." (Megpix)

Jealousy drives "The Four of Us," a play that explores what happens between two friends when one finds success and the other doesn't.

"Emotionally, I've been everywhere these guys go in the play," says actor/director Kyle Fabel, whose production of "The Four of Us" is now in previews at Merrimack Repertory Theatre. "As an actor, you are constantly watching your friends get attention and acclaim when you don't, and vice versa," he says. "My connection to this play is very personal."

In "The Four of Us," playwright Itamar Moses introduces two childhood friends, one of whom receives a multimillion-dollar book contract while the other continues to toil in obscurity as a playwright. The title refers to their egos, which can feel like separate characters, and to the change in the young men as they grow from teenagers to 20-somethings (the play takes place over a decade).

"The play jumps back and forth in time," says Fabel, "so we try to treat each scene as a separate moment and don't get hung up on chronological order."

Although much has been made of the autobiographical connections between Moses and his real-life friend novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, whose acclaimed debut novel, "Everything Is Illuminated," earned a hefty advance, Fabel says he's treading carefully with the actors. "The script makes a point of not mentioning any of the connections," Fabel says, "so we're honoring the playwright's wishes and not making a big deal of it."

For Fabel, the return to the Merrimack Rep to direct another two-character play - he directed last season's "Trying" - is a refreshing change. Last month, Fabel finished performing as two of the 150 characters in the Broadway production of "The Farnsworth Invention," the play by "West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin about the early days of television.

"It was a wonderful experience," says Fabel, "and watching [director] Des McAnuff create these breathtaking stage pictures was a great education. I think new plays move more quickly from scene to scene, in a more cinematic way, and a director has to work harder to make effective transitions between scenes."

Shifting back and forth between working as an actor and as a director is the perfect career for him, says Fabel. "Acting and directing inform each other in a fantastic way," he says. "I have enormous empathy for the actors and the work they have to accomplish since I've been in their shoes. I know how exhausting it is for two actors to get all the lines under their belts and then find their characters. I try to give them encouragement and help them find their way."

Fabel says he's learned a lot from working with MRT artistic director Charles Towers. "He's probably directed me in more plays than anyone else," says Fabel, "and I think I follow his style of note-taking when I take on the role of director. Between Charles's work with the actors and Des's work on the big picture, I've had some great teachers."

Although he admits it's impossible to plan too far ahead, Fabel has already signed on to direct playwright Bob Clyman's "Tranced" next season at Merrimack. "It's another play with a small cast, which I enjoy digging into," he says.