An inspired setting for 'King John'

Bill Barclay (left), Michael Forden Walker, and Janet Morrison star in the Actors' Shakespeare Project production of "King John" at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul on Tremont Street. (Andrew Brilliant/Brilliant pictures)

It's Monday, and Sproat Hall - downstairs in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, on Tremont Street across from Boston Common - is filled with homeless people eating lunch at a weekly program that the church hosts. "Check it out," says one man at a table. "They're going to have a play in here."

He points to the areas off to either side of the wide stairway that leads into the room, where electrical cables suggest lighting instruments to come. Then he moves aside his chair to reveal a labyrinth painted on the floor. "This is the stage," he says. The labyrinth is often open to anyone who wants to walk it as a meditative practice.

"This is just the kind of space I love," says Actors' Shakespeare Project artistic director Benjamin Evett, whose company has performed in a variety of venues over its five seasons. "It's an interesting room architecturally and really lends itself to 'King John,' which is all about behind-the-scenes political machinations. But the church is also part of a fascinating community that offers us wonderful opportunities for our educational outreach." The show starts previews tonight.

St. Paul's dean, the Rev. Jep Streit, became an Actors' Shakespeare Project subscriber last year, and he says he was eager to support the production. "The performances of 'King John' are part of the vision of the cathedral to be more connected with the arts," he says. "We've done readings here, and since 1929 WCRB has broadcast our services, including a half-hour sermon and church music." In addition, "In the nearly 13 years that I've been dean here, I've always included a snippet from some outside reading, a poem, an essay, or a novel I'm reading," he says. "God isn't limited to what we think of as Holy Scripture."

"King John," one of Shakespeare's rarely produced history plays, follows family members as they try to maneuver toward the throne. "One of the things I love most about Shakespeare," says Evett, who is directing and designing this production with lighting designer John Malinowski, "is that he's not afraid of contradictions in human beings. The hero, John, is very real. He aspires to be a tyrant but he doesn't have the guts. Sometimes real people can be confusing in the theater, but I think his complexity makes him very human, and very recognizable."

Evett says Sproat Hall's stone walls "give the room a medieval feel, and the labyrinth is a wonderfully evocative image and a natural playing area, a wooden 'O' of its own." At the same time, all the political wheeling and dealing gives the play a contemporary edge, which fits his modern take on the story. "We've set the scene as if it's today, and we're using a lot of film and photography equipment to give the feeling that the audience is backstage at some media event," he says.

Sproat Hall's schedule means Actors' Shakespeare Project will have to remove lights and equipment often, and Evett says that works well for this play. "One of the things we didn't want to do is transform the room into a theater," he says. "We think of it as a temporary setup, like a soundstage for some event. The play deals with the public and private aspects of politics, and the scenes often involve last-minute squabbling and deal-making that goes on just before they go out in front of the crowd."

Creating a new theater space for nearly every production has its challenges, Evett acknowledges. "But I think it's one of the things that makes it feel like a special event," he says. "You're not just going to a theater, you're going to this special place, and the whole scene is part of the experience."

At 138 Tremont St., tonight through June 8. Tickets: $26-$42. 866-811-4111, actorsshakespeareproject.org.

Notes

Boston-based Broadway producer Spring Sirkin got a Tony nomination for the musical "Passing Strange," the seventh nomination Sirkin has received since she began producing on Broadway. All but one of the eight shows Sirkin has produced have received a nod for best play, with "Master Class" earning the award. Winners will be announced June 15. . . . Playwright and Boston University grad Craig Lucas ("Prelude to a Kiss," "Longtime Companion," "The Light in the Piazza") will be in town to speak at the convocation for BU's College of Fine Arts graduates, which happens Sunday afternoon after the all-university commencement exercises. . . . Former Whitewater independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr will host a discussion and debate on issues of sovereignty and the independence and authority of separate branches of the government Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Cutler Majestic Theatre. The discussion is part of "Shakespeare and the Law," a free event produced by the Boston Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society in conjunction with Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. In the first half of the evening, public officials and others perform an abridged version of "King Lear." This year's cast members include former Massachusetts governor Paul Cellucci, federal judge Rya Zobel, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court justice Judith Cowin, and attorney Harvey Silverglate. 617-449-6617, dmoore@mccarter.com.