Montgomery Advertiser

in

January 4, 2009

ASF actor tackles role of Alabama's legendary 'Bear' Bryant

By Robyn Bradley Litchfield
rlitchfield@gannett.com

Entering the Alabama Shakespeare Festival's Octagon, audiences may feel as if they've stepped into the football stadium at the University of Alabama.

The set couldn't be more appropriate for a play about iconic football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, who became the winningest coach in college football history. And in Michael Vigilant's play "Bear Country," a Southern Writers' Project world premiere, Bryant is there. It's his final day before retirement, and he reminisces as he packs up his office and a lifetime of memories.

"Bear Country" previews Friday and Saturday, and it opens Jan. 11 for a monthlong run. The cast features longtime ASF actor Rodney Clark as the legendary coach and Gregory Jones as young Bryant, with Yaegel T. Welch and John Patrick Hayden portraying many of the people Bryant encountered through the years.

The play highlights the wit and wisdom of a poor sharecropper's son who discovered football in high school and became the standard by which college football coaches are judged. It focuses on Bryant's characteristic leadership style and reveals some of the lesser-known anecdotes and stories of his life and career.

"Complex subject matters always make for interesting theater, I believe, and Paul Bryant was a complex human being," said Tim Rhoze, the play's director. With so many chapters in Bryant's life, Rhoze said you could place so many of the events on a roulette wheel and spin it, knowing that whatever it landed on would make a fine play.

Vigilant, who also happens to be ASF's chief operating officer, spent months researching Bryant, reading everything he could get his hands on and getting to know Bryant through family, friends, former players and others who could provide insight. His new work was read during the theater's Southern Writers' Project Festival of New Plays in May. As the play has progressed, it has evolved and has become more of an ensemble piece, adding a new dimension to the storytelling.

"Mike has created a symphony of the spoken word from Bear Bryant's life," Rhoze said. "And Bear Bryant is like the first chair violin (of an orchestra), leading the way."

With it being a new play, the director said every day is a rehearsal and a workshop, with Vigilant there taking notes, tweaking lines and other elements as everyone works.

As audiences will see, all the action revolves around Bryant and his desk. As he interacts with the audience, the people and experiences he might have been thinking of that final day in the office begin to appear around him. There's the good and bad, funny and sad, he said.

Jones, who portrays the young Bryant, said he and his castmates feel they are on the right track with this play. They also appreciate the fact that they are part of something special, a brand new piece that continues to develop as the playwright, director and actors offer suggestions along the way.

Hayden, who portrays multiple roles in "Bear Country," said he knew the image before he knew the guy.

"I knew the hat," he said. "I'm learning a whole lot about what football is in Alabama. And it's more than a game."

Also portraying multiple roles for this play, Welch said his father was a huge college football fan and former player, so he was familiar with Bryant's reputation. And he played football for 10 years, beginning in elementary school all the way to high school.

"I was part of that cult. I soaked it up and have the back injuries to prove it," he said. "So I couldn't believe it when I got this job. I was so excited that I could be in something like this. I remember watching the Alabama games and (Bryant) interviews."

Clark also remembers Bryant's reign at Alabama.

"Bear Bryant was a god. I was actually at Alabama back then, but I was in grad school and never went to the games. I would go to the library, and it would be closed for the games," he said.

Now, sitting at the replica of Bryant's desk, wearing that famous houndstooth hat, putting the Bear's spin on life, it gives Clark a different perspective. While working on "Bear Country," he has gotten to know the man who is still dearly loved and respected, even after almost 30 years since his death.

As Vigilant set out on this journey through Bryant's life, one of the coach's former players warned: "That's great, but you better do it right!"