The Cast
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Carey Cannon (Woman) is very pleased to be making her first appearance at Apple Tree. She was most recently seen at Drury Lane Oakbrook as Vera Claythorn in 10 Little Indians. Other area roles include Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Jeff nomination) and Lady Windermere in Lady Windermere's Fan at Northlight Theatre. Carey has performed regionally at the Indiana Repertory Theatre in Pride and Prejudice and Kansas City Rep in Little Women as well as three seasons at American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Favorite roles at APT include Vivie in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Varya in The Cherry Orchard and Sylvia in Two Gentlemen from Verona. Carey was seen in the recurring role of the oracle on the WB's Angel and starred in the award winning independant feature film The Secret. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University's acting program, she would like to thank her wonderful husband Michael for hanging in there.
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Kurt Ehrmann (Man) is excited to make his Apple Tree debut with Mountain. He was most recently seen at The House Theatre of Chicago in their production of Hatfield & McCoy. A company member with The Hypocrites, currently celebrating their 10th season, Kurt has performed roles in nine of their productions; including Roy Cohn in Angels in America, Martin Dysart in Equus, and Charley in Death of a Salesman. Come February, Kurt joins Lifeline Theatre for their world premier adaptation of The Piano Tuner.
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Craig Spidle (William O. Douglas) has performed in Chicago with such theatres as Marriott Lincolnshire, Court, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass and Shakespeare Repertory Theaters, and was most recently seen in Pericles at the Goodman Theater. Mr. Spidle has worked at such regional theatres as Northlight Theatre, Court Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public, The Huntington (Boston), American Players Theatre (Wisconsin), Freedom Theatre (Philadelphia), and the Cherry Lane Theater in New York .
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Press
Pioneer Press feature
Chicago Sun-Times review
TimeOut Chicago review
Pioneer Press review
Chicagocritic.com review
Chicago Tribune review
Chicago Reader review
Dueling Critics pick
Highlights from the Pioneer Press feature by Robert Loerzel
Apple Tree Theatre's first play of the season, “Mountain,” features only three actors, but dozens of characters.
Craig Spidle stars as Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, while the other two cast members, Carey Cannon and Kurt Ehrman, portray the many other people who played important parts in Douglas' life.
“In the space of one page, Kurt is five different people,” director Mark Lococo said, adding, “They are more than these individual characters. They are driving forces in his head.”
“Mountain” tells the story of Douglas, but not in chronological order. Key moments of his life, including personal episodes as well as landmark court decisions, flash in his mind.
“He's a larger-than-life figure,” Lococo said. “One of his beliefs is that the law is a reflection of the fact that we're all connected, and we all have a responsibility to the rest of humanity.'
Although “Mountain,” written by Douglas Scott, does not directly comment on current politics, Lococo said some scenes and lines do resonate with the stat of the world today.
“We've had some spirited discussions in rehearsal,” he said. cast | press | photos | background | tickets
Highlights from the Chicago Sun-Times review by Hedy Weiss
Well before William O. Douglas was appointed a Supreme Court justice -- a position he held through four tumultuous, nation-altering decades, from 1939 to 1975 -- he was a man of impressive experience. His ventures ranged from a trek up the Himalayas to interactions with such diverse parties as world leaders and train-hopping Wobblies. He firmly believed that without such wide-ranging real-life experience, you could not make the kind of fundamental judgments demanded of jurists.
All that was only the barest prologue for Douglas, whose life is the subject of Douglas Scott's play "Mountain," now receiving a first-class production at Apple Tree Theatre.
Though not an entirely seamless condensation of this larger-than-life character, Scott's play is both timely and provocative. Under Mark Lococo's able direction, Craig Spidle gives a smart, tough, vivid portrayal of the justice, with fine quick-sketch work from both Kurt Ehrmann (as Roosevelt, Nixon and a slew of others) and Carey Cannon (a Vivien Leigh-like beauty who captures the roles of mother, wives and secretaries). Apple Tree space adds intimacy With its production of "Mountain," Apple Tree Theatre is inaugurating its new home in Highland Park's Karger Recreation Center, just a few blocks away from its old location. The new space, which is in a little cul de sac directly behind Sunset Foods and across the street from Saks Fifth Avenue, comes with a nice-sized parking lot.
The theater itself seats about 97 -- down from 177 -- but it is a more flexible black box in many ways, with real intimacy and improved sight lines. For this three-actor show, staged in-the-round, the audience was no more than three rows from the stage.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED cast | press | photos | background | tickets
Highlights from the TimeOut Chicago review by Kay Daly
[Douglas] Scott's Douglas is towering, inspiring and richly textured, and the battles he fought—for personal privacy, against corporate control of governmental policy—resonate today more than ever.
Lococo does admirable battle with this Herculean story, beautifully orchestrating the choppy script's highs and lows. As Douglas, Spidle attacks his role with vigor and thoughtfulness, crafting a finely tuned performance from, well, a mountain of material. He's well supported by Cannon and Ehrmann, who portray the vast multitude of other characters in Douglas's life. Thanks to their remarkably specific, subtly rendered characterizations, we're able to find our way through this rich and thorny tangle.— Kay Daly
four stars out of six
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Highlights from the Pioneer Press review by Catey Sullivan
In Craig Spidle's layered, charismatic performance as Douglas in the Apple Tree Theatre production of "Mountain," the jurist is an unquiet mix of benevolence, deep-seated bitterness, arrogance, pathos and power.
In "Mountain," we're bombarded with the huge scope of Douglas's persona and the history that surrounded it. FDR, Joseph Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: He dealt with a panoply of historic figures and we meet them all in a collage of brief scenes (fleshed out with able supporting work form the consistently empathetic Kurt Ehrmann and the regal Carey Cannon, each playing a host of roles) encompassing Douglas' 81 years.
"Mountain" is jammed with facts, tall tales, myths, court opinions, pithy quotes and historical asides. For nonhistory buffs, the primary reason to see "Mountain" lies with Spidle. In cutting through the parade of history to the unquiet, enigmatic heart of Douglas, he provides the production with a cogent, emotional through-line.
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Highlights from the Chicagocritic.com review by Tom Williams
Apple Tree Theatre's new digs offers a 90 seat house with fine sight lines utilizing an in-the-round format.
Playwright Douglas Scott sprinkles the piece with Douglas quotes and homilies that capture the essence of this controversial dissenter whose life was raw adventure that included four wives (the last one 50 years younger that he).
Craig Spidle was terrific as Douglas as he deftly takes us through the colorful judge's life. He gets strong supporting work from Carey Cannon and Kurt Ehrmann who both play multiple roles from Presidents to judges to wives to a mother. This is an engaging venture that makes history come alive as we share the passion of a man focused on making a difference in his world.
Apple Tree's production was swift and nicely staged and the intimate new space gave the show strength. The threesome worked well to convey the judge's life.
...Mountain is a little epic filled with important issues and ideas that shows how a man with passion can never be silenced. Douglas was served well by Craig Spidle's earthy performance. This is a worthy play for teens and college students who are desperate for positive role models. Today, we could use a few mavericks like Justice Douglas.
Recommended
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Highlights from the Chicago Tribune review by Chris Jones
For history buffs and those with an interest in the machinations of the court, "Mountain" has much to offer, especially in its recounting of Douglas' attempts to resist McCarthyism.
For liberals ill at ease with the Rehnquist or Roberts courts, it will offer much idealistic nostalgia.
Douglas was often described as an imposing guy physically, which is not a quality you'd ascribe to Craig Spidle, who plays him here (the laudably versatile Kurt Ehrmann and Carey Cannon play everyone else) under Mark Lococo's savvy direction. But there's no more honest Chicago actor than Spidle, and...his honorable performance covers up many of the deficiencies of the script. Stolidly powering his way through the play's dizzying chronological and mood shifts, Spidle captures the man's love of wide-open spaces and affords his guy the soul of a great American judge.
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Highlights from the Chicago Reader review by Tony Adler
I want my sons to see this. Having grown up with tin-pot Dubya, they need to know that public figures like William O. Douglas are possible. America's longest-serving Supreme Court justice (1939-1975), Douglas championed the First Amendment, opposed segregation, propounded a right to privacy that included the bedroom, and survived two Republican impeachment attempts. His personal style was that of a New Deal Teddy Roosevelt: a supermasculine adventurer whose wilderness tramps made him a, well, natural conservationist. Playwright Douglas Scott strives against hagiography, pointing out the jurist's many foibles, but complexity only makes him more heroic. Craig Spidle's got a lifetime appointment to tour as Justice Douglas, if he wants it. Kurt Ehrmann and Carey Cannon provide strong backup--though Cannon's sexier.
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Highlights from the WBEZ radio program Eight Forty-Eight with Jonathon Abarbanel
Listen...
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Highlights from the Windy City Times review by Jonathon Abarbanel As a play, Mountain is passionate, witty and engaging, rather than dramatic. The cast and script benefit from Mark E. Lococo's unfussy in-the-round staging, which is essentially simple yet fluid and energized. Craig Spidle is dynamic and committed as Douglas, and is strongly supported by versatile Carey Cannon and Kurt Ehrmann playing everyone else (from Douglas' mother to his four wives to FDR to Nixon). The company respects the material, but has fun with the script's occasional breeziness.
Above all, Mountain is a platform for Douglas's philosophy of government and justice. As such, he's the ideal spokesman for an indirect but crystal-clear attack on the current Republican regime's erosions of constitutional law and individual liberties. Although never mentioned, Bush, Cheney, Rove, et al., are obvious targets of the playwright's pointed wrath. I say cheers, but those sympathetic to our current leadership are forewarned.
Playwright Scott doesn't ignore Douglas's personality flaws, but he does minimize them: the political ambitions (FDR wanted Douglas as Vice-President in 1944 but Democratic bosses installed Harry Truman instead), the four wives (two of them much, much younger), the alienation of his children, his ego and his meddling in all things governmental. Douglas's regrets tend to be over matters judicial—such as his support of Japanese internment during World War II—rather than personal, although a memory of a gay man he knew in college is both personal and political.
Mountains—the Cascades and the Himalayas—that Douglas hiked throughout his life are the metaphor for the man: craggy, dangerous, unpredictable, blemished and soaring. A towering figure, if imperfect, Douglas grows larger in death with each fresh headline and this play tells you why.
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Background
Who was William O. Douglas? He is no longer a household name, but during his time on the Supreme Court—April 17, 1939-November 12, 1975, making him the longest serving Justice in history—Douglas wrote opinions in many landmark court cases, and his passions and legal expertise continue to shape how we live in America today.
Douglas was tireless in his support of civil liberties, First Amendment rights, the civil rights movement, environmental and wilderness protection, and the rights of the individual against government interference. Many of these issues continue to inspire controversy today, whether questions of privacy in the wake of September 11, battles over eminent domain, or the problem of global climate change and how to combat it.
Douglas left his legal mark while living a personal life almost as full of turmoil as his legal one. He had four wives, rocky relationships with his two children, and a personal style that alienated much of the political establishment in Washington , D. C. Douglas Scott's play weaves the personal and political lives of Justice Douglas into a stirring and exciting tapestry of America that is both profoundly enlightening and robustly entertaining.
Why do a play about William O. Douglas? He is known serving the longest term on the bench of any Justice in the history of the Supreme Court—from April 17, 1939 to November 12, 1975 . He is known as a major progressive voice in the history of the court, famous for the record number of opinions he wrote and the interpretations that were often far ahead of their time. His historical significance is undeniable, but many Supreme Court Justices have historical importance. Why are we doing a play about Justice Douglas?
Simply, Douglas ' life and legal work paved the way for how we live today, and the questions that interest him most are still vitally relevant now. Douglas ruled—sometimes with the majority, sometimes as a dissenter—on cases affecting civil liberties, First Amendment rights, the civil rights movement, environmental and wilderness protection, and the rights of the individual against government interference. Whose work is more relevant today, with controversies raging about issues as diverse as privacy in the wake of September 11, eminent domain, and the problem of global climate change and how to combat it?
In addition, Douglas lived a personal life almost as dramatic as his legal one, with four wives, turbulent relationships with his two children, and a personal style that alienated many of those in the Washington D. C. political community.
Douglas Scott wrote a superb play about this fascinating man, and now is the best possible time for us to produce us. We hope you will join us!
Director's Notes
William O. Douglas served 36 years on the Supreme Court from 1939 until 1975, the longest tenure of any justice to date. As an interpreter of the Constitution for so much of the 20 th century, his influence continues to be felt by all of us as a result of his many articulate and clear, though occasionally controversial opinions.
Douglas was larger than life—a big man with big ideas and a love of his country that started with the land itself and extended to its residents. The man was a true adventurer, and lived his life with a vigor and vitality that most of us would envy. But, along with that adventurous spirit came sacrifice, and one wonders if Douglas experienced any regret at the end of a lifetime divided between service and satisfaction of personal desires that left little time for reflection.
It is this premise that Mountain explores—is it possible for a man to reach complete fulfillment in his life both publicly and privately? Those of us that lead happy, fulfilled lives of smaller scale than William O. Douglas certainly hope so, for the sake of all those who lend so much of their lives to public service.
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