Larry Coen on City Stage, the Gold Dust Orphans, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

You may have seen Larry Coen's name on a Broadway marquee, or in any number of playbills around Boston. The versatile actor with a flair for comedy is always in demand, and has been spotted this year alone with The Gold Dust Orphans, Beau Jest Moving Theater and The Lyric Stage, and is currently appearing with Commonwealth Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night's Dream. By day, Coen is an arts educator with City Stage Company, bringing theater to children in the South End. It's an understatement to say that Coen has a passion for theater, as we learned in a recent phone interview.

Q: I bet City Stage is busy these days.
A: Very busy. We just started a free drama program for South End kids that we're doing at the Blackstone Community Center. There's a big call now to find more programs for kids given the spike in youth violence all over the city. We're partnering with a lot of day care centers in the South End, and we also have kids coming over from Charlestown and East Boston.

Q: How much time do you get to spend working with the kids?
A: I spend most of my time doing organizational and administrative stuff. However, we all look for opportunities to do the direct service. I've been working with first and second graders and their teachers at the Quincy Elementary School, finding ways to incorporate drama into their curriculum. For instance they've been studying inventors, and I worked with them in small groups on creating short plays about inventions.

Q: What's it like to switch gears at the end of day and head to a rehearsal?
A: I love going to rehearsal because I'm not in charge. It's a complete change and I love ceding most of the responsibility. I have to monitor my behavior or I find myself turning into the wise guy.

Q: I can just imagine a Gold Dust Orphans rehearsal...
A: I'm never that way with Ryan, are you kidding? People don't know this, but Ryan [Landry] is one of the most disciplined people you could ever work with. He's incredibly focused and you're gonna work.

Q: One of the things I really liked about Plexiglass Menagerie was that it seemed built around the great chemistry between you two.
A: That was so much fun, I cannot tell you. Laura was such a pleasure to go to. She's beaten down but I find her quite sly as well. She's finding ways to work around her mother. She's not stupid, she just doesn't give away too much information.

Q: So the Orphans are more rigorous than they appear. Is there ever any adlibbing?
A: Absolutely not. What we're doing is like 21st century Shakespeare. We have a charismatic playwright/performer who leads the company, we retell classic tales, and men play women. And we have groundlings and nobility. Our audiences are incredibly diverse. There's something about the experience that is like the ultimate in theater. We are not working by some academic theory or being postmodern. Ryan is driven to create theater that's effective in each moment.

Q: I first saw you perform with Beau Jest. Any news from that group?
A: Well, Beau Jest just got back from The Spoleto Festival in Charleston. We did Samurai 7.0, the show we did at the BCA last year. We had a very fine time and got great reviews. But we were received as if we were the most avante garde thing to ever appear in America. You'd think we were all speaking German. I think part of it was just the context of this arty festival. And there we are in bare feet, which people commented on. People have issues about feet that I don't understand. Shame always finds a way.

Q: That's deep.
A: That shall be the title of my solo show. I shall perform it in a unitard.

Q: I would love to see you do a solo show.
A: No. I always say a solo show is a cry for help. I think theater is collaborative. It's about many voices. I think it's really hard to find breakthroughs when you're working by yourself.

Q: You'll be appearing on the Common in A Midsummer Night's Dream...
A: I've never done it before, so that's exciting. I'm working with the rude mechanicals. It's wonderful to work together as part of that group, the actors are very swift and funny.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Boston theater scene?
A: I think the theater scene in Boston is in an amazing place. We've had one quiet victory after another in this town. Look at all the new theater spaces that have been created. Look at the number of theater companies that have not only been created, but are sustaining themselves. I think Boston is a terrific place for actors and directors and designers ... because you can work here, instead of spending most of your time auditioning. And there's a huge audience here. Part of what I love about our audiences is that they're not Balkanized. People aren't snobs about what they'll go see. I think we sell ourselves short about the amount of original material created in this city. The Boston Theater Marathon had something like 350 submissions this year! And that event received no coverage in the press whatsoever. I think what happens is that mainstream theater reporters are telling a story that's 20 years old. I can't believe how far ahead the community is from the reportage, as if we're still an out-of-town tryout town.

Q: And there are less arts writers now. It's impossible to see everything.
A: And isn't that great! We in Boston have this tradition of low-self esteem as a theater community. But that's the old story, we have to let that go. The new story is that we are a place of exciting emerging voices. Part of why we do the work at City Stage is that we believe every person in the city of Boston deserves to be literate in culture. We don't want to live in a world where the message is: You wouldn't like this, this isn't for you. That's a subtle form of discrimination. Part of what I love about doing Dream is that we're free, we're fun and we're for everybody. The Boston Common becomes not only a crossroads in the city but a place where people can have a common experience. Free Shakespeare on the common is another one of those statements that says culture is for you.

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Commonwealth Shakespear presents A Midsummer Nights Dream at the Parkman Bandstand on the Boston Common at 8 p.m. through Sunday, July 29. For more information visit www.freeshakespeare.org.