Seven Days: Vermont's Independent Voice

Exercises in Experimentation

Many stories have been told about the acting teacher Stella Burden. Some, such as her exodus into the South American jungle, elevate her mythic status. A more factual account recalls the years 1954 to ’74, during which Burden only accepted acting students who, when asked, "Truth or beauty?" chose the former. Equally eccentric, the theater collective Rude Mechanicals seems perfectly poised to bring the guru to life onstage. Titled after Burden's strict adherence to her own techniques and the rumored cause of her death, The Method Gun reenacts her company's rehearsals for A Streetcar Named Desire, based on the journals, diaries and letters they left behind.