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<\/p>\nNathaniel Hawthorne\u2019s 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter is set in Puritanical 17th century New England, yet its central theme \u2013 blanket judgement and damnation of someone who does something you don\u2019t understand \u2013 is eternal.<\/p>\n
This week, American Stage is putting the finishing touches on its first show of the year, Kate Hamill\u2019s adaptation of The Scarlet Letter.<\/p>\n
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Arpita Mukherjee<\/p>\n
Arpita Mukherjee is directing the production, which opens Jan. 21. The New York-based director is a major fan of Hammill\u2019s literary adaptations.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll six characters are making tough moral choices,\u201d Mukherjee believes. \u201cThere are no villains in this play; the characters in the play are inside this societal system and trying to figure out what things mean in their lives, and why things are happening. And there are no sufficient answers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I feel that very much in 2026, that sort of crisis of the things you believe, the things you thought, the stories you are told and what happens when they fail us. And later when we have to build our own story. So that\u2019s why I think it\u2019s so relevant now \u2013 especially in this time where things are so divided and people are so quick to judge someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The story, in a nutshell: Young bride Hester Prynne has an affair and gives birth to a child, while refusing to divulge the identity of the father.<\/p>\n
As punishment, Hester is publicly humiliated, and sentenced to wear a large, red letter \u201cA\u201d (for adultery) on her clothing at all times.<\/p>\n
The setting and the storyline have not changed, the director reports, although the language and certain design elements have been modernized. \u201cHester is not this pitiful thing, to be looked at with pity,\u201d Mukherjee says. \u201cLike in the novel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a real fortitude. She\u2019s making choices for her daughter, for her life \u2013 there\u2019s something really active about her, and how she\u2019s choosing to live her life. She\u2019s a complicated character.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Anula Navlekar<\/p>\n
Anula Navlekar, also from New York, has the lead role. \u201cI actually feel like Hester manages to hold on to her identity despite what society tries to put on her,\u201d she explains. \u201cShe manages to retain her sense of dignity, her compassion, despite her flaws.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mukherjee: \u201cI\u2019d also say that this adaptation has a lot of humor in it, which I think actually balances some of the darker themes of the original novel. And also just humanizes the characters a lot more, and makes them more relatable to a contemporary audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both director and lead actor give props to the design team, which includes scenic designer Yoon Bae, whose distinctive work has been seen often on London\u2019s West End, and all across America.<\/p>\n
During a Sunday afternoon \u201cBehind the Scenes\u201d event at American Stage, Bae detailed her process for researching, imagining and designing the set for this production of The Scarlet Letter.<\/p>\n
Bae was joined by St. Petersburg software and theater designer Michael Horn, who created Pearl, Hester Prynne\u2019s 4-year-old daughter. Pearl is a puppet \u2013 unreal yet strangely real, in accordance with Hamill\u2019s directive that she be \u201cinherently otherworldly; a little bit alive and a little bit dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamill, explains Navlekar, insisted on this curious ambiguity for a reason. \u201cIn contemporary times, we would never place judgement on a child. We would never look at a child and say it should be ostracized.\u201d The townspeople in The Scarlett Letter believe Pearl is evil.<\/p>\n
In the novel, Mukherjee adds, \u201cPearl doesn\u2019t look like anything. She has this magical, almost angel-like quality. She is the only character \u2018born\u2019 of this new world. She\u2019s almost this metaphor embodiment of what the future can be, that even the characters in the play cannot yet imagine. But she\u2019s right next to them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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