Anne Archer and Michelle Danner Come Together For A New Play

Back Stage recently sat down with actor Anne Archer and Los Angeles acting teacher and director Michelle Danner to talk about their first-time collaboration. Danner is directing Archer as the title character in a workshop presentation of "Jane Fonda in the Court of Public Opinion," written by Archer's husband, Terry Jastrow, who is co-directing. The play examines a 1988 meeting between Fonda and 26 war veterans to confront her antiwar activity during the Vietnam era. The play opened Oct. 8 at the Edgemar Center for the Arts in Santa Monica, where Danner is the artistic director and teaches acting.For years, Danner taught classes for the Larry Moss Studio in L.A. Danner is also a film director and recently shot "Hello Herman," starring Norman Reedus ("True Blood"). Archer is best known for her Oscar- and Golden Globenominated role as Michael Douglas' wife in the 1987 thriller "Fatal Attraction." Other notable film roles have included "Patriot Games," "Short Cuts," "Clear and Present Danger," and "Rules of Engagement." Her stage work has included "The Graduate" in London's West End, a Williamstown Theatre Festival production of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," and the Off-Broadway production of "A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking."Back Stage: How did the two of you meet? Anne Archer: I discovered Michelle when my husband, Terry, and I came and saw the production that's here in this theater now, "Sylvia," and it was great. So we became familiar with the theater, and then we started talking to Michelle about this play that my husband had written, about Jane Fonda, "Jane Fonda and the Court of Public Opinion." She's been working with me in between the rehearsals just on my part, because it's a huge, huge undertakingfinding the colors and the nuances. So we've been working together, and she's been coaching me.Back Stage: Anne, you're playing someone who is still alive and well-known, but what are the other challenges for you as an actor in playing this part? Archer: I've done a lot of research on this. I've read everything about her and the Vietnam War. And I'm a big human rights advocate. I started an organization called Artists for Human Rights. I do a lot of work in that area. So I would say the biggest challenge is it's such a huge role; it's almost like a one-woman show. I mean, she never stops talkinglong monologues. One goes on for two pages. So the biggest challenge is to find colors and variations, and that's what Michelle and I have been working on so intenselyto find [the character's] different moments and her evolvement throughout the play. So she starts in one place, and she ends up somewhere else. The changes that she goes throughthat's the big challenge.Michelle Danner: It's very interesting. I didn't know enough about all of that controversy. So it's really plunged me into that world. It's a beautiful play; it's very interesting. And even if you know about that time period, I think you're going to learn something. And if you don't know, this will enlighten people to what happened. It's this tour de force. [Fonda] was shooting "Stanley & Iris" in Connecticut, and all the vets campaigned and rebelled, and she agreed to meet with them face-to-face. [The play depicts] this meeting that took four hours. Terry, who's the writer and is also co-directing, he sat with Jane Fonda for hours and researched it. It's a historical piece. So I was very drawn to this, aside from the fact that if you tell me to work on anything with Anne, I'd be drawn to that. But there's this subject matter that is fascinating.Archer: You've got this meeting with 26 vets in a meeting room of a church where she confronted them, and it was cathartic for both sidesand it's a true event. So using that as the premise, it makes an interesting play and you know there's a lot of information. It's smart and it just lends itself to a theater audience. I didn't really ever plan to do it, and he just asked me to do a reading of it a few times. It was a natural for me. And this character is a natural for meand [there's] my intense interest in this subject and the whole human rights aspect of the subject. Back Stage: What do you hope audiences take from this play? Danner: What the themes arethe journeythat the play takes us through is what we are experiencing today in the world. So it's not something that happened way back then and now it's not relevant. More than ever, it's very relevant.Archer: And I think the other thing is to separate fact from fiction. There have been a lot of lies that have been pushed on the Internet about the things that Jane actually did or didn't doa lot of misinformation. So it clarifies that. It also gives the vets' point of view. So it's a very balanced play. One of the things we hope to accomplish from it is that it will be healing and it will get rid of the hatred and cause people to realize that dialogue and truth are important. Communication is very important. And the arts do that, whether it's film or theater. That's how we communicate a message that improves things. So we're hoping that it will be a very healing message.Danner: We've already gotten some pretty heated emails from people [telling us] that we should not do this play. So the subject matter, the issue, stirs up a lot of conflict. I think it's great. That's what theater needs to do. Theater needs to spark debate and have controversy. Back Stage: Did Jane Fonda have any involvement with the play, and what research did your husband do? Archer: Yes, he had conversations with her, but she said, "You know, I can't be a part of this," and he said, "I'm going to do this anyway, whether you want to or not." So she gave him names of people to contact. He went to Hanoi, and he retraced her footsteps in Hanoi, hired all the same guides that she had. He also talked to many, many vets at lengthanyone who was involved in the issue at that time. The meeting took place in 1988, but his research had to go back. What is it that the vets are so angry about? So that takes you back to the Vietnam War and all of her antiwar activity and her going to Hanoi and meeting with the POWs. All the things that happened. That is what's dealt with in the play. Back Stage: Anne, what research did you do for this part? Archer: I've done all the same research he's done. I read all the books. I've looked at all the footage. He brought back footage from Hanoi that no one's ever seen, that you're going to see in the play. It's multimedia. It's very much like the concept of "Frost/Nixon." So I've read all the material that he's read. I've seen every piece of footage on her and that deals with her antiwar activity and all the interviews she's done since then where that ends up being discussed. And if you just go on the Internet, there are fantastic interviews with her early on during that period. So I've done a tremendous amount of research. I probably know her life as well as she does at this point. Not really, but at least everything she's said about herself.Back Stage: Anne, when did you last do theater in L.A.? Archer: Well, the Mark Taper [production of "The Poison Tree"] was about [11] years ago. After that I did "The Graduate" in London in the West End. So it's been a while since I've been on the stage. You know, I've been on the stage in master classes and things like that working, but it's been a while. It feels very natural, especially because this is a very small space. It's black box. It's so perfect. Danner: There's nothing like intimate theater.Archer: It feels great. You know, I love acting. Listen, this is why we do this. We just love acting. If I get a chance to act, I will act. And then I'm usually the happiest person around. "Jane Fonda in the Court of Public Opinion" continues at the Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica, through Oct. 30. Fri.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m. (310) 392-4327. www.edgemar.org/.