A Bright Ray of Darkness

Our director, J. C. Callahan, stood up in front of us. He was in his early sixties with a shaved, balding head, a bow tie, and a custom-made tweed suit. He was an elegant and powerful man with large, kind, teary blue eyes. His formidable confidence was a mystery. He stood before us, five feet, six inches tall, like an Irish Buddha. Underneath his feet and sprawling out beneath all our tables, chairs, and shoes were reams of tape, probably ten different colors laid out in odd geometric designs of the various floor plans of the set. Red for scene one; yellow for scene two; green marked the battle; et cetera. It looked like a map of our future. Times Square loomed silently, blinking its mad lights through the immaculately clean windows around us.
 
All right, here we are, J.C. began, taking an extraordinarily long and uncomfortable pause before he continued. I know what you all are expecting the generic Let s get started speech. He barely moved as he spoke. But I don t have time to tell you all to take it easy. I don t have time to say, Let s get to know each other ; Let s get more comfortable. I simply don t have time. He reminded me of a lion with its eyes fixed, body completely still, but its tail swishing back and forth behind him.
 
I have six weeks to prepare this play. I don t want you to take it easy. I don t want you to relax. Today we are going to read through the play . . . and I know what good directors say: Let s familiarize ourselves with the text ; If you stumble . . . just take it back. But I am not a good director. I say, Do not stumble. I say you should already be familiar with the text. Six weeks. That is nothing. I want us to begin today by grabbing this play by its very significant balls and squeezing them so tight that the world hears its cry. You understand me? His cadence was unadorned and clear.
 
There are only two kinds of Shakespeare productions: ones that change your life, and ones that suck shit. That s it.

Ethan Hawke

Explores the demands of acting and the delusions of manhood with tremendous verve and insight...the work of an author who knows every aspect of the profession from the inside... Hawke is a genius at conjuring the hush of the auditorium, the thrill of live actors, the magical sense of a performance moving through time. He s written a witty, wise, and heartfelt novel... a deeply hopeful story... Bravo.
Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"Ethan Hawke pens a Valentine to theatre in A Bright Ray of Darkness. His new novel is also a prayer for the stage and a reminder of the healing power of performance."
The Austin Chronicle

"[Hawke's] writing evokes both the beauty and tawdriness of New York. And he teaches the reader a lot about theater... an engaging book for those who love theater and Shakespeare."
The Christian Science Monitor

Ethan Hawke is a true writer and his duality as an artist is skillfully reflected in A Bright Ray of Darkness. Hawke circles, descends, and crawls into his characters skin. Grimy shadows pass over the footlights, into the bowels of the theatre, where a struggling actor, perhaps mirroring the writer, seeks the vine of redemption, and claws his way into becoming. Bright Ray is a riveting work.
Patti Smith
 
A brilliant insider's account of the joys and terrors of acting, the trials of celebrity, and the secrets of Henry IV.
Kirkus Reviews