Zachary Fernebok
Seamus: The Pirate Laureate and the King of the Sea is, of course, a sequel to 2013’s The Pirate Laureate of Port Town. A continuing franchise isn’t something you see too often in theater (with notable exceptions). What made you and Jason want to do a second show with these characters? Was the plan always to do a series of stories about the Chartreuse and her crew, or did that emerge from the first production?
Zach: In my experience as a writer, there is a point where the characters become real to me, and at that point there is very little I can do to stop them from continuing to have adventures in my imagination. It becomes my duty to keep record of these adventures, however best I can. Sometimes it’s in the form of a play. Other times it’s a drawing, or a short story. I had such an artistically fulfilling experience working on Port Town, and Jason had become enamored with the world, so we got together soon after the first show closed and charted out how we could keep playing with the crew on the Ocean Ephrata. He encouraged me to write the stories I had sailing around my head, for them to eventually become a play or a podcast series. Obviously it took on the form of a play in King of the Sea.
Seamus: King of the Sea reads like a much bigger story. Without giving too much away, it’s longer, there’s more danger, and the stakes feel much higher. Was there a conscious choice to go bigger?
Zach: Yes, absolutely. I took advantage of this incredibly rare opportunity. The story grew organically, for sure, but I knew this was a chance to delve deeper into the world of Ephrata, so there was much more to explore.
Seamus: As the eponymous Pirate Laureate, Finn earns his keep by writing poetry and using it to wage combat on behalf of the Chartreuse under the New Pirate Code. There’s a fun parallel to the insult sword fighting system of the old Lucasarts Monkey Island games, but what made you want to use poetry in particular?
Zach: The answer to this question may be disappointing to read. I’m even tempted to make something up. But, I won’t. One day, doodling in my senior year theatre history class in college, I heard my professor say “Laureate.” And then I started making word associations that eventually led me to “Poet Laureate” and then to “Pirate Laureate.” I thought of what a Pirate Laureate would be, and then the idea was born. It just happens to fit very well with the whole “the pen is mightier than the sword” theme. I did plan on writing a steampunk-y pirate play, but they were going to be air pirates who flew on airships and other such dirigibles.
Seamus: You, of course, are the one who has to write all that poetry in real life. How much do you identify with Finn? For that matter, how much do you identify with Ray Del Mar, the other major poet/combatant in this story?
Zach: I identify with all of the characters but, of course, especially Finn and Captain Grayscale, the two main heroes of the series. In both plays, their parental relationships are ones that resonate with me, and that was a conscious and unconscious choice that I made. I relate to Ray del Mar in that he is an extreme version of Finn: hyper-competent with a charisma that cannot be rivaled. When I am showing my flaws in real life, I imagine I am being like Ray del Mar– a bit too, too proud. I also started writing Ray del Mar with me in mind, so I wrote a character that played to my strengths as an actor: the il capitano archetype with an accent. Fortunately for the play, I did not play him and we found an actor who has more strengths on stage than I could possibly dream of having!
Seamus: The first Pirate Laureate play, to me, seemed to be about learning who you were and what your place in the world is. King of the Sea reads like more of a story about having your identity and your place in the world threatened. Family relationships are challenged, romantic relationships are challenged, the hierarchy of the Chartreuse is thrown into disarray, the whole New Pirate code is under attack. Did Ray Del Mar, the titular King of the Sea, grow out of a need to have a character who was going to come in from outside and attack this whole world order you established in the first play? Or did you just really want to write a sexy bilingual swashbuckling pirate king with magical powers?
Zach: Both! Definitely both. While I love the story of Port Town, dramatically the stakes were pretty low (though I think personal stakes were very high for the characters). In order for the story to grow, so did the danger. Ray del Mar was the catalyst necessary to turn the kids of the Chartreuse into adults. And what magical powers? It’s just poetry.
Seamus: There was so much world-building in the first Pirate Laureate show. Audiences are introduced to Ephrata, the New Pirate Code, this concept of poetry-as-combat, a whole bunch of Whedonesque pirate jargon… how does writing a new story in this world you’ve created compare to the process of building the world for the first story? Were there any new discoveries in revisiting Ephrata after two years?
Zach: The toughest part about writing King of the Sea was building the specifics in the world. Even though I knew that poetry had replaced piracy, believe it or not, until I started writing the sequel, I didn’t really know how. So, that was very difficult for me: how can I make poetry powerful, convincing, and tangible yet non-violent? I was eventually inspired by the idea of Devil Fruits from my favorite anime, One Piece. I decided that each poet’s prowess manifested in their own personal and unique ways. But, instead of giving people the ability to shoot fire out of their hands, I wanted each poet’s abilities to be reminiscent of the effects poetry has on people. For example, when Finn casually recites poetry there is a likelihood of the listener to be moved to tears, he has this inate ability to make people cry–but at the extreme of that, when Finn is using poetry as a means of piracy, the listener can be so moved that they cry tears of blood, which can have many adverse affects (you’ll have to see the show to find out!).
Seamus: When you did Jason’s podcast last year, you mentioned that you tend to start with drawings of your characters and then create a story for them. In addition to writing both Pirate Laureate shows, you also designed the costumes, so it seems like that initial look that you had in mind for all your characters made it into the finished productions in some form, which is pretty cool and unusual. What was that process like for King of the Sea?
Zach: It was tough turning my drawings into something that lived in their physical plane. However, with lots of searching in thrift stores and Amazon.com, I was able to bring the world to life more-or-less how I drew it. I also had great help in Brittany Graham, my assistant designer for the show.
Ruby Costume Rendering, by Zachary Fernebok
Bradley Foster Smith as Ruby, Photo by Wilder Photography
Seamus: How closely did you work with Steve on the music for the show?
Zach: I am not one to hinder brilliance, and Steve is brilliant. I just gave him the lyrics I wrote a let him at it, and he wrote just truly beautiful and moving music. Steve, if you’re reading this, please burn me a CD.
Seamus: What would you say to audience members who aren’t familiar with the first show?
Zach: “Have a blast!”
But, in regards to coming into a sequel without seeing the story that came before it? It’s fine. There’s no need. The characters are all familiar and archetypal. The learning curve is not at all steep. The only thing you need to know coming into King of the Sea is how to imagine and how to laugh.
Seamus: Any plans for Pirate Laureate 3?
Zach: Of course. Whether that takes on a life outside of my head…time will tell. In the meantime, you can get an idea for where the story continues after the curtain call for King of the Sea. We have multiple teaser endings that vary each night of the show.
