What literary megalomaniacs easily come to mind? Shakespeare is a master of their invention: Prince Hamlet, the Henrys, King Lear. Herman Melville's pretty adept, too, at painting quirky portraits of obsession: Bartleby and Captain Ahab, for instance. It's not hard to fathom why Orson Welles became intrigued with such characters, why he wove together some connections between the two to orchestrate a poetic look at power, its blinders and consequences.

New Hampshire Theatre Project presents the result, "Moby Dick-Rehearsed: A Drama in Two Acts," produced and directed by Blair Hundertmark, Oct. 15-24 at West End Studio Theater in Portsmouth.

Welles' launched his career with a full-scale assault upon listener gullibility on Halloween 1938. His radio show announcing a Martian attack on America created mass panic in an unsuspecting populace and gave us our first wholesale lessons in media literacy. As an artist and actor, provocateur and social commentator, Welles had a rich and distinguished career. Citizen Kane's iconic deathbed utterance "...Rosebud..." is probably as famous as Melville's invocation, "Call me Ishmael."

Welles' conflation of Shakespeare's "King Lear" and Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" appealed to Hundertmark's sensibility-great to direct and challenging for actors.

The premise: a company of actors in a shabby studio awaits their director or "Governor" in order to rehearse an upcoming production of Shakespeare's "King Lear." However, they're also working another odd project-with some bafflement and some trepidation-a stage rendition of "Moby Dick."

Like dreaming that you are dreaming, "Moby Dick-Rehearsed" asks the ensemble to be actors playing actors. Hundertmark's direction calls for a gradual transition from actor-playing-actor to the full embodiment of character. The script, Hundertmark says, is "really rather amazing. Welles has rewritten Melville in blank verse." Welles has excerpted, compressed and collaged the script with particular attention to where Melville's language is at its most poetic, to form the heart of the text.

On the set, a large prompt book plays a key role. Like the running of a rehearsal, house lights are up, prompts and stage directions are called out.

Hundertmark's experience includes shaping characters such as Stanley in "Streetcar Named Desire" and Oedipus in "Oedipus Rex," to name two among dozens. For this play, he's based his direction on Welles' idea of the "Theater of the Imagination."

"Welles thought that if you give an audience too much, they won't contribute anything themselves. Give them just a suggestion and you get them working with you. That's what gives theater meaning... when it becomes a (collaborative) social act," he explains.

On his minimally set stage you experience random sound effects, scattered soliloquies as folks run lines, mutterings about tardiness, calls for brandy, personal introductions, piano notes and musical riffs. They all create the tone of an orchestra tuning up for performance.

Blair praises the lighting design by Q. Stockwell. The light works strategically with the play's subtle shifts. "Since everyone is onstage for the play, you need a set that enables you to wander in and out. Lighting focuses the active listening, defines individual spaces," he says.

We make the play's transitions from actors to characters with light cues, going from washed out and unfocused to darker, more theatrical, isolated pools of light. Characters gather in them to converse or soliloquize; they're little stages on the stage. The light and sound create the form into which the text and ensemble can be poured.

"The cast have various talents to contribute," Hundertmark says, forming a globe-sized ball with his hands, "and I said, 'Bring your stuff and we'll figure out how to work with it.'"

Welles, in the 1950s movie, played the Governor, Lear, and Ahab. NHTP's cast also plays multiple roles.

Lisa Richardson plays a young actress playing Cordelia, who plays Pip, the young black cabin boy on Ahab's ship. And she plays piano to create ambiance. She's learned some sea chanties and was expertly coached by maritime music historian Jeff Warner. She adds, "I improvised this eerie sounding stuff that Blair liked, so we've added it." The rest of the soundscape is provided by Jose Duque (of Zumba Tres), who'll be both a visual and sonic element of the set.

Jim Burkholder is trying to get his chops back on harmonica. "I used to play quite a lot and was good, but my harmonica is literally rusty. I might have to invest in a new one," he says. Burkholder's main role is Elijah, but he also has five other roles. He relishes the challenge. "I love chamber theater, and I haven't done it in a long time. We're working with so little. Every move from character to character means a change... a change in mannerism or adjusted posture. Sometimes I move directly from voice to voice. Or I switch a hat or a prop. It's a fun challenge, and I love the characters."

The cast also includes Patrick McGowan as Ishmael. Like Melville's narrator, he's a shipboard stage manager of a sort and gives voice to many lovely descriptions and tone-setting reflections. Steve Bornstein plays Ahab, with many a fine rant and musing. Kevin Collins as Starbuck (and most of the cast) gets some really lovely lines courtesy of Welles' transcriptions. Rounding out the cast are Ben Carling as Stubb and Joseph Chase as Flask. NHTP's artistic director, Genevieve Aichele, serves as costumer and movement coach so actors can look sharp while they embody lusty harpooning and hearty rowing.

Remarkably, the play made me want to reread both Moby Dick and King Lear. And this is perfect, for the New Hampshire Theatre Project is "dedicated to community-building by using theatre and the performing arts to enhance traditional education and support the individual and collective human spirit...." The play has school matinees in Portsmouth and Manchester to enable young folks to see the show and evening shows for all ages at WEST. In this age, a look at folly is welcome. "Moby Dick-Rehearsed" offers reflective opportunities on the very serious consequences of following blindly.

"Moby Dick-Rehearsed" will be at West End Studio Theatre, 959 Islington St., Portsmouth. Performances are Oct. 15, 16 and 22 at 8 p.m. and Oct. 17, 21 and 24 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15 general admission and $8 students. For reservations, call 603-431-6644.