Simon Stone on What Theater is Capable of

 This is a fun watch:

https://tedxsydney.com/talk/what-is-theatre-capable-of/

Frank Galati

 An incredible director and teacher passed away recently. 

Mary Zimmerman remembers him, and some of what we can all learn from him as directors, in this article:

https://www.americantheatre.org/2023/01/09/frank-galati-passionate-enthusiast-and-philosopher-king/

Also this article is amazing:

https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/in-the-room-with-frank-galati/?fbclid=IwAR2wXAO1YBNUYTFedkkIiGRrOFWzJ2RayNRM6_Y8pnrKqUOsoJXtMcGjyuM

My Latest Favorite Directing Book

The Theatre of Thomas Ostermeier is my latest favorite directing book. I've been a fan of Ostermeier's work for a while (though I've only seen two productions live), and as an American director who loves this work but is struggling with a lifetime of training based in psychological-realism, it's hard to find my connection to it. The truth is, I like psychology, and want it to be part of the work, I think it's more interesting that way. Our job is to find humanity, right? 

But, we live in a society, and the society has issues, we know that. And plays are often in conversation with our larger societal predicaments. And the characters in plays are often in response to those. And their responses may be psychological, and they may effect what they want from the other characters, but they are deeply effected by the truth of their society. 

Psychological realism, I believe, runs the risk of living in the myth of individualism. We live amongst each other, and to deny that we aren't in constant response to the larger constructs of our world is a fallacy. By blending Stanislavski-based realism with a Brechtian social lens, I think Ostermeier creates worlds that are relevant, compelling, and truthful. 

Anyway, I recommend checking it out. 

Studs Terkel interviews Margaret Webster

 The esteemed Margaret Webster, amazing woman theater director ahead of her time, interviewed by Studs Terkel in Chicago in 1961. She is so wise about Shakespeare. A great listen.

https://studsterkel.wfmt.com/programs/margaret-webster-talks-studs-terkel

Ivo Van Hove's "short rehearsal processes"

 I mean, not by American standards...but: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/21/t-magazine/ivo-van-hove.html

Earning a living as a Freelance Director

I just read this blog post in the Guardian from this summer about the secret lives of freelance directors having day jobs. 

This is a problem in the US as well. If you're not financially backed in some way, it's almost impossible to be a freelance director. Many of us take many more jobs than we should have, instead of focusing on one project at a time, leading to some less-than-artistically-amazing work. I sometimes ponder what a wonder it is that any spectacular work happens in the theatre.

I left my last temp job about five years ago. I was teaching Mon-Thurs and answering phones at an accounting firm on Fridays. The small bump in my monthly income was significant to me at the time.

Me and most of my friends have day jobs as college teachers, or on artistic staffs. My mentor, Anna D. Shapiro basically told just those were our options, "name me one director who just lives off of their freelance directing." she challenged me and my grad school cohort. There are very very few. 

In some ways, I felt a little jealous of this director, whose day job is something mindless that he doesn't have to care about. I have loved teaching and being on artistic staff, each for different reasons, but those are jobs you care deeply about and so they can deplete your creative energy. Luckily, I've found myself invigorated by my work in both arenas, rather than depleted, and am often inspired by surrounding myself by young artists, peers, and passionate theatre lovers. So ultimately it works out. 

It's a complex issue when you consider the staff of a theatre all making a more reasonable wage than the artists, who are the reason for the organization existing.  Because my husband is in classical music, and the little I know of that world, I don't think it's necessarily true in their world. I wonder if it's still connected to this idea theatre artists carry around with us that we should feel grateful just to be working. I'm glad that people like Derek Bond are revealing this, I think there's a lot of shame involved that keeps people from admitting that they have other employment. 

The Interval & Leigh Silverman

Leigh Silverman inspires me. She's an incredible director, has a ton of really focused energy, has been wildly successful in her career (directed on Broadway at 31), and she isn't an asshole. In fact, she's been incredibly generous with her time and energy when I've met her or had drinks with her. Her support of other women in the field is an absolute inspiration.

So I was thrilled to read this recent interview, which is written beautifully by Victoria Myers on a website that I'm very glad to have discovered called The Interval: the smart girls' guide to theatricality. Incredible articles, very smart, funny, and about women in the theatre. It's New York focused for the most part, (maybe I should offer to write some Chicago articles?) but it makes me really happy.

Other highlights from my reading about directors include: this interview with Lisel Tommy, 7 Women from Theatre History you should know, and 7 more Women from THYSK.

This site is going to be part of my regular theatre reads.