Unify the Stage

So recently, a new play I worked on was selected by the Humana Festival. I just did one workshop of the play, and it had been developed long before that. But, the writer and I had a sort of kinship and I love the play in a way that doesn't happen all of the time. But, the Humana folks don't know me, and I'm certainly not a known quantity in the larger theatrical world (outside of Chicago), and they picked someone far more known and prestigious than I to direct. It was a tough blow. I thought I had a chance for five minutes and really just wanted to do the play. But I had a feeling that they would need someone else, and at least I lost to a shiny, quasi-famous director and not to a peer. So it wasn't anything I could take personally. And I had only done a week on it. I wondered how I would feel if I had been there from it's conception, and really helped midwife it to this level. I know this happens sometimes. And then I was at dinner with a good playwright friend w

P. Carl, an amazingly smart person and the founder of HowlRound recently posted this article on deciding whether or not to get your MFA. Carl makes a lot of really interesting points in this, and I agree with most of what they say. Although I continue to believe that our lives are all very different and our "careers" in this field (yes, quotes are necessary for that) are all over the map. I read this article on the heels of a couple of things going on in my mind... The first is that I, as a teacher of undergraduates, think a lot about the value of education. We had a faculty meeting yesterday, our college now costs students 22,000 a year. Without room and board. I went to the same school, it was half that much when I went there. Even less my first year. And lots of students are dropping out because of cost. And lots of students are taking out exorbitant amount of financial aid without even realizing what they are getting themselves in to. And then they blow off classe

As found on Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/artinfo/twelve-female-directors-t_b_2200474.html?utm_hp_ref=arts

For those of you who know me, you know I do both. Or at least I try to. And the two art forms, while similar in foundation of competition on a stage, creating a unified world with design and acting, etc., are also incredibly different. So this may be the first of a series of blog posts dedicated to considering those differences. I had a meeting the other day with some really nice people who run Wolf Trap Opera company. They happened to be in town for their audition tour, and they were kind enough to put me on their schedule. And Kim Witman, the General Director of WTO asked me what is one of the most important questions to ask someone who is primarily a theater director who has directed some opera: "What, to you, are the challenges or things you do differently when you approach an opera." Awesome question. I think about this a lot. I think about the challenges that the best theater directors can't seem to overcome when they bring themselves to the world of opera. Obv

Theater in India! Shah talks about his theater company in Mumbai, among other things... http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/31/a-conversation-with-actor-naseeruddin-shah/?smid=tw-share

The opening of La Tempesta. 1978 production.

Everyone says that they don't have enough time. That they wish they had a few more days before opening. That if they only had another week... well, it's sort of a joke how much we all wish that. We also all have subscribed to an art form with a definite dead line: opening. The day the critics come and the show is immortalized in print. The day that the director puts down her pen and stops giving notes, making changes. On a new play, the day no more script changes will be made. There are rules about these things. But time is the essence. And this is particularly true in Chicago if you're ever comparing an equity show to a non-equity show. I've been lucky enough to direct a lot of equity theater in the past year. Most of it in small equity situations, or big houses in which I'm directing the small project. And then I've gone back to do some non-equity theater. My first show after a year and a half of equity was small, it was The Receptionist at Steep Theatre.

This is playing at the New York Film Festival, a detailed look into the opera rehearsals for Traviata http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/new-york-film-festival-becoming-traviata-297450.html I hope it comes to Chicago.

Well, at least headway is being made? http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/more-often-these-days-the-director-is-a-she/

For some reason, this is a constant debate in the world: what are directors to do with classic texts? They stick around because they reveal something that seems timelessly relevant to our culture. But how do we best present these plays? Is it important to uphold the playwright's intent, even if the play was written over 100 years ago, and that playwright was being true to their own era? Or do we need to ensure that these plays retain their relevance by expressing them in our own time and place? And, when has a director gone "too far" in their production? Is there such a thing as "too far"? How beholden to the text are we, really? This is something we constantly see in opera. Because the repertoire is so limited compared to theater, the constant recycling of the beautiful classics of Mozart, Puccini, and a handful of other composers has lead to an onslaught of "creativity" among directors. Sometimes I hear about productions that sound absolutely intol

Fascinating article about China's leading theater director,  Lin Zhaohua,  and also says a lot about the legacy of theater in China since communism. Bet you don't think about that much. A must-read. http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2012-09/22/content_15775537.htm

Romeo Castellucci

Seriously, Lyric tickets for $20. https://www.lyricopera.org/next/index.aspx Go. Learn things.

A journal about theater in America, plus a blog, plus ongoing discussions on other social media, Howlround is where to go to know what theater artists are thinking about and are concerned with here and now. Updated daily. http://www.howlround.com/

I have a first rehearsal tomorrow for Neighborhood 3 at Strawdog Theatre. Right now, I’m in the middle of crafting my first day address. I am of the opinion that the first day address is a crucial point in a director’s process. This is for two major reasons (although I have more secondary reasons): 1.   This talk will get your cast, company, and anyone else in the room all at the same launching point for rehearsals to commence. It also re-establishes and solidifies the work that you’ve done with designers to get to this point. It is the opportunity to declare to everyone what your production of this play will be about, what it will look like, feel like, and why they should be excited about it. (And you hopefully expel their fears about the production, if they have any.)       2.   The crafting of this talk forces the director to articulate what the play is about, what the world of the play is, and why not only to the group but to themselves, and in that articulation, the

I originally wrote this post for the Goodman Theatre's educational outreach blog when I was the Michael Maggio fellow there in 2009-10. They wanted me to write about what it is to be a director, and perhaps a bit about how I've gone about my career. This was my response: I’m often asked what it is a theater director does.  “Do you tell everyone what to do?” my mother asks me.  Others nod their head with some sort of recognition, but then ask me about working on movies.   And most people I encounter assume that a young woman like myself who is involved in theater must be an actress.  I kindly smile and reply that I direct, and they give me a sideways glance and say something polite but non committal.  I assume it is either their lack of knowledge about what a director does or their disbelief that this petit woman before them could actually hold that important-sounding title.  I’m used to it.  I’ve been a director for more than ten years, and while in my early twenties I ofte

And for those of you not familiar with Francesca Zambello, here is her website: http://www.francescazambello.com/

Ghita Hager passed away, here is her obit. She was the first female stage director to direct at the San Francisco Opera in 1968. That opera company now has a woman directing many operas and acting as artistic advisor, the amazing director Francesca Zambello. Although I do not know Hager's work, I thank and admire those who broke ground for woman directors! http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2012/08/ghita_hager_controversial_oper.html

" Modeled after The Flea Theater’s successful resident company of actors, The Bats (now in its 16th season), this intensive residency program will allow a small team of young directors to work, train and direct in support of The Flea’s season under the supervision of Artistic Director Jim Simpson and The Flea Theater staff. THE   FLEA  IS  NOW   ACCEPTING   APPLICATIONS FOR   THE   DIRECTORS  IN  RESIDENCE PROGRAM An intensive full time Residency in Directing at a leading Off-Off Broadway Theater, this unique program offers a deep hands on, learn while you do it practical entrance to contemporary theater directing and production. The Resident Director program, while being open for all to apply, is suitable only for outstanding young directors, demonstrating exceptional promise and with a minimum of nine months to fully commit to the rigors of a real theatrical environment. This is not an intern program, an assistant directing program, or a workshop where you discuss the id

NY based director Daniel Aukin and his process, as reported by the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/theater/daniel-aukin-director-of-sam-shepards-heartless.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=arts

Russian Theater Director Pyotr Fomenko beautifully remembered in The Moscow Times: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/blogs/432775/post/remembering-pyotr-fomenko/466393.html And a short article in the NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/10/theater/pyotr-fomenko-innovative-russian-stage-director-dies-at-80.html?hpw

The thing that continues to strike me as ironic as I teach the history of directing is that commitment to the theater and only the theater is commitment to a moment, in the now, not to making your mark on the future. The directors that are easiest to study are those who wrote replete theories on what theater, directing, and art should be. But perhaps this obscures the great directors who did just that: directed. They didn't write theories down, they didn't publish books on how to direct, they just did their work. This is how I feel about Max Reinhardt. He had a massive career. He directed over 300 (and by some accounts closer to 500) new productions in his lifetime. Between 25-40 a year. He was versatile: he did realism, symbolism, expressionism, and most notably he blended these forms together as the play seemed fit. He is credited with putting Wagner's theories of the "total art work" into practice, he tried to make his theater the ultimate form of words, musi

Ivo van Hove's Roman Trilogy: based on Shakespeare's Roman plays. Sexy.

Short interview with director Jan Philipp Gloger on his production of The Flying Dutchman: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16125878,00.html

From The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/26/theatre-directors-advice?intcmp=239

There is a new facebook page which everyone must add to their friends, or like, or whatever. It's called "The State of Chicago" and it is, "about building and strengthening the Chicago community in the areas of entrepreneurship, the arts, poverty, and education."  http://www.facebook.com/StateOfChicago Chicago theater director Jonathan Berry posted this the other day: "Having worked in Chicago as a theater artist for 15 years, I feel like the community and the work that is being presented is second to none in the states. While New York certainly has more financial opportunity, I believe the quality of the work here, in particular the quality of the acting, is to my taste more consistently high.  And, what's more, the gap between store front and the major equit y houses feels primarily financial. You can see a brilliantly staged and acted work in a small basement just as easily as you can by going downtown and buying a more high-priced ticket for o

I will try to keep a running list of links here for Internships for Young Directors, please post comments with more that I should have here! http://www.guthrietheater.org/guthrie_opportunities/career_opportunities/internships/directing http://www.milwaukeerep.com/about/internship.htm http://wtfestival.org/jobs/directorsinternship http://www.internweb.com/internship/DC/551/833/int/

Robert Wilson's staging of Rufus Wainwright's musicalization of Shakespeare's sonnets. So pretty. Oh yeah.

This article came out in the New York Times yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/theater/richard-maxwell-comes-full-circle-with-oneills-early-plays.html?pagewanted=all I put this in here to inspire the young directors out there who can afford to intern, to do it. And if you can't, then, find other ways to get in the rooms. But not just anywhere. Look for people who inspire you and get in their rooms, find a way, there is always a way, and you learn things that you never thought possible. Richard Maxwell fascinates me. He founded a theater company in Chicago years and years ago that no longer exists called the Cook County Theater Department. If you live in Chicago find someone older than you and ask them about Cook County. They speak of this company with affection. I had a teacher when I went to Columbia who had been working in New York with the Wooster Group and other "downtown" theater companies, and he showed us a video of Richard Maxwell's company t

Great post on the Guardian's theater blog about what to do to be a director... http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/23/theatre-director-10-top-tips

A very articulate and inspiring talk by Anna D. Shapiro (my directing mentor) at Chicago Ideas Week. In this talk she explains why the director's first day address is one of the most important moments a director has. http://www.chicagoideas.com/videos/21

...but yes they are all still white men. http://playbill.com/features/article/159292-Sam-Gold-Thomas-Kail-and-Alex-Timbers-A-New-Generation-Helming-Broadway/pg1