Unify the Stage

"If Theatre could be half as good as HBO, we'd be hitting gold" Simon Stone in the Guardian. 

Mary really beautifully and simply articulates semiotics in the theater, identifying a definition of theatricality that I found astute as a "visible metaphor that calls attention to itself". It's a great talk.

DOCS... VANYA ON 42ND STREET-- Amazing actors working on Uncle Vanya in a run down theater in New York. If you haven't seen it, do not pass go...get it now. BROOK BY BROOK-- This documentary is about Peter Brook, created by his son. It comes in a double dvd set with Peter Brook's HAMLET, which is also amazing to watch.  ARIANE MNOUCHKINE - THE LOVE OF THEATRE -- A great documentary about Ariane Mnouchkine and the founding of Theatre du Soliel. You can watch it here , and be sure to turn on the English subtitles. BECOMING TRAVIATA --an amazing documentary focusing on the rehearsal work of stage director Jean-François Sivadier with soprano Natalie Dessay on a beautiful production of La Traviata. Yes, it's opera, and yes, you should watch it. It's a master class in good opera stage direction. WAGNER'S DREAM-- An exciting documentary about Robert Lepage and his recent production of THE RING CYCLE at the Met. Dreaming big. FICTION... ALL ABOUT EVE-- Funny, ...

So I've been contemplating this award application that I have to turn in soon. I was up for it last year and received an honorable mention so I get to apply again. And I was looking through my writing from last year and this amazing thing hit me: I want to rewrite my artist statement. This might not sound like a big deal to everyone, but it is to me. My artist statement, while it's had revisions, deletions, and additions in the past, has been basically the same since I wrote it in late 2006. And I have believed whole heartedly in it every time I've turned it in for an application. But here I am, suddenly, in 2013, wanting to chuck most of it and rewrite! This is both exciting and frightening, as the last one helped me receive lots of awards and fellowships. It was well written. I remember being incredibly inspired the day I did the first draft and I have felt so good about it. But more importantly to the writing, what this means is, something changed for me this yea...

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

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...

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 wh...