Unify the Stage

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. ...

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...

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...