“Food and shelter are very nice, but without stories to hear and tell, we might as well be the walking dead.” ~Leah Cohen, The Stuff of Dreams: Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theatre.
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| The Drowning of Manhattan 2008 |
There are certain birthdays where it’s important to mark the occasion, to celebrate the milestone in having reached it. At 16, you can drive and no longer go on grocery trips with your mother just to get out of small town Iowa. At 18, you drive around to three separate gas stations just waiting for someone to card you when buying cigarettes you’ll never smoke. At 21, you legally buy an Appletini and realize there are so many better drinks. And at 30, you get scared that you’re turning 30. This is how I’ve felt for the past few months as 30 rapidly approached. I worry that I haven’t accomplished enough or that I’m not where I want to be personally, spiritually, or professionally. And yet, I can’t entirely lose my mind, because I have a show to direct. This is a common symptom. In fact, out of my last 10 birthdays, 8 have fallen on show dates. 2018 is no exception and yet, it does mark a milestone. This Sunday, I’ll turn 30 years old, I’ll have been directing for exactly one decade, and Julius Caesar marks my 50th directing project. 30, 10, and 50. I like round numbers.
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| Julius Caesar 2012 |
In the past decade, I’ve worked on 50 projects; 24 full length plays, 17 one acts, 9 assistant directing, plus another 50+ categories coached in five years of competitive speech. I’d say that I could’ve never imagined this work load considering it also includes acting, dramaturging, designing, teaching, and completing an MFA, but then I’d be lying. If you could go back and tell 20 year old me that I’d hit 50 shows by age 30, I’d say, “I thought it would be closer to 75.” I’ve always been an over-worked artist, entirely by my own design. I used to say that, “theatre is my whole world and directing is my air, take it away and I can’t breathe.” I’ve had a passion for directing in a way that I can’t quite explain because it’s certainly a love/hate relationship. It’s a low-paying, extremely stressful job that demands much more of you than you think it will at the beginning of the project and yet, to see your artistic vision embodied, it’s truly a spectacular sight to see. I’ve seen miracles take place onstage.
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| Romeo & Juliet 2013 |
With 50 projects in 10 years, you would think that I’ve ventured into professional regional theatre, but I haven’t. Despite the workload, all of these productions fit into one of three categories: Community Theatre, College Theatre, or High School Theatre. Shockingly, the bright lights have never interested me and I’ve never attempted to direct for anything bigger than a Community Theatre. Simply put, I love the community of Community Theatre. I love that in any given show the four leads can be made up of an Uber driver, a law clerk, a photographer’s assistant, and a florist. In the educational setting, I love that the kid who can barely speak a sentence in class, gets up and plays Mercutio. I love when the class clown turns into Hamlet. It seems that I’ve traded a lifetime of names on a marquee for gyms, poorly air-conditioned black boxes, and finding inventive ways to use a library. I’ve turned in searching for an equity card to searching for a hardware membership card. After 10 years, I’ve learned a lot and here’s just a little of what I’ve learned.
Casting
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| Blood Letters 2014 |
Throw out all your rules for casting. You say you won’t cast couples: too bad you’ve got 3 couples in one show. You say your lead has to be played by a man: too bad only women auditioned for the show. You say this is the perfect cast: too bad over 10 of the actors quit (3x). All the rules you can create mean very little in Community Theatre. You never know what you’re going to get when you audition so stop trying to put restrictions and instead expand your creative playground. Instead of looking for the perfect cast, look for all the possibilities that each actor can provide. Actor A can’t do dramatic work - well find a way to include comedy. Actor B can’t sing, break out that copy of My Fair Lady and turn them into Rex Harrison. Never be confined to what you think is possible - always seek to explore the impossible. The only rules that matter are the following:
1. Cast a Family. Don’t cast the most talented actors; cast the best ensemble. A group of people that like each other will always show up for each other.
2. Work Ethic. If an actor sells you on their work ethic - cast them in a leading role. As long as they have some talent, any director worth their salt can turn them into the performer they need.
3. Cast Talent. Skilled actors are a dime a dozen, if you get an actor with raw talent - cast them! Give them the opportunity to shine.
Production
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| 30 in 30: JC Reborn 2014 |
Now you have your cast. 3 have done regional theatre, 4 have done community theatre, 2 are high schoolers, and one is still confused where they are at all times. It’s your cast, be proud that you were able to do it without having to plead on the phone with actors at 2 AM searching for just one more male. It might not be the “perfect” cast, but it’s your cast. Get rid of all your “what ifs” and move on with belief and strength. Prep every rehearsal beforehand and make the process professional for you. Keep a schedule and don’t deviate. If you say rehearsal ends at 10, do your best to keep to it. Try weird ways to engage the actors. Play the newlywed game.
1. Don’t assume your community theatre ensemble knows anything about theatre down to what’s Stage Right and Stage Left. In both the educational world and community theatre, the director is as much a teacher as anything. Don’t talk down to actors who know less than you, because most likely some actors know more than you do.
2. Expect more; not less. Just because some of your actors may be theatrical neophytes doesn’t mean that the production should be anything less than extraordinary. I direct community theatre, but I still expect regional theatre level quality. I believe in my actors and in turn, they believe in the production.
3. Be a person and a friend alongside being a director. A theatre ensemble is like a small family and as you build that family take the paternal/maternal role. These people aren’t paid to be there. Never take their hard work and dedication for granted. Always thank them. Always be cordial. Look to be helpful when they are tired, they are anxious, they are worried about things outside the theatre. Be a person and in turn, they’ll listen to your direction.
Being a Director
Directing is hard and in community theatre it’s at times downright impossible. On any given day, you will have to serve as your own ASM, sound designer, costumer, and actor. It’s extremely stressful and can, at times, feel like the world is against you. It isn’t. Breathe and go with the flow.
1. Know who you are and be proud of it. Perhaps the hardest thing of my career is apologizing for the way in which I direct. I’m a really weird director and ask actors to do extremely strange activities. I care more about cast bonding than I do the script. I love to put inside jokes into the plays for no one’s benefit but myself. Know who you are - be proud of it. This is who I am. Hopefully you hire me, but whether you do or you don’t, I will always be me. I’ll adapt for the show and the company, but you can’t make a cheetah lose his spots.
2. Trust your Gut. The major times I’ve been wrong in theatre are when I don’t trust my gut. I second guess myself (sometimes through the entire production) and it leads me to ruin. Create a theatrical gut and then trust it to lead you in the right direction.
3. Directors are fallible. You aren’t always right; try to direct with as much humility as you can muster. You’re a human too; accept that you’re going to get stressed, perhaps even depressed, but do your utmost best to manage it. Try and be professional and let everything fall into place. And if you’re having a bad day; have it. Move on tomorrow.
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| 30 in 30: The Medea Project 2013 |
Directing has been a strange mistress these past 10 years. At times, she has been cruel and demanding and at other times, soft and gentle. Directing has brought me profound anguish and supreme hope. There are days when I think it’s time to stop. Days when I think the stress level is too high, but then I reach the end of a project and realize that I’ve already signed up for another three. I think it’s because of something I said at the opening of the World Premiere of 30 in 30: The Medea Project, “Each one of my shows takes my whole heart and soul to create and so each show feels like it takes a lifetime to make. I want to thank this tremendous cast for sharing an incredible lifetime with me.” 50 lifetimes in 10 years makes turning 30 feel a little less scary.
Come and Join the Celebration
Julius Caesar July 20-22/27-29 at the First Street Building in Mount Vernon, IA.
