Reflections on Directing Class

I'm in a class in which the criteria is to take someone's written work and translate it to the stage in a visual plethora of images, comedic timing, and dramatic tension. I am enjoying said class. Thus far I have completed four pieces and am in need of a fifth. I'm thinking an excerpt from "Three Tall Women" by Edward Albee, but I haven't actually finished reading it yet, so... I guess I should probably do that.

The first piece was an autorama, which is basically a dramatised version of the highlights of my life. This piece was flat and bland, as I don't generally like dramatising my own life. As such, the general feeling I have towards it is "meh." There was some symbolism in it, but basically that was overshadowed by the approximately 3 hours of work I put into it.

The second piece I'm much more fond of. The script was Kurt Schwitter's "Anxiety Play" a blank dialogue with characters "a" and "b." I set the scene in a gay strip club, with a certain President of the SGA (who shall remain nameless) as a stripper who doesn't know he's stripping for a male customer (me). Originally I was thinking to have a female stripper and just have her be not very good at it, but my choice of actress was in the Dominican attending her sister's wedding that week. Thankfully the scene worked much better with a man as the stripper.

The third project was to direct the "To be or not to be" speech from Hamlet. I chopped it up into a dialogue and set the scene of a married couple in their last fight before the marriage disintegrates. Luke and Jenny phenomonally star as the married couple.

The last project was a tricky one and the most stress inducing for me. Valerie gave us a script that she wrote to direct, instead of the intended Opehlia going nutty scene from Hamlet. The new script was...well.... I didn't really like it. It was very very very stark, naked, with tonnes of bleak references to incest and purification. So after battling round my brain for the longest time about how to make the scene work, I deceded to give Val what she wanted and more. The section of the play I chose to do was a monologue of the story of Noah's ark. I was struck by the number of times the word "purification" came up, so I likened the flooding of the earth to Hitler's "Final solution." The idea being; What do the people who are being purified (ie/ all the drowned people/animals = Jewish people) think of the purification? So I had Jenny and Erica dress up in red bras and booty shorts with swastikas on the bums, as well as jack boots and Hitler moustaches. Then I had them do a vaudeville routine in front of a projection of Nazi propoganda and Charlie Chaplin while "European Son" by the Velvet Underground played and Jay's recorded voice shouted the Nuremberg address. Then there was blood and a strobe light. I think it was pretty effective, although I agree with the criticism that there were too many things going on at once. Never again will I do a show with so many technical aspects. Freak-out city. I tend to be very short with people when I'm stressed out. I don't like being short with people.

This next project will be more traditional. There are three characters and a fixed setting. I'd like Jenny to play the 92 year old woman, Nadia Stalus to play the 52 year old woman, and a girl from my Atwood class to play the 26 year old woman. I don't know her name! Isn't that terrible? This is all, of course, providing that I like the script (of which I have read about 4 pages) and that I can find an appropriate place to cut it, as the scene can only be 15 - 20 minutes long.

I've learned a great deal in this class, (such as don't assume ANYTHING when working with actors, even though it's extremely tempting. This is a lesson I learn over and over), but I can't stop! It's kind of irritating when we're doing some Hamlet work and I want to insert my own point of view into the show. Plus I like talking about the class, because I think it's fascinating... but I always feel like I'm saying "LOOK AT WHAT A FAB-OO JOB I DID ON THIS!"

Hence this post.

Thanks to all the actors I've worked with. Your talents are considerable and I am pleased and very thankful that you've chosen to share them with me.