Next Project

30.9.09

So, I am missing creating theatre - it has been almost a year. I have decided to take the plunge by entering my 4th Year directing piece - Claire by C.E.Gatchalian - into the Dunedin Fringe next year. I still love this play (I directed it in 2007) and have one of the actors confirmed to return in the title role. Although I was disappointed by my mark back then (A-) I feel I can improve the production with time and am interested in challenging myself by reducing the technical aspects but still retaining the "unreal" sense of two of the characters. Bring it on!

A Director Directs

28.8.08

Here are some of the photos I promised you quite a while ago now. I have focussed this post on pics of me since the audience very rarely gets to watch the director at work. All these photos were taken during rehearsal by Chris Hopkins. I was pleasantly surprised how happy everyone looked.

Maternal Instincts.
(Neal Barber, Ellie Swann, and Laniet Swann.)

Our baby fell apart and Ellie - after taking ages to fix it again - was demonstrating how instinctual it is to hold a child after she realised she was doing it when Channel 9 were interviewing me.

Everyone's Crazy Except Me!
(Neal Barber, Paul Ellicott, and Barbara Walsh)

This was the order of the day during rehearsal - trying to give people notes whilst the rest of the cast were running around like headless chickens.

At Last!
(Neal Barber.)

I finally had the stage to myself. Afterall, it is about "me, me, me, and a little bit of me...with a side-serving of me...and a garnish of mmmmmeeeeeee!"

Look at The Passion.
(Neal Barber, Paul Ellicott, Laniet Swann, and Barbara Walsh.)

I must have been rather tense here - look at my fist! Or perhaps I was just trying to get Paul's attention which was, clearly, distracted by Laniet.

Solid in the Midst of Creation.
(Simon Ashby, Neal Barber, Wyeth Chalmers, Paul Ellicott, Ellie Swann, Laniet Swann, and Barbara Walsh.)

I just had to put this photo in. It is fantastic with Paul so solid - and in focus - in the centre with everyone else in a blurr of movement around him.

Craziness
(Simon Ashby, Neal Barber, Wyeth Chalmers, Paul Ellicott, Michaela Hunter, Ellie Swann, Laniet Swann, and Barbara Walsh.)

I just love this one for the pure manicness of it!

Feedback

Feel free to leave comments about this production after this post. Did we please as we aimed?

Promise of Things to Come

25.8.08

Hopefully, tomorrow morning I will get to work early and put up some more photos and/or videos for you.

Completing the Circle

24.8.08

“The Audience Project taught me that the more information we can share with an audience about the process, rules, hopes, dreams, and intentions, the more audiences will feel the space to participate and, indeed, complete the circle” (79).

This quote was taken from And Then, You Act by Anne Bogart. I have always held Bogart's views on theatre as generally insightful and this quote put what I am doing here into perspective. I realised why I felt the need to start this blog. Although the obvious reason was to publicise the productions I direct – itself an important goal – but I also desired to communicate with you what was happening rather than simply creating a production in isolation. Too often when I direct shows I feel I am stumbling in the dark and have only a small group of people to whom I can speak about what I am doing in the rehearsal room. However – with a blog - I can now communicate with my audiences before the production opens. This not only prepares my audience for what they are going to see but allows them to take some ownership over the process.

A blog also makes completing the cycle easier. Particularly with that little comments button then you can give me feedback on how you felt the show went, what you enjoyed, what didn't work so well etc. This is the on vital step that is all too often missing in theatre. Sure, there are the reviews but – and particularly in Dunedin – there are all too few of these to give comprehensive feedback on what we are doing.