This month is the start of rehearsals for my production of Sea Marks, while not my first time directing, it is the first time I will be coordinating between so many other people in the process. My previous work was essentially me and the actor(s) and maybe one additional person to assist in building the set/running the sound board. I am eager to have additional peoples input on this show, being able to tell the costume designer what roughly I need and then they can take it and run.
Collecting the creativity of all those I am working with and helping each of their processes along has been the most rewarding part of this experience so far. It is an incredibly helpful skill and is also not often the default mode that a theatre director works in. Experimenting with how this style of directing can work in a more traditional theatre model is the primary research focus in this part of staging this play. The main challenge has been to make sure everyone’s expectations are set, that I do not expect them to simply execute a vision I have made, but rather exercise their own agency in creating this play together.
It has become clear that how the traditional model of theatre is constructed resists this in many ways. My previous project with my Honors in the Major project is something I find myself drawing from constantly while in the rehearsal room. In that project I was devising theatre, meaning creating without a script, rather than staging an already authored text. This means that everyone in the room is responsible for creating something new, and fostering that space was a big role I filled. Having to do something similar for this play means I am often thinking back to what worked (and what really didn’t) in devised. I am then revising or retrofitting these ideas/exercises for my current needs. Going forward I am very interested in developing this skill set.
Future projects of mine will heavily rely on this skill since my work will largely be in performance-as-research. This model of theatre-making and research requires the whole performance group to be active in the creation and critical reflection of the work. It is also very individual at the same time since we are not only working on a singular group project but each individual’s personal process is being developed through that work as well. I can already see this work being done even in this more traditional rehearsal space. My actors over time have begun to become more sensitive to their own process and the scenes as well. This naturally happens as we understand the text more in the work but now they are also able to act on it a lot more freely. Rather than asking me what I as the author wish them to do, they state what they felt during a run of a scene, and why they made certain choices. I can then give them what I saw as an audience member and we can use all this to move closer to a version of this play that we all hold dear and believe is True.
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