There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a play in which all the elements are perfectly brought together. As a member of the audience, you may not think about who is behind the beauty that you are enjoying, but all those elements, from the writing and acting to the set design and sound, do not magically jell together on their own. They are merged by the skills of marvelous, talented directors.
So what it is like to be the one calling the shots? While skilled directors may make it look easy, the reality is that directing is probably the single most difficult job in theater. As a director, the success — or failure — of a play rests upon your shoulders, and such a responsibility is not for the timid. Show Business sat down with five theater directors — seasoned helmers who have worked everywhere from small black boxes to Broadway stages — to discuss the many rewards and the endless challenges of sitting in the big chair.
Trademark Humor
A great production can change the world, according to Jeremy Dobrish, who has directed over 20 plays including The Joys of Sex at the now-defunct Variety Arts Theater. Dobrish, who is also the founder of the Adobe Theatre Company, looks for something very specific from his actors. “I try to create an environment in rehearsals where actors can ultimately take control,” he said. “You want to make sure that actors understand everything that they’re doing — that hopefully they like what they’re doing. You really want to give them a map that they can follow each night, so that they are always in control of their performance.”
Dobrish, a graduate of Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theater and Psychology, has a reputation for directing quirky, zany and off-beat productions. “As a director, you want the audience to laugh and enjoy themselves,” Dobrish said. “But at the same time, you hope that what you’re doing is very thought provoking. With what’s been going on lately in the world, it’s important to have something entertaining, where people can enjoy themselves and invest an hour and a half in a reality other than our own.”
Although Dobrish enjoys what he does, he warns about the dangers of being pigeonholed. Just as actors can be typecast, directors sometimes gain a reputation for a certain type of production, making it difficult for producers to see them in a different light. “I understand this from a producer’s point of view, because they have a lot of money on the line,” he said. “Producers want to know that a director has done it before. Theater is having such a hard time, financially speaking, and producers don’t want to take chances. A lot of times you see the same names of directors, choreographers and designers. But below that level, there are a lot of directors who are just looking for that break.”
Considering the mark he would like to leave on the industry, Dobrish is looking for much more than to make people laugh. “I think that there are certain productions that really change theater, because they can send theater and people in a new direction. I felt theater would grow from
Spinning the Bard
Directing any production can be difficult, but try directing the classical works while adding new twists. That is the challenge faced by Robert Richmond of the Aquila Theatre Company, where “Shakespeare’s the Thing.”
“I’ve directed around 20 shows for Aquila, including
Richmond has a 20-year history in the business. He has worked as an actor in regional theater around the United Kingdom for ten years. He originally trained in Glasgow, Scotland, at the Royal Academy of Music and Drama and joined Aquila as an actor. He and Aquila founder Peter Meineck developed a rapport and began creating shows in 1994. Since their collaboration, Aquila has grown from an off-Broadway company into a national touring company, visiting over 70 cities a year.
What’s Richmond’s secret to success? “An understanding and a respect for what everyone does is definitely a strength of the company,” he said. “In England we typically train this way. As an actor you start off in small roles and do a lot of stage management work. You are part of the support staff of any show. I’ve done many things in terms of prompts, sound and design. We are very much a team, and it feels very much like a family. We all have a very good sense of humor and try not to take ourselves too seriously. Often, working with great material raises the bar and makes us better artists for it.”
Richmond hopes to shed some light on Shakespeare for each audience member who sees his productions. “I would like them to come away and have felt that the cobwebs have been blown off of Shakespeare or a classical play and that they understood it completely,” he said.
More Than a Hobby
For Drew DeCorleto, a founding member of off-Broadway’s Broken Watch Theatre Company, being a director is not just about creating a show. DeCorleto, who is also Broken Watch’s artistic director and a regular production director, said that, for him, directing is also about changing the public’s view of theater. “If I were to change things about theater in New York, I would want it to be more than a hobby,” he said. “People sometimes expect theater to be a hobby — it’s not. It’s a profession and it needs to be treated as such.”
DeCorleto believes that some of the most thought-provoking shows can be found off-Broadway. He laments that fact that tourists who come to New York often think of the theater as strictly Broadway. “I want to change that process and have them think of off-Broadway,” he added. “Many people will drop $19 on two beers, but won’t pay the same amount to see an off-Broadway show.”
DeCorleto, who is also an actor in New York, is a member of both the Actors’ Equity Association and the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers. He has directed both off-Broadway and regional theater. A graduate of Boston Conservatory, he holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theater with a minor in directing. Additionally, he has worn many hats in the industry, including stage manager, master electrician, project manager and light operator. He has also taught acting, directing and playwriting to students in grades K-12. “We’ve all had other positions. I’ve done pretty much everything, and this has aided me in directing,” DeCorleto said.
Whenever DeCorleto is directing, he wants his team to come together. “I look for a camaraderie, a working environment, a bond and a trust,” he said. “The most important part about doing a new work is the collaborative process. You have to be able to separate yourself as an actor, playwright and director and just look at the piece. All egos have to be set aside. I look to see how well the collaboration will work between the actors, the director and the playwright so that the working environment is there, if it isn’t, you’re behind the eight ball.”
DeCorleto wants his audiences to feel that they have experienced good theater that stays with them. “Theater should play a big part in everyday life,” he added. “You should be able to see something in a show and then, for the next couple of weeks, you should find yourself thinking about the show during your everyday life.”
Speak Now
Most directors are drawn to the profession because of their love for the theater. Although Taro Alexander was attracted to the theater as a child, he became founder and director of Our Time Theatre Company in 2001 for much more than his love of the art form. Our Time’s mission is to provide an artistic home for young people who stutter. Each year, the company performs one musical whose words and songs are written by the young performers. The plays reflect issues that are important to these youngsters.
Alexander, who has had a stutter since the age of five, started the company to help these young people. “I grew up in Washington, DC, and I didn’t know anyone else with this problem,” Alexander said. “I was always interested in acting and theater, but thought I couldn’t do it because of my stutter.
After attending a high school for the performing arts, Alexander discovered that speaking became easer when he was on stage. “What performing did for me was give me a wonderful level of confidence in myself,” he recalls. “When I graduated high school, I moved to New York to pursue a career in the arts, but I didn’t actually meet anyone else who stuttered until I was 26 years old.”
In spring of 2001, Alexander began to notice the lack of avenues out there to help young people who stutter. “Speech therapy is a really great thing, but there should be more options out there, I thought. So, I came up with the idea of starting a theater company for young people who stutter,” Alexander said. The company meets from October to June and ends with an original musical production.
Irish Eyes
Charlotte Moore is co-founder of the Chelsea-based Irish Repertory Theatre Company, which she started with Ciaran O’Reilly in 1988. Moore has been in the business since 1980 when she started as an actress. She holds a Master’s Degree in Comparative Literature from Washington University, where she first took to the stage. “Someone made the bad mistake of telling me I was good. It turns your head and then you’re off to do it,” said Moore, who has directed over 40 productions at the Irish Rep.
Moore recalls her serendipitous directorial debut with the company: Sean O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars, which is set in Dublin during the 1916 Easter Rising. “I ended up directing the show because of an accident,” she said. “I was acting in a play, and I broke my arm, so I couldn’t do it. Ciaran said, ‘Let’s do a play — I’ll produce and you direct.’ We did it, and the play was awful, but the title was so well known that we never had an empty seat.”
As an actor herself, Moore has developed a strong compassion for actors as part of her persona. “I know what they’re doing
On the administrative side, Moore hopes for more communication with heads of similar theaters. “I’d like more contact with other heads of theater of our relative size,” she said. “It’s hard to find the space and time and formal setup to discuss our issues and problems. I’d love to know what they’re all doing and they all think. I think there are a lot of ideas to share.”
Additionally, Moore said, getting to know her fellow theater directors would simply be a great way to develop a camaraderie with other hard-working professionals. After all, even in a job as rewarding as theater directing, a little misery still loves company. “I’d would just love to know how many hours they work,” she added. “I probably put in about 80 hours a week.”
