Sometimes Weight is Freedom

I usually don't like to weigh a show down with a cumbersome concept. I read the script over and over. The show will start to demand a certain physical reality to tell the story well. We embellish as much or as little as that show's reality requires.

Doing anything else can have the opposite of the intended effect. Concept plays were invented because the directors were moved to tell the story in a stronger way but, a lot of the time, director's concepts (metaphorically often strong and often very clever) actually compete with the piece for the audience's attention, thereby weakening both. Very rarely, an overlaid external concept breeds strength but, usually (sadly), external concepts forced on a piece are rather like placing a lightly frosted window between the audience and the play. It might be prettier but you can't see as well.

So, I worry. I have encumbered my upcoming production of Taming of the Shrew with the initial artistic decision that it will be played by all women. The rest of the process will have to accommodate that decision - from basic movement and vocal work, to blocking to costumes to....  Consequently, this play will be a little more challenging to get up than other productions. It'll be a little more difficult to get that story told well.

But I'm wondering: could this 'all-female' concept actually offer me some freedom?

For example, I have long been a proponent of blind casting but have been criticized and even ostracized for having the temerity to walk the walk on this issue. And, yet, if our default is always white and male, fairly soon the number of artists who can tell a lot of these stories will dwindle to a very small sampling of the overall population. Crazy. We need to find ways of opening stuff up.

And in this show I can. Why? If I've already blown the lid off of one pot, no one is really going to peek in the other. Honestly, if the person playing a male role is a woman, are people going to further question race? Why would they?

The construct is already sexless. We can make it raceless, too. Sometimes weight is freedom.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild, directing The Wild Life (a Kidsplay production), and prepping for the all female version of Taming of the Shrew for Jaybird Productions going up in the fall of this year. She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  


Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/

How I like to work. And who I like to work with.

Actors are, by and large, my favourite people. They are funny, talented, energetic, and darn good looking besides. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have another great cast and it got me to thinking about what kinds of actors I like to work with the most.

So, what do I like about my current cast? They play. They don't come in thinking that rehearsal is a kind of performance for the director; they don't want little gold stars. They use rehearsal time to try things out and really play with the piece.

Now, I want to be plain, here. I am a deeply collaborative director. I've done some study on what makes projects work and what inspires folks and, consequently, I've spent the last four or five years figuring out how to work effectively in rehearsal while at the same time eschewing the current 'Victorian Family' model of theatre; so, so: Director as Father (unquestioned authority figure), Stage Manager as Mother (or strict nanny), Actors as Children. I don't buy this model because I feel it's too limiting and insulting for all involved. I like a looser and more creative environment in which there is a lot of co-operation.

For the sake of peace and equilibrium, I remain the ultimate decision-maker. So a bit of a tyrant, that way, but during the process, I really encourage people to own their own work, to bring ideas to the table, to really play.  Unless there are moments I am forced to craft (for example, I am currently doing a farce and at points timing is critical), I don't insist that they to do my blocking. I will have fallback blocking. I will have thought about it and worked it out, but I tend to let them move naturally through the space as we develop the piece. Not only is this ultimately more effective in producing an entertaining show, it's much more fun to rehearse because there's room for the happy accidents - those magical moments we discover together at rehearsal.

So, what do I look for in an actor? A bunch of qualities. But I can tell you that I am so thankful when I get a self-motivated cast who are willing to try anything, make fools of themselves, comment constructively, tell me what they like or don't like, and get off the darn book as soon as possible so we can really see what the play is about. Fun.


Jacqui Burke is a freelance director, writer, and theatrical teacher living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  She is currently directing Lend Me A Tenor for Scarborough Theatre Guild, directing The Wild Life (a Kidsplay production), and prepping for the all female version of Taming of the Shrew for Jaybird Productions going up in the fall of this year. She is, also, serializing The Pretender, her first novel, online at http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/.  


Jacqui Burke
talk/text: 647-292-0210
twitter: @jaybird01
skype: Jacquiburkecell, jacqui.burke
www.wordsnimages.com
www.jaybirdproductions.ca
www.shakespeareisboffo.ca
http://jacquiburke.blogspot.ca
http://thepretender-amarcienoelnovel.blogspot.ca/
http://jaybirdproductions.blogspot.ca/