The wonderful thing about posthumous blogging is that I can say things like "today I attended the
Tony Award winning play Passing Strange" ...a week before the Tonys. Passing Strange did win a Tony for Best Book of a Musical, which is actually a little sad given the frivolity of the plot: boy gets high, boy goes to Europe, boy gets high, boy meets girl, boy gets high, boy meets another girl, boy stays in Europe while his Mom dies, getting high and meeting girls. Boy feels guilty and writes Tony Award winning musical. I did enjoy the show, however. The music was engaging, and the staging, while still in a glorified "rehearsal mode" (with chairs acting as the main vehicle for scene changes and the band playing live onstage) was none-the-less delivered confidently by a very talented cast. Why is this show on Broadway, instead of running downtown at, say, a Darryl Roth theater? I have no idea. It feels out-scaled in the Belasco theater. But it should continue to draw good crowds, especially since winning a Tony.The real highlight of my day at the Lincoln Center Director's Lab, however, was the presence of
legendary director Jack O'Brien at our morning session. O'Brien -- who won the Tony Award for Best Director last season for The Coast of Utopia -- is absolutely captivating. He is energetic, enthusiastic, inspiring. Something that all of the guest directors at the Lab have shared in common. It is their presence, their enthusiasm, their ability to bring you immediately into their confidence that is the hallmark of their leadership. O'Brien has been working in the theater for a long time, so I was particularly eager to hear everything he had to say about directing. Here is a summation of my notes from our question and answer session with O'Brien."Let me begin with a pre-amble," O'Brien said, before fielding questions from Anne Cattaneo. "I started out with a company called the APA Rep, coming out of the University of Michigan. I was very lucky to work with such talents as Helen Hays, John Houseman, and Ellis Rabb. There seems to be some mystique these days about directors. [you must support each other in your efforts]...Reach out for each other! Root for, admire each other! Don't hold on to the past. Move on!"
Almost as soon as the "lecture" began, O'Brien was on his feet. He realized that some of the directors sitting in the back of the room might not be able to see him if he remained seated. He didn't sit down again for the remainder of the hour and a half. His movement was youthful, energetic, invigorating. He was on fire. It was as if he wanted to ignite everyone in the room with his enthusiasm and energy, and he seemed to have plenty of energy to spare.
O'Brien went on to talk about the role of the director: "To inspire and unify the company. You don't steer the ship. You embrace it - generously. I speak generously of what I do, I try to excite people about what we do. I embrace my own excitement. Then tease, provoke the actors to discover it for themselve. Then they own it!"
Some more O'Brien quotes:
"Speak in musical terms - phrases of music, sounds of instruments...staccatto, legato."
"Technique is for the nights you don't feel it."
"You get far on enthusiasm and support...bringing the actors into the same world."
"Find yourself as naked as possible in the experience."
"Emotions don't change. Clothes change."
At this point, O'Brien went into a lecture on the physiology of the human eye, the anatomy of the optic nerve. He spoke about the language of film, and about how we all share information. His objective is to engage the audience in such a way that "your ocular nerve is so charged you want to watch not to listen."
"....[theater] is not a passive environment. I invite the audience to play with me!"
He then began to talk about that moment in rehearsal when the actor just needs to get moving. It's terrifying. But it's better to get on your feet and just do something. "Let's try it! Let's try something," I tell them. "Get it moving. Don't be God. Don't make them God. The process of discovery is the best possible path."
Jack then told us a story about the way Tyrone Guthrie rehearsed the play Mary Stuart starring Eva La Gallienne. Irene Worth was playing Queen Elizabeth, and in the play each monarch had their own contingency of actors. So he rehearsed both groups separately for several weeks. They'd never even met each other. Then, when he brought the two groups together near the end of rehearsals, there was a genuine sense of competition, of unfamiliarity. The responses were completely natural. Guthrie apparently was about 6'4", and one day he just walked out of rehearsal. He said "nothing is going on here" and left. When he came back things were greatly improved. He put the honus on the actors, and not on himself.
Hint to actors: Come to rehearsal off-book. Memorize!
Hinto to directors: Let the poison out! (Listen to everyone's complaints equally.)
If an actor is giving you difficulty there are only two possible reasons:
- He is terrified.
- You're not listening to him.
When asked 'what inspires you personally?', O'Brien's answer was "Dance. I'm inspired by watching dance."
Directing a show in the round is useful. It teaches you all about axis.
Patterns are fascinating.
Director/Choreographer relationships can be tricky. Musicals become adversarial very quickly. Bond with the choreographer. Live with them. Hold them in your arms at rehearsal.
Any advice on Shakespeare? "Yes. Cut it!"
"Put the sex onstage!"
"Scene transitions are most important. We're lagging behind filmmakers. This is part of your elegant care."
"Verse plays speak to the sub-conscious. Sub-conscious is the poetry of sleep."
Problems with American actors? "We value sincerity in acting. We must focus much more on voice training. Make a ribbon of your speech. A scarlett ribbon in a blue sky!"
"Try to allow the actor to have a relationship with the playwright. The director is just there to make sure that nobody gets hurt."
Thank you Jack!
