I've fallen behind in my LTC Director's lab blogging effort. Part of me thinks that I owe it to myself to keep writing about this experience. Another part of me, however, feels like I'm betraying the lab process. Not that there's any big secret, or we're sworn to silence, or anything like that. It's just hard to view something when you're in the midst of it, and so much is happening that I will be doing a dis-service to my time here by trying to encapsulate it. I will, however, for the sake of obstinacy, persevere. Here are some highlights:
Saturday 5/24
We saw a presentation of excerpts from Oedipus directed by Styx Mhlanga. Styx, as I mentioned in a previous blog, came here all the way from Zimbabwe, where he has been harangued by the police and local government for his work. He was delayed getting into the country and his process was even shorter as a result. But it was astonishing to see what he created in such a short amount of time. He began to weave the story together using elements of African Dance in the chorus. I didn't see enough of his rehearsals with the principal actors to learn about that process. It is a powerful thing, however, to see thirty-odd people on stage moving together to tell a story. We rarely have such an opportunity here in the states. I would love to watch how a work like this would develop.
Saturday night, we were given an assignment called "Who Are We". Basically, we were each given thirty seconds to tell the rest of the group about ourselves and our work. Something about the time limit made everyone really cut to the chase. It was a good way to find out about my colleagues. We then played two really fun, easy games: cross the line (group divides in half, then "cross the line if____(you're from New York, for example): then a variation on musical chairs called "I love my neighbor who_____".
We then broke for Memorial Day.
Tuesday, 5/27
I didn't attend the sessions during the day, opting instead to catch some time at my day job and get a little scratch. Tuesday evening, however, I gave a presentation on Joseph Chaikin to about ten members of the lab. I was surprised to learn how many young directors didn't really know anything about Joe. They'd heard of The Living Theatre (and oddly, not the Open Theatre), and had some vague idea of the sixties, but not much else. I spent alot of time talking about Joe's biography and place in American theater history, but I was grateful for a chance to keep his memory alive.
After my talk, I attended another presentation by Lab member Andrew Simon on director Arthur Nauzyciel. I'd never hear of Arthur Nauzyciel. Andrew worked with him at Emory University. He directed the students in a site-specific production of Roberto Zucco by Bernard-Marie Koltès. It's difficult to get a true sense of any director's process without experiencing it first-hand. But Andrew did a great job of giving us some insight into the techniques of the French director. For one thing, he addressed the way in which American actors are completely overtaken by Stanislavski method. He believes that characters emerge when you remove any psychology, so the focus is strictly on the language - sentence by sentence - finding the rhythm and reading the text as a score.
Wednesday 5/28
I watch a bit of a rehearsal for Macbeth. There are four directors working on Act III at various locations throughout the building. The idea is to let the place, for example a bathroom, inform the work. I was sitting on a concrete ramp in a hallway that was very uncomfortable and it was hard to hear the actors. I only lasted an hour and then I went out for coffee. But the work seemed to be progressing well.
From 11am - 1pm there was a discussion with the resident stage managers here at Lincoln Center about the role of the stage manager in the rehearsal and production process.
In the afternoon, we attended a performance of The New Century, playing at the Mitzi Newhouse Theater. A new play by Paul Rudnick, directed by Nicholas Martin, it's really four monologues loosely connected by the themes of homosexuality and death. Not terribly deep stuff, but there were some very funny moments, a little - very brief - full-frontal male nudity, and great character turns by Linda Lavin, Peter Barlett, and Jayne Houdyshell.
Before we left for the day, the stage manager handed each of us a piece of paper, on which was written this:
Question For Friday Discussions:
Take a globe of the world, and a long pin. Pierce the globe in any direction you choose and see where it emerges. Try to avoid the ocean. This is the country where you will be traveling to work.
Choose a play to bring with you that reflects the core beliefs of your country. This play should inform the country you are travelling to about what we believe in. Your adaptation or interpretation of this play might show a contemporary attitude towards these core beliefs.
What is the play you would bring? What is your "take" on it?
So, there you have it. For anyone wondering what's goin on at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab this year.
w.
