What Most Excites You About This Production?
The script. It’s like a good mystery book and each scene takes us
deeper and deeper into the story. I was totally hooked from the minute I started reading it all the way to the end. I particularly like the metaphor of what secrets and emotions we keep buried within ourselves and what must not stay buried – what refuses to be hidden, what must eventually surface and be exposed. I find the drive of the main character, Stephanie, who is a hard-core journalist and has terminal cancer, particularly compelling.
She is determined to uncover the mystery of what happened to the woman discovered in a wall. Throughout the play Stephanie
actively digs up the past even when she suspects the story will be painful,even when it seems to unbury uncomfortable feelings and emotions in her own life.
I am very excited about our phenomenal cast of actors: Elinor
Gunn, Erin Ison, Peter Cook, Jake Ynzunza, Qadriyyah Shabazz, Daniel Wood are all excellent. They are a dedicated and talented cast of local Seattle actors and I am honored to be working with them.
The script. It’s like a good mystery book and each scene takes us
deeper and deeper into the story. I was totally hooked from the minute I started reading it all the way to the end. I particularly like the metaphor of what secrets and emotions we keep buried within ourselves and what must not stay buried – what refuses to be hidden, what must eventually surface and be exposed. I find the drive of the main character, Stephanie, who is a hard-core journalist and has terminal cancer, particularly compelling.
She is determined to uncover the mystery of what happened to the woman discovered in a wall. Throughout the play Stephanie
actively digs up the past even when she suspects the story will be painful,even when it seems to unbury uncomfortable feelings and emotions in her own life.
I am very excited about our phenomenal cast of actors: Elinor
Gunn, Erin Ison, Peter Cook, Jake Ynzunza, Qadriyyah Shabazz, Daniel Wood are all excellent. They are a dedicated and talented cast of local Seattle actors and I am honored to be working with them.
What Is The Greatest Challenge You Face Directing This Production?
We want to do the play in an intimate space but in order to keep
up the suspense we have to move through several different places and periods (there’s even a little time travel in the play) in a very short space of time – so we will have to capture the audience’s imagination and take them to the places we need to go. The
emotions in this play are a full on super rollercoaster for the cast! They must stay committed to their characters throughout the play. The actors have been very brave with this and you will see them travel to some very dark places but they also take us back
into the light --there are a lot of places where the audience will get a good belly laugh. I think ultimately we are finding the best pacing for this show – like a good piece of music -- so it flows into one cohesive story without a lot of awkward pauses and breaks in the action.
We want to do the play in an intimate space but in order to keep
up the suspense we have to move through several different places and periods (there’s even a little time travel in the play) in a very short space of time – so we will have to capture the audience’s imagination and take them to the places we need to go. The
emotions in this play are a full on super rollercoaster for the cast! They must stay committed to their characters throughout the play. The actors have been very brave with this and you will see them travel to some very dark places but they also take us back
into the light --there are a lot of places where the audience will get a good belly laugh. I think ultimately we are finding the best pacing for this show – like a good piece of music -- so it flows into one cohesive story without a lot of awkward pauses and breaks in the action.
What Kind of Research Are You Doing to Prepare?
I’m not sure that it is research but my mother passed away this
summer from lung cancer. My mother was a wonderful and generous person and her death was pretty gruesome in the
end – I had to face so many painful things I have always been afraid of. I have been trying to recover emotionally but it is difficult because no one really cares what you go through when your mother dies. Some people send cards but they don’t want you to talk about it. They want you to move on – your personal tragedies are something you are expected to bury and not talk about because it is rude to burden people when you are unhappy. In
our culture we are expected to bury painful things both physically and emotionally. This has informed me so much about the rich subtext of this play and I think added some insight into what our main character is going through. Death is sad but it is also mysterious, in some ways, a wondrous transition.
I’m not sure that it is research but my mother passed away this
summer from lung cancer. My mother was a wonderful and generous person and her death was pretty gruesome in the
end – I had to face so many painful things I have always been afraid of. I have been trying to recover emotionally but it is difficult because no one really cares what you go through when your mother dies. Some people send cards but they don’t want you to talk about it. They want you to move on – your personal tragedies are something you are expected to bury and not talk about because it is rude to burden people when you are unhappy. In
our culture we are expected to bury painful things both physically and emotionally. This has informed me so much about the rich subtext of this play and I think added some insight into what our main character is going through. Death is sad but it is also mysterious, in some ways, a wondrous transition.
What Have Been Some of Your Favorite Previous Productions You Have Directed?
It has been such a long time since I directed a full-length play. I did a beautifully creepy production of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER by Tennessee Williams at the University of Utah and also a kick-ass production of MACBETH. I have mostly been a producer and writer. It is fun to get back to directing again.
What Do You Hope Audiences Take From This Production?
First, I hope the audience will enjoy the mystery of the play as
much as I did – and stay with us moment by moment as this suspenseful story unfolds. Beyond that I am deeply moved and inspired by Stephanie’s journey toward discovery and hope even
as she moves closer to death. These characters are all challenged when it comes to how they perceive love and they pay a hard price in the end for trying to control it. It is very human to want to take love and put in a box. Love is an emotion that changes for us over time; it grows and transforms us. It is not something you can bury.
It has been such a long time since I directed a full-length play. I did a beautifully creepy production of SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER by Tennessee Williams at the University of Utah and also a kick-ass production of MACBETH. I have mostly been a producer and writer. It is fun to get back to directing again.
What Do You Hope Audiences Take From This Production?
First, I hope the audience will enjoy the mystery of the play as
much as I did – and stay with us moment by moment as this suspenseful story unfolds. Beyond that I am deeply moved and inspired by Stephanie’s journey toward discovery and hope even
as she moves closer to death. These characters are all challenged when it comes to how they perceive love and they pay a hard price in the end for trying to control it. It is very human to want to take love and put in a box. Love is an emotion that changes for us over time; it grows and transforms us. It is not something you can bury.
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