JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
CATHERIINE ASELFORD: I grew up around theatre. My father was a theatre musician – house band at the National, played all the shows at Ford’s, rehearsal piano for opera and ballet, etc. I wasn’t too interested in musicals – I guess because I was so familiar with them, they held no glamour for me. When I read Macbeth, I decided I wanted to be an actor. Later, at Catholic U, I read The Revengers’ Tragedy and decided I wanted to direct. I switched to the Directing Program. Back in the ‘80’s, directors often pitched scripts to theatres – far more than they do today – and I was seduced into directing by literature I loved. JL: How long have you served as Artistic Director at your company? What drew you to the position? What keeps you there? CA: I was one of the four founders of The Georgetown Theatre Company. After the original Artistic Director moved to NYC to direct operas, I took on the position in 1993. I was reluctant, because I didn’t want to become an administrator. JL: What is the most valuable lesson you learned during your tenure? CA: Success follows money; money doesn't’ follow success. JL: What excites you most about being an Artistic Director? What is your greatest challenge? CA: Creating programs – whether a production, a reading series, or a collaborative performance event – excites me. Creating good work is also a challenge, because everything has to go right—one thing going wrong can ruin a project. As an Artistic Director, I get the opportunity to turn my ideas into programs, and the challenge of making the programs happen. JL: If your work as an artistic director doesn’t pay the bills, what else do you do? Also, how do you balance your role leading an organization with your work as a director? Are you ever able to direct outside of your company? CA: I never supported myself as a director. For a short time, I supported myself as an actor, then as a theatre teacher (I went back to school to get my Maryland teaching certification). I’m now Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Association, an arts center in Old Town Alexandria. I think it’s important to direct outside one’s own company. Otherwise, a director risks cutting herself off from so many influences. JL: Looking at your body of work as an artistic director and a director, how conscious are you and selecting plays by women or people of color when deciding your season? Also, when it comes to hiring administrators, designers and other directors do you take race and gender into consideration? CA: When we founded TGTC (now Guillotine Theatre), only the Folger Shakespeare Theatre was presenting classics, so our goal was to present classic plays by other authors. Because of that early mission, we chose mostly shows by dead white men. In 1993, we opened the mission up to include adaptations of classic literature, and since then we’ve produced lots more plays by women. One of my favorite novelists of color, Alexandre Dumas, is adapted to play form all the time (he was also a playwright himself); we presented two adaptations of his works, both by women playwrights. When it comes to hiring other artists – performers, directors, or designers – I’m colorblind. Some directors deliberately cast actors of colors in certain roles in order to make a point. I focus on what the actor – aside from skin color -- can bring to the role. Of course, when working on plays that deal with race issues, the director needs to take race and ethnicity into consideration when casting. I don’t do too much cross gender-casting, but when I do it’s because there are so many talented women, and so few women’s roles in Renaissance through 18th century plays. JL: DC audiences are … CA: More intelligent than some producers, directors and playwrights realize. Come on, people, don’t be afraid of big words and big ideas. JL: DC actors and designers are … CA: Incredibly creative! JL: DC playwrights are .. CA: Increasingly part of a national community of writers, who are produced all over, not just in their home cities. JL: DC critics are … CA: Getting younger, and that’s good! Peter Marks is the best POST lead critic we’ve had since Richard Coe (I’m not sucking up, I just hated the last two critics), but more and more reviews are coming from the keyboards of people in their ‘30’s. These young reviewers tend to call out productions that skimp on basic storytelling, or that don’t hold the audience’s interest. JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming theatre artists who have just moved to D.C.? CA: If you’re an actor, audition for everything. If you’re a director or designer, volunteer a lot. JL: What's next for you as a director and your company? CA: DC SWAN (Support Women Artists Now) Day is next for us. It’s Saturday, March 23. DC SWAN Day features the Staged Reading Marathon, at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The Marathon is 12-15 short plays by women playwrights from all over the USA (and sometimes abroad), directed by DC area women directors. This year, we are presenting a “best-of” selection of plays read in the 2008-2012 DC SWAN Days. Check us out at www.georgetowntheatre.org
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JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
JOY ZINOMAN: began in the theatre as a professional child actress in Chicago sixty-one years ago at the age of nine. I knew what I wanted to do at an early age and never wavered. I was inspired by my teacher, Alvina Krause at Northwestern University where I went on an acting scholarship at age sixteen. JL: How long did you serve as Founding Artistic Director of Studio Theatre? What drew you to working to this position? What kept you there? JZ: The Studio Theatre was founded in 1979 and I served as Artistic Director from its beginning until stepping down in September 2010. So over thirty years. I stayed because I loved the work. JL: What was the most valuable lesson you learned in your tenure? Also, what traits do you feel a successful Founding Artistic Director should have to support the health and growth of an organization? JZ: It's harder to make art with strangers.You never know which shows will sell.You learn the most by teaching.It's not where you get to but how you get there. The big fish do not eat the small fish. JL: What excited you most about being an Founding Artistic Director? What do you feel your greatest challenge was? JZ: The greatest responsibility of an Artistic Director is choosing the work, choosing the artists and inspiring an organization. Most exciting is releasing the creativity of everyone toward common goals. Those are also the greatest challenges. Personally, the greatest challenge is having a career as a theatre artist and having a family. JL: Did your work as Founding Artistic Director pay the bills? If not, what else did you do? How do you balance your role leading an organization with your work as a director? Are you ever able to direct outside of your company? JZ: I was fortunate in the early years that my family sacrificed so I could work in the theatre. I did teach acting and directing to many devoted students before, during and after my life as an Artistic Director. I believe my work as a director satisfied me artistically and gave me the impetus to build and lead an organization. Because of my family, I made a decision to only direct at The Studio Theatre until I retired. JL: Looking at your body of work as Founding Artistic Director and now a director in the community, how conscious were you of selecting plays by women or people of color when deciding your season? Also, when it comes to hiring administrators, designers and other directors do you take race and gender into consideration? JZ: Yes, I was always conscious of selecting plays and colleagues with regard to race and gender. JL: DC audiences are . . . JZ: Sophisticated, very bright, aware of the bigger world and willing to be challenged. JL: DC actors and designers are . . . JZ: Has many parts: Superb experienced players of the first generation who began as the Theaters in DC grew and thrived, young actors drawn here by the theatre scene and it's opportunities, student actors coming out of local universities and Washington training programs. I have worked with the same very few wonderful designers for my whole career and continue to do so. JL: DC playwrights are … JZ: Have as tough a time getting their work seen here as everywhere. JL: DC critics are . . . JZ: Part of the essential artist- audience- critic ecosystem necessary to create a great theatre atmosphere. They are challenged by the rapidly changing media landscape. JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming theatre artists who have just moved to D.C.? JZ: Don't give up easily. Make sure you keep training. Embrace permanent space. Love the audience. JL: What's next for you as a director and your company? JZ: Next up for me is a production of a beautiful play by Amy Herzog called 4000 Miles. It will open in March in the Mead Theatre at the Studio Theatre designed by Russell Metheny and starring legendary actress Tana Hicken. I can't wait for rehearsals to begin. JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
SABRINA MANDELL: Theatre was always something I did from as far back as I can remember. My mother gave me a book about Sarah Bernhardt when I was 4 years old and I was convinced that it was about me, that I was her reincarnation. Then when I was about 9 years old I saw the film "The Dresser" starring Peter O'Toole and it resonated so deeply with me that I knew I would somehow become a stage actor. Then after much struggle finding a path to the kind of theatre I wanted to do - not interested in conventional, script-based work - I saw many shows over the years that inspired me, but I didn't know how to insert myself into them or where to begin then I stumbled on the pedagogy of Jacques Lecoq and landed on a passion for physical, devised theatre and started gathering the tools to do it. JL: How long have you served as Artistic Director at your company? What drew you to the position? What keeps you there? SM: I founded the company in 2006 and have been Artistic Co-Director since then. The vision of the company is very much in my heart. I stay because there is nowhere I would rather be, nothing better in the universe. I have basically arrived at my dream. Also, my partner/husband is my co-director, and our work is completely integrated into our life. There is no separation for us. We are living our art and so there is no need to go elsewhere. Sometimes I wish I had a personal assistant or business manager, but that's a different issue... JL: What is the most valuable lesson you learned during your tenure? SM: Being willing to relinquish control, but also knowing when to hold fast to an idea. I have learned that the best art comes from finessing the balance of collaboration and leadership. I have learned that trust is essential and so is discipline; I have learned that structure is as necessary as exploration and freedom. I have learned that making art is not about expression, but is about dialog. JL: What excites you most about being an Artistic Director? What is your greatest challenge? SM: I am most excited about the opportunity to realize visions, my own and those of the Company. My greatest challenge is also having to manage the business and production ends of things. JL: If your work as an artistic director doesn’t pay the bills, what else do you do? Also, how do you balance your role leading an organization with your work as a director? Are you ever able to direct outside of your company? SM: Managing Happenstance Theater is the bulk of what I do, it doesn't really pay the bills. My husband and I parse together a livelihood out of freelance performance and collaborations, teaching, consultation, school shows, working as clowns with the Big Apple Circus Clown Care unit, corporate gigs, and being presented by established theatres. I don't know how I balance everything. I guess I'm a bit of maniac/superhero and I try to build in time for Spa World. I am not really a conventional "director" so that's not something I seek out, but I love working with companies as a movement consultant or dramaturg. JL: Looking at your body of work as an artistic director and a director, how conscious are you and selecting plays by women or people of color when deciding your season? Also, when it comes to hiring administrators, designers and other directors do you take race and gender into consideration? SM: I don't "select plays" so those considerations don't arise in that way. We also seldom hire designers, directors and have yet to have an administrator, much to my chagrine. I am always conscious of integration and inclusion, this is america after all, but the truth is it is not a priority. We have built our small company over the years based on the work that we have created and the relationships that have developed over time with our collaborators. Our work is not "issue" based. The company is not diverse in outward color, but the palette is rich with eccentricity. There are 4 women and 2 men in the performance ensemble. We are of eastern and central european descent, I am a jew, one of the men is white, but with roots in Brazil, one of the women is gay. None of this was strategic. JL: DC audiences are … SM: Lovely and very receptive. Sometimes it feels like they are too willing to go along and I wonder if the status-quo-bar gets set too low. JL: DC actors and designers are … SM: Not challenged enough to push beyond convention. Not driven to high quality because we exist in such a "supportive" environment. JL: DC playwrights are .. SM: Inspiring. JL: DC critics are … SM: Incidental. JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming theatre artists who have just moved to D.C.? SM: Be patient. Take classes. Go see shows and court the companies doing the work you are interested in doing. JL: What's next for you as a director and your company? SM: We have a show in development and we start rehearsals this week. It is called VANITAS and will run at Round House Theatre Silver Spring from March 29 - April 14. Come look into our Cabinet of Curiosities and see how Happenstance handles the Age of Discovery. Featuring Mark Jaster, Sabrina Mandell, Karen Hansen, Gwen Grastorf, Sarah Olmsted Thomas and Alex Vernon. In this new Happenstance Theater work of art, three archetypal characters, The Queen, The Fool, and the Musician, and their shadows, the three fates, play with Time and manipulate objects to remind the viewer to consider Imagination as a vehicle to transcend life's inevitabilities. Vanitas still-life painting was a genre that flourished in the Netherlands in the early 17th century. These paintings depict collections of objects symbolic of the inevitability of death and the transience of earthly achievements and pleasures, (Bouquets of cut flowers, skulls, and timepieces) and remind the viewer to consider mortality and spiritual life. For more information visit us at http://www.HappenstanceTheater.com JACQUELINE LAWTON: Why did you decide to get into theatre? Was there someone or a particular show that inspired you?
CECILIA CACKLEY: I was lucky enough to go to a high school with a huge theater program--we did 8-10 shows a year, almost all directed by students. For me, theater was a natural extension of all the games of 'playing pretend' from when I was a kid. I went back and forth between theater and music education as my main career goals, but when I ended up at a college with a theater department but no music education major, that pretty much decided things for me. The experience that got me hooked on puppetry was a retrospective exhibit on Julie Taymor at the National Museum of Women in the Arts that I saw when I was in high school. It made my brain explode with all the storytelling possibilities of puppets. JL: How long have you served as Artistic Director at your company? What drew you to the position? What keeps you there? CC: I've been calling myself the Artistic Director for a couple of months now. The company itself came into being very slowly and then all at once this past fall as we really starting preparing for our first full-length show. Since I've been the person who organizes everything, I ended up with the title 'artistic director,' and I'm still getting used to it. I'm excited to get to collaborate with new and old friends and tell stories in exciting ways with puppets! JL: What is the most valuable lesson you learned during your tenure? Also, what skills and traits do you feel a successful artistic director should have to support the health and growth of an organization? CC: This lesson is something I was told by an author, but I think it applies to theater artists as well as writers. If someone tells you "No" it really means "Not yet." That has been very valuable--to remember to be patient but also have perseverance. I think artistic directors need to be good listeners, with open minds. I think they need to be willing to take risks. Being organized and able to manage a lot of stress is also really helpful. JL: What excites you most about being an Artistic Director? What is your greatest challenge? CC: I love having the opportunity to tell the stories that I want to tell, and collaborate with lots of different artists. I'm excited to get to share puppetry with as many people as possible, both children and adults. My greatest challenge is balancing the various projects within the company, which include school workshops, performances of old shows and creation of new shows. It's a lot to keep up with and can be overwhelming sometimes. JL: If your work as an artistic director doesn’t pay the bills, what else do you do? Also, how do you balance your role leading an organization with your work as a director? CC: I used to teach elementary school full-time, but I left that about nine months ago so I could do more work as a puppeteer. So far, teaching artist work, stage-managing and part-time work in a bookstore have been enough to pay the bills. I will do pretty much any kind of work as long as it has some combination of art, books and children. Balancing the artistic work with the work of running the organization is definitely a challenge. I try to schedule specific times to work on business things and specific times to work on building puppets or sketching ideas. Genna Davidson and Pat Germann, who are my main collaborators, help me stay organized, and I've been lucky enough to have the opportunity to continue working as a director or performer with other companies as well. JL: Looking at your body of work as an artistic director and a director, how conscious are you and selecting plays by women or people of color when deciding your season? Also, when it comes to hiring administrators, designers and other directors do you take race and gender into consideration? CC: It's hard to say, since our body of work is still so small and almost all of it was created by me. But several of the sources for stories that I've turned into puppet shows are by women and I'm very interested in stories from different places around the world, especially Africa and Latin America. My hope is that our repertory will be diverse and so will our collaborators. I guess time will tell. JL: DC audiences are ... CC: Enthusiastic and diverse. JL: DC actors and designers are ... CC: Some of my favorite people in the world. JL: DC playwrights are … CC: Imaginative and out-of-the box thinkers. JL: DC critics are ... CC: People who have their own artistic tastes, just like any other audience member. JL: What advice do you have for an up and coming theatre artists who have just moved to D.C.? CC: Reach out to companies who are doing work that you love and ask if you can be involved in some way! Everyone is always eager to work with new people who share their enthusiasm for the arts. JL: What's next for you as a director and your company? CC: As a director I'll be working with Young Playwright's Theater in February on a staged reading in their New Writer's Now series. I'll also be continuing to build puppets for Wit's End Puppets' first full-length show The Amazing and Marvelous Cabinets of Kismet which will run at the Mead Theater Lab at Flashpoint April 26-May 19. It's an original story of one puppet's journey through fear and the unknown, and it uses a combination of puppets made from found objects and paper. I will be performing, and Carmen Wong is directing; we're all really excited to share it with DC audiences! |
My BlogI'm a playwright, dramaturg, and teaching artist. It is here where you'll find my queries and musings on life, theater and the world. My posts advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity in the American Theatre and updates on my own work. Please enjoy!
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