In the Summer Pavilion
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Kathy Gail MacGowan
September 27, 2012
What is your job on this show?
Director.
When did you know you wanted to work in the theater, and why?
My mother was a stage actress, and as I child, I helped her run lines, saw her in shows, and as a family we drove from Dover, Delaware to see some iconic NYC musicals open on Broadway. As a child, in the darkness of the theater , I always felt permission to experience the "really big feelings" of life, the world just opened up powerfully and joyfully on stage. I still feel the same way watching theater, and I experience no greater joy now, than when I'm directing a show.
Why do you do theater (as opposed to film, or TV, or something not in the entertainment field)?
I've acted in both film and theater, but directed mostly in the theater. I think they engage different parts of the brain and require different abilities. With theater the play is worked on over time, and with this time comes a deepening of the material. In theater you have to have a respect and patience for the process of rehearsal, and as a director of theater, a strong "ear" for the dialogue, as a opposed to an "eye" for film. I truly love theater, I deeply value the process as much as the result. The fact that that "result" changes every night makes theater dynamic and daring.
Why did you want to write/direct/produce/act in/work on this show?
Paul -the playwright- a fellow MFA colleague, had graciously given me several of his plays to read, once we decided to collaborate. I was attracted to the framing of the play within the German Philosophy of Reinhardt Koselleck, concerning history and time. Also, the lives of Nabile, Clarissa, and Ben very much resonated with my own time at school and early adulthood. That journey of reconciling youthful optimism, with the making of a meaningful yet practicall life in New York, felt very close to home.
Which “S” word best describes your show: SMOOTH, SEXY, SMART, SURPRISING?
Surprising", in that it the play encompasses all of the "S"s you asked about (sexy,smart,and smooth)! When Clarissa, Ben and Nabile, meet up in all of their possible futures together, it is always fascinating to see the new "state of their friendships, as well as the evolution of their concerns and ambitions in the larger world,as well as their current attractions to one another.
Who are your heroes?
My children because they bring innocence, wonder, surprise, and honesty to the world everyday. They are direct and open. They teach me far more than I have taught them.
