Silbert, Roxana (7 of 8). The legacy of the English Stage Company

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Title:
Silbert, Roxana (7 of 8). The legacy of the English Stage Company
Subjects: Theatre directors
Description: Provider: - Institution: - Data provided by Europeana Collections- Part 7: [Session six: 6 June 2011] 'Measure for Measure' at Swan Theatre starts rehearsal in August 2011. RS casting. RS at RCT as assistant for a year, then to Young People's Theatre for 2 years, left, then back as part-time associate for about 2 ½ years. Appointed by Max Stafford Clark, then there for takeover by Stephen Daldry. Work with international programme, working with Elyse Dodgson [ED] ' worked with Spain, Uganda, Mexico and Brazil. Still in touch with writers in Brazil ' Luis Mario Moncardo ' big programme of international new work. Will direct a play of his next year for RSC (2012). Flexibility of South American playwrights ' mixed media, also direct in to current state of countries. Explanation of changes in international programme at RCT. [09:10] Takeover of SD from MSC ' MSC not wanting to leave, but they shared an office ' huge respect between them ' MSC's decision to set up Out-of-Joint ' handover incredibly generous ' huge cultural shift. RCT very stable and happy at takeover. Nature of cultural shift ' 1) approach to design ' with MSC, all sets had same budget ' idea of serving the play ' SD turned theatre round, brought in sound designer, argued that production budgets should go up, and change according to size of production. Fought hard for visual dimension not previously part of RCT's culture. 2) under MSC, directors/plays married, marriages always settled. SD broke through ' literary dept. became much more powerful ' literary manager worked on play before production. Huge drive for first-time playwrights, both upstairs and downstairs. SD brought in James MacDonald, Graham Whybrow [GW]. SD restructured young people's theatre, and also moved ED from education into international. SD's initial interest in physical theatre, but shows didn't sell, had to rethink. SD enormous fun, has tremendous charisma, makes you feel great ' is very positive, praising, ruthless ' would let you do a project, give you space to make it happen ' created sense of family, parties, dinners, treasure hunts ' RS in group with Nick Hytner's mother, head of development ' SD brilliant at bringing in extraordinary people, like Wally Shawn ' lots of treats ' audiences very glamorous ' brilliant at speeches, generous to others ' everyone worked really hard. [23:33] SD lost very few people ' believed in a mixed culture ' liked mix of ages, genders, cultures ' some casualties in production ' lots more pressure on production ' departments became much bigger. Effect on financial health of theatre ' SD's productions made lots of money ' fund-raising became important ' SD himself raised money. Need to be essential and urgent. Very exciting time. Literary department ' GW starting as play reader, a friend of SD, no theatre background-- became literary manager. Robin Hooper as literary manager, did it for 3 years, wanted to leave, pleased to get life back. 3 years the norm. Effect of GW taking over dept. ' rigour of intellectual debate. Script readings very competitive environment ' political voting ' this changed overnight. GW a proper intellectual, so meeting became springboard for discussion about theatre and RCT ' very demanding. GW a back-throne power, started and led a lot of initiatives. Helped reshape international residency. Was interested in both grown-up and baby writers. [34:32] One-to-ones with GW and writer. RS commissioning work, sitting in on meetings. Readings, workshops continued, but less, much more one-to-one. GW's approach not prescriptive, spent lots of time asking questions, trying to find out what writer is trying to achieve, so they leave knowing what to do next. GW's ethos ' it's not the play you want to direct, it's the play the writer wants to write. Actors can make work sound OK in reading, so reading would come at later point. GW never came to rehearsals ' would send play ready to be rehearsed. RS's work as assistant incredibly boring, lots of photocopying, but also overhearing discussions between writer and GW, learned a lot through that. Also watching MSC very valuable. GW's rare skill, a clever man who came without preconceptions. [41:21] RS's own work with YPT ' lots of work with disadvantaged young people, community work, then started commissioning tours ' RS directed plays by Nick Grosso and Winsome Pinnock, and Rebecca Pritchard's 'Essex Girls'. Big community project on 'Pocahontas'. SD wanted to get Notting Hill kids into the theatre ' RS did choral piece as part of Barclay's New Stages. Development of plays to Young Writers Festival, different age groups. Commissions. Plays to appeal to young audiences. Description of 'Pocahontas' -- casting from around rough area around Ladbroke Grove ' kids got tickets to see shows ' Sophie Okoneda started like that. Age ranges not enforced ' supposedly under 25. Regular weekly meetings, plus special projects. Also a youth worker involved. Lots of successful actors and writers. [52:00] Large step forward for RS ' had done some directing elsewhere, including Goldoni plays ' worked incredibly hard ' proved to SD that she could direct. Only proper RCT play was play by Che Walker, also 2 or 3 international plays for ED. RS now knew she wanted to direct, also that she had to catch up. How she directs a play: reading, seeing if she has an emotional response ' analyses play page by page, collects facts, units it, actions it, collects information (facts) ' tries to start with neutral collection of impressions, writes a lot down. Big change now at RSC, directing big plays, have to write a lot more down. Choice of designer etc. very early on ' helpful in evolving idea ' casting helpful because you hear it. Designers RS worked with at YPT. Working with designers, hearing v different impressions of the play ' what play's about, what you want to achieve. Looking at visual reference, sketches, white-card models, full models. Sometimes have to allow flexibility. [1:01:00] Working with actors: meet and greet, show model, have read-through. 1st two weeks getting to know people, and play ' creating even playing field. Lots of reading play, asking questions if new play, very useful for the writer. Mediating a lot, trying to create comfortable environment. A layering process, working through going back and starting again ' very hard at RSC because of availability of actors. Might look at one relationship in play. Might do movement work, fight sequences, music work. The start run-throughs. Possible problems with play, need to cut. But actors have ownership with new work. No pre-planning of staging, apart from work with designer. Some plays demand certain sets. Useful to feel there's a logic. Directing is literally giving direction ' providing a framework to give freedom. RS loves working with actors on interpretation ' they need emotional truth and reality ' they know characters better than anyone else but you must keep an eye on the arc of the play. Difference between why people do things and what they do ' what's really going on. Lots of digging, in exchanges between director and actor. Rarely happens that director and actor disagree. RS always pleasantly surprised by execution, more brilliant than you ever imagined. Trying to create such conditions. [1:15:00] Actioning ' some love it, some find stifling. RS will bring in if someone has a difficulty with a speech. Just a tool among many others, you use what you can to free people up. Changes in RS's practice since RCT days? Doing less and less, much more encouraging than critical, quite dramatic change. Experience of giving positive feedback when very ill, realisation that it was best practice for giving people confidence. Now does a lot less physical stuff because that's training, not directing, might still do with young actors. Examples from Little Eagles. [1:21:00] International programme ' visit from German director ' SD on lookout for international work ' decided on a week of readings. As English playwrights felt readings were knell of death, RCT had abolished readings for them ' so international dept. could fill the gap. In Uganda, nothing on at national theatre for ten years, similarly in South America during dictatorships, so no new theatre in those countries ' this was kick-starting. Success of German week, huge appetite for foreign work, but plays weren't there ' so let's go and get them. All planning done by ED, RS just did workshops ' first one was Uganda, with Carl Miller. Very well looked after by British Council, stayed in posh hotel rooms, writers incredibly keen for input ' totally joyous. Sometimes feeling uncomfortable to be teaching grown-ups, dentists, academics, lawyers ' hard to find balance. Always worked in partnership with the companies, who recruited the writers and continued to support programme after RCT left. Going back next time you knew writers, had read first draft ' second visit more intense, getting to second draft, using writers to help each other get better. Few directors wanted to direct new plays, so worked engaging directors, doing workshops. Got to know people well over 3 year period. [1:33:00] Nature of workshops ' finding out what they were interested in ' setting playwriting workshops ' meeting and discussing their ideas. How to evolve atmosphere etc. into temporal line, or story ' have to leave them with something writeable. They may want to write about grief, but that's not a play, it's a poem ' they must have somewhere to go. Writers writing in English, only common language in Uganda. Percentage of work that really took off? Festival at NT of Uganda, relaunched possibility of new work there. RS unable to go. Changing personnel for return visits. Also grant for one writer to come and do an MA in Birmingham. Great success in Argentina, several writers came to international residency, now very successful playwrights teaching back home. Not frustrating but invigorating ' all these writers have tremendous struggle, th
Creation Date: 2010
Language: English
Source: Europeana Collections


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Silbert, Roxana (7 of 8). The legacy of the English Stage Company

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