Last
night the Youth Theatre group I take at Harrogate Youth Theatre performed their
dark piece inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. It wasn’t just
the title, Poe-Faced, that was the comedic element to this piece. In-between
all the ghastly ravens and murder and the like, there were some nice funny
moments, advanced physical theatre and creepy story-telling.
The
group can be very funny, indeed they have a lot of dry wit and great understand
of timing for their age range (12-14s). But their great strength
with the performance was understanding the world we inhabited. Though
we explored different scenes of interrogation, paranoia and madness around the
texts of Tell-Tale Heart and The Raven, the group were able to see recurring
images, themes and motifs in the form of an asylum-like setting, reference to
medication, eyes and denial. I think this was because in the
rehearsal room we really swam into these depths of the story, playing with fear
and fixation in warm-ups.
This
was my first show as a director in a technical setting. I have
directed show-backs and PIAWs and projects many times, but with a paying audience
with LIGHTS and SFX I felt very proud indeed that everything came together.
On
reflection, it’s interesting that the key skills I realised I had learnt
directing this group were compromise and confidence.
With
compromise, there were certain moments if it was an older group, or we had an
extra rehearsal, I would have tweaked. For example, one scene a
character acts like a Nurse in an asylum. In the context of the
scene, in the context of the ensemble performing, it would have made sense for
this character to interact with other actors onstage and explore their
environment rather than just the 2 she had worked with previously. I
would have encouraged more recurring images, the moon for example, highlighted
the idea of a staring eye and prompted actors to try something new. However,
the fact the group have achieved this level of performance and achieved this
level of skill has been hugely impressive. I wonder if directors
working with adults watch the last trickles of rehearsal and clock certain
moments which they would tweak, but now the show is up and running, decide
compromise is the most productive pulse.
Next
skill: Confidence to make the calls that need making. No
time for ums and ars and as much as we all need to collaborate, directors soon
realise you give an inch, a mile might later be taken. Because at
this stage, people can start changing things or playing around too much and
lose the consistency. For example, the group are entirely in black
as an ensemble, and yet if some were to wear a hoody, then it wouldn’t quite
gel with the rest of the cast. As much as it’s a small thing, to
allow for a degree of difference opens a floodgate of costume
liabilities. Confident directors make a decision, even a slight one,
with all the strictness of deciding the important-est factors.
It’s
a shame that when one reaches a certain age, it becomes harder and harder to be
a ‘director’ or, in my case, ‘direct something’. Because the
opportunities are scarce, the invitations and the offers are limited to people
who are making a career out of it, and quite rightly. If someone
wanted to direct an adult production, they would look to the numerous directors
eager for projects in York, and the city. And my skills very much
lie within directing young people, but I would still love to be the moulder and
crafter for an adult company. But I’m a YT practitioner
theatre-maker, writer etc and the jack-of-all-trades don’t always master them
all.
Sounds
like I’m damning myself. You gotta play, I’d love to direct
it. But to work on it with confidence and compromise would also be
super.
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