Video Interviews and Workshops
Directing Shakespeare at “Hamlet’s Castle”: Lars Romann Engel in Conversation with Dr. Anne Sophie Refskou. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
Lars Romann Engel, Artistic Director of “HamletScenen,” in conversation with Dr. Anne Sophie Refskou, Lecturer at University of Surrey, describes his process of working on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He analyzes the process of working with the text and understanding the context of the play and its significance today. The interview took place in Elsinore, Denmark, in August 2017.
Making Robot Theatre: An Interview with Oriza Hirata of Tokyo-Based Seinendan. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
This video presentation features playwright and director Oriza Hirata’s concept of robot theatre. Following course to a live interview with the author at Agora Theatre in Tokyo (March 2016), this video was prepared for the purposes of this book in August 2017. Many thanks to Ryohei Yamamori for all his help with the video, the audiovisual material, and the English subtitles!
Working with the Choreographer. Performer Miranda Manasiadis in a Physical Workshop with Choreographer Malia Johnston. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
This workshop, which brought together performer Miranda Manasiadis and choreographer Malia Johnston, took place at Footnote Dance and Deirdre Tarrant Studios in Wellington, New Zealand, in May 2017 in preparation for work on Phaedra I—a solo multimedia performance piece by Avra Sidiropoulou, based on the myth of Phaedra and Hippolytus. Miranda and Malia worked with a number of challenges that Avra had set up in order to explore different possibilities of embodying Phaedra today.
Working with the Lighting Designer: An Interview with Maria Cristina Fusté. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
New-York based lighting designer Maria Cristina Fusté discusses in detail her process of lighting a theatre production and the different stages involved therein. She focuses on the multiple aspects of the director-designer collaboration and illustrates her thoughts with images from her own design work. This interview took place in the Centro de Bellas Artes de Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, in October 2017.
Working with the Set Designer. An Interview with Athena Stourna. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch
This conversation, which took place in Athens in July 2017, is the result of a process of working on possible ideas for set design for Henrik Ibsen’s The Lady from the Sea. Athena Stourna shares her intuitions in front of a model she built for the purposes of this book, shedding light on fundamental questions that permeate the director-scenographer collaboration.
Adapting the Classics: From the Point of View of the Director. A Practical Workshop for Directing Students Led by Avra Sidiropoulou at RESAD (Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático de Madrid) in Madrid, Spain, October 2017. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
This video features snapshots from two different directing workshops conducted in October 2017 with two groups of directing students at RESAD in Madrid, Spain. The workshops focused on strategies of recontextualizing classical works and determining directorial point of view. Special thanks to Dr. Ana Contreras for making this possible!
Can Directing be Taught? Vanessa Christodoulou Talks about Directing in Education. Video editing by Kostas Katrios.
Vanessa Christodoulou, graduate of the MA in Theatre Studies Program at the Open University of Cyprus, talks about her experience of being taught directing in a distance-learning context. She shares audiovisual material taken from her directing work, which was produced especially for class projects. This video was shot in Athens in October 2017.
Directors and their Process: An Interview with John Collins of New York-based Elevator Repair Service (ERS). Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
John Collins, award-winning Artistic Director of Elevator Repair Service (ERS), shares his ideas on directing, working with an ensemble, adapting the classics, and developing a directorial style. This video presentation took place in New York City in July 2017. Special thanks to Hanna Novak for all her help!
Credits
Gatz
Ensemble
Nick, Scott Shepherd (also Ben Williams)
Jim, Jim Fletcher
Lucille, Kate Scelsa
Jordan, Suzie Sokol (also Sibyl Kempson or Annie McNamara)
Daizy, Victoria Vasquez (also Lucy Taylor)
Tom, Gary Wilmes (also Robert Cucuzza or Ben Williams)
Chester, Vin Knight (also Greig Sargeant or John Collins)
George, Aaron Landsman (also Frank Boyd)
Catherine, Annie McNamara (also Kristen Sieh or Lindsay Hockaday)
Michaelis, Ben Williams (also Matt Tierney)
Myrtle, Laurena Allan
Ewing, Mike Iveson
Henry C. Gatz, Ross Fletcher
Director, John Collins
Associate Director, Steve Bodow
Set Designer, Louisa Thompson
Lighting Designer, Mark Barton
Assistant Lighting Designer, Dans Maree Sheehan
Sound Designer, Ben Williams
Sound Engineer, Jason Sebastian
Costume Designer, Coleen Werthmann
Assistant Costume Designer, Campbell Ringel, Anna Schumacher
Stage Manager/ Assistant Director, Sarah Hughes
Production Manager, B.D. White
Producer, Ariana Smart Truman
Company Manager, Lindsay Hockaday
Gatz was originally stage managed by Daya Wolterstorff, 2004-2006.
Robert Cucuzza originated the role of Tom, 2004-2007.
Ethan Lipton originated the role of Ewing, 2004-2005
Paul Boocock, Sue Dennis, Rinne Groff, James Hannaham, Sibyl Kempson, Leah Rudick, Jay Smith, and James Urbaniak contributed to the development of Gatz.
Measure for Measure
Elevator Repair Service
Presents
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Written by William Shakespeare
Created and performed by Elevator Repair Service
Directed by John Collins
Produced by Ariana Smart Truman
CAST
The Duke SCOTT SHEPHERD
Escalus VIN KNIGHT
Angelo PETE SIMPSON
Lucio MIKE IVESON
Provost MAGGIE HOFFMAN
Froth, a friar, a boy, Barnardine, a messenger GAVIN PRICE
Mistress Overdone, Elbow/Abhorson, Varrius SUSIE SOKOL
Pompey, Juliet LINDSAY HOCKADAY
Claudio GREIG SARGEANT
A nun, Mariana APRIL MATTHIS
Isabella RINNE GROFF
CREDITS
Set Designer Jim Findlay
Costume Designer Kaye Voyce
Lighting Designers Mark Barton & Ryan Seelig
Projection Designer Eva von Schweinitz
Sound Designer Gavin Price
Specialty and Prop Designer Amanda Villalobos
Teleprompter Software Designer Scott Shepherd
Production Stage Manager Maurina Lioce
Assistant Stage Manager Spencer Armstrong
Production Manager David Nelson
Assistant Set Designer Ivey Long
Assistant Set Designer Elliott Cennetoglu
Assistant Costume Designer Alice Tavener
Associate Sound Designer Kevin Semancik
Assistant Projection Designer Julia Frey
Assistant Prop Designer Ashley Chen
Sound Engineers Jason Sebastian, Kevin Semancik
Light Board & Projections Operator Matthias Neckermann
MUSIC CREDITS
“Das Liebesverbot” Written by Richard Wagner. Performed By Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra. Courtesy of Naxos of America, Inc.
“The Star-Crossed Lovers” Written by Edward Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Published by Sony ATV Harmony/Tempo Music Inc (ASCAP).
“Kidnapped” (from the original motion picture soundtrack to North by Northwest) Written and performed by Bernard Herrmann. Published by EMI Music/Ole Grand Films (BMI). Courtesy of Warner Bros Entertainment Inc and Turner Entertainment Co.
“Vienna” Written and performed by Billy Joel. Published by Joelsongs (ASCAP). Courtesy of Columbia Records. By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing.
Credits for Production Video of MEASURE FOR MEASURE
Director of Photography & Editor Eva von Schweinitz
MEASURE FOR MEASURE was originally commissioned by The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis Artistic Director, Patrick Willingham Executive Director. It was originally co-produced by The Public Theater and Elevator Repair Service in 2017, and was developed in part at residencies at: Theaterworks with New York City College of Technology Entertainment Technology Department, in collaboration with The Public Theater; at PlayMakers Repertory Company, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vivienne Benesch, Producing Artistic Director; and at the Access Theater Residency Program.
The original production was made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Elevator Repair Service is also supported with funds from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation – New York Theater Program, Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, The Dorothy Strelsin Foundation, Edward T. Cone Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation for Contemporary Arts, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jockey Hollow Foundation, Lucille Lortel Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Select Equity Group SEG New Voices Initiative, and the Shubert Foundation. Production design support provided by the Edith Lutyens and Norman Bel Geddes Design Enhancement Fund, a program of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./New York). The creation of interactive digital tools to modulate the tempo of the performance was supported by a Magic Grant from the David and Helen Gurley Brown Institute for Media Innovation. Elevator Repair Service is a member of Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York.
THE ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS EMPLOYED IN THIS PRODUCTION
ARE MEMBERS OF ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION, THE UNION OF
PROFESSIONAL ACTORS AND STAGE MANAGERS IN THE UNITED STATES.
Working with the Actor: Kate Mueth of Neo-Political Cowgirls Experimenting with Blanche du Bois. Video editing by Emy Tzavra Bulloch.
Director-performer Kate Mueth of Neo-Political Cowgirls works with the author on Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire. This workshop took place in East Hampton, New York, in October 2016, part of an attempt to address different ways of looking at a character. Special thanks to Josh Gladstone for letting us use Guildhall Hall for the purposes of our rehearsal and to August Gladstone for handling the camera.