Hi,
So I was asked to perhaps start a blog about the ups and downs of a Director from concept to performance of a show, hmmm. Well after minutes of thought, why not.
Who am I, well the name is Stephen Cresswell, a freelance Director who at present, and I must admit for the past five years, has been the resident director for Canterbury Operatic Society. After directing ‘Me and My Girl’, ‘Kiss Me Kate’, ‘My Fair Lady’ (all at the Marlowe Canterbury), ’Pirates’ (the Penzance kind) and ‘Pajama Game’ at the Gulbenkian, this year I get to do a show of my choice. And what a show it is.
Having spent five years treading the boards around the country and in the West End and then setting up my own small theatre group in South East Kent, I have the chance to direct a show from my all time favourite writer and sort of namesake Stephen Sondheim. A hero to all who appreciate his talent.
The show is ‘Into the Woods’ and will be at the Gulbenkian from the 20th to the 26th March 2011.
So, my work actually started in April of this year with the decision that this was to be the show for 2011 with my getting to grips with putting together a proposal for the production. As a Director I find it still quite amazing that people seem to think that we can just throw something together at a moment’s notice. People do not realise the amount of preparatory work that has to be done before getting to that stage. Sets to design; costumes to consider; schedules to conceive; concepts of the show to decide upon. However enough of that. Back to the show. So what is it all about?
Ask people and they will answer one of two things, either “never heard of it” or “Oh yeah right, that’s the show about fairytales”.
Well yes it is but it is so much more.
On the surface, Into the Woods is an blend of some of the world's most beloved fairy tales set to the magnificent music of Stephen Sondheim...but like all the best fairy tales, it contains light...and darkness, becoming a metaphor for our own personal journeys in life: what paths we take, what wishes we make and ultimately what we discover along the way in regards to love, loss, values, choices and responsibility. Like the characters in the show, in life, we continually find ourselves having to return to the woods, faced with new challenges, new perspectives and new choices.
When things seem most at odds, who do we blame? Who actually is to blame? What is right? What is wrong?
It deals with the choices people make and the effects that those choices have. It is about the fears people have and how to deal with them, and also about blame and how easy it is to blame others for your actions and the repercussions those choices and actions have.
To understand the show we first need to understand what fairytales are. They were, of course, stories told to children and adults alike at a time when people could neither read nor write to teach them about right and wrong and how to behave. Some of them were quite horrific. Just look at Snow White, a jealous stepmother, afraid her stepdaughter would be far more beautiful than she, sends her into the woods with a man who has been paid to cut out her heart and when this fails she dresses as a beggar woman and poisons her, the consequences, she falls to her death during a chase.
Into The Woods takes these themes and amplifies them for a modern audience. The first half of the show sees Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Jack (of beanstalk fame) The Childless Baker and his Wife, Rapunzal and the Witch starting their journeys in search of something they all desire and ends with them all achieving their goals by lying, cheating, stealing or killing in order that they can live happily ever after. Act two takes us further through their lives and shows us the consequences of those actions.
It is a show to stir feelings, to stir thought and discussion and a show that will touch everyone who sees it or is a part of it.
So my first official engagement was to present my ideas for the show to the company who will hopefully make up my ensemble. This is an ensemble piece and there are no stars. It is always a daunting task, one is always worried that people will not like the ideas you have or even may not want to work with you, heaven forbid. But, we had a good crowd, some new faces, and I hope eventually a cast.
After the meeting I came home rather elated that so many people were positive about the show, took one look at the set model that I had been making and suddenly decided I wanted to change it. It is quite exhilarating to be able to move trees at a moment’s notice, and although I do not agree with chopping down our forests and woods, it may be that I will need to put my objections aside for the sake of this show.
Well, the next step is auditions which we will be holding on Sunday 11th September. For a Director as well as for the auditionees this is always a fraught and tiring day. You look out over a sea of expectant faces knowing full well that you only have openings for 19 people and that no matter what you do, someone is going to be disappointed. Well that’s life as they say. If you can’t take the heat get out of the fire.
