I'm a scenic and lighting designer. Occasionally, I design costumes.
I'm also a playwright. And I direct on occasion.
I know...in our profession we like people to stick to one thing.
I don't. Get over it.
A bit about me...
My theatrical influences are Peter Brook (Open Door),
Robert Edmond Jones (The Dramatic Imagination)
and Edward Gordon Craig for a few.
I'm big on using design to evoke a time/place/emotion/etc
rather than trying to recreate reality on stage.
I fully believe theatre should be tailored to the time/place of it's presentation,
and use the fact that theatre audiences generally will accept
non-linear thinking on the stage.
Besides, we cannot do reality as it's done on TV and film,
and why would we want to try?
Direct orally, I try to keep in simple. Know the script, get the actors to know the characters,
have a plan to convey what's important, and then just stay out of the way.
I've read stuff by/about Anne Bogart, and I find it a bit esoteric.
I've not seen a work she's directed, so she may be brilliant, but I've not found it in print.
William Ball's A Sense of Direction has a great foundation for young directors,
and I've picked up a bend toward Meisner's approach to teaching actors (at least as I understand it),
though I tend to goose it a bit after a couple weeks of rehearsal.
I like Shakespeare and am drawn to Greek tragedy
(that could be the Lutheran in me coming out),
but I also like Pinter and Mamet and Brian Friel and Romulus Linney.
I tend toward "serious" theatre as opposed to fluffy musical comedy,
(I'll take Waiting for Godot over Seven Brides for Seven Brothers any day)
but that's not to say I hate theatre unless someone dies.
After grad school ('98), my wife and I lived in Germany,
and I worked with a US Army community theatre.
Then when our girls came along, and we returned to the states,
I've stayed at home with the girls because family is important.
So, I'm working close to home -
a community theatre for young people and the local high school,
and then professional and academic gigs as they can be fit in.
As my girls get older, I'm hoping to have more time to engage in more professional theatre.
As a result, most of my shows are low budget (under $2000).
That's not a complaint, just a fact.
So you won't be overwhelmed with the result of a show
with a $50,000 materials budget and a staff of dozens.
Most of what you see I did with a handful of helpers,
mostly volunteers, some students, and many with little training in theatre.
Feel free to contact me, I welcome the feedback, questions and comments. And enjoy.
