23/10/2017
New Directions #1 - Masque Theatre
A project to encourage new directors to develop their skill set and practical experience of putting in a show in a supported environment.
The project started in 2016, I wanted to do something to commemorate Ursula Wright, a brilliant teacher and director with Masque who had given me, and many others, so much of her time and knowledge over the years. With the blessing of her husband Brian we set about getting things off the ground...
Alex Rex my long term collaborator came on board from the start, Matt Fell and Bev Webster joined us shortly after to come up with a one act play festival format and scripts that would work, paired with a short series of workshops... directors boot camp. I quickly realised that for all my love of theatre I know hardly any one act plays so I was very grateful to have their wealth of knowledge in this area. We boiled the texts we liked down to a shorter list of six and started the hunt for our guinea pig directors...
This was harder than we thought, there was plenty of interest but the harsh reality of time commitment made ‘next time you do it I’m in!’, a regular response. However we found three brave souls all from very different backgrounds, Emma a writer and occasional actor with a busy home life, Lisa one of our recent leading ladies looking for a new creative challenge and Tom a professional actor from out of town. A nice mix.
The process got underway, we had workshops on design, tech, stage management and of course directing (because of course amateur theatre directing is never JUST directing!). It was great to see the wealth of skills and knowledge we have in the Masque community being freely passed along.
Then it was quickly into casting and rehearsal time and the familiar patter of thespian feet, rigmarole of pr and admin, costumes and props all took over. But times three. And I realised there is something harder than trying to produce your own show, trying to help someone else produce their own show without being too hands on. Being helpful and not taking over, was a new challenge for a control freak like me.
Just as we were all running out of steam a bit, the stage management machine that is Megan Lucas joined the project and made it all work on a practical level. Phew.
We’ve had a great run, everyone who was a part of this project has contributed to something that is more than just a series of random one act plays. The power of community theatre to mutually support, motivate and enable is something that continues to thrill me. I hope Ursula would have approved of what we all did. I think she would.
Photos: Joe Brown
