Thoughtful Consideration, where the idea first bloomed/ My inspirational moment with William Hurt.

 The term thoughtful consideration isn't really mine. I stole it, well kind of stole it. The actual words came out of someone else's mouth, and I liked the words and the ideal behind the words. So I use them now as my own, and have given them my own definition in relation to directing and the art of theatre. Let's start with how I got to the term thoughtful consideration. 


In February of 2004, I was in rehearsals for The Drawer Boy at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland. I was the stage manager, and I was also the company production manager. The three actors in the play were Allen Nause who was also the Artistic Director, Patrick Wohlmut, and Academy Award winning actor William Hurt. Now ART runs a little like my old 69 Mustang did, it had a lot of power and drive, but needed a lot of maintenance and love. It is the second largest theatre in Portland but at the time was still a fairly small company with many of us wearing several hats. As the production manager it was my job to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible. So, we took the USUAL steps...Allen hired a director, I got the designers on board, we cast Patrick, we had design meetings, we had production meetings, we met a lot before the first rehearsal, trying to be super prepared. What we were not really prepared for was William Hurt. He was like rocket fuel, and the old Mustang just worked on regular. 


Now, I first want to say that I have nothing but respect for William. He is a tremendously dedicated and talented actor. He is also challenging. It was this "challenging" that changed the way I thought about theatre forever. It was the second or third day of rehearsal and I had taped out the set after a few days of table work. The actors had gotten up on their feet and were learning  where everything was on the set. It was essentially a large kitchen with a couple of doors leading to the outdoors and to hallways and then stairways to front yard and barns and so on. There was an area stage right that was particularly confusing, because the stairwell  was in an odd location. I was trying to explain the dimensions of the stairwell and the location of it all to the actors when the life changing moment happened. William asked "Why is it like this?" and I said "This is the way it was designed." and he said " I know that. Why?!" I replied "I don't know, I guess we would have to ask the designer." Then he asked me the questions I really didn't expect. "Why weren't we asked to sit in on design meetings?" "Why are we always just left to accept what the designer designs?" "We are the ones who have to work on this set, why can't we have a say in where things are?" Again I replied "I don't know. I guess it is the way it has always been done." At that point he said a couple of expletives and huffed around and said the words that I heard crystal clear, mostly because he had raised his voice, but they still rang true for me..."Why can't we have a little thoughtful consideration for the actor every once in awhile and include us in some decision making!!!" And there it was. He was right. Why didn't we include actors in the design discussions? Why aren't we all asking why? Why do we settle for as it is? Why do we just assume that the stairs are in the right place until we ask why? I know that many directors may ask why, and make decisions based on what they think, but why wouldn't we ask an actor who is playing a character what they think? So in that moment I did the only thing I could do. I brought the director and the actors together and asked what we thought was going to best serve the play  in terms of the placement of the stairs. Then I took that conversation to the TD and scenic designer and they agreed and understood and they changed it. Everyone had agreed. It was a small, but true form of collaboration. It was thoughtful consideration. It was a gift to me. From that day forward I decided that I would work toward that kind of collaboration. Now not every artist is involved in every design or production meeting or rehearsal, though I would really enjoy that. Logistically it is a challenge...but one I am working on.  What I have found is the ability to stimulate and inspire creativity and at the same time problem solve using thoughtful consideration.


You are probably wondering what thoughtful consideration means to me. It is the authentic act in serving the needs of the play by asking "Why?" "What if?" and "How will this best serve the play?" It is careful reasoned thinking, partnered with attentive focused listening, and the ability to weigh the needs of the artist while creating the art. It is an act of selflessness, of breathing without ego, creating unity, and vibrant, lively, creative dialogue. It is not a way of acting or thinking, thoughtful consideration is a way of being a director...it is the responsibility to the art. 


I would like to thank William Hurt. His words were a gift. 


Next post: TCG /National Conference in Baltimore/ Sparring with Olympia Dukakis.