OrphanTalk

I will try to use this blog to document my experiences while directing a production of Lyle Kessler's Orphans this February through April. Besides directing various scenes and projects in college, this is my first real show as director.

I've been preparing for this production since I saw Betty's Summer Vacation. There was an actor in the otherwise dull production who had so much stage presence and obvious natural ability that I knew I wanted to work with him. Orphans, a show I feel strongly connected to, came immediately to mind. I met the actor and we started talking about the show.

I lobbied, encouraged, and hinted until the show was put on the season. Suddenly my daydream became an imminent reality. I had months, however, to prepare for my auditions. I felt like a kid waiting for Christmas. I read the play, laid out the set, read the play, wrote an analysis, read the play, and generally fidgeted until audition day.

So now, having had my auditions (a blog entry in itself), the train is pulling out of the station, so to speak. I've got my actors, the momentum is picking up, and I'm afraid I've forgotten something crucial.

Do I know enough about these characters? About how to create the dynamics laid out in the script? Can I move the audience in the same way I am moved by this story? Will I be able to communicate with my actors? Do I know how to block?

I suppose directors new and old ask some of these same questions every time they begin a show...I hope. The hardest part, I suppose, will be keeping a loose hold over the whole thing. Not to try and force too much to happen onstage. Making sure the necessary gets done. The way I see it, the director has to see the forest and the tree at the same time.