The Author Is Dead

Director Andrea Humez (right) leads a talkback session at Theatre@First. 

by Andrea Humez

“The author is dead,” I joke to the actors, acknowledging the playwright who is, in fact, sitting in the room with us.  “So you’ll have to make your own interpretation of the text.”

More than most authors, playwrights have to make peace with the fact that once they’ve written a piece, other people will interpret it in their own ways. Plays are written to be performed, and putting on a play inherently involves layers of interpretation: by the director, by the various actors, by the designers (in the case of a fully-staged production), as well as by the audience.

Usually, when I direct, I try to balance between encouraging the actors to make their own interpretations of the text and asking them to go along with mine.  This process is founded on the assumption that we don’t know exactly what the playwright’s intention was, and in some sense, we don’t care, because interpreting the text is part of our job.  There is no one “right” answer.  I take this approach even when the playwright is available for consultation and involved in the production, as was the case when I directed Burning earlier this year.

However, FirstWorks is different from simply involving the playwright in the production process.  The goal of these workshops is to help playwrights polish their scripts, and so the focus is not simply on interpreting the text and putting on a performance, but equally, on giving the playwright feedback and helping them to see the script from the performers’ and audience’s perspective.  At the same time, director and performers get to peek inside the writing process and understand the thinking behind the text we see on the page. 

Although I’ve been talking about “actors,” “directors” and “playwrights,” most people in theatre have experience with multiple roles; for example, this week I directed a rehearsal for this show and acted in a rehearsal for another show.  Although some playwrights have little experience with the production process, many are actors themselves and can use that perspective to inform their writing.  Still, for any given show, we tend to immerse in our given role and view it through that perspective.  FirstWorks workshops are an opportunity for us to explicitly bring these perspectives into dialogue with each other, and to deepen our understanding of the collaborative process that is live theatre.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUPPORTING AAPI

Image
  STOP ASIAN HATE     A STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS The leadership of Theatre@First are horrified by the March 16 murders of eight people at spas in Atlanta and by the increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders throughout the United States by more than 150% over the past year.   Together we mourn the loss of the six women who were targeted for their race, gender, and employment. We also mourn the two other victims and hope for the full recovery of the surviving injured bystander. We are particularly concerned at this time for the Asian American and Pacific Islander artists and other participants, audience members, and friends within our community who feel the impact of these events most sharply.  Theatre@First is a strong community, full of care and support for all of our AAPI members in the face of bigotry, hatred, and violence.  We see you, we love you, and you are not alone.  Resourc...
Read more

Change Is Possible

Image
BLACK LIVES MATTER    Last month we issued a statement declaring our concern and support for the Black community and our commitment to antiracist change at Theatre@First . Since then we've begun to look at every aspect of how Theatre@First operates and how we need to change in order to build antiracist theatre here in Somerville. Now we're here to tell you about the antiracism actions that we are currently moving forward.           IMMEDIATE ANTIRACISM ACTIONS updating our website to highlight our concern for equity, diversity and inclusion facilitating EDI training for officers and Steering Committee members teaming up with leaders of other local theatres to find resources, support, and accountability for our actions adding regular accountability reports to our Steering Committee agenda adding BIPOC-centered shows to our monthly recommendations to members making the Theatre@First social media forums a space ...
Read more

Black Lives Matter

Image
This statement was issued by the leadership of Theatre@First on June 3rd and shared with our participants and supporters via email.  We continue to explore ways that we can dismantle barriers, create change, amplify the voices of BIPOC, and support the protests against racism and police violence as a theatre community.  BLACK LIVES MATTER The murder of George Floyd has been added to the list of too many Black lives that have been taken by police and other perpetrators of white violence. While live performance at Theatre@First is on hiatus, we are still here and we are grieving and raging at the specific injustices and systemic racism that yet again echo across our screens and through our streets.  We are particularly concerned at this time for the Black artists and other people of color within our community, who are especially impacted by the cruelty of recent events.  We see you, you are an important part of our community, and you are not alone....
Read more