In Mary’s Wedding, the play takes place in a dream and time is not quite linear, but rather bounces around a bit. How did this affect the way you told the story?

I think the danger of any play that’s told as a dream with a structure that has the freedom to move fluidly through time/place… the danger is that we as storytellers (director/actors/designers) can use that “dream structure” as a crutch, as a way to justify our choices.  But the thing I kept coming back to is that even though dreams can be confounding when we wake up and try to remember them — when we’re having the dream they usually make perfect sense!  For me as director, that meant that I am always looking for the truth of the story, dream or no dream.  I also find that this play (and others that are bold in structure) are much easier to experience in the audience than they are to explain beforehand.  I think a play can be very surprising without being confusing and that’s what I’ve focused on.  Again: story.  With the designers and actors (they will tell you this) I always go back to this question:  What’s the story?
 
One of your first choices, was to add a live musician. What inspired this choice?

From the first time I read Mr. Massicotte’s beautiful play, I “heard” music while reading it.  It wasn’t that I was “directing” the play when I read it — it’s important for folks to know that when I read a play I’m not imagining myself directing it, I’m simply trying to let the story in, to experience it as story with the characters telling it.  When it turned out that I would direct Mary’s Wedding at the IRT, I went back and read it again — this time noting more carefully my instinct to include music.  The cello was, again, not an intellectual choice but more an emotional response to the story.  When I first starting talking with Brian Grimm (cellist/composer for the production) about why the cello was the “right” instrument, he said something that made sense: the cello’s range is closest to the human voice.  In that way, Brian’s music (played live during every performance) is a voice in the play that’s already there, we are simply featuring it.

What is your favorite element in the play?I love that Mr. Massicotte is bold and theatrical, the language is heightened and poetic yet the characters feel knowable and accessible.  I love that he’s written about characters we can fall in love with and care about, and care about their fates.  I love that he embraces the theatre in his play, that it requires constant invention for the artists doing the play and that it holds up to all the scrutiny and questions that come up during rehearsals.  And maybe most of all I love that he’s not afraid to be romantic and sentimental in the truest sense.  It’s so much easier to be ironic or clever these days, and I find the dividends of not resorting to cynicism in this story pay off in very emotional ways.

You stated in the Meet and Greet that the rehearsal process is all about discovering. What were some of your favorite discoveries during Mary’s Wedding?

Oh, for this one there were discoveries nearly every day, the play and production required that of us in rehearsals.  Discovering how we were going to put a horse on stage — and how we would physicalize not one, not two, not three, but at least FOUR different horse rides at different moments in the play.  It’s also a fairly abstract set (inspired by the world of dreams) so I also needed to figure out how to tell the story in Mary’s Wedding without lots of realistic props and sets… all of the changes in locale would be driven by the actors and eventually with the great help of our lighting designer.  More discoveries:  how do you portray war and violence on stage?  I’m not a fan of romanticizing violence of any kind — but I also wanted to find a theatrical equivalent for it within the world of our production style.  So again, discovering all the ways we could explore the battle scenes.  There are many, many tiny but revealing surprises in the production — the multiple ways a chair is used, the ways an umbrella is used, the way a long piece of old lace fabric is used.  I loved discovering all that with the actors in the rehearsal room. 

Where did you get the idea for the wedding dress hanging in the tree?

The inspiration for the wedding dress on the set is a personal story… something from my own life.  When my paternal grandparents decided to sell the 80-year family farm (in Kansas) and move into town, they had a big auction.  I was living in New York at the time and of course flew back to Kansas to be there for the auction.  It was an emotional day for me, watching strangers sift through my family memories.  I bought many more things than I should have (in a panic) including a 1962 Chevy pickup that I promptly gave to my dad because I knew he wanted it.  But the image that haunts me to this day was the image of my grandma’s wedding dress from the late 1920s on a hanger, hanging from a tree… sold to some second hand clothes store.  I still cry thinking about it blowing in the wind, some stranger taking it and not knowing the stories that dress symbolized for my family.  And by the way, I’ve never been back to the farm since.  I don’t think I could bear it. 

The two actors in the play have amazing chemistry. Is there something you did in rehearsals to account for this? Saw it at auditions? Or is it just luck?

Casting is mysterious.  I know actors sometimes think there’s some conspiracy about casting but it is personal and instinctive, it has something to do with my perceived chemistry between the actor and the character.  I am always looking for something special in that relationship and can’t always explain what that is… and then of course when you’re casting a two-person play that’s a love story — well, chemistry is paramount.  It’s a big risk because you don’t really know for sure how it’s going to play out between two actors.  I was looking for chemistry in the auditions and I felt that Wendy and Zach had something special and I believed I could built on that, that together we could make something bloom, that we could make something personal happen between their characters that would give the audience a chance to care about their relationship.  Having said all that, I’m afraid, finally, there’s also a little luck involved.  I’d like to think I helped guide them in rehearsals to be open to their natural chemistry — but I know it’s more complicated than that.  In the end, I’m happy to say they DO have amazing chemistry (I agree with you!) and that makes our production all the more special.

As a playwright, do you ever direct a play wishing you could change the text?

Never.  I get asked this all the time and it may be hard to believe — but honestly I feel like my job as director is to make the story work, to tell it fully and with confidence.  The writer has his/her reasons for every word and punctuation; it’s a very detailed map.  Having said that, there are certainly times when I have to stop and wonder why a writer might make a choice at any given moment.  But I find that fascinating and I’ve learned so much as a writer who also directs other writers’ plays.  Even if I might not make the same choice as a playwright, it’s very revealing to see all of the ways a play can develop, the ways a story can unfold.  

What is your most memorable moment as a director?

Mmm, too many to list here.  When I feel like I’m in a groove working on a good play with fellow artists that make me a better artist — there are memorable moments every day.  It’s one of the reasons I love my job.
 
A show that you would love to direct?

I love this question.
I’m going to break it down by decades (a play written in different decades) and this is without any editing or Googling!

1940s:  A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.
1950s:  Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett (or Picnic by William Inge)
1960s:  Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee (or Seascape by Albee)
1970s:  Company or Follies by Stephen Sondheim
1980s:   Plenty by David Hare
1990s:  Angels in America by Tony Kushner (Baltimore Waltz by Paula Vogel)
2000s:  lots and lots and lots of plays by fellow playwrights, there are many wonderful plays big and small I’d love to direct

And Shakespeare:  The Tempest and Measure for Measure.

Favorite show that you’ve directed?

It’s usually the last one I directed.  I’ve gotten just enough distance from it that I can really appreciate the work I did, and I’m not mired in the excruciating pressure of getting a production up in 3 1/2 weeks.  So using that as a model, Becky’s New Car is the favorite show I’ve directed.  In a few months, Mary’s Wedding will be my favorite show I’ve directed.  At the IRT, I’m also deeply proud of the other recent plays I’ve directed which include Doubt and Rabbit Hole.

Contact:
Jon Whitmore
President, San José State University
Secretary, College of Fellows of the American Theatre
One Washington Square
San José, CA 95192-0002

Telephone: (408) 924-1177
Email: sjsupres@sjsu.edu

FOUR THEATRE LEADERS TO BE INVESTED AS FELLOWS OF THE COLLEGE OF THE AMERICAN THEATRE APRIL 17, 2010, AT THE KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Four outstanding leaders of the American Theatre will be invested into the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Theatre during ceremonies on Saturday, April 17 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.. Membership in the college is one of the highest honors theatre professionals and educators can confer on their peers. For a complete list of Fellows please visit www.thecollegeoffellows.org.

The 2010 Fellows are:

William Ivey Long

William Ivey Long attended the public schools of Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Rock Hill, South Carolina, and entered the College of William and Mary where he graduated in 1969 with a bachelor’s in history. He then attended the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to pursue a doctoral degree in art history. After completing nearly all of the doctoral course work, he decided instead to enroll in Yale’s design program. He studied under Fellow Ming Cho Lee, who he credits as a major influence in his career. He received his MFA in 1975 and moved to New York City where he worked for couturier Charles James. When James died in 1978, a Yale friend suggested Long pursue work as a costume designer for a production of The Inspector General. To date he has designed 59 Broadway productions. He has been nominated for eleven Tony Awards and won five Tonys for Nine, Crazy For You, Hairspray, The Producers, and Grey Gardens.

He has also been named “Person of the Year” by the National Theatre Conference. He has received the Art Institute of Chicago’s “Legend of Fashion” Award, and he was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2006.

Long has returned to both Yale and UNC to teach. He has participated in numerous theatrical conferences, and is a celebrated participant in the North Carolina History gathering each year in Asheville.

Kim Marra

Dr. Marra has distinguished herself as a scholar, teacher, mentor and administrator. Having begun her academic career at the University of Iowa in 1990 in the Department of Theatre Arts, Dr. Marra was jointly appointed in the Department of American Studies in 2000 and became chair of that department in 2008. She has also served on the Advisory Committee of the Sexuality Studies Program since its founding in 1997.

She has made important and vital contributions to the study of sexualities in American theatre history. Her book Strange Duets: Impresarios and Actresses in the American Theatre, 1865-1914 (University of Iowa Press, 2006) won the 2008 Joe A. Callaway Prize for Best Book on Drama or Theatre conferred biennially by NYU’s Department of English. With Robert A. Schanke, she co-edited Passing Performances: Queer Readings of Leading Players in American Theater History (1998) and Staging Desire: Queer Readings of American Theater History (2002), The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy: A Biographical Dictionary of Major Figures of the American Stage in the Pre-Stonewall Era (2005), all for the University of Michigan Press. Dr. Marra has served as Secretary of the American Society for Theatre Research and as an executive board member of both ASTR and the American Theatre and Drama Society. She has also served on the Research and Publications Committee of the Association for Theatre in Higher Education, as well as on editorial boards of Theatre Survey, Theatre History Studies, the University of Iowa Press, and the Theatre in the Americas Series of Southern Illinois University Press.

James Still

A playwright and director, Still’s plays are notably diverse in form, style and substance and have been performed in leading theatres across the United States as well as Canada, Europe, Japan, and Australia.  Most recent plays include The Heavens are Hung in Black which reopened Ford’s Theatre in celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday; Iron Kisses; and The Velvet Rut.  His plays for young audiences and families have graced the stages of America’s most notable youth theatres and countless community, university, and high school theatres and include his docudrama And Then They Came for Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank which has been translated into several languages and continues to be produced around the world.

His plays have been commissioned from many notable theatres including Indiana Repertory Theatre, People’s Light & Theatre Company, Cornerstone Theatre Company, the Kennedy Center, and The Children’s Theatre Company.  His awards, among them The Charlotte B. Chorpenning Cup for Distinguished Body of Work, the William Inge/Otis Guernsey New Voices Award, two Pulitzer Prize nominations, and election into the National Theatre Conference, are numerous and far ranging.  Still also writes extensively for film and television, most notably in children’s television for which he is a five-time Emmy nominee for such shows as Maurice Sendak’s “Little Bear,” Bill Cosby’s “Little Bill,” and the innovative pre-school series “Paz” for Discovery Kids.

Still lives in Seattle, but his artistic home for the past twelve years has been the Indiana Repertory Theatre where he is the Playwright in Residence.  He has had a profound impact on the IRT for plays he has premiered and directed there, and for his involvement in the theatre’s institutional life, area schools, and the Indianapolis community.

Paula Vogel

A productive playwright since the late 1970′s, Vogel first came to national prominence with her AIDS-related The Baltimore Waltz, which won an Obie for Best Play in 1992. Her Pulitzer Prize-winning play How I Learned to Drive (1997) examines the impact and echoes of child sexual abuse and incest.  Other work includes: Desdemona, A Play about a Handkerchief, The Oldest Profession, And Baby Makes Seven; Hot ‘N Throbbing, Mineola Twins, The Long Christmas Ride Home, and Civil War Christmas.

For two decades, Dr. Vogel has lead the MFA and undergraduate playwriting programs as well as the new play festival at Brown. She helped develop a nationally-recognized center for educational theatre, culminating in the creation of the Brown/Trinity Repertory Company Consortium with Oskar Eustis, then Trinity’s artistic director. At Brown she was the Adele Kellenberg Seaver Professor in Creative Writing. In 2008, she was appointed the Eugene O’Neill Professor and Chair of Playwriting at Yale School of Drama. She is known as a unique and profoundly accomplished playwright and teacher, committed to the training and mentoring of young writers.

The College of Fellows of the American Theatre originated in 1965 within the American Theatre Association. From its beginning, investiture in the college was one of the highest honors bestowed on educators and professionals of America’s educational and stage community. Today it is an autonomous, non-profit organization that holds its annual meeting and investiture of new members at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The primary purpose of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre is to promote and encourage the highest standards of research and creativity in educational and professional theatre through the recognition and honoring of distinguished service and accomplishment in the field of theatre by individuals of acknowledged national stature currently there are 136 Fellows.

Steven Dietz is one of America’s most-produced contemporary playwrights. Since 1983, his 30-plus plays have been seen at over 100 regional theatres in the United States, as well as Off-Broadway. International productions have been seen in England, Japan, Germany, France, Australia, Sweden, Austria, Russia, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Greece, Argentina, Peru, Korea, Singapore, and South Africa. His work has been translated into eight languages.

Mr. Dietz received the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Award for his plays Fiction (produced Off-Broadway by the Roundabout Theatre Company) and Still Life with Iris; the 2007 Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play for Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure; the PEN USA West Award in Drama for Lonely Planet (produced Off-Broadway at Circle Rep); and the 1995 Yomuiri Shimbun Award (the Japanese “Tony”) for his adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel, Silence. Becky’s New Car was a finalist for the 2009 Steinberg New Play Award.

Mr. Dietz’s other plays include Last of the Boys (Pulitzer and Steinberg Award nominations), Inventing van Gogh, God’s Country, Private Eyes, The Nina Variations, Trust, Rocket Man, Halcyon Days, Ten November, and Foolin’ Around with Infinity. Mr. Dietz’s award-winning stage adaptations include Honus and Me (from Dan Gutman), Force of Nature (from Goethe), Over the Moon (from P. G. Wodehouse), The Rememberer (from Joyce Simmons Cheeka), Paragon Springs (from Ibsen), Dracula (from Bram Stoker), and, with Allison Gregory, Go Dog Go! (from P. D. Eastman).

Recent widely-produced plays include the 9/11 conspiracy thriller Yankee Tavern (which will be seen in April at the Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis) and the romantic comedy Shooting Star. In addition, Mr. Dietz is currently at work on new plays commissioned by Steppenwolf Theatre (Chicago) and the Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis).

 A native of Denver, Mr. Dietz and his family now divide their time between Seattle and Austin, where he teaches playwriting at the University of Texas.

LIBERATION

by James Still, Director

What if Cinderella goes to the ball and stays past midnight?

I have liked, admired, and followed Steven Dietz’s work as a playwright for 20 years, so it’s especially sweet to find myself directing Becky’s New Car. As a student of other writers, there’s nothing like directing a play to unlock its secrets of construction, to observe and marvel at the craft of that writer’s work. I like how smart Mr. Dietz is as a craftsman, and I admire that his body of work reflects a restless curiosity, a love for the theatre, and characters who aren’t always what they seem and might even bare a little heart in the process.

I had the great pleasure of seeing the world premiere of Becky’s New Car at ACT/Seattle in a wonderful production. The next morning I called Janet and said, “I saw a new Steven Dietz play and you’re going to want to read this one.” It’s not unusual for me to see work at theatres around the country and to report my experience to Janet. In fact, I view that as part of my job, part of what I contribute to the artistic conversation that’s ongoing at the IRT. As an audience member, I immediately liked Becky’s New Car because it is direct and funny. I was also struck by its use of a unique dramatic structure to tell a good story without a bit of self-consciousness. This play requires all of us—director, designers, and actors, as well as the audience—to embrace a kind of theatrical verve at its heart. The playwright makes his intentions clear in a preface to the play: “The play will move without transition between four primary locations…. Simply. It is not necessary, nor is it desirable, to fully depict any of the play’s locales.” Our production is a response to the playwright’s liberating wishes.

Liberation (as Becky confronts in the play) is probably never as easy as it looks; and a production (like life) is an accumulation of details and choices. Becky’s New Car has its own vocabulary and ways of telling a story, a kind of free-wheeling fast-moving comic spin that isn’t afraid to be funny any more than it’s afraid of having true heart. Mr. Dietz may be one of the few American playwrights who knows that sentiment isn’t a bad thing, especially when there’s something real at stake for the characters who risk it. Feeling and yearning turn out not to be liabilities but a wake-up call. What begins as a question gnawing at midlife (“Is this all there is?”) might finally be answered with another question: “Maybe … and isn’t that wonderful?” Sometimes the best adventure of all turns out to be our own messy, tender, funny lives. By the end, it isn’t just Becky’s car that’s new.

For me what makes Becky’s New Car so winning (and so deceptively simple) is that it is a play about people—knowable characters who can also surprise you. And make you laugh. I’m glad to have spent time with them, and I hope you will be too.

A favorite at the IRT for 33 of its 38 seasons, Priscilla most recently played Nan in Rabbit Hole. Among her more than 50 roles at the IRT are the title roles of Shirley Valentine, Driving Miss Daisy, and Molly Sweeney, as well as Sister Aloysius in Doubt, Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town, Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman, Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, Mrs. Bennet in Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Alving in Ghosts, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, Amanda in The Glass Menagerie, and Maggie in Dancing at Lughnasa; this season she will be seen on stage in Love Letters. This is her tenth season as the IRT’s associate artistic director. In recent years she has directed To Kill a Mockingbird and ten editions of A Christmas Carol on the Mainstage, and Huckleberry Finn, The Color of Justice, A Woman Called Truth, Romeo and Juliet, The Red Badge of Courage, The Miracle Worker, I Am Somebody, and Ride a Blue Horse on the Upperstage, where next she will direct The Year of Magical Thinking. One of the area’s top voice talents, she can be heard in many national commercials.

Russell Metheny Scenic Designer

Russell has designed 44 IRT productions, including The Heavens Are Hung in Black, Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, Iron Kisses, The Piano Lesson, The Unexpected Guest, The Gentleman from Indiana, Driving Miss Daisy, Old Wicked Songs, Searching for Eden, Plaza Suite, Arcadia, The Immigrant, Ah, Wilderness!, Looking Over the President’s Shoulder (2001), State of the Union, Othello, The Glass Menagerie, The Herbal Bed, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Spunk, and You Can’t Take It with You. He has designed for the Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Dallas Theatre Center, the Old Globe, Geffen Playhouse, Missouri Rep, Actors Theatre of Kansas City, the Goodman Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Buffalo Studio Arena, Portland Stage, Weston Playhouse, Goodspeed Musicals, and the Studio Theatre.

Murell Horton Costume Designer

Murell received the 2007 Irene Sharaff Young Master Award for costume design. In New York he has designed A Tale of Two Cities for Jeffrey Finn Productions; “1001” for Page 73 productions; O Pioneers! for the Acting Company; and A Doll’s House, The Cherry Orchard, and A Question of Mercy at the Julliard School. At the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., he has received Helen Hayes nominations for Lorenzaccio, Hedda Gabbler, and Camino Real; other productions include Hamlet (twice), Edward II, Titus Andronicus, Richard III, and The Silent Woman. Other regional credits include Baltimore’s Center Stage, Denver Center Theatre, Cleveland Play House, Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Delaware Theatre Company, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, and Madison Repertory Theatre. He designed the world premiere of Lysistrata at Houston Grand Opera and at New York City Opera. Film work includes Donnie Brasco. Television work includes Saturday Night Live, Martha Stewart, and One Life to Live. He has designed men’s sportswear for L. L. Bean, Liz Claiborne, and Izod. Murell is represented by the Gersh Agency New York City. Online portfolio: web.mac.com/murell

Michael Lincoln Lighting Designer

Michael has designed more than 25 productions at the IRT, including Rabbit Hole, The Piano Lesson, Bad Dates, Old Wicked Songs, Arcadia, The Immigrant, Ah, Wilderness!, Dinner with Friends, The Glass Menagerie, Hedda Gabler, Spunk, and Benefactors, among others. Highlights of his 30-year career include the Broadway productions of Copenhagen, More to Love, and Skylight, as well as Off-Broadway designs including Mr. Goldwyn, The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin, Defying Gravity, Bunny Bunny, and Swingtime Canteen. His design of A Streetcar Named Desire at Cleveland Play House was chosen for the 2007 USITT USA Prague Quadrennial. He now heads the Production Design and Technology Program at Ohio University School of Theater.

Andrew Hopson Original Composition & Sound Design

Andrew is a sound designer and composer for stage, CD, and film, and assistant professor of sound design at Indiana University. He has designed and/or scored shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Geva Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Players Theater, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, Victory Gardens, Harvard University, and the Indiana Repertory Theatre, where he was resident sound designer for five years. In 2004 his New York debut, Trying, was rated one of the best Off-Broadway shows of the year. His film work includes Utah’s Olympic Legacy, Hockey’s Greatest Era 1942-1967, and The Birth of Legends.

David Hochoy Choreographer

Artistic director of Dance Kaleidoscope since 1991, David has created choreography and/or movement for more than a dozen productions at the IRT and co-directed Ain’t Misbehavin’ and As You Like It. He has danced with numerous national companies, including the Martha Graham Dance Company, where he was a soloist and rehearsal director. He has taught dance classes and workshops around the world, and spent two years on the faculty at Texas Christian University prior to his appointment at DK. He has choreographed productions at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Phoenix Theatre, and Edyvean Repertory Theatre, as well as Arizona Opera and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. He was artistic director of the Green Shows at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where for ten summers DK performed as resident dance company. He has received awards from the Indiana Arts Commission, the Arts Council of Indianapolis, the Center for Leadership Development, Indy Men’s Magazine, and the Choo-San Goh and Robert McGee Foundation.

Christopher Ludwa Musical Director

Chris returns for his fourth season with A Christmas Carol. He is in his ninth season as the artistic director of Encore Vocal Arts, formerly Indianapolis Arts Chorale. He has served as music director of the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra and continues in his role as conductor of the Bloomington Pops Orchestra. As a conductor, he has worked with the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, the Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and Meridian Street and Epworth United Methodist churches in Indianapolis. In the summer months, he serves as artistic director of Bay View Music Festival, an eight-week summer festival that produces more than 60 events each year. A passionate advocate for arts integration into daily life and learning, he has taught for the Butler University Honors Program, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the Leonard Bernstein Center for Learning, and the Bay View Educational Series. He commutes daily to Indiana University–Bloomington where he is pursuing a doctoral degree in conducting. Chris and his wife, Melissa, welcomed their first child last December.

Richard J Roberts Dramaturg

As dramaturg for 12 of his 20 seasons with the IRT, Richard provides research for the IRT’s productions and works with playwrights in the development of new plays. He has also been a dramaturg for the New Harmony Project and the Bonderman Symposium. He has directed The Giver, The Power of One, and Twelfth Night at the IRT; later this season he directs Pretty Fire. Other directing credits include the Phoenix Theatre, Edyvean Repertory Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, and Anderson University. He was editor-in-chief of Arts Indiana magazine and has taught theatre courses at Butler University and IUPUI. He studied music at DePauw University and theatre at Indiana University. In 2003 he received a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis.

Nathan Garrison Stage Manager

This is Nathan’s 14th season at the IRT. He has also worked at Center Stage in Baltimore and at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. In 2005, he was awarded a Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship from the Arts Council of Indianapolis. This past summer, Nathan directed Much Ado about Nothing for HART in White River State Park.

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StageWrite

I was a solitary child, born the middle of three, who lived in the world of books and my own imagination. There are some children, and I was this kind of child, who are introverts and love to read — who prefer to curl up with a book than to hang out with friends or play at the ball field. Children like that begin to develop a feeling for language and for story. And that was true for me — that’s how I became a writer.

My books have varied in content and in style. Yet it seems to me that all of them deal, essentially, with the same general theme: the importance of human connections. A Summer to Die, my first book, is a fictionalized retelling of the early death of my sister, and of the effect of such a loss on a family. Number the Stars, set in a different culture and era, tells of the same things: the role that we humans play in the lives of our fellow beings.

The Giver takes place against the background of yet another very different culture and time. Though broader in scope than my earlier books, it nonetheless speaks to the same concern: the vital need for humans to be aware of their interdependence, not only with each other, but with the world and its environment.

I use the Anastasia books to make myself laugh and to lighten up between serious books. But I also use them to deal with serious topics in a different way, disguised by humor.

I think it is my own children, all of them grown now, who have caused me to expand my view. One of my sons was a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force; as a mother during the Gulf War, I was newly stunned into fear for the world and a heightened awareness of the necessity to find a way to end conflict. One of my daughters has become disabled as a result of the disease of the central nervous system; through her, I have a new and passionate awareness of the importance of human connections that transcend physical differences.

And I have grandchildren now. For them, I feel a greater urgency to do what I can to convey the knowledge that we live intertwined on this planet and that our future as human beings depends upon our caring more, and doing more, for one another.