THEATRE IS NEVER AUTOCRACY – IT IS COLLABORATIVE -– KHURSHED K. MEHTA
Any production – be it a Broadway show or a school play – demands collaboration, and on the night of a performance the audience will know whether an element of harmony was present in its making. This will be seen between actors, their expressions, action and reaction as well as overall stage production, set changes, soundtrack and so on. For me, creating the 2015 Kaiser House Play Thirteen Days was one of the most confronting yet inspiring aspects of writing, directing and managing people.
DI FRANCIS
Head of Drama
From the very inception of the play’s plot, the impetus and craving to compose an ‘award winning’ script was a little overwhelming. I had chosen to write a political play: a dramatisation of the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, but it soon became evident that it could not have been developed without the input of the actors, visual artists and all other crew. Due to underestimating the depth required of the characters in this play, we were heavily dependent upon the actors for a noteworthy performance. Being a first-time director presented the grand challenge of not only having to convince my fellow colleagues to adopt these characters – but to take them to heart. One had to appreciate that when accepting this gruelling role – they also accepted (as a by-product) a responsibility; a pledge to commit themselves to the fullest.
Initially, we had misjudged the importance of collaboration to the extent that after the final stage-dress rehearsal, three days before the night of performance, it was declared an “unpractised, raw” and “incoherent flop” due to poor direction and a lack of ensemble harmony. It became clear that the actors were not at fault. Rather, it was the responsibility of the director to ensure an acceptable performance on behalf of the actors. It was at this point that I realised: theatre is never autocratic – it is collaborative! While the actors might be the only ones we see on stage, it is the writers, directors, visual artist, costume and set designers, stage manager and so on who make a production a success. These are the people who are the ‘body’ of the production; they contribute from start to finish. Without them a performance is merely a script; an unexecuted notion that is awaiting to be put into action.
The Kaiser House Stage Crew came to understand and appreciate this idea at the end of a rather disappointing dress rehearsal. It was with this acknowledgment of the true nature of theatre that then obligated us to do everything in our power to make it a successful production. Next thing we knew – our collaborative approach had won us the House Drama Shield. This experience has taken not only me but the whole crew through a
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THE SOUTHPORT SCHOOL SOUTHPORTONIAN 2015
