Directing
Directing isn't just about having vision for a show, it's about knowing how to utilize everyone around to make a production the best it can possibly be.
Just Thought I'd Tell You (2012)
This production was handwritten and directed by students at the University of Oregon. I was one of three directors, as well as the stage manager and designer for the show. This play was a definite challenge because only two actors had ever performed onstage before and the rest were friends and fellow philosophy classmates with Jake and Jesse, the original directors and writers of the play. They had never done theatre in their lives and had cast themselves as the main characters, so I became the third and main director for the run of the show.
Based in Eugene and on the University campus, this play followed our lead character INSERT as he struggled with the meaning of his life. Along the way we meet lots of kooky characters that are regulars on the campus scene that also ponder questions about dating and religion. INSERT is at a turbulent age, between a bad break-up and deciding his major, so we follow his choices as he meets new people, writes a ridiculous play starring his favorite pholosophers, and struggles to understand women.
Victoria Martin, Math Team Queen
This was my first official directing gig; it was also my senior project in high school. "Victoria Martin" was a large project with a small cast that I had to fund completely out of pocket. It touched on issues of popularity, bullying, and sexuality all in a comedic form. It was also a relative success in a conservative town; I usually had people leave after the homosexual character came out right before intermission, but in my mind that means I hit the right nerve.
Victoria Martin has everything a teenage girl could dream of; Beauty, Popularity, and the star basketball player as her boyfriend. However her lack of participation in school has landed her in detention at which point the head teacher puts her on the Math Team. Yuck! We come to learn that not only is Victoria smart, but she's math smart and rockets their team to the Finals. But how will she be able to keep up Math Team when demands from her popular life start crashing in?
