Collaberation.


Theater is a collaberative art: the director, the actors, the designers, the stage manager, the crew all bring the various pieces together to create the whole - a live performance. When we as artists understand this process, we create something greater than ourselves and our egos.


Tuesday, May 11, 2010: We had the first read-thru for Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This production will be at Shakespeare & Company, an outdoor classical repetory theater in White Bear Lake. It isn't the first show that I will open this summer, but the first to start rehearsing, and the only one in the Twin Cities. This is S&C's 35th season, and the umpteenth time that they have produced Midsummer. It is an audience favorite, and each production has had a unique look.


The design concept for this particular production started in my living room 12 years ago, with a conversation between George Wade, the founding artistic director, and myself (myself? me? I'm not sure which is the proper grammatical usage. 'myself' sounds right!). George asked me how I envisioned the fairies; I thought they could represent the four elements of the ancient Greek beliefs: water, fire, earth and air. And it was really important to me that the fairies have wings. Then George told me his vision: bugs! He thought the fairies could be different insects, fantastical winged insects. He even wanted the young children of the company members to be extra fairy insects that could just wander through the audience! I brought these two design ideas together in my mind - insects to represent different elements - fireflies, waterbugs, earthworms, moths and dragonflies, hornets and wasps, insects that live in the ground, that swarm in the air, that light up or hover over the water.


Sadly, George Wade died the following winter, and this idea was put on ice. Until this year. My husband knew about this collaberative concept that George and I had, and he is directing this production. Last night, we presented this concept to the cast; and they may be almost as excited about this as I am. The actor playing Puck has already contacted me with some ideas for his "insect" - Puck was the one character I didn't have a final insect decision on yet. And it turns out he and I had similar ideas; we've already shared some photos, and I may even have the base of his costume ready to go! Some of the other actors talked about character traits, and possible accessories for their costumes.

This is how collaberation should work - we share ideas, and build on a concept to make the whole greater than the pieces. So far, so good.