Clear Cold Place
nytheatre.com q&a preview by Kate Holland
January 16, 2013
What is your job on this show?
director.
What is your show about?
With the ground literally crumbling beneath them, young Josephinious and her rebel protectors race to finish a new translation of an ancient text that could overthrow The Establishment.
Do you like to read plays, or just perform them?
I have always loved reading plays -- some I have read so often that they blossom imaginatively for me, and I simply have to direct them. Last winter I got the extraordinary opportunity to direct "A Bright Room Called Day" by Tony Kushner, which was a play I'd been reading over and over since I was 17 years old. Another play that I've read obsessively for years is "Twelfth Night" -- I've directed scenes from it, but not yet staged a full production. Someday!
Complete this sentence: My show is the only one opening in NYC this winter that...?
can be described as "Jane Austen meets Star Wars." It's probably also the only show that contains the futuristic equivalent of Harold and Kumar.
Is there a particular moment in this show that you really love or look forward to? Without giving away surprises, what happens in that moment and why does it jazz you?
Last night we rehearsed an almost-kiss that is more tender and sexy than the most swooningly romantic Hollywood love scene.
People who like which of the following recent Broadway shows would also probably like your show: THE BOOK OF MORMON, ONCE, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER.
Who are your heroes?
Well, the most famous ones are Deborah Warner for directing and Antony Sher, Fiona Shaw, Kristen Wiig and Willem Dafoe for acting. Other heroes include Normi Noel, Lisa Wolpe, John Hadden and my acting teacher, Carol Fox Prescott.
