Showing posts with label Mark Cassidy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Cassidy. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Mark Cassidy's Bio
Mark has a reputation for creating adventurous, thought provoking theatre. As co-artistic director of Threshold Theatre, Mark has devised and directed a number of innovative projects including, As I Lay Dying, In The Language of Love, White Buildings, Beautiful Losers, That Time, Howl, The Hairy Ape, Forms of Devotion, Terror and Kafka and Son. Collaborations with other Toronto companies have included Five Fingers, Tunnel and Whitewash (Platform 9), The Lost Supper (Shadowland Theatre), Borderline and The Dershowitz Protocol (DMT Productions), The Secret of Gabi's Dresser & The Shop on Main Street (Te-Amim), The Demonstration (Theatre Direct), The Pirate Widow Cheng (Puppetmongers) and Crush (Optic Heart). Mark recently directed: The Misfit, written and performed by Anita Majumdar at Theatre Passe Muraille. Upcoming projects include: i don't want to be inside me anymore, based on the writings of German autistic, Birger Sellin, being performed May 22-28 at Artscape Wychwood Barns (Threshold/New Adventures in Sound Art) , The City in which I Love You, part one of Threshold's SPRAWL and, Swan Song of Maria: A Tragic Fairy Tale by Carol Cece Anderson. Last year, Mark was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction, and for the Siminovitch Prize for excellence in Theatre Directing. This year, Mark was nominated for the John Hirsch Award in Directing.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Interview with Mark Cassidy (Playwright/Director): Part II
The script was in development for over a year. Can you describe this process? How did the actors contribute to the development of the script?
I did a treatment of the book on my own which I brought to the team for our first script development workshop. I described my goals to the actors at this point as follows: to begin the work of creating a dynamic ensemble for this show, to create three dimensional characters for the play - both individually and as a family, to discover what the essential story of this book is for us as a group, to explore different ways to best express this story, to collectively research the period of the story and process it through discussion and improvisation. And that is pretty much how the first week unfolded. We did a series of movement, improvisation, and character exercises building the sense of ensemble and creating possible scenes. As a group, we wrote out scenes and images on cue cards then improvised freely on them in various sequences, experimenting with theatrical forms, the dream-like possibilities of the work. Each actor was put through an intensive solo interview by the group to allow them to create subtext for scenes which were not fully described in the book. I also asked the actors to each prepare their own idea for how to bring a scene from the book to life, with surprises in it and each actor directed the others in these scenes. At the end we strung everything all together in one crazy improv of the whole book, which of course was hugely complicated and epic, but also inspired and filled with possibilities. Some of the verbal and physical improvs were recorded for future reference.
Then I went away and did some more work on the script myself. Many different versions. The second workshop we continued to work physically but did more around the table hashing out of scenes... we each took scenes home and worked on them and presented them to the group engaging in energetic discussions and debates on what was working and not. With the help of assistant director, Esther Jun, I continued to transcribe scenes from actor improvs, preserving the character rhythms but boiling them down to the most important conflicts. Since this second workshop, the script has gone through lots more revision on the computer with many helpful comments from entire creative team, including the author of the book, Vivian Kaplan.
Why did you decide to focus on the story of the four siblings and Poldi? We frequently hear them discuss Mama, for example, but we never actually see her. What other artistic decisions did you make, and why?
I made this decision early on, in response to the question of what or who, is essential, in our stage version. With a film obviously you can include everyone, but in plays, you need to explore how many people are really needed to tell the story. It doesn't bother me when I don't see a character who is always being referred to. Sometimes the limitations of theatre allow an audience's imagination in, rather than doing all the work for them. I am a firm believer in the quickness of an audience's intelligence and look for ways to engage and intrigue without spelling everything out. Another artistic decision which was made in terms of the adapatation was to make all the text active, dramatic. As tempting as it was to tell the story in the same way Vivian does in the book, ultimately it felt right to allow the audience to experience the story along with the actors, not just have them telling it after the fact.
The events of the play happened over 60 years ago. Why was it important to you to tell this story? What do you hope that young people will learn?
Whether you are dealing with events a thousand years or two weeks ago, to me, theatre is always about now. It it is about the reality unfolding between the audience and presenters in relationship to the source material. I am in theatre because I have faith that it can make the world a better place, that, however consciously or subconsciously, it can help promote imagination, empathy, and a sense of community. Theatre invites the question, where am I in all this? I will never forget reading a book by Samantha Power called "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, during which the global community's persistent failure to act on genocides occuring in the world, was described as a failure of the imagination. In situation after situation during the twentieth century, neither people nor their politicians, could fathom, imagine or empathize with, the pain of others being targeted for nothing other than their creed, skin tone or culture, so did nothing to stop murder on a mass scale. I believe theatre encourages us to better understand certain events and therefore make better choices in the ongoing improvisations of our own lives. War in general, and the Holocaust in particular, are aspects of history many people would rather ignore. But as individuals, and as a civilization, we really can't afford to not go there. We need to struggle with what humankind is capable of, both in our evil acts toward each other as well as in our acts of great compassion, courage and love. As I said above, Ten Green Bottles is a story about life against death... a family struggling to survive as the dark clouds of fascism and terror gather over them, testing their resourcefulness and powers of endurance again and again, as they dream of a better future. For me, that makes it an important story to tell.
I did a treatment of the book on my own which I brought to the team for our first script development workshop. I described my goals to the actors at this point as follows: to begin the work of creating a dynamic ensemble for this show, to create three dimensional characters for the play - both individually and as a family, to discover what the essential story of this book is for us as a group, to explore different ways to best express this story, to collectively research the period of the story and process it through discussion and improvisation. And that is pretty much how the first week unfolded. We did a series of movement, improvisation, and character exercises building the sense of ensemble and creating possible scenes. As a group, we wrote out scenes and images on cue cards then improvised freely on them in various sequences, experimenting with theatrical forms, the dream-like possibilities of the work. Each actor was put through an intensive solo interview by the group to allow them to create subtext for scenes which were not fully described in the book. I also asked the actors to each prepare their own idea for how to bring a scene from the book to life, with surprises in it and each actor directed the others in these scenes. At the end we strung everything all together in one crazy improv of the whole book, which of course was hugely complicated and epic, but also inspired and filled with possibilities. Some of the verbal and physical improvs were recorded for future reference.
Then I went away and did some more work on the script myself. Many different versions. The second workshop we continued to work physically but did more around the table hashing out of scenes... we each took scenes home and worked on them and presented them to the group engaging in energetic discussions and debates on what was working and not. With the help of assistant director, Esther Jun, I continued to transcribe scenes from actor improvs, preserving the character rhythms but boiling them down to the most important conflicts. Since this second workshop, the script has gone through lots more revision on the computer with many helpful comments from entire creative team, including the author of the book, Vivian Kaplan.
Why did you decide to focus on the story of the four siblings and Poldi? We frequently hear them discuss Mama, for example, but we never actually see her. What other artistic decisions did you make, and why?
I made this decision early on, in response to the question of what or who, is essential, in our stage version. With a film obviously you can include everyone, but in plays, you need to explore how many people are really needed to tell the story. It doesn't bother me when I don't see a character who is always being referred to. Sometimes the limitations of theatre allow an audience's imagination in, rather than doing all the work for them. I am a firm believer in the quickness of an audience's intelligence and look for ways to engage and intrigue without spelling everything out. Another artistic decision which was made in terms of the adapatation was to make all the text active, dramatic. As tempting as it was to tell the story in the same way Vivian does in the book, ultimately it felt right to allow the audience to experience the story along with the actors, not just have them telling it after the fact.
The events of the play happened over 60 years ago. Why was it important to you to tell this story? What do you hope that young people will learn?
Whether you are dealing with events a thousand years or two weeks ago, to me, theatre is always about now. It it is about the reality unfolding between the audience and presenters in relationship to the source material. I am in theatre because I have faith that it can make the world a better place, that, however consciously or subconsciously, it can help promote imagination, empathy, and a sense of community. Theatre invites the question, where am I in all this? I will never forget reading a book by Samantha Power called "A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, during which the global community's persistent failure to act on genocides occuring in the world, was described as a failure of the imagination. In situation after situation during the twentieth century, neither people nor their politicians, could fathom, imagine or empathize with, the pain of others being targeted for nothing other than their creed, skin tone or culture, so did nothing to stop murder on a mass scale. I believe theatre encourages us to better understand certain events and therefore make better choices in the ongoing improvisations of our own lives. War in general, and the Holocaust in particular, are aspects of history many people would rather ignore. But as individuals, and as a civilization, we really can't afford to not go there. We need to struggle with what humankind is capable of, both in our evil acts toward each other as well as in our acts of great compassion, courage and love. As I said above, Ten Green Bottles is a story about life against death... a family struggling to survive as the dark clouds of fascism and terror gather over them, testing their resourcefulness and powers of endurance again and again, as they dream of a better future. For me, that makes it an important story to tell.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
An Interview with Mark Cassidy (Playwright/Director): Part I
What are some of the most interesting/important aspects of the story for you?
Thematically, I am interested in the whole notion of survival - life vs. death. I am drawn to the mystery of what allows some individuals to pull through an experience while others do not. One part of this formula, which I hear survivors refer to again and again is fate, luck. But what else?.... inner resolve, faith, imagination, courage? How is it that "bottle" after "bottle" of a family's world, what they hold dear, can be shattered and yet they endure?
Another really important aspect of the book for me is the notion of family - that somehow the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Lately, a question I have been reflecting on in developing the script is, is it necessary to shut down your own sense of vulnerability or open-ness, in order to make it through your struggle with dark forces. How hardened, how bottled-up emotionally, must you become? And once you have come through the oppressive experience and regained your freedom, is it ever possible again to express these feelings you've been holding in? Is it possible ever again to trust?
What elements of the novel were challenging to adapt to the stage?
The book is very strong on plot, visual description and evoking the inner thoughts of the narrator, Nini. The contrasting worlds of Vienna and Shanghai create an amazing backdrop for the story of the Karpel family as they struggle to survive the situations thrust upon them in wartorn countries in Europe and the Far East. What we needed to do to turn it into a play was get inside each of the main characters and focus on the drama of the events which are being depicted. Throughout the process of adaptation, we asked what is potentially theatrical here, what is essential, can this be expressed more effectively through text, movement, set, sound, music, lighting? Being truthful to the book was not a question of simply cutting and pasting chunks of narration and having characters utter it on stage but rather absorbing the story and reinterpreting it with our own style and sense of theatrical truth.
What elements of the novel were challenging to adapt to the stage?
The book is very strong on plot, visual description and evoking the inner thoughts of the narrator, Nini. The contrasting worlds of Vienna and Shanghai create an amazing backdrop for the story of the Karpel family as they struggle to survive the situations thrust upon them in wartorn countries in Europe and the Far East. What we needed to do to turn it into a play was get inside each of the main characters and focus on the drama of the events which are being depicted. Throughout the process of adaptation, we asked what is potentially theatrical here, what is essential, can this be expressed more effectively through text, movement, set, sound, music, lighting? Being truthful to the book was not a question of simply cutting and pasting chunks of narration and having characters utter it on stage but rather absorbing the story and reinterpreting it with our own style and sense of theatrical truth.
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