New Leaf Theatre

Hi, I’m Jack. I’m a friend/fan of New Leaf Theatre. About a month ago, Jessica and I went to see a play. After the show we went to a bar to talk about theater, and as usual we were talking about the same things–the mutual experience of the performers and the audience, a process that thrives on a multiplicity of voices, having fun with sound and lights. She asked me to be a part of this Summerfest party that New Leaf was putting up, and of course I said yes.

So okay, we go away, I’m in casting and preproduction for my next show (bobrauschenbergamerica with Chicago Fusion Theatre, coming in September!), not really thinking about much else. And then, about a week ago, I get an email containing three scripts and a casting breakdown. In the email, Jessica suggests that I direct Raptor & Scavenger, a play by Bilal Dardai, with actors Max Lesser, Alyse Kittner, Tiffany Topol, and Mark Chaitin. Now, Max and Tiffany I’ve seen in New Leaf shows, and I know they are the tops. And Bilal is in the first show that ever made my head explode in Chicago (Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, natch) so I’m already kind of starstruck. Then I read the play. Which is ridiculous. You want to see a script that will never, ever be fully staged despite its taut comedy, fun parts for actors, and breathtaking climax? Come see Raptor & Scavenger deny physics, the fiscal realities of production, and animal-cruelty laws three times on Saturday.

So okay, I get the script, I read it, I say “Sweet Christmas, what in the name of Bertolt Brecht do I do with this?” I make some notes (”have an opinion about that guy”, “SCREAM THIS”, “wha??”) and I put it away and recommence freaking out about casting my own show.

Thursday comes. Parking by the LPCC is usually a fool’s errand, but I get there early and find a sick spot right outside. I head into the space to look around, re-read, make more notes. This room is gorgeous–it’s just big enough for theater but it still feels like a real room. I love sitting on the little stage I’ve only ever seen used as the booth, which hangs, dark and empty, off the north end of the room, looking down on the big wood floor where the shows happen. Or no, my favorite part is the low swimming pool in the ceiling. No, it’s the Abe Lincoln fireplace. I’ve wanted to stage a play in here for like a year. The cast trickles in, Jessica’s there, and Kyra, and Bilal (who is awesome, it turns out). There are two more scripts that I haven’t read (oops). We sit in a circle and we get down to it. Jessica says, “Let’s start with Raptor.” And looks at me. And everyone looks at me.

I start talking about how I want to use the room, and the cast’s relationship with the audience, and it’s all a bit pie-in-the-sky for a ten-minute play that’s sharing its one 3-hour rehearsal with two other pieces. But everyone in the room–six actors, three directors, and two writers–gets involved. Those who’ve played at New Leaf before are telling me some of the room’s staging secrets. I’m trying to reconcile what I see in Bilal’s script with the needs of the other shows, but everyone’s saying “Just go with it, let’s play.” So we do, and it’s the most fun. Suddenly, we’ve got a seating arrangement that everyone is excited about. The cast is working incredibly fast, information is flying around the room. I’m shouting “Someone tell me where the tiger door is!” (someone does, and they’re right–the Abe Lincoln fireplace).

Three hours later, we’ve got three plays staged. Each one is unique in tone and visual concept. Each one flexes the space, and maximizes the creativity of our six brilliant actors. Each one is a blast to watch.

Tonight was one of those rehearsals.

I’m getting up super early on Saturday to take the bus from Pilsen for the show, and I CAN’T WAIT, SERIOUSLY.

About a month ago I issued a challenge to three of New Leaf’s playwright friends: Given identical lists of some of the features of Chicago’s Mid-North Neighborhood, create a ten-minute play using anything on the page as an inspiration, starting point, setting, character - anything - but you have to somehow incorporate something about the neighborhood on that sheet of paper.  

I was excited to see what these three gentlemen - as different from one another as they can be - would come up with, espeically because this is no idle exercise.  This Saturday each of these plays will have their world-premiere reading as New Leaf’s contribution to this year’s Mid-North Association Summerfest.  At 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM, staged readings of all three plays will be presented in our home at the Lincoln Park Cultural Center.  This was arranged long before seeing the plays, even before officially broaching the subject with the playwrights.  It was a bit of a leap of faith, espeically since we’re hoping that this event will be a way for us to reach out to people in our neighborhood who still look at the LPCC and say “There’s a theatre in there?”  After all, first impressions are a tricky thing. 

On Friday, these three lovely men (Bilal Dardai, Brandon Ray, and Dan Rubin) e-mailed me copies of what they’d created.  The three pieces I received are as different as their creators are and do exactly what I hoped they would - examine the inspirational aspects of New Leaf’s neighborhood in three distinct ways.

I was clear in the beginning that these are going to be staged readings, so that the guys would feel free to write something as fantastical and “unproducable” as they like.  I think Bilal really took up that gauntlet and rocket-launched it; his piece is incredulous and ridiculous in so many ways - it is truly delightful.  Dan has created something that is structurally and thematically fascinating to me and I can’t wait to hear it out loud.  And Brandon’s piece, the most naturalistic of the three,  is full of richly developed characters (yes, developed characters in 10 minutes) in three respective, instantly recognizable crossroads with which we can all empathize. 

On Thursday we’ll be assembling three directors, six actors, and two of these lovely playwrights to work collaboratively for a few hours to wake these texts up and get them in the air before showing them to the public on Saturday.  I’m finding this process (abbreviated though it may be) to be just exhilarating.  It’s reminding me how lucky I am to be in the company of such creative minds.  I can’t wait to see what happens next!

By the way - the images above remind me of the three plays.  Intrigued yet?

I was so nervous.

I had done my research.  It looked great on paper.  But meeting, live and in person, for the first time, is always scary.  Part of me is totally cool and level-headed, telling myself that this evening is just about getting to know each other, trying to find out if we’re a good fit.  Another part of me is excited, wildly hopeful, thinking, “this could be the start of a really wonderful relationship.”

I am not talking about a blind date.  I’m talking about a play reading.

Here at New Leaf, reading plays out loud together is a long-standing tradition and the cornerstone of our season selection process.  When someone in the company finds a GEM of a play (that’s “Good Enough to Mention” for those of you as acronym-obsessed as we are), they pass it along to one or two other company members.  Eventually, we all read the play on our own. When we find a play that speaks to our mission, that explores the questions we’ve been asking ourselves, that excites us as artists, then we know: we have got to meet this play in person.  We invite friends of the company to come read with us, we sit in somone’s apartment with pizza and wine (and the occasional crudite) and just…get to know each other.

There’s a lot riding on that first meeting.  We know what we’re looking for - does this play fit that?  We know we like the play on paper - does it come alive when we give it a voice?  We know we really want to get started on next season, but we don’t want to settle on something just to have it.  At the same time, we know that no play is perfect.  It’s nerve-wracking.

Over the last several months, we’ve met some really great plays.  Plays we would totally recommend to a friend.  Plays with a pretty face, a sense of humor, and a great personality. 

And we’ve met two plays that we’d like to get to know a little better.  They’re not perfect, but we love them for who they are.  They touch us, inspire us, challenge us.  We’re ready to commit.

Stay tuned for our 2008-2009 season announcement…

When you put out a casting call, especially for generals, you (well, I anyway) cross your fingers and hope that you’ll get a good number of responses, that you’ll have full days of seeing great people.  After all, I think that as a director my most important job is casting.  When I do it right, the rest of my job feels easy.  When I’m less on with my impulses - well, the road ahead is a little more challenging.

So when we put out our casting call a couple weeks ago, I crossed my fingers and hoped that the submissions would start trickling in.  And then they did more than trickle.  Even though our deadline for submissions was a week ago, I’m still receiving headshots and resumes.  To date, over 400 actors have requested an audition.  400.  Can you believe it?  What an absolute embarrassment of riches.

This is great and exciting news - until I think about how we only have about 150 audition slots.  Which means that it is physically impossible for us to see more than half of the actors who submitted.  And since this year we’ve moved away from the first come, first served system we’ve had in the past, we are faced with the terribly daunting factor of choice.

Anne Bogart talks about the violence of articulation (I love that phrase) and how making a choice neccesarily voids all the other options forever.  Robert Frost talks about the “road  not taken.” And I talk about my irrational fear of missing out.  All of these things make scheduling general auditions for a non-equity theatre of limited means distressing and just–hard. 

I’ve got my spreadsheet and my system (such as it is) but it feels so far from foolproof, and as a once upon a time generally auditioning actor myself, I’m feeling incredibly guilty that I can’t see everyone.  Because I want to - I so very much want to!  So I’m trying to Frankenstein these days together, getting confirmations from actors to try to eliminate the “no-show” factor, reducing breaks so that we can see as many people as we can, and I guess at the end of the day I’ll just have to keep crossing my fingers and keep hoping for the best.  There are so many roads - and I just can’t take all of them, no matter how much I’d like to.

Yesterday I posted the lamest blog entry ever. I will admit that I just did a quick “cut & paste” from our entry on ChicagoPlays.

So I wanted to take a sec and elaborate a bit on this announcement of our season auditions. We’re not quite ready to announce our plays for next year, but I can tell you that I’m really excited about the direction we’re heading. We’ve picked another exciting theme to unify our explorations next year, and it’s one that I think really speaks to who and where we are as a company and as a society right now.

I’m excited by the number of responses we’ve already gotten to our audition posting. But we’re not done yet! Our submission deadline isn’t until May 23rd, which means we have a full week and a half to keep the headshots and resumes rolling in. If you’re thinking about submitting and you’re reading this blog, I hope you will send us your stuff. Here’s the info again about our upcoming generals for our 8th (yes, 8!) season:

New Leaf Theatre
2008/2009 General AuditionsDates: June 11, 14, and 18
Time: June 11 & 18 6PM to 9PM; June 14 10AM to 3PM.
Auditions by H/R submission and appointment only.
Location: Lincoln Park Cultural Center | 2045 N. Lincoln Park West, Chicago, IL

New Leaf Theatre is seeking actors of all ages and types for our 2008/2009 season. Submit your H/R electronically to be considered for an audition. Artistic Director Jessica Hutchinson will attend with casting authority. Please prepare one contemporary monologue up to two minutes in length.

E-mail headshot and resume to act@newleaftheatre.org by Friday, May 23. Non-Equity submissions only. Please let us know if you are unavailable for any of the dates/times listed above. We will confirm audition appointments the week of May 26.