Dainty Cadaver Director Postmortem: John Hurley

Rounding out our stellar roster of directors is John Hurley, artistic director of Impetuous Theater Group, whose work I first got to know with last year’s Saturday Night Saloon run of Crystal Skillman’s HACK!: An I.T. Spaghetti Western and then, in short order, Impetuous and The Brick’s production of Crystal’s NYIT Award-winning The Vigil or the Guided Cradle. The humor, sharpness and adventurousness of John’s work in those pieces was translated in full effect to the Dainty Cadaver Team C production of This Is a Brick. This was surely the most avant-garde of the three finished plays, and he totally rocked it. Read on to find out how!

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What projects have you worked on in the past that have prepared you for the speed and strangeness of the Dainty Cadaver process?
I think directing any sort of 'downtown' theatre in this city is a little like operating in an ER during a black-out (but in this case we did it on purpose!). "The Vampire Cowboys' Saloon" helped me get addicted to the speed, but nothing prepared me for the 'strange' (though Jeff tried).

You all found amazing casts who seemed game for anything and completely keyed into the concept behind the project. What’s the secret?
I thought Jordi's answer to this was great (like all her answers) so almost want to say "dito", but... in addition I'll point out the sappy answer-- "trust"--not just actors trusting the director-- but! the all important Director trusting the Actors-- trusting them enough to let them be a heavy part of the creation of the work (even if it's just watching for their impulses and not allowing the actors to censor themselves). I think when actors feel ownership of the work-- they fight for it (even if it's weird). Unfortunately, I tend to just tell actors what to do and then throw fits and sob (which works remarkably well thanks to their empathetic nature!!!). But the prior answer is what I say in public.

What was the biggest surprise you encountered when reading the script for the first time?
The characters kept getting killed off!

What was the biggest challenge you faced when you actually started to stage the plays?
The disjointed structure.

Did you go into the process with any sort of overarching interpretation of what the story and action of the play were about, or did you just let the chips fall where they would?
Yes, (oddly enough) even though most of the pieces had nothing to do with one another-- that (in and of itself) became the "interpretation," or maybe that's just my justification but the wonderful thing about "art" is that no one will ever know (except of course if you read the next answer... drat!).

On a similar note, how aware were you of the individual voices of the writers while you were directing – did knowledge that the script was penned by six different writers affect the staging and performance style?
It gave me permission to have stylistic disunity, and it felt appropriate to alter the 'voice' of each scene as the author's voices changed, but... I didn't keep that as a pure 'concept' (which would have been more academic than anything else). For example, the last two scenes were the only ones (of the six) which used the same characters and setting-- the first of which had a dramatic tone, and the second a comedic. I had altered the tone/tempo of each of the first four pieces, but treated the final two as one tone, one tempo. I think I did a disservice to Mr Comtois' writing in doing so (as I turned his drama into melodrama), but it (for a variety of reasons) was what the evening (as a whole) needed (with all apologies to James). So... the answer is that it made me feel guilty.

If you received the unlikely news that we’d be bringing your Dainty Cadaver script to Broadway or BAM, what would be the biggest budget item you’d want to spring for?
I had to cut the blood f/x out of the show (because of time constraints). I would want blood. I would want a lake of blood (and perhaps a small boat to sail in it when the show's over).

Which dead or super-famous playwright would you most like to include in a future Dainty Cadaver?
Lillian Hellman (as a joke answer). Nikolai Gogol would be fun.

What changes or innovations would you suggest for future iterations of the Dainty Cadaver? Do you think the writers or directors should be given any additional kind of formal restraint?
No, I think it's the unstructured nature of it which makes it fun.

What’s next on the docket for you?
I'm directing something Crystal Skillman has yet to write for "NY Madness" in a few weeks (wait! this sounds like... what!?!?). Impetuous Theater Group is planning on producing Lickspittles, Buttonholers, and Damned Pernicious Go-Betweens by Johnna Adams at some point in 2011 (which is as awesome and epic as it's title!).

Anything you want to add that wasn’t accounted for in these questions? It never ceases to amaze me how much organization it takes to produce chaos (if you want the real quality stuff). I tip my hat to Piper McKenzie (in general) and Jeff Lewonczyk (in detail) for a wild, fun, stressful, and rewarding festival. Thanks!

Dainty Cadaver Director Postmortem: Hope Cartelli

Well, it’s going to be hard for me to write an intro for Hope Cartelli, seeing as how she’s my wife, my creative partner of 13 years and the mother of my impending child. Maybe I’ll just say that she’s the co-Artistic Director of Piper McKenzie, that she’s directed some of our hit shows – most recently Bethlehem or Bust and Jeannine’s Abortion – and that she’s acted in pretty much all the rest. And she directed Dainty Cadaver, Team B. Did I miss anything, honey?

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What projects have you worked on in the past that have prepared you for the speed and strangeness of the Dainty Cadaver process?
Without a doubt, it's my participation as actor, director and producer in the Vampire Cowboys Saloon lo these past four years with Piper McKenzie and, this past season, playwright Crystal Skillman, that most prepared me for the whirlwind timing. Also talking/scheming over numerous brunches and glasses of wine and middle-of-the-workday Gchats with Jeff about how he wanted to try to do this crazy-ass thing.

You all found amazing casts who seemed game for anything and completely keyed into the concept behind the project. What’s the secret?
Promise free donuts and coffee and chocolate for rehearsals. Really though, I've just been damn lucky to constantly find actors who are very open to such projects over the years. I enjoy selling actors on the role I have them in mind for too - it helps me even more clearly define the character for myself. Also, stressing the parameters of such a project up front (the amount of time we were going to have - which can be a great selling point as, hey, it's only a week! - the resources available, and advertising the want to keep things fun and open for everyone involved) definitely helped.

What was the biggest surprise you encountered when reading the script for the first time?
How quickly the conceit that this was all taking place in 1993 was lost over the course of the script. Coming in a close 2nd: how the final scene reduced the cast list to just three characters out of what had previously grown to be 13 people. Oh, yeah, and the fact that the rules are changed completely by a character named The Blue Fairy right smack dab in the middle. Can I pick three biggest surprises?

What was the biggest challenge you faced when you actually started to stage the plays?
Scheduling 11 actors! And striving to present the six scenes somewhat seamlessly in the end - a repeated compliment the end product received from numerous audience members was that they weren't sure where one writer ended and the next started for large swaths of the piece and how enjoyable that made the whole affair.

Did you go into the process with any sort of overarching interpretation of what the story and action of the play were about, or did you just let the chips fall where they would?
The actors and I just let the script guide us and made decisions as questions came up. We were willing to entertain the incongruities and just let the piece evolve from a thriller into a sort of magical realism. It didn't hurt one little bit that the final playwright, Qui Nguyen, gave us the best out ever to explain what the audience just sat through: time travel. Works every time.

On a similar note, how aware were you of the individual voices of the writers while you were directing – did knowledge that the script was penned by six different writers affect the staging and performance style?
I know all of Team B's writers and that knowledge definitely informed how certain scenes were handled. For instance, it was very apparent to me that Matt Freeman's scene, featuring a couple who is brought back to life after being shot in the head, needed to play out as a typical lovers' spat if his (typically awesome) brand of comedy was going to play just right - it couldn't be labored or overly dramatic. But, for all the different places the script went, the writers stayed pretty damn true to the characters throughout, even though those characters were sometimes very different stylistically from each other: Dragnet cops and grungy teens and fairy tale mothers and Jersey truck drivers turned British time travelers. Yep.

If you received the unlikely news that we’d be bringing your Dainty Cadaver script to Broadway or BAM, what would be the biggest budget item you’d want to spring for?
I need the time machine from the final scene to be amazing and real - the fearless time traveler, Al, his "daughter", Lindsay, and the cop, Dellogrosso, need to lift off over the audience in their machine and hover there and then the finale could feature the three of them along with the rest of the characters from the show plus people and creatures from across time singing "Seasons of Love": FDR, Don Mattingly, any dinosaur, the Marx Brothers, St. Joan, Betty White, a Viking, etc.

Which dead or super-famous playwright would you most like to include in a future Dainty Cadaver?
Paying homage to my own Piper McKenzie, it would most certainly have to be Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz.

What changes or innovations would you suggest for future iterations of the Dainty Cadaver? Do you think the writers or directors should be given any additional kind of formal restraint?
I wouldn't change a thing. I realize I got to see a bit more of the process than a lot of the folks involved, but the rules as they were this time around really encouraged the writers to balance continuing the play with putting their own stamp on it, and let the directors and their actors find their own ways through the scripts. It made things challenging and exciting and just plain fun.

What’s next on the docket for you?
First, I get back to a bit of the ol' acting for Trav S.D. in his newest production at LaMaMa in March. Then I'm supposed to, like, chill out and have a baby in mid-April. At least that's what my midwife tells me.

Anything you want to add that wasn’t accounted for in these questions?
We're already figuring out Dainty Cadaver II, Electric Boogaloo. Keep your ear to the ground for more info on that. And thank you again to all who participated in this first one! ROCK.

Dainty Cadaver Director Postmortem: Jordana Williams

Thank you to one and all who attended Piper McKenzie’s Dainty Cadaver! As you may have seen if you attended or read about it on Facebook or whatever, the entire project was a smashing success. However, if you were following this blog, you realize that I didn’t profile the directors of the three teams’ projects. The truth is that their contributions to the project were immense – there wouldn’t have been performances without them, after all – and I wanted to profile them AFTER their work was finished, when they’d had a moment to reflect on the process and the final results.

First up is Jordana Williams, who did wonderful work on Team A’s script, which was eventually called Soul Piper. Jordana is one of the minds behind Gideon Productions, and I actually first saw (and was knocked to the floor by) her work on Mac Rogers’ amazing play Viral. I’ve since gone on to admire her work in two very different Mac-penned Saturday Night Saloon pieces, Mother Sacramento and Control Room. Take it away, Jordana!

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What projects have you worked on in the past that have prepared you for the speed and strangeness of the Dainty Cadaver process?
The 24-Hour Plays and the Vampire Cowboys' Saturday Night Saloon were the best prep for the speed. I've certainly done projects of comparable strangeness, but having the tone and circumstances change midstream was a new challenge.

You all found amazing casts who seemed game for anything and completely keyed into the concept behind the project. What’s the secret?
I guess the secret is sticking around long enough that you know enough amazing actors never to have to work with anyone jerky. I've also learned not to try too hard to talk anybody into doing a project. If someone begins a process grudgingly, that can really bring things down for everyone. Not that people don't come around sometimes, but you can't count on it.

What was the biggest surprise you encountered when reading the script for the first time?
How much sense it made overall. I was expecting way worse!

What was the biggest challenge you faced when you actually started to stage the plays?
Hmm... probably "A PARASITE emerges from DOCTOR FLETCHER’s face. "

Did you go into the process with any sort of overarching interpretation of what the story and action of the play were about, or did you just let the chips fall where they would?
I think I went in with a pretty strong sense of who the characters were and what many of the moments should be, but not much else. There were some thematic through-lines and a bunch of things that almost added up but not quite. Usually I'm pretty rigorous about creating a consistent world that coheres to its own internal logic, but for this project I got kind of jazzed about abandoning those concerns and seeing what the process became in their absence. Basically, in my mind, these characters existed in a world where the ground shifted beneath them on occasion, forcing them to rediscover their footing, reset their expectations and, in some cases, totally redefine themselves. The real trick was how quickly and completely the actors could immerse themselves in the various new paradigms, and I was knocked out by their facility and commitment.

On a similar note, how aware were you of the individual voices of the writers while you were directing – did knowledge that the script was penned by six different writers affect the staging and performance style?
Team A's writers made some valiant attempts to continue with what they were given, so the transitions were often less abrupt than they might have been. In a couple of cases, it seemed more like a writer's voice took over midway through their scene, which was neat. Having six different writers primarily affected the staging and performance style in that it felt like a permission slip to mix things up a bit – to go whole hog with a style element for a while and then abandon it entirely a few pages later, which felt kind of transgressive and really fun.

If you received the unlikely news that we’d be bringing your Dainty Cadaver script to Broadway or BAM, what would be the biggest budget item you’d want to spring for?
I actually really dug the low-fi nature of the production, because this process felt very much about showing the seams. I went kind of purposefully crappy with a bunch of the props and effects - even more so than was necessitated by time and budgetary limits - because it felt right. I wanted to see how truthfully and powerfully we could play these moments when, for instance, you've got a guy talking to a bright green sock puppet inches from his face.

On the other hand, it would be really frickin' cool to have the entire set transform into a full-on spaceship for the last 15 minutes of the play.

Which dead or super-famous playwright would you most like to include in a future Dainty Cadaver?
Maurice Maeterlinck (that one's for Mac).

What changes or innovations would you suggest for future iterations of the Dainty Cadaver? Do you think the writers or directors should be given any additional kind of formal restraint?
I was really kind of blown away by how well it worked.

What’s next on the docket for you?
We're making some decisions about what to do in the next few months and starting development of Mac Rogers' alien invasion trilogy, The Honeycomb. But I'm also going to take a little time off. My house is a damn mess and my kids are covered in something sticky.

Anything you want to add that wasn’t accounted for in these questions?
Oh, I feel like I've blathered on plenty. But I really am grateful that you guys brought me on to direct one of these crazy plays. It was a ridiculous amount of fun and I actually learned a lot too!