This summer I took a giant step forward. I directed my first play. No singing, no dancing, no choreography of any kind. I was accepted into the Insomniac's 24-hour Play Festival produced by the Grex Group Theatre. At 6pm on July 19th, I made my way into a room full of strangers...
A woman from the Grex Group opened a mystery folder and I was given 3 names and a prompt. I was assigned author Mila Golubov, actors Matthew Wise and Mary Fuller, and a twisted line about a man who wanted to keep a girl's tooth to 'remember her by.' Bizarro. Then, we four had a pow-wow.
I put on my director hat. I told our author to be bold. I got to know my actors, what their strengths and special skills were. We set a time to reconvene. I went home. Read a draft. Sent back some dramaturgical notes. Got another draft. Sent back more notes. Booked rehearsal space. Did table work at Starbucks early in the morning. Got in the studio and blocked the play. Bought props. Found costumes. Made sound cues. And, lo and behold, 24 hours later we premiered Good Men. Bad Men. Very Bad Men. as part of the festival at the historic Player's Club Theater in the West Village. For our 10-minute-play, a woman goes to a speed dating event. Mary Fuller played the lead going on a series of truly spectacular bad dates with a range of insanely inappropriate suitors. Matthew Wise played 10 different men courting her. It was hilarious, disturbing, and incredibly fun. Loved breaking out of my 'musical theater' box and tackling a new challenge! Fun step forward for this dancer dude!
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