Welcome back to Something Wicked This Way Comes! We thought that the best way to start up this project was getting right down to the nitty gritty of things......what 'nitty gritty' you say? Well, that would be the down and dirty with the head honcho, the admiral, the el presidente.....that's right you guessed it, the director.
We proudly introduce you to Julie Babal, director of this summer's production of Macbeth. Read on friends!
How long have you been with Yorick?
Julie: Since he was a twinkle in Dana's eye? Dana and I formed this company in its raw form in 2006, and I am an original board member from our incorporation in 2008. In other words, I remember when Yorick was little more than some skull research and an amalgamation of ideas in my sketch book...
Why Macbeth?
J: Well, the board always picks each show, but I have a special love for "the Scottish play." Maybe I fell in love with it because it was my first Shakespearean play (Witch 2!) or maybe just because it's a bit creepy, but I love the language and the sentiment of this work, and I'm very excited to have the opportunity to direct it. Besides, who can resist a show with a curse?
Shakespearean plays can be a bit long in comparison to other shows. If you made any edits, how did you go about choosing what stays or goes in the script?
J: I printed out the play, pasted it on my wall and threw darts... kidding... Basically, as much as I hate to take out one moment of the play, I looked for sections that might have been important back then, but now "muddies the water," so to speak.
Any favorite scenes?
J: The whole play. Really. I just love it. But I'd have to say that anything with a witch in it is always good fun, and Mackers' speech about his wife: "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage/ And then is heard no more: it is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,/ Signifying nothing." is one of my favorite passages in all of literature.
Macbeth has a fairly large cast; with more than 20 members, how did you go about the casting process in terms of matching people up and chemistry?
J: Someone said that casting is 90% of a director's job, and there is some truth to that. I'm somewhat inclined to use long call backs, but I provide some food, and I make sure that I see enough to get the right people in the right spots. After the list is done, I sleep on it, and if I wake up the next morning feeling confident, then I make the phone calls.
What are some of the challenges/benefits of working outside?
J: The main challenge of working outside is the weather. Although we are under the amphitheater roof, the audience is not. I have to say, though, that I've been pretty impressed with Yorick audiences so far; they are pretty hard core. We have had some rain, and the audience just put up their umbrellas or put on their ponchos and continued to enjoy the show! We have been lucky enough so far to not be rained out yet. (If we could have a collective wood knock? Appreciated.) The benefits are ambience, nature, real trees, and watching free Shakespeare with a picnic basket. How can you beat that?
What's a typical rehearsal day like for you?
J: To avoid an incredibly long answer, I'll comment on my side of each rehearsal. I spend time the day of rehearsal reading over the scenes that we are going to work. I'm a big believer in organizing myself so that the rehearsal uses the actors' time as respectfully as possible. A Shakespearean rehearsal period can be about 5-8 weeks. In "theater speak" we start with a read through the first day; then we progress through blocking (direction of stage position and action), usually in groups that are character driven, not chronological; then we do some "stop and start" rehearsals where we polish the stage positioning and action; then the actors should be "off book" or memorized and we rehearse in bigger chunks to stitch the show together; and finally we have a week of dress rehearsals, known to most as "hell week," where we practice with all of the lighting and sound cues as well as costumes. I suppose I didn't avoid a really long answer... alas...
When do you start getting the feeling that things are coming together? Does it hit you at a certain point, or all at once...?
J: The knowledge that "things are coming together," for me, seems to happen in sections. It's little moments of truth that hopefully come together to tell a story.
What are you looking to accomplish through this production?
J: What I am always hoping will happen is that the audience and actors will lose themselves in a well told story. That we can all forget who we are and where we live, and come together to another world is, in my opinion, the beauty of theater.
If you could direct any Shakespearean play...?
J: My answer is boring.. this is it! I'll work hard to find another one after Mackers is over, but this one's the dream!
Do you believe in the curse?
J: If pressed, probably I do, a little. I can be superstitious, but it's also good fun to avoid saying "Macbeth" in the theater and to hold others accountable. By the way, if you've just read this answer out loud in a theater, please go outside, turn around three times, spit, swear, say a line from a Shakespearean comedy, and wait for someone to invite you back in..... just in case...
