My first venture back into the rehearsal hall has been dynamic and challenging. How does one tell a story considering COVID-19 best practices for safety? Embrace the distance. With scheduled programming up in the air, Illinois Theatre landed on an idea that would allow for feasible creative vigor – Great Scenes from American Kitchen Sink Theatre. It has been a long time since I have directed “just” a scene from a larger work. Therein lie the second challenge. How does one tell this part without the benefits of the whole. Embrace the part. And I chose to think of it as a whole. I can say that if I were directing this scene with the fullness of the story around it, I would have approached this scene differently. But with distance and partiality there was a new freedom to focus on the camaraderie of Black men, the longing for things you can hold on to (women, land) and the ghosts in The Piano Lesson by August Wilson.
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts – Great Scenes from American Kitchen Sink Theatre
During a rehearsal of Illinois Theatre’s Great Scenes from American Kitchen Sink Theatre in the Cowell Playhouse at Krannert Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, April 10, 2021.