Production Case Study: Look Me in the Eye

Episode 186: Production Case Study: Look Me In the Eye Where do you start with a play? How do you come up with a vision that spans across character development, light, sound, set, costuming? How do you execute on that vision?  In this episode we have another production case study for our play Look Me In The Eye. If you’re a director, want to be a director, or want your students to learn about directing, this is the podcast for you. Show Notes Look Me In the Eye Drama Teacher Academy Episode Transcript Welcome to the Drama Teacher Podcast brought to you by Theatrefolk – the Drama Teacher Resource Company. I’m Lindsay Price. Hello! I hope you're well. Thanks for listening! This is Episode 186 and you can find any links to this episode in the show notes which are at Theatrefolk.com/episode186. There we go! 186! Today, we have another production case study and I really – oh, I really – enjoy recording these and I hope that they’re useful for you as well. That’s kind of the point. I hope they accomplish that point. I think it’s good to hear how directors choose a play, approach a play, make decisions, create a vision, and then execute on that vision. Creating a vision and executing a vision – that’s such a big part of a director’s job and I think our guest today is a great example of creation and execution. So, let’s get to it! LINDSAY: So, I am here talking with Kelli Connors. Hello, Kelli! KELLI: Hello, Lindsay! LINDSAY: Hello! First off, can you tell everybody where in the world you are? KELLI: I am located in North Berwick, Maine, which is one of the several places that I teach and run a theatre program. LINDSAY: Yes, you wear many hats! I know you and we’ve been in contact because you did a production of one of my plays – Look Me in The Eye – and that’s sort of what we’re talking about today just to do a case study on vision and the visualization of vision. You don’t work in a traditional – not traditional sense but you work in a lot of different areas in drama and education. KELLI: I do. I’m a freelance theatre artist and I work in a charter school that the model that they work on hires people from the working artist world to teach their visual arts programs, their performing arts programs, their music programs. I also work in a gifted and talented program in the Maine school system. Every school in the state of Maine is supposed to have a gifted and talented program. The function that I have in that particular school is called the Theatre Excel Arts Program and I teach theatre grades six through twelve for a certain amount of weeks out of the year. I’m also employed as an independent contractor at the high school as their theatre director – their artistic director of the theatre program. LINDSAY: That is a lot! Do you enjoy the multifaceted-ness of that? KELLI: You know, it’s interesting you should ask me that. I called a friend yesterday – or two days ago – in a meltdown state saying I’ve got twelve jobs and my worlds are all colliding and I’m not sure how to keep all of this straight and sometimes it’s overwhelming. The upside of doing a lot of different work – and I work in the professional world as well, I’m in the process of costuming a show – the upside of that is I don’t have t...