Pigeon Creek 2019 Season Announcement

Last night, Pigeon Creek announced its 2019 season, so I can finally say, officially, I’m going to direct Richard III! Check out the video for the rest of their season. Real talk: I actually considered taking the audio of the response after Katherine said my name (around 1:50) and making it into a ringtone. A girl […]

18
Sep

Burning Too Bright

After Heidi saw Antony and Cleopatra (can I just pause for a moment and say how completely honored I am that Heidi, David, and Pam all made the drive to Grand Rapids to see it?), she said, “Shakespeare wasn’t kind to Cleopatra, was he?” I immediately responded, “History wasn’t kind to her. Shakespeare worked with what he […]

16
Sep

Closing Time

Antony and Cleopatra had its last performance at Pigeon Creek this afternoon. I haven’t seen the show in over a month, so I guess it shouldn’t matter to me that it’s over, but it has been on my mind today. People often are surprised that when I direct a touring show, I go home after […]

Sounds in Shakespeare

Little-known fact: I’m something of an expert in auditory signalling in early modern plays. That is rarely particularly useful, so I don’t trot it out much, but my friends and Pigeon Creek Shakespeare let me nerd about it with music director Scott Lange on a promo video for Antony and Cleopatra!

3
Aug

Hold Each Other With Care

One thing I’ve noticed in my work on Antony and Cleopatra is how careful the youngest actors are about getting consent from each other before they touch each other. This is new; I don’t know if it’s because of movements like #metoo or #notinourhouse, but it’s definitely different. I’ve always been careful about ensuring that actors get […]

21
Jul

Triumph

One major turning point in Antony and Cleopatra is when Antony explains to Cleopatra exactly what will happen if she ends up trying to make a deal with Caesar. Prior to this point, Cleopatra seems to think that either Antony will win, or she’ll be able to talk her way out of whatever situation she finds […]

21
Jul

So You Want to Take Your Kid to See A Play…

Why Theater? I have this theory that if your kids get into theater, they’ll be too busy to cause much trouble. One of the best ways to get them into theater is to take them to see it. People ask me sometimes how I managed to train my kids to be such good theater-goers. To […]

18
Jul

Artwork!

I just got my first look at our show poster for Antony and Cleopatra. I can’t remember the last time I loved the show art quite this much. It was shot and edited by Sarah Stark. One of the things I am loving about this show process is that we all are on the same page, […]

3
Jul

Immersed

I spent the past few days dying long silks for my upcoming production of Antony and Cleopatra at Pigeon Creek Shakespeare. I haven’t done any dye work in a long time; I had forgotten how fun it is. Unwrapping the dyed cloth is always a surprise; I know the general shape of the dye pattern, but […]

22
Jun

Much Ado About the Rose

Some of these photos are mine (mostly from rehearsal) and some are from various audience members who posted them on Pigeon Creek’s Facebook page or tagged cast members. I’ve kind of lost track of which was which at this point. I finally got to see one of my shows in the Rose, and it was […]