Justin Waldman at Williamstown Theatre Festival
Directs Play by Noah Haidle
By: Charles Giuliano - Jul 25, 2009
We met with the director, Justin Waldman, the morning after the world premiere of "What Is the Cause of Thunder?" by Noah Haidle at the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Last summer he directed "The Atheist" which premiered at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston where he had a long association with Nicholas Martin.
After its run at WTF Waldman directed "The Atheist" Off Broadway for Culture Project on Barrow Street in conjunction with Circle in the Square. The one man play ran in repertory with "In Conflict" from September through January.
Considering these major credits I was surprised to learn that it has been just less than a decade since Waldman graduated from Tufts University Class of 2000. He majored in theatre and minored in communications. After graduation he went to work for Nicholas Martin who had just taken over as Artistic Director at the Huntington. This is now the second season for Martin as Artistic Director for the Williamstown Theatre Festival.
Looking back Waldman said "I applied for a job at the Huntington and got hired as an assistant after graduating from college. I had worked with Boston theatre (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company) so I could help with casting. It was Kismet when I met Nicky and we just hit it off. Two weeks after college I started at the Huntington as an assistant to the Artistic Director. The job entailed scheduling appointments and auditions. It was a small staff for a fairly large company. We started a reading program 'Breaking Ground' and this led to more responsibility. I was the director for a reading of Therese Rebeck's 'Mauritius' When the Huntington produced the play I was the Artistic Associate. It was a pleasure to work with her. We also did her 'Bad Dates' with Julie White."
For a kid straight out of college it seems that Waldman was on a fast track working under Martin and having the chance to direct reading by Rebeck and other playwrights. He got a jump start at Concord Academy which has an outstanding theatre program. He made the decision to seek an undergraduate degree rather than enroll in a conservatory.
"I wanted a real education" he said. "I feel more well rounded. When directing you never know what you need for a play. Tufts insisted on a diversity of study so there were requirements for math, science, cultural studies, and a foreign language. If you want a life in theatre it is hard as an undergraduate to understand why you are studying calculus. It provided a wide swath of knowledge. You bring that to a rehearsal where you need to know all aspects of life. As a director it has proved to be manna from heaven."
In general "What Is the Cause of Thunder?" opened to mixed response. Having just filed a less than rave review I had concerns about going straight to an interview with the director. Just how to approach a new work which appears to require fine tuning? The summer program at WTF is a pressure cooker. To its credit it presents new works and overall has an outstanding track record. Three of its new plays went to Off Broadway from the 2008 season: "The Atheist" and "The Understudy" with "Broke-ology" slated to open at Lincoln Center this fall. Of the two new plays presented at WTF's Nikos Stage this year, "Thunder" and "Knickerbocker," based on the reviews, that switch to Off Broadway is less likely to happen.
Taking a chance I expressed misgivings about the play he had just directed in what might prove to be a brief interview. Surely it set a different tone but he didn't dodge the dialogue. What followed provided insights and another way of looking at the work. Of course a director has a different relationship to and understanding of a new play than a critic.
"Let me start by saying how I know Noah (Haidle)" he said. "There is no writer today who writes so theatrically. He gives you no easy way. You can't just do it by saying the lines. He asks so much of you, so much of the actors, and the designers. You have to strive to realize his vision. It's an amazing challenge. It's scary it is so large. I am excited by the challenge. I have no idea how to do this but so excited to try."
The theme of the play involves Ada (Wendie Malick) who for 27 years has been the matriarch of a family on a soap opera. To boost sagging ratings she is about to be killed off by the writers. Vignettes of the soap are balanced with scenes at home in an apartment she shares with her pregnant, unwed daughter Ophelia (Betty Gilpin). The opening scene, an episode from the soap, was played over the top to the delight of the audience. But the drama did not sustain this mood. I asked if he might have taken the approach of a broad parody and satire such as the phenomenal London production we saw of the astonishing "Jerry Springer: The Opera."
"For me the soap opera was a means to an end" he said. "What attracted me to this work of art was the idea that life is so much easier when (like the delusional Ada) you make it up. You (she) can get lost in your imagination. Being lost (in delusion and the fantasy of acting out a character in a soap for 27 years) you can avoid living. What Ada is going to is fear and reality. It is the objective world we live in and why do we want to do it if all that we see every day on CNN is humanity at its worst. It is a horrifying scene that the world has in store (for Ada with the termination of her contract). She found an oasis in art. It is an imaginative place that is more comfortable but not real."
While I assumed that "Thunder" was a play about soaps, and why they prevail as a metaphor for our society, Waldman followed a different direction. "The way we tried to approach this is if you treat it with respect" he said. "In real life an actor in a soap plays an Evil Twin (Gilpin). It is not a screw up. I treat a soap opera like Lear. She (Ada) finds herself in the wilderness where she buried alive her infant son. She can kill her son but she can't handle the mundane task of hanging up her coat. The challenge is that both things are going on simultaneously. Which is why Noah is such an amazing playwright. He doesn't simplify. It's not camp like "Jerry Springer: The Musical." Truth is important about Noah's work. It always straddles the line. You have to find a way to be fair and respectful to the beauty of the play. You need to get both things (extremes) through."
We asked about the connection to Shakespeare's "King Lear." In particular the scene where Ada is in the canyon, with a stark and moody set by Alexander Dodge. She revists were she murdered and buried her infant son. "Yes, the heath" Waldman said "Like Lear. But every Greek play and every myth evokes a wilderness. In Ada, Malick is portraying a a character who is going insane. That is the hardest thing to play."
He described how in studying a play and working with actors they try to find the motivation for every scene. Why is the actor behaving in that manner? But in madness that all breaks down and there is no logical thread to connects one scene and motive to another. How to convey the notion of losing that grip? "My story is from here to there. But when the character goes mad there isn't that through line. What it teaches you is that there is a different kind of honesty." The deteriorating stability of Ada has a parallel in what is happening to Ophelia. While the daughter has been a rock to Ada she too is slipping in a delusion about a marriage that isn't happening.
"Ophelia is also going mad" Waldman said. "Which is what makes the play gel." While Ada is sprawled on the floor and sinking into madness Waldman said "An addict is on the floor needing help. You (Ada) are sane enough to realize that you are doing something insane. So you can still be saved. What is happening to Ophelia also makes a moment of clarity and hope for the women."
In the past when plays were developed there was a network of out of town runs before arriving on Broadway. As a work progressed from Boston to New Haven there were rewrites and adjustments. While that no longer happens, on Broadway, a show will run in previews prior to opening night. It is a time to work out the kinks.
But given the quick pace of a WTF season there is no such luxury. From the first rehearsal to opening night is just three weeks. With two and a half days for tech rehearsal. We asked Waldman if after opening night, sensing the reactions of the first live audience, he would have notes and changes. I was surprised to learn that he is actually forbidden from further rehearsal through Equity contracts. "If an actor comes to me with a question I am glad to answer it" he said. "But there can be no further rehearsal. Putting on a play like this is creating a dialogue. It is a process of birthing something. There is a time when you have to let it go. This is a play that swings for the fences. There is nothing safe. Every moment in the play you are walking a tight rope. Hopefully it sparks discussion. We hope to make people think about their own lives and that we are all in this thing together."