Balagan Theatre. After performing as an acclaimed Trudy the bag lady in The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, she's back as the director of the roller derby comedy/drama The Jammer opening March 11 at the Capitol Hill theater.
How did you come to direct The Jammer at Balagan?
Balagan has become my second home since returning to Seattle a year and a half ago. I joined the company after performing in Arabian Nights and I created and co-host their monthly late night cabaret, Schmorgasborg.
Seattle actress Terri Weagant works on both sides of the footlights at
Last year I directed a short piece in Balagan's Death/Sex. It really whet my appetite for this aspect of production. As a company we planned this insane ten play season and I was invited to direct one. I wanted to find a fun, fast-paced, stylized piece that would allow a group of actors and myself to just come together in a room and play. While reading plays recently produced in the Edinburgh Fringe Festiva, I ran across The Jammer and it completely fit the bill. Rolin Jones is a wickedly smart writer who smacks you upside the head with witty banter but also layers in subtly profound thoughts and ideas....right before someone gets vomited on. This guy will keep you on your toes.
What's harder: playing a role like Trudy or directing a roller derby smash-up?
Whenever I'm working on a new project I find myself saying, "This is the hardest thing that I've ever worked on." I hope this remains true for as long as I do theater. Why would we do the work if we're not challenging ourselves each time? Search for Signs was its own incredible beast, but this directing thing is really pushing me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to articulate what kind of theater I want to see.
After years of languishing in the pop culture closet, roller derby seems to be making a comeback: Drew Barrymore movie, regular event at KeyArena, and so on. What do you think is the appeal?
Roller derby is some of the most exciting theatrer that I have seen in years. To my mind almost every sporting event is a performance, but there is something that sets roller derby aside. They acknowledge and embrace the performance aspect of it. They include the audience. Back in the day, the audience almost dictated how the game was to be played. Players were paid to start fights and publicly razz opponents. It used to be a super violent sport where being punched in the face and then thrown over the rails was commonplace. Derby is immediate, electric, and completely unpredictable.
How much time do the actors spend on skates?
Not a single moment. On the first page of the script Rolin Jones begs "on his hands and knees" that the actors never appear on skates. He challenges the director to figure out an alternative movement based form to simulate the derby. This was one of the elements that drew me to his script in the first place. There is a very specific tone that the script requires in this production. With the help of the cast and choreographers, we have found an innovative, dynamic movement vocabulary. What I had originally thought was an obstruction turned out to be a huge freedom.
This comedy relies on fast pace and some fairly outrageous action: when casting, what were you looking for in the actors?
Courage, humor, and humility. I wanted to assemble a group of actors who hadn't worked together before. I find that I am much less inhibited around strangers than I am peers, and this proved to be true of the cast as well. They bring their own crazy ideas to the piece and also will try whatever I ask of them....and I'm asking them to do some pretty crazy stuff onstage. They are diving head first into it.
For folks who haven't come to Balagan before, what makes a play a Balagan production? And what should they expect when they come to your theater?
We are playing make-believe in the basement of a noodle house. We want everyone to come play too. Hang up pretensions outside the door, grab a drink, sit down, and enjoy the ride.
How did you come to direct The Jammer at Balagan?
Balagan has become my second home since returning to Seattle a year and a half ago. I joined the company after performing in Arabian Nights and I created and co-host their monthly late night cabaret, Schmorgasborg.
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| Christine Nelson and Nick Edwards
Photo: Andrea Huysing
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Last year I directed a short piece in Balagan's Death/Sex. It really whet my appetite for this aspect of production. As a company we planned this insane ten play season and I was invited to direct one. I wanted to find a fun, fast-paced, stylized piece that would allow a group of actors and myself to just come together in a room and play. While reading plays recently produced in the Edinburgh Fringe Festiva, I ran across The Jammer and it completely fit the bill. Rolin Jones is a wickedly smart writer who smacks you upside the head with witty banter but also layers in subtly profound thoughts and ideas....right before someone gets vomited on. This guy will keep you on your toes.
What's harder: playing a role like Trudy or directing a roller derby smash-up?
Whenever I'm working on a new project I find myself saying, "This is the hardest thing that I've ever worked on." I hope this remains true for as long as I do theater. Why would we do the work if we're not challenging ourselves each time? Search for Signs was its own incredible beast, but this directing thing is really pushing me out of my comfort zone and forcing me to articulate what kind of theater I want to see.
After years of languishing in the pop culture closet, roller derby seems to be making a comeback: Drew Barrymore movie, regular event at KeyArena, and so on. What do you think is the appeal?
Roller derby is some of the most exciting theatrer that I have seen in years. To my mind almost every sporting event is a performance, but there is something that sets roller derby aside. They acknowledge and embrace the performance aspect of it. They include the audience. Back in the day, the audience almost dictated how the game was to be played. Players were paid to start fights and publicly razz opponents. It used to be a super violent sport where being punched in the face and then thrown over the rails was commonplace. Derby is immediate, electric, and completely unpredictable.
How much time do the actors spend on skates?
Not a single moment. On the first page of the script Rolin Jones begs "on his hands and knees" that the actors never appear on skates. He challenges the director to figure out an alternative movement based form to simulate the derby. This was one of the elements that drew me to his script in the first place. There is a very specific tone that the script requires in this production. With the help of the cast and choreographers, we have found an innovative, dynamic movement vocabulary. What I had originally thought was an obstruction turned out to be a huge freedom.
This comedy relies on fast pace and some fairly outrageous action: when casting, what were you looking for in the actors?
Courage, humor, and humility. I wanted to assemble a group of actors who hadn't worked together before. I find that I am much less inhibited around strangers than I am peers, and this proved to be true of the cast as well. They bring their own crazy ideas to the piece and also will try whatever I ask of them....and I'm asking them to do some pretty crazy stuff onstage. They are diving head first into it.
For folks who haven't come to Balagan before, what makes a play a Balagan production? And what should they expect when they come to your theater?
We are playing make-believe in the basement of a noodle house. We want everyone to come play too. Hang up pretensions outside the door, grab a drink, sit down, and enjoy the ride.