A Moment to Reflect
I find a strange poeticism to the fact that I directed this production of Flora & Ulysses, my master production in-lieu of thesis, in the same semester that I discovered and fell in love with the Apple TV+ show Ted Lasso.
I promise I'm going somewhere with this.
In the show, Jason Sudeikis's titular character stumbles into coaching a British football club composed of a wildly disparate roster of players. Through his devotion to optimism and "belief in belief," Ted Lasso works to achieve unity by dismantling the walls built around the jaded veterans in order to help his team fall back in love with the game they adore playing.
I promise I'm going somewhere with this.
In the show, Jason Sudeikis's titular character stumbles into coaching a British football club composed of a wildly disparate roster of players. Through his devotion to optimism and "belief in belief," Ted Lasso works to achieve unity by dismantling the walls built around the jaded veterans in order to help his team fall back in love with the game they adore playing.
When discussing this production of Flora & Ulysses, I feel I accomplished something similar with this ensemble. My colleagues are quick to point out the way that I managed to get this group of actors to "ride the same wave" in order to feel like a true acting company.
The ensemble of Flora & Ulysses featured a diverse group of actors: graduate and undergraduate students, and representatives of our BFA/MFA Acting, BFA Theatre Education, and BA Drama programs, all in principle roles. I am incredibly proud of the ways in which the actors on this team uplifted one another in order to achieve performances beyond what they thought they were capable of at the beginning of the process. |
In collaboration with UNCG's incredible Design & Theatrical Technology program, I took on my most technically demanding production to date. Flora & Ulysses featured puppets, multimedia design, a turntable, and flying scenery, almost all of which being used on every page of the script. This production pushed me to expand my cognitive processing to keep more proverbial balls in the air in the rehearsal process when these technical tools were not at my disposal. I learned a tremendous amount about how the design elements can fit together more effectively as an elaborately cut jigsaw puzzle, and I am a stronger collaborator with my design colleagues because of it. As a director who thrives in the arena of Poor Theatre, the spectacular demands of Flora & Ulysses pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I am thankful for the shove.
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Ultimately, I am grateful for the chance to tell the story of this unapologetically strange girl and her super-powered squirrel.
It's not every day that one finds a play that seamlessly blends a person's love of poetry, donuts, space, superheroes, and puppets.
I do not know how I got to be so lucky to experience one of those days over and over again.
Flora & Ulysses challenged me as a director, educator, student, leader, and human. The journey to opening night was bumpy, as spaces of collaborative creation tend to be. Ultimately, our belief in the process and trust in one another got us to the end.
Ted Lasso says, "I believe in belief." Now, I do, too.
It's not every day that one finds a play that seamlessly blends a person's love of poetry, donuts, space, superheroes, and puppets.
I do not know how I got to be so lucky to experience one of those days over and over again.
Flora & Ulysses challenged me as a director, educator, student, leader, and human. The journey to opening night was bumpy, as spaces of collaborative creation tend to be. Ultimately, our belief in the process and trust in one another got us to the end.
Ted Lasso says, "I believe in belief." Now, I do, too.