Citadel
DAVID CHRISCOLE | TUESDAY, 04 SEPTEMBER 2018
Director Callout
Very early in our pre-production discussions, myself and Sean decided that we didn't wish to choose a Director based purely on our personal interactions. We both felt that the play would benefit from an open approach right from the beginning.
To this end we launched a formal callout for a Director between midday 16th to 5pm 20th May. The response to the call was amazing, and by the time the callout was completed we had 17 submissions in all, a very handsome amount we felt.
How Do We Choose?
The applications provided a cross-section of abilities and experience, including one that quite incredibly attempted to lie their way into the position, go figure. To be honest, the idea of having to choose a Director was a daunting one at first, but we very quickly honed in on what we were looking for.
We decided to pick Directors based on a fairly standard set of factors, such as their pitch, relevant and overall experience plus work history. Sadly this meant removing some incredible applicants as we prepared our short-list of just three prospects.
The Ladies Speak
Surprisingly out of all the applicants, we ended up with a short-list of three female Directors. In fact, and possibly more surprisingly, we picked each of the female directors that applied for the role, sorry about that one guys.
Whilst on the face of it this might have looked deliberate, it was purely coincidental. I did have the notion that with the cast containing two dominant male roles against one female, having a female Director could help strengthen the female character. So too was my desire to make sure I was writing a solidly female character, and not some caricature female seen through male eyes.
With a set of interviews of our prospective directors, and what turned out to be a very difficult decision, we finally made our choice by the 28th May.
And The Director Is...?
Myself and Sean were thrilled to introduce Grace Cordell as our Director across social media on June 28th. Despite it being a month since engaging with Grace, the script has already been through a table reading, feedback and notes sessions. Absolutely no slacking here.
Grace’s directing credits include The Conditioning (Edinburgh Festival Fringe) which was piece of new writing exploring themes of ex military PTSD. Grace: "It is such an important and fascinating subject that I am keen to explore more in interesting ways with sensitivity to the subject matter."
Other credits include A Part Of Me at CoLab Festival (The Royal Exchange Theatre), Blackpool, What A Shit Place To Die (Etcetera Theatre, Camden)(Manchester Fringe), The B Word (Manchester Fringe), Platform (Manchester Fringe). Assistant directing credits include Yank! (Charing Cross Theatre) (Hope Mill Theatre), The Snow Queen (Oldham Library) (Notts Playhouse).
Adding An Intern
Whilst searching for a Director, one of the applicants caught our eye for completely different reasons. The applicant, Anthony Smith of Red Pencil Productions, was looking to expand his already impressive experience into directing theatre. For obvious reasons we couldn't take on someone with no experience of theatre direction, but Anthony was perfect to bring along as an intern. It was a joy when Anthony accepted our offer, and has joined the team.
Anthony: "My enthusiasm for directing started from my experience as a stage actor. I have always had a strong passion to entertain others, whether it be making them laugh or cry. However, as I spent more time working in theatre productions, I found myself wanting to direct others. I graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First-Class Honours degree in Film Production and after a stint of freelance work and tutoring media studies students, I started Red Pencil Productions with Joseph. Red Pencil is a multi-award-winning video production company, whom produce narrative driven commercials to generate an emotional response and therefore strengthen the customer relationship with the brand. From TV Commercials to social media content we have experience in producing emotionally led and impactful video."
"Outside of the business, I write and direct fiction film, specialising in thriller, with an absolute love for the theatre. My past experiences as an actor and working with various theatrical directors has made a huge influence on how I direct for film and work with actors. Having recently drafted an idea for my first theatre project, I’ve been given the opportunity to learn from Grace and the experience of Citadel. I’ve already learnt so much from the experience and cannot wait to take the advice, techniques and methods into my future project."
You can check out Anthony's work, either via Red Pencil Productions, or as a fiction director by heading over to DirectedBy.CO.UK, and via Twitter: @AnthonyR_Smith