by Christopher Douglas
(Photography by burdettphotography.com. All photos feature Jacqui Skeete as Carol and James R. Woods as John.)
David Mamet's Oleanna is a bold choice for a first production by a new venture. However that's exactly the script that Jaybird Productions decided to tackle. Experienced Producer and Director, Jacqui Burke, explains why she is forging such a brave path for her company.
CHARPO: Why Oleanna for this venture into producing?
BURKE: Well, I love this show. Oleanna is a riveting piece of work that I've been wanting to direct for some time. But also Jaybird Productions was starting to produce shows that were rarely, if ever, done at the Community Theatre level. Happily, Oleanna falls into this category. Finally, it’s a small show (which means it's inexpensive to produce) – a two-hander that blossoms with minimum production values and is best experienced by an audience, in my opinion, in a tiny house. It’s a natural inaugural production for a fledgling theatre company.
CHARPO: Do you think audiences will be challenged by the political nature of the script? And do you have any plans to mitigate that?
BURKE: It's interesting that you might think I would want to mitigate the power of any script. I think my job as a Director is to help the company tell the story as honestly as we possibly can. Actively buffering the impact of a play or reducing its power to ensure that it’s more palatable to an audience is censorship. That’s not my job. Yes, this show is challenging and, no, I will not do anything to mitigate its impact. If folks want easy, there’s lots of that kind of stuff on TV.
CHARPO: Do you think audiences will be challenged by the political nature of the script? And do you have any plans to mitigate that?
BURKE: It's interesting that you might think I would want to mitigate the power of any script. I think my job as a Director is to help the company tell the story as honestly as we possibly can. Actively buffering the impact of a play or reducing its power to ensure that it’s more palatable to an audience is censorship. That’s not my job. Yes, this show is challenging and, no, I will not do anything to mitigate its impact. If folks want easy, there’s lots of that kind of stuff on TV.
