The Story: Interview - Jacqui Burke of Jaybird Productions on Oleanna

Mamet's Politics Squared

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: Was it a conscious choice to cast a woman of colour against the white professor? If so, was that to raise the stakes of an already controversial play?

BURKE: Ah! No, this was not a conscious choice. Jacqui Skeete was simply the best candidate to walk into the room. Will it up the ante? In the mix of professor versus student, man versus woman and entitlement versus lack, the idea of white versus black definitely adds another source of potential conflict between two people who become intent on destroying one another. However, all these potential elements of conflict boil down to one simple question: Who has the power? Having power over another person affects how we treat them, despite our good intentions or kind feelings. As William Pitt said, "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it." 

Oleanna presents the challenge of facing each moment with unflinching honesty in order to present both sides as equally as possible.

CHARPO: What other challenges do you face with this production?
BURKE: We have a brutal physical fight at the end of the show and physical fights present an obvious safety issue and believability issue, which becomes exacerbated by playing out the fight a couple feet away from the audience – right under their noses. So, we’ve brought in Christopher Mott of Rapier Wit as Fight Director – simply a great solution.

Also, Oleanna presents the challenge of facing each moment with unflinching honesty in order to present both sides as equally as possible. This is hard. We are working well as a team – really enjoying rehearsals, actually – and we believe in what we're doing but are often emotionally drained at the end of the day. It’s tough because, no matter how professionally one approaches the work, a great script plays with your brain, stirring up all sorts of emotions and unsettles one – both as an actor and director. We are there – unsettled and uncertain – exactly where we should be because this is a brilliant script. But it takes some fortitude to go there.

CHARPO: What inspires you as a Director?  What attracts you to a piece of work and drives you to continue to do good work?
BURKE: What inspires me as a Director, I think, is the challenge (and I’m starting to sound like a broken record here) of doing any piece as truly as one can. This is at the basis of my drive to do good work: to tell these stories honestly. This is a great challenge requiring all involved to approach the work, cap in hand, humbly. To try and see what’s really there and then to try and present it as genuinely as possible, as sincerely as possible. To try not to overlay ego or unnecessary concept or flash.

I will, then, tend toward scripts that are character-based, rich in story and character, but simple to present. This doesn’t mean I can’t direct major musicals and have a lot of fun with the flash and camp – I’m a good storyteller; so I love that as well – but, as an artist, I tend toward shows that are literary and character‑driven.

But I am capricious; I am attracted to a piece of work or particular project completely on artistic whim, on eddying zeitgeist. The Producer in me will define criteria: must be small show, must be low on production values and so on. But the artist has already dreamed up a crazy set of possible projects and if one of them fits....

CHARPO: Then it just fits.  So is it tricky balancing producing with directing on the same show?
BURKE: Sure, sure. Both are time-consuming meaning I no longer watch TV, but that’s a good thing. But also, one develops something of a split personality: the Producer wants to limit scope and the Director just wants the freedom to do anything. It’s okay. I only argue with myself a little bit and rarely out loud.

That’s the tyranny of cash – lack of currency being the ultimate censor in theatre

CHARPO: You used to stage manage but eventually that led to directing.Is this venture into producing likely to happen again for you? Are you looking to the future? Do you have plans for the next show?
BURKE: Well, Jaybird will continue if Oleanna flies. Because if it does, I will have the money I need to continue with another show. That’s the tyranny of cash – lack of currency being the ultimate censor in theatre; we theatre artists need money. Consequently, I am deeply motivated on this show and I am bringing to bear a wide range of marketing skills (as well as brazenly guilting all my friends into coming).

So, assuming Oleanna is successful, my next show will be an all-female version of The Taming of the Shrew in a park somewhere in the east end of Toronto - no apologies, no excuses; just do it. Why? Lordy, don’t ask me.

Playing from November 15-24 at the Red Sandcastle Theatre, 922 Queen Street East.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.jaybirdproductions.ca.