Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the exclusive cosmic Current interview with Krista Schaeffer. I'm Brian Kitson, head writer of the Cosmic Circus and the Cosmic Circus Broadway. Krista Schaeffer is directing University of Detroit Mercy's the Witch, which runs for six shows beginning October 25. In this interview, Schaeffer discusses how directing university level actors differs from her past experiences, what themes of the witch resonate with her the most, and what's coming next for her, both in directing and acting. Enjoy. Thank you so much for joining us today. And out of your busy schedule of rehearsals for the witch, how is the rehearsal process going so far?
[00:00:38] Speaker B: Really fantastic. Really.
I am enjoying it. I think the students are enjoying it. They seem to be either that or they're lying to me.
It's just such a really meaty script, and so it's really fun to dig into it and it asks big questions. There is no character that's extraneous. Like, everybody is important to the plot and has interesting things about their character. And so everybody really gets a chance to dig in. And so those are my favorite kind of plays that just, so it's going really well. We moved this week we will move. We've been rehearsing at the university, and this week we will move into the theater at the bowl YMCA downtown. And then we will have our set and we'll start adding in lights and the actual props. And that's always a super fun time because it takes everything like that we've been doing in a room with tape on the floor and silly props or whatever, and it takes it, and it just takes it up a whole bunch of notches. It's so fun. So I'm really looking forward to that this week.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: As I say, it seems like that makes it a very real moment of like, oh, we're doing this.
[00:01:53] Speaker B: It does. It does. And one of the things, I mean, everything, like every layer you add adds something. But there's a something like, about costumes, I find in particular, really, like, once the actors put those costumes on, they're like, oh, this is what my character feels like in this costume. And, you know, we've been rehearsing, the women have been rehearsing in skirts and some of the shoes are kind of specialized shoes. And so they've been, you know, wearing those for rehearsal, but it's not the same as being head to toe feeling like you are that character. And so once you start moving in them, it literally just changes how you move. And so obviously, we do work on that in rehearsal, but there's nothing like putting that costume on, it really makes a difference.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: I've noticed that through doing this, seeing a few different shows, like earlier, like, in the rehearsal process, we might get invited to them, and they're so. It's so different when they finally have that costume on and they're at the sets, it's like they become that character, and it's not just them playing somebody else in that moment.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Exactly. It really. It. Yeah. And then everything just helps support that, right? That the lights help create the mood and so much more. You know, some people think, like, oh, you just turned on some lights and, like, no, it's so much more complicated than that, you know? And the sets help create that space and that, you know, it just. It informs everything. And the props, you know, that maybe you've been miming or, you know, if you've had a cup, maybe you've had a plastic cup, and then suddenly you've got, like a, you know, like a, you know, like a metal, you know, cup or something. Like, it just. Everything, it just feels different in your hands. It feels different on your body. It feels different all around you. And it really, like, this week of tech, everything will just levels up. It's like a computer game, right? When you hit that, whatever, like, Mario hits the mushroom.
[00:03:41] Speaker A: So it's fun as the director of the show. When. How does tech week, like, does. Does it get even more stressful for you? Like, what does that switch for you?
[00:03:52] Speaker B: So in some ways, it's a very different. Like, I think most of my work is done in a lot of ways. Okay, this week, so we've got two rehearsals at the university, and then Wednesday we move. So a big part of it will be making sure that the things that we did in the space will work in the.
In the actual set. One of the things that's unique about this set is we have a rotating turntable, and so it's going to be about six inches up, and then it's going to rotate things in and out. And so, you know, we've been rehearsing on a flat floor, and so what is the stepping on and off of that going to do? And is that going to literally trip people up?
And I. So there'll be some of that work to redo that.
But sort of the hard work of shaping the play is really done. And now it becomes, for lack of a better term, actually really technical.
You're going to need to make sure you step up on this line so that you're there in time for whatever.
So for the first couple of rehearsals, it's very sort of technical, and it's a very different. A different skill. And in some ways, it's more like keeping everybody happy, you know? Cause there's gonna be. There's so many, you know, now we're gonna have a crew that. Cause, you know, the turntable does not move itself. So we're gonna have a crew that's doing that. We're gonna have a crew that's setting the props backstage. And, you know, what actually gets. There are several scenes that take place in a banquet hall, and there's a maid, Winifred, and she takes things off and brings things on all the time. And, you know, we've had a couple of handful of things that she's moving now. We have to know. This is the actual thing. You have to move, and then you have to move this, and then you. So it becomes really technical for a couple of days, and then it sort of goes back to telling the story.
But those technical things are all part of telling the story. So that was a really long answer. I think you asked if it got more stressful. It's just a different kind of stress. One of the great things about this is the UD mercy team.
They've got a great team of.
Of designers, many of whom are professors there at the university. I'm just a guest artist who comes in, and so they really, like, they know the space, they know what they're doing. And so when you have a really great team, then the stress level for the director goes down, and I trust the team.
And so I'm not really stressed out about it. It's just sort of the next step.
I run a theater company. I run open book theater down in Trenton. And, you know, if I'm directing a show, I'm also the producer, and so I'm also in charge of, like, doing all the things. So for me, right now, I'm like, this is a breeze. I only have to direct. I don't have to do all these other pieces.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: Sure.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: So in some ways, I feel like I'm on vacation.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: I mean, it's nice to then have a little bit of a step back and getting to do it in a different way than having to be so involved, but you're still super, super involved, so.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Oh, I mean, sure. And, of course, I'm in communication with them all the time and whatever, but.
But I am not the person in charge of all of the things, you know? And even when I direct here to open book, I've got.
I have a team, I have a designer. I have whatever.
But I'm the head boss, and here I am not at Ud mercy. I'm not the head boss. So it's nice if I'm like, I don't know how to handle this problem. I've got somebody to kick it up to.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: So can you tell us a little bit about the show? Like, no spoilers. Obviously, we want people to go and see it, but just kind of what this show is.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: So the show is a really interesting, to me, examination of what do you hope for and what price would you be willing to pay for it, and what price would you be willing to inflict on others or to allow others to pay. The basic premise is that the devil comes to town and is offering to buy people's souls and finds his way to the local witch, you know, the woman who everybody has, she's the town outcast, and ends up sort of striking up an interesting relationship with her because she does not respond the way that he expects her to. And so they sort of develop this really interesting back and forth. But then there are other characters in the town who, in the castle, who, you know, he has also approached about selling their souls. And I'm not giving too much away to say that two of them very early on in the play say, this is what I want. This is I will sell you my soul for this, and then to watch what that does to them, what they, what? Like I said, literally, like, what price they are willing to pay the things they're willing to give up in their own life and who they're willing to hurt in their striving for the thing that they want. And I think that even though, you know, we today are not necessarily selling our souls to the devil, or at least he hasn't come knocking on my door, we certainly all have things that we strive for and hope for, and some of us are a little more willing to not care about who gets in our way to get those things.
And I think it's a really interesting examination of that. And then the characters themselves are all fascinating, so I won't give away how it all goes. But to me, that's the question, is, what is it you hope for, and what is the price that you would be willing to pay?
[00:09:39] Speaker A: Is that what drew you to the show, or was there other aspects that also drew you as a director, or what do you think makes the show unique?
[00:09:46] Speaker B: So I think that definitely drew me to the show.
One of the things that is unique about it is literally the character of Elizabeth, who plays the witch. And you interviewed Katherine last week, she spoke so beautifully about the show.
She starts the show off with a monologue, and she says, the question you should be asking, I'm not going to get her line right, because that's her job, is do you have hope that things will get better? And so I think it really sets up a question right at the very beginning of the play that the entire audience will be thinking of. And then there are moments where it gets recalled where they're, you know, because surely you get, you get swept up in the show and then something happens near, like, oh, right. The question is, do I have hope that things will get better? And so I think it's a really, but it's also really funny. There are some just funny, funny moments.
So it's got it all. It's got drama, it's got humor. It's got a, as Katherine mentioned, it's got a really great fight scene in it. There's a little bit of dancing. It's really a delightful show. The characters are all, like I said, so rich, and the character of the witch is really complicated. There's so much in this play that deals with gender inequality and sort of the assumptions we make about somebody based on their gender, based on their sexuality that I think are really important still to be discussing today.
So that drew me to the script.
I love a good, strong, central female character who does it, and Catherine does just such a gorgeous, gorgeous job at it. But even though it's called witch and she's sort of obviously a thread line through, it's really an ensemble piece. All of the characters, like I said, are integral to it, and they are all interesting. And so I also love working with the students.
You know, I work with professional actors most of the time, which I love as well.
There's a little bit more of a teaching element, obviously, working with students. We've been doing some exercises and rehearsals that have been really fun. And I love that moment anytime in rehearsal where somebody has an aha moment and they, they get something, and then it changes how they see it, and it changes what's happening on stage. And it's so I was saying to a friend the other day, I'm like, I know something that's helpful to others. Like, it's really fun to do something and to say something and have them then gain an insight, as opposed to me just lecturing them about how to do it.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: You're helping them grow as actors.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Pardon me?
[00:12:49] Speaker A: So you're helping them grow as actors.
[00:12:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. It really, truly is.
You know, we were doing an exercise the other day, and somebody said, I love this. I love, like, I love this sort of thing. I was like, this is a thing you can do. You know, it's literally a thing I learned when I was in college. And you can do this yourself anytime. It's not, you know, it's. It's not like it's some special trick and and, you know, there are things that work for some actors and things that don't and some things that work in certain situations really well. And I, you know, so the way I look at it, as actors, as directors, as humans, but, you know, within the theater, you have a toolbox of things, and you go, huh? How can I. What do I need to get into this scene to this character to understand what's happening?
And so it's been fun to share some of those things with them.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: That is fantastic.
This is being described as, you know, according to the press release, as a modern retelling of a jacobian drama. How do you feel like the show has been updated?
[00:13:50] Speaker B: So I have a confession to make, which is that I have not read the original. That's all right. I keep meaning to dig it up and find it. I was talking. A friend of mine was a part of a production of the original play, and we were talking the other day, and he mentioned something that happens in that play, and I was like, huh, that doesn't happen in this new version.
So I honestly don't know. I really wish that I could. Could give you a better answer.
[00:14:17] Speaker A: Oh, that's okay.
You know, you mentioned, as well as in the last interview when I talked with Katherine, we talked about the exploration of gender and gender roles.
So how do you feel like this show kind of goes about doing that? And how does that influence your directing approach as well?
[00:14:38] Speaker B: So a big part of it is the way that the character of the witch has been treated. She's sort of the town outcast and really working to give her strength and power because as the sort of outcast of the story, you know, it's real easy to think of her as weak or weird or whatever. And one of the things I've worked with Catherine on is her physicality in this role to give her a real groundedness, a real earthiness, a real power in herself, because she has had to be so self reliant because nobody will talk with her.
And it's really interestingly juxtaposed with Winifred, who is the maid, and sort of what her power is and what she's looking for out of life. There's a really great scene. I don't want to give it away at the end where these two finally meet.
And the difference between them is really interesting and really very much about gender roles, very much about what does society expect from us as women.
And this hundred year old idea still has a lot to say for today and how much has changed and how much hasn't.
So really looking at that and making sure that we pull that piece out and set those women apart, because these are these women in this very man's world.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: That's a lot of fun, that's exciting, and that does speak to a modern audience as well. That's a problem that doesn't go away.
[00:16:35] Speaker B: I'll tell you, Irisa, the witch's character, is described in the script as a woman in her forties or fifties. And, you know, I am a woman in my forties or fifties. And so when I first read the script, I related to her right away with sort of her the things that she is wary of and the things that she is hopeful for and what she's looking for and her experiences. Like, it just right away, I was like, oh, this is a woman I know. This could be me. This could be any number of people I know, even though the circumstances are very different. But just where she is, she is tired. Am I allowed to swear on here? She's tired.
[00:17:21] Speaker A: Go ahead.
[00:17:22] Speaker B: She is tired of the bullshit. So tired of the bullshit.
And she finally gets somebody who will listen to her and cares about her feelings and what that does to somebody just to be heard and to be seen and how that unlocks something.
[00:17:40] Speaker A: Sure. As a therapist, I can say validation is super important. A person who can feel validated and seen and respected. That can go a long way.
[00:17:50] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah, she speaks. Like I said, the first monologue where she asks that original question. She talks about how nobody will talk to her. Like, when she goes to the well, and everybody's like, oh, she's this and she's that, and she's whatever. And she's like, you know, later she gets to share some of that, and you see, see that frustration in her? And then she even says, like, I'm not used to talking about myself because, you know, she didn't have anybody who would listen to her. And what gets unlocked when she finally has somebody to listen to her is really, really powerful.
[00:18:21] Speaker A: So what is your process of bringing the image in your head of the show to the stage? Like, I know that obviously, images in your head, never quite, they're not the same that, you know, it's gonna be better or it's gonna be different, or it's gonna look a little. It's going to change a little bit as we see it adapted on stage. But what is your kind of process of bringing that to the forefront and bringing it to the stage of audiences?
[00:18:40] Speaker B: So, obviously, a lot of the visual stuff gets worked out with the designers in terms of what it's going to look like on stage. And we talked a lot about sort of the.
That it's going to feel very sort of hemmed in a little bit. Like every space has its very sort of tight circle, and so it's going to feel. I wanted it to feel very intimate, very. I want it to feel a little bit like even the castle scenes, to feel a little bit shabby, like it's seen better days, you know, like they maybe used to be kind of a little. A little better, but this whole town, including the people who live in the castle, have, you know, are kind of down on their luck, even, you know, so that even the rich are not. It's kind of old and tired.
[00:19:41] Speaker A: Like a beauty and the beast aspect kind of thing.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes. Yeah, a little bit like that. And we see that then in the actors, too, and how they.
How they. How they're dressed and how they interact with each other.
But theater is so collaborative that, you know, there are moments that so much of it is discovered in rehearsal. Like, I have ideas of how it goes, but the actors bring out different things in the character, which is one of the things I love about live theater is that, you know, you could see another production of this someplace else, and they would have a very different, probably very valid interpretation of it because you're bringing an entirely different team together, and the actors are going to have different strengths and, you know, they're gonna see a little bit differently.
But, like, in terms of the movement and stuff, a lot of it is, you know, letting them.
Giving them room to play and explore, but also giving them direction. Like I said, for Elizabeth, I've given her. I've told her, you know, to really ground her. She doesn't move much in the beginning. She's very, very still and stoic. And then that sort of changes as the play moves on. And so helping the characters find how they grow from one thing to another over the course of the play, which they all do, you know, and so trying to visually support that growth and that change in the characters and the change in the story, there's a lot of sort of sparks flying in various different ways and making sure that that comes across to the audience, because it doesn't matter if an actor feels it, if the audience doesn't get it. And that's really a big part of having a director there. We've got a really wonderful. She does both our fight and our intimacy choreography, Alexis Black, and she's wonderful, and she really helps create some of that spark as well. And she's got a really good visual vocabulary for that.
But it's just a lot of, like, hey, try it. What would happen if you. Rather than standing up there, if you scooched your chair closer and got closer, what would happen if letting them play and sort of find visually what happens, and then you sort of lock it in after we play for a while.
[00:22:09] Speaker A: But that's awesome. I mean, it's good to have that collaborative approach, you know, while you have the vision, but, like, the vision, like, everybody gets to bring that vision to life.
[00:22:20] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. And like I said, the designers, we were all just sort of on the same page right away as seeing it sort of this intimate. And so that's very much what we're going for. It's not big and broad. It's not, you know, and so we're really digging in deep, and that's been so fun. It's not, you know, it's not some big broad. It's not a farce. It's not a, you know, perfect.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: So how do you feel like this production has challenged you as a director?
[00:22:51] Speaker B: Hmm, that's an interesting question.
It has definitely challenged me in a way, like I said, of dealing with a different level of students. I've directed high school. I did that for three years, and I've worked with younger children, and I've worked with professionals, but this college level is a different level. So directing them while also knowing that they're students and knowing that they're in a place of learning has been a fun challenge, I think, and a way to knowing that they don't always have the same vocabulary or they're nothing. They're in different places.
So doing that has been a bit of a challenge.
So that's probably the biggest challenge as a director, but not a bad challenge.
It's a fun challenge, I think.
[00:23:50] Speaker A: Absolutely. Another thing to add to your repertoire of knowledge of who to work with and different levels.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. And how to every actor you work with, you communicate with them a little bit differently because people have. I'm sure you find this in your profession, right. They have different things. They connect to different things. Right. Something that's gonna work for one client is not going to work for another. And how do you, how do you find the way in to communicate what you need with that actor to get the whole production sort of in the same place, you know? So you try, you try different things until you find the thing that, like, oh, here's how I can talk to this person. And, and I always, no matter who I'm working with, I say we call it a play for a reason. You know, like, it should be fun to do. It doesn't matter how serious it is. It doesn't matter if you want everybody weeping by the end of the play. Like, if what we're, if we're not having fun doing this, why are we doing it?
And fun doesn't have to be like, Woohoo, party. Fun means, like, challenging and engaging, right? If you are not challenged and engaged by what you're doing, then we need to find a different way to do it. And so that's sort of how I define fun and try to make sure that all of the characters, all of the actors are having that kind of fun challenge.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: That's fantastic.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: One of the things, too is, no, I think I've already said that. Never mind.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: No, go ahead, go ahead.
[00:25:17] Speaker B: I've been sort of rambling. I'm like, no, I think I already made that point.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: What themes in the witch do you feel resonate the most with you?
[00:25:27] Speaker B: Again, I think the idea of gender inequality resonates. And again, that idea of what do you hope for? And I think that that's a question to ask yourself almost every day. What do I have hope for?
What do I want to see for myself and what do I want to see for the world?
Because, you know, and how do those things jive? You know, if what I want for myself doesn't also help the world, then maybe it's not the thing I should be hoping, you know? Sure.
So I think that idea of what do you hope for? Is such an important question for us to be asking, and I think it's what keeps us going, you know? Like, if you don't have hope, then how do you get up in the morning, right?
And if you don't have hope, how do you find it? Or how do you connect with somebody who can get. So I think that idea of hope, what do we hope for? Is a really important question for all of us to ask and then to do the work to make the world the world that we hope it will be.
[00:26:38] Speaker A: And hopefully that's what audience walk away from is the question. And then they can make their own answer.
[00:26:45] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. And I, and I love a play that asks a question but doesn't tell you the answer because often the answer is not the same for everybody. And that's okay. Like, we should. Like, if everybody in the world was hoping for the same thing, I mean, peace on earth, I guess, right? We're all hoping. Most of us are hoping for peace on earth, right?
But the layers are going to be very, very different for different people. And we need that. We need that variety. But we all need to be asking the question of what do we hope for? And so I want people to walk away talking about it and saying, well, this was interesting. And here I didn't think about that. And, gosh, I don't know. And what do you think?
Those are my favorite, favorite kind of place.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: And one final question for you is just, you know, you're hard at work with the witch, but you also mentioned that you have your own theater company. So what's next for you?
[00:27:40] Speaker B: Oh, so next for me? Well, we are the theater company open book theatre. We're in Trenton, Michigan.
Our next show opens November 8, so two weeks after which opens, and I'm producing that show, but it's called breaking laws to gain liberating stories from Detroit. And it is a co production with Empty Mile, no extra mile playwright theatre. And it's a collaboration with five of their playwrights. They have written a play that delves into a lot of stories that are lesser known stories that have happened here in Detroit that influenced black civil rights nationwide.
You know, like a lot of us are familiar with what happened here in 67, but there's so much more history in Detroit. And this really delves into some stories that I didn't know much about.
I think it's a really hopeful, really interesting, really local based historical play that I think is going to be fascinating for our audiences.
So there's that. And then I'm an actor and I will be back on stage then in January for our production of Bernhardt Hamlet. So it's always, always something up.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: You keep yourself busy.
[00:29:00] Speaker B: I do. I do. I'm very grateful to have a life in the theater. It's, you know, when you talk about things that you hope for, it's a thing that I had hoped for for many, many years. And so I'm very grateful that I have it.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: Well, that's fantastic. Well, we're very much looking forward to seeing the show. The witch opens on October 25 th, and it has six performances through the November 3.
And we're looking forward to seeing it, and we hope that other people turn up and enjoy just as much as we're hoping to do. So thank you so much for being here and talking with us.
[00:29:33] Speaker B: Thank you for having me. This was really fun.
