My Two Proudest Moments as Director of "The Jungle Book"

Some of the Cast of "The Jungle Book" at the Center Theatre in Dover-Foxcroft, ME

Greetings all, and welcome to Theater is a Sport, my little place on the internet to talk about all things theater.  My name is Bobby Keniston, and you can find me here pretty much five days a week (Monday-Friday).  Why?  Well, because I love theater.

Since early February, I have been honored to be the director of "The Jungle Book" at the Center Theatre, right here in my home town of Dover-Foxcroft.  Every spring, the theater does an all-youth cast show, and, happily, I applied for the job to direct and was hired.

It's been a lot of work.  The cast is comprised of kids between the ages of 3 and 17.  Obviously, that's quite a big range!  It's been a challenge for me to find different ways to communicate with different cast members, and making myself understood by everyone.  There have been times when the process has tested my patience (I"m proud to say that I passed), and, of course, many other moments where it has given me great joy.  

I want to tell you about my two proudest moments as the director of "The Jungle Book".  And, the reason they are my two proudest moments, is because I had nothing to do with them.

Of course, as a director, I try to make sure the kids are prepared for anything.  But that's not always possible....

Last Sunday, during our matinee performance, all was going well.  In fact, it was my favorite of the three performances to date.  We were near the end of Act One, everything was smooth sailing, and I was watching the show from the back of the auditorium (in the shadows), and really enjoying it.  And then, the power went out.  

Black stage, during a big group scene with almost every character present on stage.  

To be honest, I expected within seconds for them to be worried, maybe even panicked, which I would have understood.  I expected some shouting out, some "What do we do?", or maybe a mass attempt to clear the stage, which, in the pitch black, could have been dangerous.  

But they stayed right there on stage.  I walked down to the foot of the stage, as did the stage manager, and whispered that they were doing a great job, and to just stay in place, and, when the lights came back on, to just keep going.

Fortunately, the lights came back on relatively quickly.  And the moment they did, BAM!, as if there were NO INTERRUPTION AT ALL, they kept going.  They picked it right back up with the same energy and focus as if they and the audience had not just been in the dark for a few minutes.  They didn't miss a beat.  

My second proudest moment was yesterday, when we spent the day performing for school children. The kids had FOUR (!) performances of the show yesterday for surrounding area schools.  Talk about a long day!  

Midway through the third play, something went wrong.  A character who was supposed to be onstage, didn't come on stage.  I figured they had just missed their entrance, but would run on.  The cast members onstage started improvising and ad-libbing, keeping the scene going,  I headed backstage to find there had been a bit of a costume mishap.  And all this while, the kids onstage kept going and going and going.  Without looking panicked, without breaking character, without freaking out.  They didn't give up.  They kept acting and improvising their hearts out, as if nothing in the least bit was out of place.  I'm telling you, I have never seen adults work to cover a scene so well!  It blew my mind.  

"Where did they learn how to do that?," I asked myself.

And then, when the mishap was sorted out, the actor went onstage, proud and confident as though nothing had been wrong.  Amazing. 

The thing is, I can't take the credit for it.  

And that is why it makes me very proud.

For those in the Dover-Foxcroft area, the final 3 performances of "The Jungle Book" are Friday, April 17th at 7 PM, and Saturday April 18th at 2 PM and 7 PM, at the Center Theatre.  You really should come check it out!

OPENING NIGHT

The Marquee

For the last seven weeks or so, my energies have been largely given to directing a production of "The Jungle Book", an adaptation by Vera Morris (one of the many pseudonyms for the prolific Tim Kelly), available through Pioneer.  Tonight is opening night.

I don't know about other directors, but, for me, a rehearsal process can feel like a lifetime, but, no matter what, when we get to opening night, it always seems to have blown by. Opening night really is a night for directors to freak out--- after all, aside from a few last notes and a pep talk, there is absolutely nothing we can do.  

The venue for this production is in my hometown of Dover-Foxcroft, ME, at a lovely place called the Center Theatre.  SOCP, the group attached to the theater that produces plays in-house, is an abbreviation for "Slightly Off-Center Players".  And this production is put on specifically for children performers to be a part of.  No adults in the cast whatsoever (though, one of the teenagers in the group is very close to eighteen).  I have children from the ages of 3-17 in the show, with most being in 9-12 area.  I've never done a play with that had one as young as three (as well as a five year old in the cast, too), and this play has presented new and interesting learning opportunities for me.  

I am, of course, proud of the kiddos hard work throughout this process.  It's not always easy being in a play, sitting still for direction, and focusing energy on the task at hand as opposed to letting fly in all directions.  In a sense, I have watched the play go from chaos, and evolve into the shape of what a play should be.

And here we are at opening night, and there are about a million and a half more things I would like to impart to the cast, but, given the opportunity, probably couldn't think of more than a handful.  Remember not to turn your back to the audience.  Don't block one another in the group scenes.  Don't upstage your fellow actors or yourself.  Keep your hands out of any pockets.  Keep your feet still.  Keep the volume up.  No matter what, STAY IN CHARACTER.  Things I have told them many times already, with varying levels of success, but still want to keep reminding them before an audience sits down to watch them.  

I will give them a pep talk tonight to tell them how proud I am of them, and how if they keep their energy up and believe in themselves and the hard work they've done, then they will soar.  And all of this is true.  And then, they will go backstage, I will be in the auditorium or talking to people in the lobby, or going outside and freaking out a bit.  I'll most likely stand at the back of the auditorium as the play is going on, and try not to pace, because I don't want to distract the kids, and as soon as the lights go up, part of me will have a nervous breakdown.  Not because I don't believe in the kids.  But because I know that there is nothing for me to possibly do any more to help them.  And that's a hard thing to let go of.  

The nervous breakdown will subside in a minute or two, and, before you know it, the show will be over, and I'll be telling the kids what a great job they did, yet warning them not to get over-confident because we still have a lot of performances.  I will look at the other adults on the crew, and I'm sure we'll all smile and say, "They did it," and then, "We did it." 

At every point in a rehearsal process, a director most likely asks themselves, "Why do I put myself through this."  And after tonight, after opening night, that questions is immediately forgotten.