director’s choice BY AMY LEVINSON
normally avoid the word sentimentality because of the negative connotations, but it applies here. I think that Tracy, after writing the play about his home and where he grew up in Oklahoma, wanted to write a play about his adopted home, Chicago. So August is a play with deep familial Long Day’s Journey into Night kind of resonance while Superior Donuts is more about the place he chose to live as an adult. Also, Donuts really plays like a comedy. It’s so much lighter than August, but really delivers in its own way. AL: In terms of balancing between being Artistic Director and a director on a particular play, do you find that you choose plays in a similar way? In other words, in selecting a season of plays, are the criteria the same for when you come across a play you want to direct?
Choosing a play you love, and loving the plays you choose. An interview with Artistic Director, Randall Arney AL: I recall you telling a story about the writing of Superior Donuts and how it came out of August: Osage County. Can you talk a bit about that? RA: What I remember is that Tracy was writing and creating August: Osage County and it was moving from Chicago to New York. He had a feeling that it was going to be a defining moment for him as a playwright. He decided to begin writing something else, before any of the heat hit for August, because he was afraid that he wouldn’t know what to write next. He was afraid that he’d be tempted or swayed by the attention that August was getting to write a particular type P4 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
of follow-up play. So, he said he started writing Superior Donuts because he knew it was a very different kind of play with a different feel and he wanted to have a good head start before anyone began to comment on August: Osage County. AL: In terms of the tone of the two plays, what would you say are the similarities and differences between August: Osage County and Superior Donuts? RA: Superior Donuts is certainly lighter. I hesitate to refer to it that way, because it is certainly no less real. Tracy has written, in both cases, very real situations, but there is a sweetness in Superior Donuts; it has heart. I
RA: In terms of directing, I tend to be attracted to plays that tell a really good story with an ensemble of characters. This may be based on my upbringing at Steppenwolf (in Chicago). I often think of what Mamet says about plays: what keeps an audience in their seats is waiting to see what happens next, and so I tend to be attracted to really good stories. That’s my take as a director. As Artistic Director, we are often led to plays because of the story, or the company but often it’s a director who finds a play really exciting. I believe in following the lead of directors with whom we’ve worked and who we trust. But we are oftentimes in a position of reading plays, really liking them and knowing that they are the right plays for our audiences, but it still isn’t something that attracts me as a director. Because the art is subjective, we don’t automatically see a play as another director might see it. If someone like Dan Sullivan or David Esbjornson says, “I have a vision for this play. I know what I want to do with it,” that can be a driving force in