News from Yale School of Drama
Sonja Berggren: A Year in the Life For one amazing school year (2012–2013) I was a special research fellow in directing at Yale School of Drama. Sitting in classes with MFA students was like being in the middle of a spectacular fireworks display. I was surrounded by brilliance: theatre greats of the future, the present, and the past. A latein-life actor, producer and director, I began acting at 50. Ten years ago, at 55, a friend and I started a theatre company. Today we have a vibrant ensemble with resident artists of many ages and talents, and a strong commitment to new works. My previous relationship with Yale was through my family. My husband, Patrick, who joined me for my year at YSD as an avid but aged undergraduate, is a Yale College alumnus, as are two of our three children. It was in 2010, when I joined the Yale School of Drama Board of Advisors, that I got the idea to come to the School. I hoped to gain an understanding of the School from a student’s perspective and to learn new things to incorporate into my work. What did I find? Joy, stimulation, excitement, provocation, and delight. I would have been happy as the School’s house cat, but instead I was submerged in theatre day and night. Under Liz Diamond’s (Faculty) care, I was part of the “College of Directors” (the nine MFA students plus special research fellows of the directing department). Each of these distinct directorial spirits taught me to look at theatre from a different perspective. We played, creating street theatre in front of the University Theatre. I crawled on the floor of the classroom in a scene from Brecht and directed in the styles of Meyerhold and Stanislavski. I learned that I can watch a scene performed in Farsi and know what’s going on without understanding a word. I directed a stage reading of 8, the play, in the University Theatre as part of a national project, after which James Bundy ’95 (Dean) told me that, in his experience, it was the most diverse and eclectic cast of YSD students, faculty, staff, and administration to be brought together on that stage. Ming Cho Lee (Faculty), Michael Yeargan ’73 (Faculty), Wendall Harrington
(Faculty), and Jennifer Tipton (Faculty) opened my eyes to design fields beyond my experience and expertise. From David Budries (Faculty) and Matthew Suttor (Faculty), I discovered that auditory culture is almost limitless. I learned about the Russians from David Chambers ’71 (Faculty), and Robert Woodruff (Faculty) surrounded me with Greeks. Each week I sat in on Ron Van Lieu’s (Faculty) acting class and saw 16 talented young actors grow under his patient tutelage. Total immersion in theatre. From 9 am to 2 pm I studied the craft. After 2 pm I watched rehearsals and performances. I saw show after show, ranging from the intimate, provocative offerings of the Cabaret to School performances directed by the MFA students and Yale Rep’s polished productions. A free afternoon? I went to rehearsals and saw Paul Giamatti ’94, yc ’89 work on Hamlet and Bill Camp learn to walk in high heels and a corset for In a Year with 13 Moons. I don’t know yet how this experience will unfold in my own work. I do know that I am
filled with the seeds of new ideas. This year at YSD has changed what I am as an actor, what plays I want to produce, how I direct. I am committed to wholehearted, fearless exploration and risk taking, to collaboration with all the designers and dramaturgs and playwrights I can find. I will comb through texts searching for the heart and soul of the playwright. With a fresh eye, I will add a directorial perspective. When it comes to design, I know that less is more, that scrappy theatre on limited resources is even more thrilling than an expensive Broadway production. I was reminded that the fourth wall can be broken in many different ways, and the audience is as much a part of the show as what happens on stage. I stand grateful and amazed. Sonja Berggren srf ’13
Submit Letters to the Editor Please address all editorial comments to: Deborah Berman Editor Annual Magazine of Yale School of Drama PO Box 208244 New Haven, CT 06520 deborah.berman@yale.edu (203) 432-2890
Sonja Berggren srf ’13 and husband Patrick Seaver yc ’72.
YSD 2013–14
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