DREAM DIRECTOR

“Come, sit down, every mother’s son, and rehearse your parts” – William Shakespeare 

Daniel Stevens makes his Auburn Players debut as Director of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Dan has been active in central NY as an actor, director, writer, producer, stage manager, and set mover for more than four decades.  His previous directorial experience includes “As You Like It”, “The Merry Wives of Windsor”, “Two Gentlemen of Verona”, “Macbeth”, “Titus Andronicus”, “Othello”, and “King Lear” all for the Syracuse Shakespeare Festival.  He has also directed for CNY Playhouse, Appleseed Productions, and Salt City Center for the Performing Arts.  Dan frequently writes for and performs with the Acme Mystery Company.

Following “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, Dan will be directing “Animal Crackers” (the last stage show performed by the Marx Brothers prior to their movie career) for Baldwinsville Theater Guild in May 2018. Before he moves onto his next theatre-gig, we sat down and asked him a few questions about his experience.  This is what happened….

THIS IS YOUR 1ST PRODUCTION WITH AUBURN PLAYERS, HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED? HOW HAS THE EXPERIENCE BEEN?

I responded to the Auburn Players’ script search invitation almost a year ago.  When Bottom exclaims “For the short and long is, our play is preferred” in Act 4, scene 2, his joy and the joy of the other actors mirrors my joy in having been selected by the search committee.

YOU HAVE WORKED ON MANY PRODUCTIONS OF WORKS OF SHAKESPEARE, CAN YOU SHARE YOUR FAVORITES?

My favorite is always the one that I’m working on, but the runner up would be “Two Gentlemen of Verona” set in the American West of the 1870’s.  We used a soundtrack consisting of various TV & Movie western theme including a wonderful flute version of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”.

INTRODUCE US TO YOUR CAST. TELL US WHAT THEY BRING AND WHAT YOU ADMIRE ABOUR THEIR PERFORMANCES:

My wonderful cast brings inspiration, communal support, and creative joy.  In a play about overcoming obstacles in pursuit of someone or some thing you love, the collective conscience of the cast has been our strongest asset.  A wolf draws its strength from the pack and the pack draws its strength from the wolf.

WHY DO YOU THINK MIDSUMMER IS RELEVANT FOR AUDIENCES IN 2018?

It’s impossible for me to watch a narcissistic nincompoop with limited communication skills wearing a giant ass head, and not think of others overmatched by their leadership responsibilities.

WHAT CHARACTER IS MOST LIKE YOU AND WHY?

It would be impossible not to connect with Peter Quince, the director of the play within the play.  He tries to coax the best from his actors and his expectations of their perfection are only limited by their humanity.  (I had considered playing this character myself until I was fortunate enough to get Mike Dougherty to assent.

WHAT SCENE/SCENES HAS/HAVE BEEN THE MOST DIFFICULT TO DIRECT AND WHAT HAVE SOME CHALLENGES?

With many creative actors onstage and a play with many moving parts, I struggle to affirm every good bit of business that I want to retain in performance.

WHAT HAVE BEEN PLEASANT SURPRISES DURING REHEARSALS?

To a man and to a woman, the cast comprehends the text, making it sound authentic, as if it were written yesterday.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE/COMMUNICATE WITH OUR AUDIENCE?

I hope that everyone with whom I have worked on this project will always think of me as “Dream Director”.

Join Dan, his talented cast and crew for The Auburn Players 3rd Annual Literary Series production of William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,”  Feb 15 – 18 at Cayuga Community College.  The Literary Series provides FREE TICKETS to every student and Thursdays every patron will enjoy a 1/2 price ticket.