by Kirby Lindsay, posted 24 November 2014
This December, from the 5th – 24th, Stone Soup Theatre once again will delight audiences, of all ages, with a traditional Christmas Show – two short plays based on writings by acclaimed authors Dylan Thomas and Thornton Wilder.
“It’s going to be a very full, rich evening,” said Buddy Todd, “I want people to walk away feeling the importance of family, the collecting of memories and a little bit of magic…” Todd usually raves over shows at Stone Soup – as Marketing Manager for the small, independent one-act theater – but this time out he has more first-hand knowledge of this production.
For the first time, the local, award-winning director will helm a main stage feature for Stone Soup. According to Todd, “90% of a director’s job is having quality people involved,” and he believes he’s got a great team – including the six children in his cast – for this seasonal spectacular!
‘Two Very Different Shows’
For nine holiday seasons, to the delight of audiences, Stone Soup has produced ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales’, based on the memoir by Dylan Thomas. Last year, they added the fast-paced, ‘A Long Christmas Dinner,’ by Thornton Wilder, to round out the production, and give another, American, perspective on holiday traditions.
Stone Soup audiences have seen both works before, yet Todd promised, “my version is very different.” When he considered the shows, and his cast, he found new aspects to highlight.
“We have two very different shows,” Todd observed, “‘Wales’ is one man’s very favorite Christmases crammed into one day.” Thomas mixes different celebrations he experienced as a young boy, combining them into one very bright, very safe, nostalgic view of the holiday.
“‘Long’ is 90 years of many different lives, and deaths,” Todd explained. ‘Wales’ is told through the innocent, honesty of childhood, ‘Long’ takes an adult view using the subtle, sometimes insincere, attitudes that family, and their histories, inspire. “I wouldn’t say the play is dishonest, or that the characters are dishonest,” Todd said, “but what they are saying is different from the emotions that they are experiencing – the way people naturally present themselves with their families.”
Todd compared ‘Wales’ with a Shakespearean play that puts every emotion and action on the stage, while ‘Long’ is more Anton Chekov, with his darkness, complexity and unspoken emotions.
“We’ll begin looking at the world through a child’s eyes,” Todd explained, as unlike last year, he’s put ‘Wales’ first, and the journey of the Bayard Family in ‘Long’ as the finish.
A Strong Vision
This arrangement of the plays also makes it easier for the children, all of whom perform in ‘Wales’. “I had several rounds of auditions,” Todd explained, although having worked with the Stone Soup Summer Stage program, and the Youth Conservancy, he already knew some of the talent available. He’s very pleased with his young cast, and the hard work and professionalism they brought to their roles. The role of Dylan poses the greatest casting challenge, Todd reported, and Desmond Conn has done admirably playing a younger version of the poet, alongside Maggie McGough, Marlo Olson, Annie Legrand, Jack Newby, and James McGough. Todd also praised the parents of his youth cast, who’ve been supportive and involved, without hovering or interfering.
Emily Lauckhart
For the adult parts, Todd did a whole lot more auditions. “I’ve worked with about half the cast before,” he acknowledged about his finished cast list, but he’s extremely pleased with each and every one – which includes Austin Bennet, Angela Snyder, Rochelle Wyatt, Kevin Pugsley, Yossi Katzin, David Bailey, Emily Lauckart, Nikki Delmarter and Jessica Robins.
As for directing, “it’s really about having that strong vision,” explained Todd. He wants to stay true to the story, “and how am I telling it,” he said, “it is really important to me to be a person of integrity. If I say I am going to do something, it is done. I think that has served me. To be a director, it really does come down to integrity.”
“As a director,” Todd explained, “you sign up to make all the decisions. The absence of a decision is a decision.” Todd works hard as director to create a work that can stand without his constant hovering, once the work opens. “As in parenting, you eventually work your way out of a job. You bring it to the stage fully born,” he said, and after opening night – on December 5th – Todd will depend, with confidence, on Michele Arroyo (“I have a really good stage manager,” he said) to keep the play – and his vision – on track.
‘A Very Full, Rich Evening’
This is the first time Stone Soup main stage audiences get to see Todd’s directing work, but not the first for Seattle audiences, although he’s only lived here since 2011.
At that time, “I broke up with Spokane to date her hotter sister Seattle,” Todd joked. He has found the transition pretty easy – he found his first acting gig here a month after moving in. Still, he noted, “my big directing turning point was when I was asked to go back to Spokane to direct ‘The Fantastiks’ at Eastern Washington University.” The award-winning production confirmed Todd’s arrival as a director, there and here.
Take time this busy holiday season to experience rich and traditional theater, and give the Stone Soup Christmas Show – ‘A Child’s Christmas In Wales’ & ‘The Long Christmas Dinner’ – another look, and a place among your friends’ or family’s holiday celebrations. Performances begin the first weekend of December, and continue, with matinees, up to Christmas. Purchase tickets today – they will sell out – through the Stone Soup website or Brown Paper Tickets!
Make this a magical Christmas of live theater!
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