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True-to-life script interested director
By Milan Paurich
A funny thing happened on the way to opening night for The Oakland Center for the Arts’ September presentation. After two originally scheduled shows (both musicals) fell by the wayside, Patrick Marber’s intense — and intensely sexual — adult drama, “Closer,” became the Oakland’s fallback choice. Despite its hallowed reputation as one of the finest contemporary British plays, “Closer” has never been staged locally before. Until now.
Robert Dennick Joki, the show’s award-winning director, recently sat down for a chat to discuss the long and winding road to “Closer.”
Q. First there was “SideShow;” then its replacement, “The Last Five Years.” How did “Closer” wind up in the Oakland’s 2010-11 September slot?
A. Getting the rights for musicals can be very complicated. They have to be applied for months in advance and are sometimes restricted due to revivals, tours, regional productions, etc. The Oakland had trouble with the rights for “SideShow.” I offered “The Last Five Years” as an alternative because it’s another show I’m very familiar with and have always wanted to direct. Unfortunately, they were unable to secure those rights as well. So we had an emergency meeting to come up with a plan. At that point, we decided not to go with a musical because of the time constraints. I brought up several scripts from my collection, and “Closer” seemed to be the best fit. I’m still hoping to direct both “SideShow” and “The Last Five Years” within the next year or so.
Q. Why did you pick this particular play? What about it speaks to you as a director?
A. The script is very true to life. The dialogue is hilarious, and the plot is devastating. The characters and their relationships are complicated, fueled by sexual and emotional desire. They are beautiful, flawed people that are very easy to relate to. I feel like I’ve been all of them at some point in my life, and I think the audience will feel that way, too. Also, it hasn’t been done locally, so I’m really excited about bringing the show to Youngstown.
Q. Could you give our readers a short plot synopsis for those who aren’t familiar with the play (or the 2004 movie version starring Julia Roberts and Jude Law)?
A. “Closer” is the story of four adults living in London whose lives intertwine over the course of four-and-a-half years. It’s about love, sex and the dirty part of relationships. It’s about our need as human beings to feel close to each other, and the fear of losing that intimacy.
Q. Who’s appearing in the show?
A. The cast includes Brandon Smith, Shawn Lockaton, Bernadette Lim and Jessica Schmidt. Ideally, I would have liked to use actors in the 30- to 40-year range, but I ended up using performers who are 20 to 30 because of availability. There are actually only a few references to the ages of the characters in the script, and it still works very well with a younger cast.
Q. You did brilliant work at your Rust Belt venue this summer with the Greek Trilogy adopting an almost summer stocklike atmosphere with abbreviated rehearsals between shows. Considering the limited amount of time you’ve had to whip “Closer” into shape, are you counting on lightning striking again?
A. The Rust Belt Theater Company’s summer series certainly whipped ME into shape (laughs). It showed me what I can do, even in a very small amount of time, if I focus and push myself and my actors. I’ve joked several times during this rehearsal process that I’m going to have the words “The show must go on” tattooed somewhere on my body.
Q. The play contains some complicated digital projection effects. Will you be doing those at the Oakland?
A. Absolutely! I love the multimedia aspect of the script. I did a similar thing with “BatBoy: the Musical” a few years ago, and have been wanting to use the projector again. That’s one of the reasons we decided to do the show. We had very little time to build, and the show calls for a simple, flexible, abstract set. “Betty’s Summer Vacation” (the Oakland’s August production) had a very complicated, intricate set, and I wanted something to contrast that with. In “Closer,” the projections are used to suggest the time, mood, setting, etc. One of the scenes is actually a conversation that takes place in an online chatroom between two of the characters.
Q. “Closer” is the type of sophisticated adult (emphasis on adult) drama we don’t see enough of in area community theaters. Is this the type of play you’re most interested in pursuing down the road?
A. I’m interested in doing shows that allow local people, myself included, to grow as artists. I like shows that challenge actors and audiences. That could include anything from period drama to campy musicals. I just don’t want to get to the point where I’m directing productions that I’m personally not passionate about.