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June 12, 2009
Director makes her debut at Bard
Shakespeare on the beach in Vancouver completes a circle for dramaturge Rachel Ditor.
TOVA KORNFELD
What better way to spend a sunny Friday afternoon than chatting with community member Rachel Ditor in the Arts Club Theatre lounge, overlooking False Creek Inlet. Ditor, the resident dramaturge at the theatre, is poised for her Bard on the Beach directorial debut, which will take place in the Duncan Campbell Studio Stage. She will be at the helm of All's Well that Ends Well, last staged at the beach site in 2000.
Ditor is well known to local theatre and has directed many plays of all types, running the gamut from comedies, such as Here on the Flight Path and The Optimists, through poignant and touching commentaries on life, such as Rabbit Hole, to classics like The Diary of Anne Frank and last fall's controversial and acclaimed Doubt.
Born and raised in St. Catherines, Ont., she earned her undergraduate degree from McGill and a master's in fine arts, with a directing major from the University of British Columbia (UBC). She was the director of the performing arts school at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver for a number of years, as well as a participant in the Chutzpah! Festival. She currently teaches a dramaturgy class at UBC. Ditor has the distinction of being the first female under 40 to direct at an "A" theatre in Vancouver, when Enchanted April was staged at the Stanley Theatre in 2005.
JI: How do you feel about making your Shakespearian directorial debut at Bard this summer?
RD: I am both excited and nervous about the prospect of being part of such a Vancouver tradition, particularly in this Bard's 20th anniversary year. I am where I am today as a dramaturge because of Shakespeare. I worked with the Mount Royal Shakespeare Festival in Montreal in the late '80s as one of my first jobs. That was processional-style theatre through Mount Royal Park. Our inaugural play was Romeo and Juliet and we would wander through the park, led by musicians and big banners and serve up Shakespeare's beautiful text. We had 450 people show up and follow us around the mountain on our first night. So now, 20 years later, to return to Shakespeare on the beach on the West Coast completes the circle for me.
JI: What were your feelings on the play when you first read it?
RD: I thought, hmm, this is a problem play, that is, neither a comedy nor a tragedy. The main female protagonist, Helena, is chasing after a young nobleman, Bertram, who thinks her beneath him and treats her badly. While ultimately they marry and Bertram finally learns to appreciate his wife, the behavior of the main characters during the journey to the "happy ending" creates a dilemma for the audience.
JI: How did you tackle the "problem"?
RD: I decided that rather than focus on Helena as having no self-esteem and accepting the cruel behavior of Bertram, I would place a positive spin on the story, that of two young lovers, from different stations in life, growing up together and maturing in their respective outlooks on life. Helena will learn to assert and take care of herself and Bertram will learn to question his judgment and realize that women can be both sexual and virtuous.
I can tell you that my choice of vision for All's Well was very much influenced by my work with The Diary of Anne Frank. In Anne, I wanted the production to leave the audience with some sense of hope even though the story is so tragic. I wanted there to be some life-affirming event to come out of the chaos. In the same vein, with All's Well, I did not want to focus on the downtrodden, abused woman, treated callously by a man. I want the audience to see that, despite Helena's perceived weaknesses, she can grow and thrive and that Bertram can see the folly in his behavior and realize that people can, and do, change for the better.
JI: You are setting All's Well in Victorian times. How did you come to select that era as the background for the play?
RD: I am working closely with Mara Gottler, the costumer for Bard, and we talked about what era would work best with my vision. The Victorian era came to mind. First of all, the costumes will be gorgeous but, more importantly, they will visually represent the essence of the play, that is, reserved, polite exteriors that mask the passion underneath. Even today, when we think about racy lingerie, it is very Victorian in concept: corset, bustiers, laces. So, the clothing becomes a metaphor for the young lovers' lives, on the surface constrained and respectable as Victorian society demanded but underneath a seething mass of bodily desires and emotions.
JI: You are working with many Bard veterans and some of the finest actors in town. That must make your life easier.
RD: Yes, I am so lucky to be working with the likes of Lois Anderson, Craig Erickson, Scott Bellis, David Marr, Duncan Fraser, John Murphy and Allan Morgan, the quintessential "Who's Who" of Vancouver theatre. I am very collaborative in my approach to directing, and working with such experienced actors, especially during our very long rehearsal sessions, enhances the creative process. As well, Patrick Pennefather, the musical director, is composing original music for the show, which will enrich the audience experience. The play itself has some interesting effects, including a "bedtrick" (an interesting twist on a "ménage a trois").
JI: The studio stage will be set up like it was for last year's Tempest and Titus Andronicus. What are your thoughts on this configuration?
RD: I like that set-up better than the proscenium stage, as in the big tent. The studio stage is a more intimate space and the thrust configuration allows the actors to go right out into the audience and interact with them.
JI: Why should people go and see All's Well?
RD: People should go and see it for the text, the costumes, the music and the ultimate message that all things can end well no matter how disastrously they start off, if we are willing to grow and learn from our experiences.
In addition to All's Well that Ends Well, Bard on the Beach is staging Othello, The Comedy of Errors and Richard II this summer. For more information, visit bardonthebeach.org.
Tova Kornfeld is a Vancouver freelance writer and theatre critic.
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