Kate Mckenna is the Fells Point Corner Theater Producer for Asking Questions by Nancy Murray. We had a conversation about the production. It opens tonight. Here’s some of it.
KM – How did you get involved with the production?
PD – Nancy (the playwright) asked me to direct. Nancy has considerable skills as a writer, director and actress. She understands the relationship between story, production strategy and performance. And she’s a lovely and dynamic person.
KM – What has been interesting/challenging aspect about your role as Director in this production?
PD – Creating a coherent belief system for new work the actors can take and run with.
KM – What is it like working with a new play?
PD – I learned theater working on new plays in New Mexico many years ago. The first lesson is to surround your self with smart, invested and talented people. The second is to trust them. The third is to challenge the actors (as their characters) to want more.
KM – What is your favorite part of the rehearsal/production process and why?
PD – Making time to really play with the text and the staging, and coming at both from different perspectives. Allow for the clash of opposites and see what happens.
KM – What do you think you’re strong suit as a director is?
PD – Getting actors ready, feeling confident they know the story, their role in it and believing in each other. Come show time they are the final authority of what the story means, not me or Nancy.
KM – What are some favorite projects you’ve been involved in and what made them special?
PD – Nice Things by Ken Greller for last year’s Baltimore Playwrights Festival was satisfying. I worked with a great cast then, too. I miss them.
PD – Girdle Bound a play of mine that Mobtown work shopped last year received great feedback. I got a dynamic rewrite out of the process that was directed by Brent Englar.
KM – What keeps you coming back to the stage?
PD – Finding a script with something to say and working with smart, fun actors.
KM – What is on the horizon?
PD – Keep working with friends on new plays, including mine, one day.
KM – Break a leg!
PD – Then we turned the table and I lead the conversation…
PD -What was it about Nancy’s play, Asking Questions that made it worthy of a FPCT production?
KM – Asking Questions has it all … a powerful, meaningful story filled with humor, great characters, and interesting dialogue. Then, when it was workshopped this fall in Barry Feinstein’s class, it really started to come to life for me. It got a team of people behind it. Two of your actors were in that workshop. When actors get excited about a play for the BPF, there is really something there.
PD – How did you come to be the producer of this show and what makes that role satisfying to you?
KM – I am on the board at FPCT, and we take turns producing playsI was also very involved in the BPF selection for our theater this year, so I was pretty invested in both of our summer plays.
KM – It is very satisfying to watch a new play come to life. As producer, I am watching this process from the start. It is magical watching talented people do what they do best, and that has certainly been the case with this show.
PD – What makes FPCT different from other Baltimore Community Theaters?
KM – FPCT constantly tries to do plays that don’t get done in Baltimore. Some of these are new plays and Baltimore premiers, some are just different. We don’t pick plays based on popularity. I love that about FPCT. When we see how a very well-known, overdone show sells out at another theater, it’s hard not to be tempted, but there is always someone from our board who helps us stick with our mission and who we are.
PD – Tell me a bit about the upcoming season.
KM – We start with Three Tall Women by Edward Albee. This is a show that was on our schedule two years ago and then the rights got pulled from us weeks before it opened. This was highly unusual and actually quite mysterious. We couldn’t figure out why it happened. We have wanted to do an Albee show since and couldn’t agree on which one last year… finally we realized it was because we all just love Three Tall Women, so we decided to give it another shot. It is in production now, and we are optimistic it will open in September! 😉
KM – The rest of the season is a good mix of new plays and a couple of classics that haven’t been done in Baltimore in a while. We are also repeating our ten minute play competition, 10X10 that was a lot of fun last year.
PD – Which play is the riskiest endeavor and what makes it so?
KM – Iceman Cometh by Eugene O’Neil is very risky for the two reasons I mentioned above. Then, it’s a classic, which is both good and bad. Some people will be familiar with it, but you still have to discover what makes it relevant and worthy to go on stage today. Ruined by Lynn Nottage is definitely the riskiest. It is undoubtedly one of the most powerful plays I have ever read. But it’s heavy. Acting wise, it is very challenging.
PD – Why do we make plays?
KM – Short answer, I do theater because I like to play. I go to theater because I like a good story!
PD – What’s in it for you, personally?
KM – I am an actor at heart, but with three children at home, I don’t get to do that very often. Producing and being on the board at FPCT is a way that I can be involved without the intense commitment of the run of a show. I am also a big believer in how important community theater is. The number of people involved with FPCT throughout the course of a season, all volunteer, is unbelievable. Some are theater majors and have ton of experience, and some are just discovering theater. When I first became involved in a workshop at FPCT, this is what grabbed me immediately… people rehearsing everywhere in the theater — upstairs, downstairs, in the lobby. It was so alive with people and creativity. I love being around that!
