Everything Rises by Sage Mitchell (University of Houston, October 2024)
My Roles:
Director
DIRECTOR - ANDREW ROBLYER
DRAMATURGS - RACHEL COLEMAN, SUMAYA ZEIDAT
STAGE MANAGER - DARYLIN LACROIX
INTIMACY DIRECTION & MENTAL HEALTH COORDINATION - ASH LOVE
FIGHT DIRECTION - ADAM NOBLE
VOCAL COACH - VIVIAN MAJKOWSKI
LIGHTING DESIGN - MARIA VARGAS ATENCIO
SOUND DESIGN - JOAN STAUNTON
COSTUME DESIGN - SCOUT MARQUEZ
PROPS COORDINATION - SARAH BONNEY-WATKINS
PRODUCTION PHOTOGRPAPHER - PAIGE WILSON
Why This Show?
I was approached to direct this show initially because the playwright requested a queer and/or nonbinary director. However, I quickly fell in love with the deeply meaningful story that Sage had crafted; in many ways it felt like the current generation’s version of The Laramie Project.
Lessons Learned
This was one of my first opportunities to direct at a university and I had an absolute blast. Due to the subject matter and the fact that most of the cast and crew were queer, I was insistent about bringing on a queer intimacy director, and Ash pulled double duty as a mental health coordinator and intimacy director.
Concept
As a student-written show, it occupied a place in the program’s season that meant we had little in the way of budget or space, with the performance taking place in a studio space with minimal tech elements. From early on, I proposed that we structure the show so that the entire cast is on stage the entire time, and that we have them come in at the beginning out of character, to encourage seeing this as a communal experience, rather than a presentational one.