January 27, 2010
A Conversation with Emily Mann on her 20th Anniversary at McCarter
Emily Mann
Artistic Director and Resident Playwright, McCarter Theatre
Minutes of the 17th Meeting of the 68th Year
This was the 17th meeting of the 68th year of the Old Guard of Princeton.
The Presiding Officer was George Hansen.
The Invocation was led by Don Edwards
The minutes of the meeting of January 20 were read by Jerry Berkelhammer.
Guests were: Carol Weiss, introduced by Ed Weiss; Dick Scribner, introduced by Henry King; Peter Venimiglia, introduced by Jack Wallace; Ulrich Knoepflmacher, introduced by John Timoney; Bobbie Pervin introduced by Larry Pervin, Marcia Van Dyck and Mitch Seltzer, introduced by Nick VanDyck.
The slate of new members, nominated last week, was unanimously approved.
Chairman Hansen asked the Rt. Rev. Mellick Belshaw to lead a remembrance of John O’Donoghue.
Lanny Jones offered a graceful introduction for our speaker, Emily Mann, and continued in A Conversation with Emily Mann, in celebration of her 20 years at McCarter.
Lanny’s intelligent questions provided many articulate and absorbing answers from Ms. Mann:
She spoke of the evolution of the current McCarter production, Fetch Clay, Make Man, which began in small workshop scenes crafted by Will Power, who wanted to write a “real play” (a departure from his career as a hip-hop artist) and who brought a singular voice to the stage in this production.
This led to conversation about the McCarter’s Lab Festival—readings by playwrights done with only five hours of rehearsal, but done before a live audience at the conclusion: Ms. Mann emphasized the importance of an audience, saying that plays were like music—they could be read on the page, but were written to be heard. The McCarter Lab is the developmental wing of the theatre, incubating and nurturing new voices.
Budgetary issues: McCarter is feeling them and feeling them hard. There have been painful cuts, done as a tem exercise, but this has led to out-of-the-box thinking, and the McCarter staff is presently under-capitalized—and wonderfully over-talented.
In terms of balance, McCarter tries for both new and classic productions and is gratified and sustained by its audience—receptive, open and enthusiastic.
What was it like to produce Having Our Say a second time? It was better the second time, because the director was more experienced, and it remains an enduring lesson in how to live life well.
Ms. Mann then read, movingly and with great verve, from her first play, written as an undergraduate at Radcliffe, called Anulla—a tale of the Holocaust, of love, of reflection and of survival.
Questions from the audience included curiosity about the role of critics: “We don’t let them in until the piece is ready” and a lament that one critic and one paper can at this time in this area determine the fate of a play. On the other hand, some comments and some from other viewers can be helpful in improving a particular production.
Further questions elicited further comments:
McCarter was remembered as a change agent in the past as well as at the present time for encouraging diversity, and there was a rueful recollection: When Marion Anderson came for a McCarter performance, she was not allowed to stay at the Nassau Inn; she stayed with Albert Einstein.
The relationship between writer and director is delicate, but the director always wants and needs to get the writing into performance—that is the goal.
Yes, there is a future for musical theatre, and the McCarter is producing one next season, called Take Flight.
Warm praise for McCarter’s—for Ms. Mann’s-- courage, innovation, concern for new playwrights was repeatedly expressed, and it is probably safe to say that the Old Guard, at this meeting, was able to see A Mann for All Seasons!
Respectfully submitted,
Claire R. Jacobus
The Presiding Officer was George Hansen.
The Invocation was led by Don Edwards
The minutes of the meeting of January 20 were read by Jerry Berkelhammer.
Guests were: Carol Weiss, introduced by Ed Weiss; Dick Scribner, introduced by Henry King; Peter Venimiglia, introduced by Jack Wallace; Ulrich Knoepflmacher, introduced by John Timoney; Bobbie Pervin introduced by Larry Pervin, Marcia Van Dyck and Mitch Seltzer, introduced by Nick VanDyck.
The slate of new members, nominated last week, was unanimously approved.
Chairman Hansen asked the Rt. Rev. Mellick Belshaw to lead a remembrance of John O’Donoghue.
Lanny Jones offered a graceful introduction for our speaker, Emily Mann, and continued in A Conversation with Emily Mann, in celebration of her 20 years at McCarter.
Lanny’s intelligent questions provided many articulate and absorbing answers from Ms. Mann:
She spoke of the evolution of the current McCarter production, Fetch Clay, Make Man, which began in small workshop scenes crafted by Will Power, who wanted to write a “real play” (a departure from his career as a hip-hop artist) and who brought a singular voice to the stage in this production.
This led to conversation about the McCarter’s Lab Festival—readings by playwrights done with only five hours of rehearsal, but done before a live audience at the conclusion: Ms. Mann emphasized the importance of an audience, saying that plays were like music—they could be read on the page, but were written to be heard. The McCarter Lab is the developmental wing of the theatre, incubating and nurturing new voices.
Budgetary issues: McCarter is feeling them and feeling them hard. There have been painful cuts, done as a tem exercise, but this has led to out-of-the-box thinking, and the McCarter staff is presently under-capitalized—and wonderfully over-talented.
In terms of balance, McCarter tries for both new and classic productions and is gratified and sustained by its audience—receptive, open and enthusiastic.
What was it like to produce Having Our Say a second time? It was better the second time, because the director was more experienced, and it remains an enduring lesson in how to live life well.
Ms. Mann then read, movingly and with great verve, from her first play, written as an undergraduate at Radcliffe, called Anulla—a tale of the Holocaust, of love, of reflection and of survival.
Questions from the audience included curiosity about the role of critics: “We don’t let them in until the piece is ready” and a lament that one critic and one paper can at this time in this area determine the fate of a play. On the other hand, some comments and some from other viewers can be helpful in improving a particular production.
Further questions elicited further comments:
McCarter was remembered as a change agent in the past as well as at the present time for encouraging diversity, and there was a rueful recollection: When Marion Anderson came for a McCarter performance, she was not allowed to stay at the Nassau Inn; she stayed with Albert Einstein.
The relationship between writer and director is delicate, but the director always wants and needs to get the writing into performance—that is the goal.
Yes, there is a future for musical theatre, and the McCarter is producing one next season, called Take Flight.
Warm praise for McCarter’s—for Ms. Mann’s-- courage, innovation, concern for new playwrights was repeatedly expressed, and it is probably safe to say that the Old Guard, at this meeting, was able to see A Mann for All Seasons!
Respectfully submitted,
Claire R. Jacobus