r;;:::::==::::=::':=======::::=::::=:::;;:;;:::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;--:g:estures , the director must A look inside 'Othello' 20 ~ Plays Having left audiences awestruck with her performances of the leading female roles in ;'The Fantasticks," and most recently, "Brigadoon," Mollie Cox decided to give her skills a try as assistant director for "Othello ." Tediously recording the blocking instructions of Director Charles Parker, Mollie jokingly commented that "the assistant director usually does the dirty work ." However , her labors did give understanding into the technical and directing aspects of a production. With experience both on the stage and behind the scenes, Molly was able to give insights into what is involved in acting. "You have to read the play real carefully. Each gesture and every movement you make has to be from motivation, from something that is happening. In Shakespeare you especially have to let the audience know what you're saying because some of it is difficult to understand. By your gestures and movements you have to give the audience clues as to what is happening ." RealiZing the importance of utilize both his understanding of the abilities of the actor with whom he is working and the personality of the character to be portrayed. "If the talent is there, it takes a while to build up to the performance level," Mollie said. "Usually the role of the director is to give them the motivation for all of their lines; to make them see why they're feeling the way they are feeling; to try to get them to put themselves into that situation." Mollie's observations of Director Charles Parker indicated that his job as motivator never moved beyond that realm into dictating the every movement of the actors. Leaving the actor freedom to develop his own portrayal of the character, Parker only rarely suggests gestures to be used and sometimes allows the actors to do their own blocking. Looking back on the February 19 production of "Othello," Mollie felt that the play was a success. However, there were some problems caused by the weighty Shakespearan language. "Each character had the responsibility of making each word and each syllable understood, which could be accomplished by their gestures or their articulation ," Mollie explained. This made the play flow slowly at times , since "it was hard sometimes to speak slowly and keep the pace." Mollie described the members of the "Othello" cast as very disciplined. It took a whole lot of discipline as far as the energy. They had to learn to be energetic and still relax. Most of them were very serious about what they were doing." Citing Jonathan Cloud, who portrayed Othello, as an example, Mollie commented that "he took directions so well; his energy and his body, his timing, and every movement was so well controlled." 1_ PLOTTING against his own daughter in this year's production of Shakespeare's "Othello," Karl Wendt as logo speaks with Roderigo (&011 Cody).
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