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When it comes to directing I often find myself gravitating to stories that occur in the mundanity of reality; I think that there is a powerful and untold beauty in the simple and silence of everyday life, of the words that are left unsaid, of looks that could say more than words. If it's not the story of everyday people I'm telling I also find myself with a love for taking classic pieces and setting them in a place that feels familiar to an audience as a way for them to connect to the piece that otherwise might be uninsteresting to some. My design background also leads me to pulling forward technical elements of productions as a main focus of the show; Knowing that design can help tell the story just as much as the script itself. While working with actors I find that table work and a focus to character building and connection through a handful of creative and untraditional pathways has helped to build working relationships between myself and the cast and among the cast memebers themselves to help delivery a fully realized performance.
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Written By: Dyllan Hutchison
Directed By: Jeremy Pritchard
Seven Years Time follows Lucy on the day of her 20th birthday as she is struggling with the reality of growing into an adult. When she receives a letter from her 13-year-old self with her very first phone number in it. Feeling nostalgic she calls the number only to be surprised when 13-year-old Lucy picks up. It leaves the question: What would you do if you could talk to your younger self?
When approaching this piece the main thing that stood out to me was the idea of growth and inner child healing. Right off the bat with actors I was having them do table work such as: Watching "13 going on 30", doing one silly thing a day, making a playlist for their characters, and wearing clothes that make them feel happy. We also established rules among the cast such as "feeling the rain on our skin" and "Embracing the cringe". These methods helps create a safe and creative space where we were able to look at the script and characters from a new angle and play around with the show.
The look of the show was simple as it was a small play festival but I worked with designers for it to have distenct seperations between the two character zones while still using the space fully. Doing costumes myself I worked to best fit the energy of the characters we had created while also empowering the actors to feel confident on stage.
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Written and Directed by: Jeremy Pritchard
Isolationism gives a look into the late night of two roommates: Sammy who likes to stay at home and enjoy her own company and Sammie who likes to go out at night and enjoy the energy of nightlife. Of course, Sammie is always suggesting they both go out and Sammy is always insisting that other people like her roommate more. Only when Sammy hangs up Sammie in the closet like a favorite coat does their true relationship become clear.
This piece was written based on personal experience to be a reflection on the double life that people who work in the nightlife industry and how it can have an effect on someone's perception of themselves. Approaching it as a director I wanted to build the relationship between the two characters as a loving and fun but still cold one. Table work with the actors focused heavily on developing the same character together but in different manifestations, as well as a focus on small signs of affection and care, such as pouring drinks or fixing hair.
Visuals we were limited due to the size of the festival, as well as this taking place during the height of COVID but one focus I did pull forward, was the fur coat as a form of the symbolism of power within the show.
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Written and Directed by: Jeremy Pritchard
People go to a drag show to laugh, but when the audience doesn't laugh at Toni A. Ward's jokes about her physically abusive ex, she finds herself facing the reality that maybe her jokes are trying to cover up something deeper. Spend an intimate evening with your hostess with the mostest, Toni A. Ward, the broadest broad who never played Broadway, in this poignant one-person tour-de-force performance.
This was my first time approaching directing a one-person show, starring myself, and this was filmed and aired during COVID lockdown in 2020 so it was a lot to tackle. I feel that because I had already developed Toni as a drag persona that I was able to spend less time on character work and instead find the motions and beats of the piece. This allowed me to spend the first part of the show bringing in the audience, making them laugh with me, before hitting them with the heavy stuff. My concept was to go from laughter to awkward tension, and then to break the tension with more laughs, normalizing the conversation around Domestic Violence by using my story through the character of Toni A. Ward.
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When I started at NVCC there was no theater program. Then one single acting class. From there the professor and I were able to build up a small department that consisted of one faculty member, a single student who directed and ran all technical components of the shows, a handful of actors, and one show a semester.
Despite how little the department had it is one of my proudest moments as an artist and director. It gave me some of my first chances to direct full-length shows, work closely with actors, learn new areas of design, and have me think outside of the box. While there I had the pleasure of Co-Directing Four Weddings and an Elvis, The Laramie Project, The Good Doctor, and a half dozen one-acts for our semesterly short play festival.
My last semester there I also had the pleasure of mentoring a new student in directing, stage management, and technical design before I transfered to GMU in the fall. Helping build and maintain this department is one of the things I am most proud of to be part of my legacy
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