INTERVIEW WITH CO-DIRECTORS NOAH BRODY AND BEN STEINFELD CONT.
she’s very good at providing Fiasco a base idea for costumes as part of the ensemble look, and then adds pieces to each person to distinguish when they’re playing their different roles. At the McCarter Theatre, where we first did the show, we had been proceeding with a design where the base look for each character had been rooted in an era that is basically a hundred years ago. We got into dress rehearsal, and we all came to realize the costuming didn’t match the rest of the production. To her great credit, Whitney agreed with us and threw out the majority of the costume design. With McCarter’s support, in twenty- four hours Whitney and her team turned out a new base look for the costumes. The women, for example, ended up wearing essentially what they were originally wearing under their costumes as their costume.
We loved our meeting with Darron from the first second that we sat down with him. We knew that he understood what it meant to be flexible in the room. What actually excited us both about Darron is that he insisted on being in rehearsals. He sees himself as an active and ongoing collaborator in the room. He wanted to learn the Fiasco vocabulary; not just our production, but of our company. So he observed -- sometimes he would share a thought, but sometimes he would just be there, walking around the room, listening, watching, and then creating. He allowed every sound that comes from the show to come from the stage. Every aspect of our collaboration with Darron has really taught us something.
TS: Do you have any advice for young people who would want to start their own company? And what is on the horizon for Fiasco beyond Into the Woods?
BS: I would recommend that rather than try to start a company, try to make a great play. I think the fundraising, the organization, and all that stuff should come after you’ve figured out what you care about artistically. The other piece of advice that I would give is that the people you are collaborating with are as important, or more important, really, than anything else.
As for Fiasco’s future, we are actively pursuing musicals, Shakespeare, American classics, and work that is company devised.
NB: The advice that I would give to young companies is just let the work lead the way. Do the things that you are passionate about in the way that you are passionate about them. A company that starts just to get an agent, or to make a hit, is almost destined to fail because those are not the criteria that will help you make a good piece of art.
As far as what’s on the horizon, right after Into the Woods we will be bringing our production of Two Gentlemen of Verona to the Theatre for A New Audience in Brooklyn.•
6 ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY
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