community to say that these issues are not just Black issues. When more people do what’s good and what’s right—it will get us closer to the day we all want to see. Small things make an impact. Have a conversation with someone that doesn’t look like you. Watch a television station that you don’t usually watch. Americans, regardless of our race and gender, are always and forever tied to each other. I’m hoping that when people leave the theatre, they carry love out with them. Love of country, love of people, love of all cultures. I look forward to that day when Americans can live up to all of this.


TS: What traits were you looking for when you were casting the actors for this piece? KL: I was looking for excellent actors first and foremost. Fuller has written a very theatrical story told by an ensemble of men, so I needed 12 actors who would be givers and not takers. I wanted to build an ensemble that not only looks different and has various points of view but who are also great listeners. In doing auditions, I was looking for those actors who knew how to truly listen. Everybody in the play has a story to tell and I needed 12 exceptional men who could tell those stories with honesty and dignity. We have assembled an amazing cast led by Blair Underwood and David Alan Grier. I am looking forward to working with every one of them.


TS: How are you collaborating with your design team? How will the space be manifested visually? KL: It’s a very diverse team of designers. Derek McLane is our set


Blair Underwood and Director Kenny Leon in rehearsal for A Soldier's Play Photo by Jeremy Daniel


designer, and Dede Ayite is doing the costumes—mostly period Army uniforms. Allen Lee Hughes, who lit the original production, is designing our lights, and Dan Moses Schreier is doing the sound, and Jacinth Greywoode is working on music.


I didn’t want to repeat what was done in the original set design—I wanted the set to be designed specifically for the American Airlines Theatre


SM . I want the audience to feel that the set was built for them to


lean into. The most important thing is that we’ll be able to fluidly go back and forth in time—which is a requirement of the script—and we will play on two levels. There’s also a sleek quality to the set, so the audience hopefully senses how the past relates to the present and the present relates to the past.


TS: What advice do you have for aspiring directors? Is going to graduate school necessary if someone wants to have a career? KL: I think there are many ways to get at the truth and many ways to tell stories. I think that going to graduate school is good for some people. I always tell young people that when you’re in your 20s, it is important to realize that you’re still in school, whether you are literally in graduate school or not. As an artist who is beginning your career, you need to watch human behavior—sit in a courthouse and watch behavior, ride the subway or go to the park, and just watch people. Tell yourself: I’m an artist, I’m a director, I’m an actor, even if you’re not making enough money to sustain yourself and, hopefully, by the time you reach your 30s, you will be.•


A SOLDIER'S PLAY UPSTAGE GUIDE


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