A Conversation with Sam Gold

TS: This contemporary movie term “bromance”— is that what’s going on between Cliff and Jimmy?

SG: When we think of young people with no money and what they have to hold on to, these are two guys who have held on to each other and made life possible by leaning on each other. It’s a lot about allegiances and honor and trust, they have a very pure relationship in the play.

TS: What kind of research did you have to do to direct this play? How do you enter a world like this?

SG: To a certain degree, I’m not particularly worried about the research, because I’m not interested in giving the audience a museum piece. I’m not interested in taking them to the 1950s London, because that won’t ring any bells with them. What will ring bells with the audience is if I bring the play to them. So I’m interested in the research in as much as it illuminates the story. What I need to know about is the context that this play and these characters were written in. I need to research context in order to make the characters and the action in the play come to life.  What I’m also trying to do is see the play from the audience’s point of view and not distance the audience from the play by presenting something that feels dated.

TS: Did you watch the film version? Did you have any interest in that?

SG: I’ve seen the film version and it has absolutely nothing to do with what I do on stage. It’s a period piece; I don’t have any interest in going to the theatre to see something that was made 50 years ago. I want to go see something that’s made one minute ago.

TS: Can you talk about what you were looking for in casting the show?

SG: Casting this play was incredibly challenging. It has very challenging language. It’s written poetically and people need to be able to deal with lower class characters who speak very well. I needed actors who were really great with language, who can connect with the poetry and ground the reality of the characters. I was really interested in doing the play with Brits, because I wasn’t bringing that to the show and it was really important to me to have their voices in the rehearsal room. When it comes down to it, I was casting the love story. I was thinking about people who would have chemistry.

TS: Will you talk about collaborating with your design team? How will the play manifest itself visually?

SG: I’m hoping to make something that’s aggressively simple. I think when this play was first produced it was aggressive to sit down in the theatre and have the lights come up on a woman and an ironing board. That idea visually, that design choice was rebellious. I think a lot about when the lights come up, the world of the play should feel different than what the Roundabout audience expects. One way that I plan on doing that is by there being less.

TS: What do you make of John Osborne? What is his stature in dramatic literature from your point of view?

SG: I think that the shadow of this play is so large in British theatre. To have obliterated the middle class drama of the 20^th century is a huge thing.  He inspired a generation of writers who have changed the face of theatre.

TS: What’s curious to me is that a renaissance has happened for Rattigan but I’m not sure it’s happened yet for Osborne yet. Do you think it has?

SG: No I don’t think America has seen a compelling case for Osborne, so I hope I can do a great production that will turn people on to his work in this country.

TS: I wanted to ask you about your year, Sam — it’s extraordinarily busy. Could you talk about how you manage all these projects in one year? How do you keep yourself sane?

SG: I have to say, on one hand it makes me more sane to have multiple things on my plate because I don’t get neurotic and obsessive-compulsive about what I’m doing, because I have something else to think about. So I don’t sit and stew anymore, I’m very in the present when I’m working. That’s been the really nice thing about having work. I spent so many years sitting in my little apartment dreaming about doing a John Osborne play and feeling very angst-ridden, it’s a lot more relaxing doing the plays and not just sitting around and thinking about them. I feel very healthy getting to work a lot. I like working and I like working a lot. I just have to be careful to make sure I don’t work so much that I don’t have time to be as detail-oriented as I want to be. I’m a very detail oriented director, that’s something I pride myself on in my work and I want to make sure I don’t burn out.

Look Back in Anger plays at The Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre/Laura Pels Theatre January 13, 2012 through April 8, 2012. For more information, click here.

Roundabout Theatre Company is a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to providing a nurturing artistic home for theatre artists at all stages of their careers where the widest possible audience can experience their work at affordable prices. Roundabout fulfills its mission each season through the revival of classic plays and musicals; development and production of new works by established playwrights and emerging writers; educational initiatives that enrich the lives of children and adults; and a subscription model and audience outreach programs that cultivate loyal audiences.

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