In the months leading up to our 2011 Main Stage season, we’ll be profiling the creative minds behind the season’s productions—Titus Andronicus, The Verona Project, Candida, and The Taming of the Shrew—in our e-newsletters. For the year’s third installment, we’re featuring costume designer Anna Oliver, who will create the looks of Shavian England for Candida. What follows is the full transcript of Cal Shakes’ email interview with Anna. To sign up for our email newsletter, click here.

What projects are you working on right now? What have you done most recently?

I am working on a production of Twelfth Night directed by my brother, Søren Oliver, at Town Hall Theatre Company in Lafayette. I am also figure painting again and refreshing my fluency in American Sign Language; trying to retool the grooves in the ol’gray matter! Last winter, I did a production of Abduction from the Seraglio (which we originated at Houston Grand Opera) at the Welsh National Opera; a wonderful, artful, supportive company. This summer, in San Diego, I collaborated with my friend Llance Bower on a lobby display for the Old Globe’s new building. Llance wanted to make a timeline for theater, held up by figures important to that history. I drew the figures and Llance digitized and printed them with this amazing process that does not degrade the image when it is enlarged. It was a great experience and the result was fantastic.

What’s the first piece of clothing you designed and/or made? (This includes clothes for dolls and pets, of course.)

Ha! The first piece of clothing I designed was a dress for a doll I made when I was about four years old. I used a tape spool and covered it with fabric (asked my Mum to sew the fabric on the spool), and then I glued the eyes and mouth on. I used red bias tape for her hair and stitched her body together. Then, I went into my mother’s fabric drawer and selected a piece of Chinese silk brocade—it had a lustrous black background with a small pattern of flowers and dragons (I think), and had been given to her by my Grandmother. I proceeded to cut the doll’s “dress” out of the very center of the goods … I think my Mum was torn between appreciating my creativity and being a wee bit upset about the damage I had done to the fabric! She was great though; she explained how to cut conservatively and I never forgot it. The dress is long gone but I still have the doll.

If you could have designed costumes for any play in history, what do you wish it could have been?

Hmmm. This is tough. I would like to have been involved with the first production of (Pierre) Beaumarchais’ Marriage of Figaro; I have always wanted to be part of a production that caused a riot. I would love to have heard Moliere’s plays as he wrote them—before the church censors got a hold of them. I would also like to do more work with masks; I really want to go to Venice and learn how to make leather Commedia masks. There are many, many plays and operas I would love to be part of. Off the top of my head: King Lear, Danton’s Death, Marat Sade, Goethe’s Faust, any of the Mozart/(Lorenzo) Da Ponte operas, The Flying Dutchman, Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and another dramatization of a Dickens novel since the Nicholas Nickleby that we did was a project I loved doing and am particularly proud of. There are too many to list so I’ll stop and say that I am intrigued and always game for insightful story telling through metaphor.

Who are your favorite costume designers? Fashion designers?

Too many costumes designers to list. I had the good fortune to assist Susan Hilferty and Cathy Zuber, many moons ago. I learned oceans from them both. Martin Pakledinaz is brilliant. Louis Brown was not only staggeringly talented, but he had a wealth of information and was a true gentleman. Jane Greenwood and Jess Goldstein were my teachers at Yale and they are both wonderful.

Fashion: My favorite is probably Christian Dior. His clothes were moving works of art. I’ve studied and loved Balenciaga, Poiret, Vionnet, Chanel, Fortuny, and Issey Miyake. Much of contemporary fashion strikes me as impossibly disconnected from the human animal or as tricked-out replays. Intrigues me less.

What inspires you right now? Any particular music, current events, people, et cetera?

Painting and color are the things that float my boat these days. I am alarmed and fascinated by what is happening in the Middle East. I felt that some of the films that came out this last year were incredible: the distressing in the clothes and make-up for True Grit was fantastic. And very hard to do; and the “truth” in the world created in The Fighter was equally inspiring. The thing that has always drawn me to and inspired me about theater in particular—and art in general—is communication.

The title character of Candida is described by the playwright as “now quite at her best, with the double charm of youth and motherhood.” Can you share any ideas on how you hope to express that through her dress?

It is still early in the process but Jonathan (Moscone, director, with whom she also collaborated on Man and Superman and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby) and I agree that we want to move it up a decade to around 1905. The silhouette is softer, the hair becomes softer; it gives us options that will better enable us to bring those qualities across.

Can you share any other early thoughts on the costuming for Candida?

I love dressing Shaw. One has to pay very close attention to all the information Shaw gives regarding the characters individually, and to their relationships with each other as well. There is so much in the language! As a designer, I do not want to get in the way of the characters being heard. So I guess that designing clothes for Shaw is a balancing act between finding the right looks and keeping the “volume” of those looks at the right level, so that the characters and their place in the dynamics of the whole are supported and “heard”—but not drowned out.

Candida is a small, intimate, play which speaks to large, fundamental, questions. It will require very delicate “costume tuning.” Such a lovely challenge.

Subscribe now to get the best seats at the best prices for Candida and the rest of our 2011 season.

Pictured above right: Susannah Schulman and Nancy Carlin in Man and Superman (2005); photo by Kevin Berne.

In the months leading up to our 2011 Main Stage season, we’ll be profiling the creative minds behind the season’s productions—Titus Andronicus, The Verona Project, Candida, and The Taming of the Shrew—in our e-newsletters. For February’s installment, we’re featuring adapter and director Amanda Dehnert, who will helm The Verona Project, a world-premiere, music-filled adaptation of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. What follows is the full transcript of Cal Shakes’ email interview with Amanda. To sign up for our email newsletter, click here.

What projects are you working on right now? What have you done most recently?

Right now, I’m getting ready to head to Ashland to direct Julius Caesar. I’m also getting ready to direct a workshop of a new musical with Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago, a production of Jaques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris for the Two River Theater Company in NJ, and, of course, The Verona Project! While all that’s happening, I’m also teaching for Northwestern University in Chicago. Most recently, I directed my own adaptation of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan for Lookingglass.

You’ve made a name for yourself reimagining musicals such as The Fantasticks and My Fair Lady. How do you approach the reinvention of something so venerated as a Shakespeare play? How is infusing a nonmusical play with music different from reimagining a classic musical?

It’s funny—I do think I have a reputation for reimagining the musicals, but I also have a different reputation (depending on who you talk to) for reimagining Shakespeare. Ultimately, I really believe that theater is about telling a story, and telling it honestly and specifically. I like to work with great stories. I believe a great story is one that taps into the things that are most true about what it is to be a person, to live a life, to make mistakes, to search, to love, to lose, and to learn. The greatest musicals stand the test of time because they tell stories that connect to people in these ways; and the greatest classic plays stand up for the same reasons. So, for me, it’s all the same in a way. As long as you have a great story and you keep it honest, you can have a great evening in the theater. I also think that there is always music in Shakespeare, sometimes literally with songs, but always with the sensibility in the writing. A soliloquy is much like a solo song. To me, it’s easy to understand how any Shakespeare play can also hold music.

Can you share any early thoughts on The Verona Project?

I really love the characters Shakespeare created, and they have inspired me to dive deeper into the various natures of love, loss, and self-discovery. I believe that to love and to lose are inextricably tied together; loving something or someone is perhaps the riskiest and most rewarding thing we can do in the course of our lives, and it’s what can cause us the most pain. The characters in Verona are struggling with the experience of first love, which I think is something we can all connect to. They are also trying to figure out who they are as individuals and who they want to grow up to become. They are adventurous, wonderful, awful, funny, completely real people. This adaptation works like a modern once-upon-a-time, and it is simultaneously infused with both the youthful spirit of self-expression and discovery and the awareness that we always can get from fables—that this is something universal and timeless. I’m terribly excited about it and about our wonderful cast.

What’s the first piece of theater you ever saw? Alternately (or in addition), what was the first piece you saw that really made you think, “I want to be a part of this”?

The first piece I remember seeing was A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. I can remember being terrified of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come—and I can also remember being so thrilled that I could simultaneously be sitting in a seat watching a story and feel like I was sitting in the room of my imagination, experiencing a real thing. I have always loved the power of stories, and always been incredibly amazed at how theater lets us all create worlds in our minds, and feel and experience things that we might not let ourselves take the time to think about in our everyday lives.

Who are your all-time favorite directors? Theater and film?

Gosh … I really believe I can take something away from absolutely everything, so it’s hard to have favorites. I’d say my personal heroes are Peter Brook, Federico Fellini, Tim Burton, Mary Zimmerman, Adrian Hall, Richard Jenkins, Des McAnuff, Joe Papp, Terry Gilliam, Bertolt Brecht, Pina Bausch, Simon McBurney/Complicite … I could go on. Anyone who pursues their craft and tells the story of the world the way they see it inspires me to be a better artist. I also have a particular liking for anyone who can find new ways to break the “rules”—because the most amazing thing about storytelling is that anything should be at your disposal!

Finally, if you could have directed any play in history, what (and/or where, and/or with whom) would it be?

This one is tricky! I do tend to be more excited about looking forwards than looking backwards…I would have liked to have been in the room when John Caird and Trevor Nunn were making the RSC production of Nicholas Nickleby; I would not have liked to have directed it, I just wish I could have been there to watch them do it! I feel that way about many productions. I think my dream would be to have time-traveling-fly-on-the-wall skills. Then I could watch everyone who ever made anything. That would be great!

Subscribe now to get the best seats at the best prices for The Verona Project and the rest of our 2011 season.

Pictured above: Michael Stone Forrest as Hucklebee, Timothy Ware as Matt, Nate Dendy as The Mute, Sebastian La Cause as El Gallo, Addi McDaniel as Lusia and Jerome Lucas Harmann as Bellomy in Arena Stage’s production of The Fantasticks directed by Amanda Dehnert in the 2009-10 season; photo by Scott Suchman.

Congratulations to Kayla Moreno, who presented the most charming case for being our Valentine during a contest we held on our Conservatory Facebook page; Kayla will be attending the dress rehearsal of her choice this summer at the Bruns. Here’s the love letter she wrote us on Facebook:

Why should I be your Cal Shakes Valentine? Oooh … where do I begin? Three years ago I joined the Conservatory just for the sake of something to do over the summer. The end result was something to do over the summer for the next (at least) four years. My favorite summer is hard to pick, because they’re all so awesome!! I anticipate each newsletter, expecting it to be registration time. Why? Because it means that I am just THAT CLOSE to being back with all my Cal Shakes besties!

I can honestly say that most of my best friends are from the Conservatory. What I love most about them is that I can tell them (well, my closest ones!) anything from my biggest fears to my deepest fantasies. They’re the people that I know won’t laugh when I tell them that I wanted a pet unicorn when I was a kid and actually thought that my unicorn stuffed animals would come to life. OK, so, maybe they’ll laugh. But in a friendish way! They’re the people that I can anticipate auditioning for American Idol with next year when I’m of age ;) lol you know who you are.

When the second semester rolls around, I always start up a Countdown to the Conservatory and hang it up on my wall. I’m a little slow on that, but I’ll get to it tomorrow, I promise! :)

Cal Shakes has been a part of my life since I was just starting middle school and it’s helped me through all the twists and turns of just starting to become a teenager, in a strange way. I know that I won’t be scared for high school next year because I’ll have had such a great summer that thoughts of fear won’t even have time to cross my mind. My self esteem is never higher than those five weeks of summer. The Conservatory is a place for someone like me to be able to just be herself without the worry of someone judging her for being a theater geek. Because, hey, it’s a camp MADE of and for theater geeks! :)

SO EXCITED FOR SUMMER!!

Happy Valentine’s Day :)

Summer Shakespeare Conservatories are enrolling now in Lafayette, Oakland hills, and San Francisco.

Pictured: Sandy Serwin, Kayla Moreno, and Margaret Williams in the 2010 conservatory production of The Comedy of Errors; photo by Jay Yamada.

Carpenter, Craig Marker, and Liam Vincent in Romeo and Juliet (2009); photo by Kevin Berne.

In the months leading up to our 2011 Main Stage season, we’ll be profiling the creative minds behind the season’s productions—Titus Andronicus, The Verona Project, Candida, and The Taming of the Shrew—in our e-newsletters. For this season’s inaugural installment, we’re featuring actor, longtime Cal Shakes Associate Artist, and occasional blogger James Carpenter who will play the titular role in Joel Sass’ production of Titus Andronicus. What follows is the full transcript of Cal Shakes’ November email interview with Jim. To sign up for our email newsletter, click here.

In the next few months, you’ll be playing a wide variety of roles: your fifth turn as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at A.C.T.; the title character in The Dresser at San Jose Rep; and Titus in Cal Shakes’ first-ever production of Titus Andronicus. When approaching such disparate roles, do you look for commonalities between the characters? Or are you more intrigued by the differences between the roles?

I think I’m more intrigued by the differences in the roles and don’t really look for

the commonalities; if I see one I mark it and make sure I’m not making the same choice for the role I’m working on currently. Right now I’m “leapfrogging” projects—learning lines for The Dresser on BART while rehearsing and performing Christmas Carol, reading through 3 Sisters which I’ll be performing at BRT while rehearsing for Titus, and then trying to find time to read and get acquainted with Titus itself.

Can you share any additional early thoughts on preparing for Titus?

Titus seems a man who has lived “by the book” most of his life—he has a sense of order of the way life should be lead, both militarily and at home; when this sense of order is displaced by chaos, by injustice, by random brutality rather than that measured brutality in which his military self resides, he finds himself emotionally at sea with no stars to guide him. That’s about it for now on that front, sadly—hopefully I’ll wax a bit more productive on these issues.

Do you have a favorite role (or a few favorite roles) you’ve played here at Cal Shakes? What, when, and why?

“Richard II in the mid-’90s (1994, directed by Penny Metropulos) would have to be at

the top of my list; a beautiful play, and one I had nearly a year to work on, much time to decipher a tricky role. I was three quarters of the way memorized when we started rehearsals and knew the way he walked, moved, and talked—I think it energized the rest of the cast to some degree and everyone was 100% on board, everyone looked for interesting choices. (It was) a beautiful piece for actors and our cast was splendid—L. Peter Callender as Bolingbroke, Domenique Lozano as Lady Gaunt (Duchess of York, actually. —ed., dusty from the Cal Shakes archive loft) I think, were both brilliant and I remember the closing night specifically because Peter asked if I’d be godfather to his child-to-be.

James Carpenter and Susannah Schulman in Nicholas Nickleby; photo by Kevin Berne.

We both proved ourselves to be sentimental old duffs by weeping copiously. You should check out the review the Chron wrote some time—a three-inch high caption on the review.

Another would have to be Much Ado that I did the next year, I believe; Domenique L. was Beatrice to my Benedick—both of these were directed by Penny Metropulos, and we had a splendid cast for this one as well.

During Jon’s tenure I’d have to say that Nicholas Nickleby (2005) would have been at the top—a wonderful story told with love and joy, a fantastic cast and Jon’s beautiful direction. It was an amazing experience.

I loved doing Gloucester in Lear (2007, directed by Lisa Peterson)—I have wanted to play that cliff scene ever since I first saw it on PBS; and I enjoyed my bit in Richard III (2007, directed by Mark Rucker) and loved watching Reg Rogers’ splendid performance. I’d have to say my newest favorite would be Macbeth, mostly because of Joel Sass. He had such an acute vision for the show, allowed his actors so much input and is just such a delightful man in general that it made the experience exciting, made us challenge ourselves and push the envelope. I’m expecting more of the same in Titus!

What’s the first piece of theater you ever saw? Alternately (or in addition), what was the first piece you saw that really made you think, “I want to be a part of this”?

Good question …what was it? I remember my sister doing Who Stole Granny’s Garters or some such play at her junior high—I loved it. What made me want to be a part of it? I’ll give you an extensive quote from my blog—an old story of how Jim started. Ready?

I was 17 and a junior in high school and got a role in the school play, Father Goose, playing the strange, wacky, sex-crazed 17-year-old. Typecast first thing off the bat. Thankfully, the only thing I can remember of my performance is that first, fateful opening night…

The first time I appeared was from stage left with jacket on; I was to run in, cross to the other actor at stage right, and deliver my line to him, peel my jacket off as I went, and toss it back over my shoulder without looking, in the general direction of the coat tree standing near the door I’d just entered. I did so. I got about half of my line out before the audience came unglued. Howling. I was facing right; my friend who was facing me was looking stage left over my shoulder with his eyes wide…?????????… The audience wouldn’t stop laughing.

Pulled by an irresistible tug of curiosity, I turned slowly around, the audience’s anticipation of my eventual reaction making the laughter increase the farther I turned. My eyes fell on the coat tree and there, on one of the hooks, hung my jacket. By the collar. My jaw dropped. The audience laughed more. But I didn’t ignore this and continue with the scene—I walked to the coat tree, turned up the edge of the jacket and saw I’d unwittingly performed a minor miracle; the jacket had landed so that the loop on the inside of the garment’s neck had slid neatly over the hook. My jaw dropped again. I showed the audience. They screamed … I’d by now abandoned all pretense of being in character and looked straight out at the kids I’d incited to near-riot, and who were by now red in the face and pounding the tables, and just laughed right back at them. And even though I knew I was being an utter fool, I didn’t care; it was elating—thrilling somehow.

THAT was the moment I knew I wanted to be an actor.

Who are your all-time favorite actors?

Michael Caine, Anthony Hopkins.

You were named of one 2010’s Lunt-Fontanne Fellows, and took part in a week-long master class last summer at Ten Chimneys Foundation. What are some of the lessons you learned during that experience that continue to inform your work?

I learned that there are depths to Shakespeare’s work that I may never rise to; that his words, his work and his thoughts are so modern, still so current that it takes my breath away at times. I learned some small smattering of new techniques, new ways of looking at the material—I can’t say how much it will affect my future work, but the experience itself was so productive and inspiring that I will carry it with me always.

And finally, if you could have appeared any play in history, what (and/or where, and/or with whom) would it be?

I have no idea. I kind of like where I am right now.

Subscribe now to get the best seats at the best prices for Titus Andronicus and the rest of our 2011 season.