When I am picking a show to direct, I pretty much follow the questions as I have been asking them this week. I read a bunch of scripts and try to figure out why I like a specific script. I give it another read to find out what it's all about, discovering if it's a story I want to tell.
Then I tackle the big three: when, who and where. The answers to these three questions determine if it goes from a story I want to tell to a story I can tell.
While I normally start with "who", with Shakespeare "when" is the big factor. I try to find that hook that will help my audience get into the story and first see if the story can be set in modern times. I've set
Two Gentlemen of Verona in a skate park, and
Romeo and Juliet at a rave. I was all set to put
Love's Labour's Lost in a fraternity house when I heard some Shakespeare purists in town were upset that I was always updating Shakespeare to the modern era. So I decided to show them, and I set it in the late 16th century and it was a mistake. The production had some glorious tech elements and some of the finest performances from my actors, but the audience had a visual hurdle they couldn't overcome in a single viewing.
"Where" is so closely tied to "when" and ideas do formulate right away within the second read, but first I have to determine if I have the personnel to do the show. And in order to do that, I have to know the job descriptions for each role. This does not mean that I cast the show this far in advance. I always wait until the auditions for that. Instead, I start doing what I call a breakdown of the script, so that I can get to know the characters better.
