UC San Diego

The last full production I directed before coming to Graduate School was Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children. At the time, I paid little attention to Brecht's theories about Epic Theatre and staged the play "on my terms". Little by little, it overwhelmed me and slipped from my grasp. It was my biggest artistic failure, making me seriously question my abilities as an artist.

While my time at UCSD helped me regain my confidence and hone new artistic skills, the thought of revisiting Brecht was a daunting one. The thing I learned about tackling Brecht is that you cannot deal with him as just the playwright. You must also acknowledge "Brecht the Director" and invite him into your process.

Inviting a figure as opinionated as Mr. Brecht into your rehearsal room is always challenging. He and I had our share of disagreements; the staging of some songs or the direction in which I guided a performance or two. Nonetheless, having spent a great deal of preproduction with Brecht's notes, I was hyper-aware of any decisions that contradicted his theories and never made them lightly. It was important for me to try and discover a "Verfremdungseffekt for 21st century America." I arduously labored over each decision, looking for the choice that would most illuminate the spirit of Brecht, if not always his dogma.

My collaboration with Bertolt Brecht was an invaluable one, as it revealed to me the limitless artistic potential you can achieve when you commune with giants.