Interview: MST Artistic Director Rebecca Greene Udden Talks Directing TWELFTH NIGHT

Main Street Theater (MST) presents William Shakespeare's romantic comedy TWELFTH NIGHT, wherein Duke Orsino gets more love than he bargained for in this tangled romantic comedy. Main Street Theater's TWELFTH NIGHT is co-produced with Prague Shakespeare Company (PSC) partnership. This is the second run of the production, which was in repertory at the Prague Shakespeare Company for several months. The show opens December 31, helping to ring in a Happy New Year in Houston.

Broadwayworld.com talks to Main Street Theater's Artistic Director and the director of it's upcoming production of TWELFTH NIGHT about MST's collaboration with PSC, the purity and universality of Shakespeare's text, and the difference between Houstonian audiences and Prague audiences.

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Where are you in the production process now?

I'm waiting for everyone to arrive the day after Christmas. Since the show ran (in repertory) in Prague for several months, I am expecting the rehearsal process to be one of just getting everyone back into the swing of it. The theater we performed in is very similar in terms of size, layout, entrances, exits, to Main Street, so the cast should be able to adapt fairly easily.

What changes will you make between the Prague production and the Houston production?

The only major change will be that one of the principal actors could not come to the U.S., so I will replace him with a Houston-based actor who has also worked in Prague. We will also be able to do much more with lighting over here than we were able to do there.

I imagine that a new principal will change the energy, pace, etc. of the production.

The character who could not travel is our Malvolio, who is, of course, a pivotal character. However, the actor who will be playing him actually rehearsed the show in Prague for a while (they generally double cast roles because they run on a repertory schedule) before he had to come back to Houston for business reasons, so he is already in sync with the production.

What will the new lighting design add? Why is that important to the production?

We will be able to do more with color and isolations than we were able to do in Prague. Being able to isolate small scenes help the audience to keep track of what is going on. Also, subtle changes in color help with time of day, location, things that you would know if you were reading the play on the page.

What is your approach to directing TWELFTH NIGHT?

We took a traditional approach to this production - the Kolovrat Theater (where Prague Shakespeare Company performs) doesn't lend itself to lots of scenery, so costumes are very important. We had access to really beautiful costumes from the National Theatre in Prague and decided to go with a Renaissance look to the show. My work tends to be very text-based - I don't generally overlay concepts on my productions. I like to present the play in as fresh and honest a production possible, and for me that means making everything as clear as I can.

I would imagine this sort of approach requires intimate knowledge of the play. How did you acquire this depth of knowledge? By this I mean, what sort of research did you engage in?

I have acted in and directed TWELFTH NIGHT before, so I know the play very well. I have directed a number of Shakespeare plays, and I have studied the language over the years as well. Before I direct a Shakespeare play, I read several different editions to get a broad range of notes (Arden , Folgers, Signet, etc.), and then just keep the material in my head.

Also, I was working with people who have a deep understanding of Shakespeare, so we were all on the same page, for the most part.

How did the Main Street Theater (MST) and Prague Shakespeare Company (PSC) partnership come about?

We have been working with [Founder, CEO and Artistic Director of the Prague Shakespeare Company] Guy Roberts as an actor and director since 2012. Our aesthetics and approach to the work are very much in alignment. [Guy and I] work well together, and our audiences support his work enthusiastically.

Guy directed RICHARD III for us and the HENRY V that we took to Prague. And this is the second production of PSC that we have "imported". He wanted to add TWELFTH NIGHT to his schedule last season but didn't want to direct it, so he asked me to come do it.

Guy is originally from Houston, but moved to Austin for school and was Artistic Director of Austin Shakespeare Festival for many years before moving to Prague. He returned to Houston several years to perform in the Houston Shakespeare Festival, and that's when we first started talking about working together.

He brought his company over from Prague to do two Shakespeares with Classical Theatre, and they rented our-at the time-Chelsea Market theater. I saw the AS YOU LIKE IT that they did and absolutely loved it and reached out to Guy to direct something for us. That's when he proposed RICHARD III, so we scheduled that play the same year we were producing [Tom] Stoppard's THE COAST OF UTOPIA. I cast Guy in that, so he was with us for a long residency.

What did the Prague show teach you about staging the production?

It confirmed my belief that playing Shakespeare clearly and simply is always the best approach. In the hands of good actors who thoroughly understand the material, a Shakespeare comedy will delight any audience.

Are there considerations you must make for your Houston audience?

The audience in Prague for English-language theater is very much like the audience that Main Street normally has, so there are really no special considerations.

How does TWELFTH NIGHT fit into your season?

Our audience really enjoys the PSC collaboration and Guy Roberts' work in particular, so we try to keep the PSC-MST connection alive. Since taking over the Kolovrat Theater in Prague full-time, Guy hasn't been able to come over to direct new productions, so we have brought two of their productions over here. Since I directed this one, it seemed a good fit - and we haven't presented a TWELFTH NIGHT in nearly twenty years, so it seemed good timing.

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TWELFTH NIGHT. Wednesdays - Saturdays at 7:30p; Sundays at 3p; and Tuesday, January 5 at 7:30p. Main Street Theater Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd. $20 - $39 and $10 for students on Fridays and Sundays. 713-524-6706. mainstreettheater.com

Photo Credit: Kaja Curtis Photography, courtesy of Prague Shakespeare Company

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