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Theater Alumni Collaborate

David Berry, Director of Theatre
While a number of recent alumni of the Ensworth theatre program, including Jack Alcott ’15 and Briana Middleton ’16, have enjoyed high-profile successes in television and film, another set of alumni have been carving their own path to success together by continuing to collaborate across their respective college campuses.
At Amherst College, Caroline Seitz ’18 directed a production of her sister Sally’s playwriting thesis. Sally Seitz ’13 is a graduate of Middlebury College and was one of thirteen young writers recently admitted to the prestigious MFA in Dramatic Writing program at Carnegie Mellon University, where she also spends time directing. At William’s College, Ryan Crants  ’20 has directed two separate plays written by Ella Talerico  ’21, who recently directed a production of her own work at Vassar College. Both Sally and Ella had their first feature-length plays produced during their senior year at Ensworth after completing Capstone Projects in Playwriting. These four alumni recently joined Director of Theatre David Berry for a podcast-style conversation to reflect on their continued collaboration and on how the experiences and relationships they forged at Ensworth have continued to fuel their work and success as writers and directors in college and beyond. As you will see, a central theme of the conversation revolves around one of our Core Skills at the High School: to Collaborate.


The following is a transcript of excerpts from that conversation.

Mr. Berry: I’ll start by saying that one joy I’ve found in my work with you all is the joy of creating something from nothing—of creating a new story that did not exist before and then putting it on stage. It makes me think of the director’s note from Sally’s play in 2013. I think the first line of that note was: “We made this.” We started with nothing but a date that the show would go up, and then we created a story; we wrote it and rewrote it and edited it, and then finally, we had a script, and we cast it and rehearsed it. And then, all of a sudden, there was this new thing that didn’t exist before. So, what I want to hear the two playwrights talk about is this: I’m interested in how much it feels like the play isn’t fully realized until you see it living on stage in the bodies and voices of actors—and also the different sensations of completion that come with finishing the writing versus seeing the play staged and voiced and embodied.
 
Ella: It’s just such a privilege and honor when someone wants to pick up your little blueprint and really try and create on top of it, and to me, it’s not really a play until that’s happened because it’s not a novel and it’s not a book of poetry; it’s a play, and it needs voices, and it needs people, and it needs collaborators. That’s the magic. It’s why I continue to write theatre. The process itself is what fuels me to go back to the page because it’s just so fun to see what other people do with your work and the connections that they make that you didn’t even know were there.
 
Sally: Lucy’s Play at Ensworth both spoiled me and informed me. I went into college having experienced the joy of having my work put up so then I could write for that experience. I could be a better collaborator in rooms and hand plays off and speak to professors about work in a way that acknowledged the fact that I know this is not just mine—that the purpose of this is for other people to work on it. I think that’s a lesson that usually you have to learn through college, and I had a leg up knowing that. Like Ella was saying, it’s a collaborative art form. This isn’t my book of poetry; this is my ‘step one’ that needs to be handed off.
 
Ella: I will say that the plays that Ryan produced and directed at Williams were both first drafts, and wow, what a gift for your first workshop draft to be put on its feet. I mean, how much quicker do you find solutions to problems? It’s amazing that I have such a wonderful friend in Ryan to put up my little baby works.
 
Mr. Berry: I mean, that’s it, right? That’s the gift and asset of being able to have these projects go up with a collaborator whom you trust. It is a gift to have that opportunity to see your work produced by other people, other minds, other artists—particularly ones whom you’re in relationship with and trust, not just as artists, but as friends and family. It’s an amazing gift, and again, that’s why I was so interested in coming together and having this conversation. I am proud, not just of the work that you all created when you were with us here at Ensworth but just as much that you’ve gone on to support each other in this way. Because, like you say Ella, you have these projects that together you were able to slingshot forward. And so maybe this is the next question: How do you think it has shaped the two of you playwrights as writers to have had multiple projects put up on their feet so early in your career? How has it informed your writing to have had the benefit of seeing the work fleshed out by other artists so immediately?
 
Sally: When I’m deep in the drafting process ,and it’s discouraging, I can remember: I have put something up that people have laughed at; I have put something up that people have shed a tear at. This is not me grasping at straws. This is me doing the thing that I do, and I can keep doing it and get better, or I can halt. I remember with Lucy’s Play, when I was 18, the night before it opened, Berry turned to me and said: “We really have no idea if this thing is any good.” And I said, “Yeah, I know.” [Note: Lucy’s Play went on to be one of the most successful productions in the history of the program] It could have been a more discouraging moment if it hadn’t been for the understanding that we are just trying our best and we’re going to see if this lands. And that’s all you can do is find somebody you trust to help you see if it lands. I mean, as soon as I finish a play, I send it to Caroline and Ella, and I should probably put Ryan Crants on that list, too. I’ve learned to fall back on that trust and on the trust that those people have in me.
 
Mr. Berry: Do you really send your new plays to Ella?
 
Sally: Yeah, I do!
 
Ella: It’s so great! I love it so much! I think that loving playwriting didn’t really solidify for me until my first play was on its feet. The first time that I thought, “Ding! This is what I want to do with my life,” was when I saw actors on a stage with lights and everything was happening and I knew I could leave the room right then, and the play would live on its own. That was such a formative moment in my life. I come into a rehearsal room now with a lot more understanding of what my place is in the room and how to facilitate the best rehearsal environment as a playwright. And Ryan knows from seeing my stage directions evolve over the years, they’re now a lot more ambiguous and there’s a lot more room for collaborators to play. Having my early work put up, I realize how much more fun it is when you can let someone interpret your words. You learn more.
 
Mr. Berry: What do you think you would not have learned if it hadn’t been for the opportunity to work in collaboration with a playwright—or with a director and cast?
 
Sally: Always try. You can always try the new option. But you also know when you have to advocate for a specific piece of the story. The writer knows the heart of the play. So, for me as a director, the lesson has been: the writer’s words come first.
 
Ryan: I’d say a very similar thing in reference to the writer’s words that I’ve felt has been very beneficial in working with Ella. In terms of reading a scene and thinking to myself, I don’t really know what this scene is doing, but then having that trust in Ella. I trust Ella that it’s doing something, and we’re going to figure out what it’s doing. So we’re going to go into this rehearsal room and put it on its feet. And then, every time, I see it. Having that sort of faith in a piece of text and in a playwright is something that I have with Ella that I wouldn’t necessarily have with a stranger handing me a play. But having that faith in a text and putting that as primary, it’s worked out every time—because I trust Ella, and I trust that this text is doing what it needs to do. It’s just my job to facilitate what has been given to me on the page. That’s a lesson that I definitely wouldn’t have learned without having a playwright as a close friend and collaborator.
 
Caroline: Adding on to that, I think that sometimes you have to treat a playwright like they’re your older sister. And I think that that comes with great trust and admiration and intimacy, but also with that trust, being able to challenge and bicker and being able to have this sort of push-back with the playwright that you might not grant yourself with other work.
 
Mr. Berry: Going back to thinking about rehearsing your earliest work together here, of course doing it is an act of trust, right? I trust your words; I trust your story and your voice and your choices. And then, there comes this moment when you push back, but even in the pushing back it’s rooted in this trust you have in the words, in the voice. It doesn’t always feel like it in the moment of the pushing, but of course, it’s an act of faith and trust.
 
Ella: Absolutely. I think that, through seeing new work put up, I see just how beautiful that trust is and how much I can let go. 
 
Mr. Berry: I’m going to wrap us up here. But, as cheesy as this may sound, the thing that I cannot get out of my head is the number of years I have sat here at Ensworth and recited our list of Core Skills. We always start with “to Collaborate.” And when I first started saying those words, I never could have foreseen the projects I’ve been lucky enough to work on with you all—and beyond that, this afterlife of the work of our community that you guys have taken into hand to self-generate way beyond our campus to campuses across America. I am amazed by where our collaborations have taken us, and taken you, and taken your stories. And I’m grateful. 
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