Vanya and Sonia

and Masha and Spike

By Christopher Durang

Marisa Figueras - Production Stage Manager

Working Alongside
your Director

We did not have an assistant director on this show, so my relationship with our director, John, was very close. I strive to build a strong relationship with my director to begin with, but I felt that without an assistant John and I built a relationship of trust that extended beyond the typical role of a stage manager. John would often use me as a sounding board, talking out his ideas and asking my opinions on blocking or costuming. This relationship strengthened my understanding of John's artistic vision for the show while also strengthening our trust in each other, allowing me to guild rehearsals and tech with the trust of him and the cast.

The "Reverse Strip Tease"

Spike is a character who is confident in himself and, more importantly, his body. He loves to show off and spends several extended moments of the show in minimal clothing. He even does a "reverse strip tease" to put his clothes back on in one scene. To facilitate all of this in rehearsals, we worked closed with our Spike actor and understudy during rehearsals to craft these moments along with our director and intimacy choreographer. We also made this as real as possible in rehearsal without needing them to undress in the studio by having them underdress in running shorts and tank tops (similar to "skins") so they could still practice the motions and we could also work out difficulties prior to tech. We made sure to have robes and blankets available to the actors offstage as well to keep them warm and comfortable.

Creating "Voodoo"

In Act 2, there is a moment where Cassandra, pushed to an extreme in fear of Masha selling the house, pricks a voodoo doll she's created to torment Masha and try and stop her from selling. To achieve the effect of seeing the prick and then hearing Masha scream "upstairs", we had cue lights set up for our actress back stage. I would then cue our Masha with these cue lights based on the visual cue of our Cassandra pricking the doll. The challenge was trying to time the cue light so that the scream and prick happened at the same time, so I made sure to communicate consistency and awareness with both actresses as we teched this moment.

Production Photos
all photos by Drew Lofredo