Inside A.C.T.

By Shannon Stockwell Tom Stoppard (photo by Amie Stamp) Tomáš Straüssler was born in 1937 in Czechoslovakia, and he arrived in India as a refugee when he was four years old. He lived there from 1942 to 1946, and he learned English while attending a school in Darjeeling run by American Methodists. While in India, his mother met Kenneth Stoppard, a major in the British Army, who brought the whole family back to his home in Derbyshire, England. His mother and Major Stoppard married, and Tomáš adopted the name he uses today. Stoppard did not enjoy school and dropped out when he was 17, taking a job at the Western Daily Press , a newspaper in Bristol. He hoped to pursue a career in journalism, but while working as a critic, he fell in love with the theater. His first play, A Walk on the Water , introduced him to the agent Kenneth Ewing, who provided Stoppard with the inspiration for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead . The National Theatre in London produced Rosencran...

An Interview with Costume Designer Candice Donnelly By Shannon Stockwell From the many hues of rasa to the festival of colors known as Holi, Indian culture is marked by a love for vibrancy that is truly ancient. For a play set in India, especially one centered around poetry and art, the visual design vocabulary is of the utmost importance. A.C.T.’s production of Indian Ink is in the capable hands of costume designer Candice Donnelly, whose work has brought her to almost every corner of the world, from Broadway to Buenos Aires to Hong Kong. Previously at A.C.T., she has created costume designs for Elektra , Endgame and Play , ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore , The Circle , and Happy End . We spoke with Donnelly to find out what is behind her costume design and how she created the visual world of Indian Ink . Costume rendering for Flora Crewe,  by costume designer Candice Donnelly. What appeals to you artistically about Indian Ink ? The play has an elusive quality rega...

The Man Who Invented Christmas (with a Little Help) By Michael Paller Charles Dickens, circa 1860s.  Heritage Auction Gallery Imagine a Christmas without carols or cards. No festive dinner. No presents under the tree on Christmas morning. No tree. No day off to spend with the family. This was Christmas in most places before A Christmas Carol was published on December 19, 1843. Charles Dickens has been called “the man who invented Christmas,” and while that’s an exaggeration, it’s only a slight one. He didn’t invent the modern holiday by himself, but for many people, his vision of Christmas is Christmas. Christmas was grim in England’s cities during the Industrial Revolution. Factories and businesses were open on December 25, and there was no day off for employees like Martha Cratchit. Still, while Christmas wasn’t much celebrated in London or other large cities, some of the old customs were observed in remote rural villages. "The Spirit of Christmas Prese...

A Very Real Woman An Interview with Testament Costume Designer Jessie Amoroso By Adam Odsess-Rubin Costume designer Jessie Amoroso shares some of the images that inspired his design. Fall is always a busy season in A.C.T.’s costume shop: the staff creates costumes for all Master of Fine Arts Program, Young Conservatory, and mainstage shows, in addition to renting costumes to people looking for special Halloween outfits. That doesn’t stop A.C.T. Costume Shop Manager Jessie Amoroso, who is the costume designer for Testament , from investing himself in the design process of the one-woman show. Amoroso gave us a look into the complex process of designing a costume for one of the most iconic women in history. What research did you do for Testament ? Mary is such a prominent figure that has been written about for centuries, so there is quite a bit out there to digest. Luckily, we have Michael Paller, who did an amazing job with the dramaturgy. But research starts with the sc...

by Projection Designer Erik Pearson Bill Irwin and David Shiner in Signature Theatre's Production of Old Hats.  Photo by Joan Marcus I grew up in Santa Cruz and had the good fortune of seeing productions at A.C.T. as a kid. I became involved in the theater myself when I was very little and family visits to the city to see a play left a big impression on me. I live in Brooklyn now and work as a director and designer in New York and regional theaters around the country. This is my first time returning to the Bay Area for a project since moving east. Old Hats is just the sort of A.C.T. show that inspired me when I was young and I can’t imagine a more perfect project for my return. I first became involved with Old Hats a couple of years ago at Signature Theatre in New York. Bill Irwin and David Shiner had started developing ideas for a new project that would be a follow up to their wildly successful Fool Moon . There was no show yet, really—no director, no title—but they...

A Heavy Dose of Liveness An Interview with Director Tina Landau Bill Irwin (left), Tina Landau (center),  and David Shiner in rehearsal for  Signature Theatre's 2013 production of Old Hats , photo by Gregory Constanzo “The Coolest Project Ever” was the subject line of the email Tina Landau received from her agent, asking her if she would be interested in working with Bill Irwin and David Shiner on their new project at Signature Theatre. Landau, who had seen Irwin and Shiner in  Fool Moon about twenty years earlier and was a huge fan of their work, jumped at the opportunity. Although Old Hats is unlike anything Landau had ever worked on before, she was particularly well-suited to direct this physical show, as she coauthored The Viewpoints Book with Anne Bogart. Viewpoints is a method of theatrical composition that heavily focuses on physicality, movement, and gesture. “I feel very comfortable in Bill and David’s world, because I always think of my theater w...