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| Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Theatre > You Are Special > Interview with director Brian Seward Writer : Dawn FungDawn Fung speaks with Brian Seward, I Theatre's artistic director about stepping out of the boat in their last production, You Are Special, as well as children's theatre.  Brian SewardDawn : Could you comment on the choice of text? Brian : It's a really heart-warming story that has a very clear message to anyone who is suffering or has suffered from lack of self-esteem, been called names, or who has been pushed aside in favour of more 'famous', pretty or rich people. We are using the text from two of Max Lucado's books for this show: ["You are Special" and] "You Are Mine", [which] has a very clear message that possessions and appearance are no measure of someone's worth. Why did we choose these texts? Firstly for the message they convey. I Theatre has always been about more than just entertainment. We're out to challenge people to think, use their imagination and take action for themselves. Based on these criteria, this musical fits very comfortably. A couple of years ago a Church group approached me to create a musical for them that would reach out, but not preach out. They suggested Max Lucado's books, and when I read them I was very keen. The production we eventually created for the church was a 70 minute musical play, using the two books. It was a complete sell-out, and was great fun to do. It had quite a huge cast of around 50. We thought that would be the end of it, but all of us felt that it had the potential to go further. When the twin circumstances of us firstly getting the Drama Centre for our November production, then secondly finding out that the production we had planned could not go ahead for copyright reasons hit us, we were stuck. Then I thought about "You Are Special". It seemed like a great, but very risky choice...We wrote to Max Lucado, and he was very positive about the project - he read and approved the new script, and allowed us to use illustrations from the books to use for our advertising. Oh, yes, the new script! We expanded the story-line, reduced the cast list from 50 to just eleven, and wrote five new songs for the show. It was tough, but we feel that the new script works even better than the old. Because we're working in the Drama Centre, it gives us opportunities to use the technology there, so we have multiple sets, and a lot of props. Dawn : I think I theatre has come such a long way. You've organised a children's festival, brought the troupe to Edinburgh, and continue investing into children's theatre. How would this work reflect a directorial and production development? Brian : A lot of things I had only ever dreamed of trying are now coming to reality. Like trying to fill the huge theatre space of the Drama Centre. Secondly, a new team. I have only worked with three of the 11 actors before. Usually we have worked with acting teams of three or four. It's a whole new ball game having to direct so many personalities, each with their own particular story, without getting confused or confusing. Another added challenge of course is that it still has to grab and keep children's attention, at almost double the length of our 'usual' productions. That means a lot more tricks up our sleeve. There's going to be one two spectacular 'disasters' onstage, which we've had to train very carefully for, to avoid accident and injury. Dawn : I went online to check out something about "You Are Special" (I found the below extract). "Max was interested in helping children understand their value-not from the world's perspective, but from God's...In this heartwarming tale, Eli helps Punchinello understand how special he is-no matter what other Wemmicks may think. Children will learn a vital lesson-regardless of how the world sees them, God loves each of them just as they are." Shouldn't be we expecting more children's theatre (quality and quantity) in Singapore given so much inspiration/materials for kids today? Brian : Well, we should, but then the driving force for so many companies now is not the inspiration but the cash. And there is not much cash in theatre for a family audience. To produce good theatre for a children's or family audience is not easy. So much energy, colour and fun has to come out, and that means a lot of work going in - and you can't charge as much for a children's production as you can for an adult's production. Even when we offer schools and Church groups tickets at $26 each, (our full price this time is $40. This production is costing us just a little less than $250,000.00 to stage) they can't always afford it. But they would probably pay $140 for Phantom of the Opera - or more likely $8 for a ticket to the movies. It's not 'Good Business', so it's not going to happen until people change their focus - which incidentally is one of the themes in "You Are Special"! At present sales, sadly we are going to make a substantial loss on this production. We can hope that there are people with both vision and drive to create something new - but we REALLY need to give them the support they deserve.
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