Reneé O'Connor in Macbeth

An interview with Anna Andersen (director of Macbeth):

By this time, I had a more solid idea and approach to this whole interview thang. I was the most relaxed with Anna and ended up being very pleased with my questions to her. It also helped that she was so forthcoming with information, beyond what I had expected. She was a joy to talk with. Very animated and expressive, with an obvious passion for her work, that showed in how she seemed to be in constant, excited movement when she talked. She had this amazing smile, joyous laugh, and eyes that sparkled in the lamp's golden light. Theatre is definitely her life's blood!

As we strolled over to a more secluded and quieter area of the park, I noted how the cast all seem to be having a great time together, and she affirmed that with gushes of what a great cast she was blessed with. For such a large group of people to be so talented and to get along so well, was wonderful. Finally, we got to a good spot and I dove right in...

SaM - Why Macbeth? (She laughs.) Was that your choice?

Anna - I requested it... It's the shortest tragedy, and it still contains some of the most complex relationships and characters. They all have this huge arch that they travel, and what happens to them, and how their relationship develops. And everything they go through is just so intense... It just kills me every time. I've always loved that play. It's always been my favorite.

S - Every time I see it - this is my third time and it's like - I mean, I've seen other productions of it, but I never really got it before. I don't know if it's the way it was done... They tried to put too much stuff into it. But this is so simple, that it's just coming true.

A - That's the thing with Shakespeare. He does it for you.

S - Yeah. Just let the words go...

A - Exactly.

S - Obviously, you've loved this play for a while. Did you have to do a lot of research before?

A - I did. I'm very interested in history... It was based on an actual occurrence. But the actual people who were involved were not the Macbeths. Macbeth and his wife did become king and queen at one time, but they did not kill Duncan in their castle. They actually had a war, a battle. It was all legit. But there was another couple who had a king come in and killed him in the castle, and all of that. So, the Macbeths got a bad rep.

S - (I laugh) Cause it wasn't him!

A - It wasn't him. He was actually an incredible king. He ruled for seventeen years, he established a lot of great, great laws. And really was a great king. But yeah, I did a lot of research just because I'm fascinated with it... And it helps, I think. Just knowing a lot of the stuff that's behind it. Also, what was going on in Shakespeare's time when he wrote it is fascinating. The reasons he put a lot of the stuff in there. With the witches... with the whole idea of the witches kind of being vague. They equivocate a lot. You hear the porter talk about equivocation a lot. The trial of the century was about a man who hadn't lied, but he just hadn't told the truth. And was he guilty, because he was equivocating? He was being vague with the intent to mislead. And it was just a huge, huge public issue at the time. So, Shakespeare took that and put it into the play.

S - Wow, interesting.

A - It's all very fascinating. Doing research, I love!

S - I bet... How many productions have you directed?

A - This is my fourth.

S - Of Shakespeare, with this group?

A - No. This is my first time with this group. I did direct the Shakespeare Outreach program for the group. And I did a benefit last year. They did As You Like It and The Tempest last year and I actually directed a combination between the two. I wrote and directed the whole thing. It was cute. Just a "As You Like The Tempest" kind of combining the characters. It was crazy.

S - How fun!

A - And then I directed at Palos Verdes Players. Which was very enjoyable. And I did a play within a play called The Curate Shakespeare As You Like It. It was about seven people putting on As You Like It. Very different. Very funny. Kind of commedia dell'arte, just kind of slapstick, crazy... I love directing.

S - Are you an actor too?

A - Yes.

S - How did I know that? (We both laugh.) I just knew that!

A - Yes. (She says with a sheepish grin.)

S - In particular with Patrick and Reneé, what was it in their auditions that you really liked.

A - That's funny. This is the first thing I told them the first rehearsal. Patrick is very light, not only on his feet, but just in his approach, cause he's very spontaneous. He's studied a lot of Meisner, which means he's very... they both have. They're very off the cuff and right, you know, something hits them and they use it. Both of them have that going for them. But Patrick is much more up in the air with things, which is how I see Macbeth. He's very spontaneous, and almost... cause he's impulsive, he's almost child like in the fact that he's all over the place. He feels something, he commits to it. As soon as it's decided, it's done. "I go, and it is done."

S - Yeah, that's what Patrick said. (She laughs.)

A - And I like that quality in Patrick. And Reneé came in and planted her feet and just... she was absolutely grounded and centered and there was something in her eyes that just sparked everything. And she had this naturalness about her. And that was during her first monologue. And I was just blown away. I just went "Wow!" She was so strong. And then, when she came in and read with people, she always looks them in the eye, and she's also got the spontaneous, off the cuff thing. And it was just really remarkable to see them together. And the two - her grounded strength and his flighty - they just, playing off each other - It was magic. It was immediate. I knew immediately when they read together, I went "Oooohhh!" (She swoons.) There they are!

S - There's talk that this group didn't know who Reneé was. (Anna starts shaking her head.) Were you one of them? (I laugh.)

A - Yeah. I had no idea... (Big grin.) It was funny, when she came in and I looked at her resume, and there was no theatre on there. And I went - as a director, especially when you're directing [theatre], you look for theatre ... And I remember looking at her picture going, "Oh, she's got something great!" And she'd studied at these great places, and I really wanted to see her. Then I saw it and said to her, "So you have no theatre experience?" (We laugh.) And she was just very pleasant. We hit it off right away. She's very sweet. We were joking around before the audition, and I was like, "ok, well lets just see." And I'd seen 35-40 people - women - and she was the only one that night. She finished and I said, "I'd like to call you back for Lady Macbeth." I had no idea who she was, and no theatre experience on her resume, and I just went, "Come back tomorrow at seven o'clock. Please!" And it was immediate. Just personal and talent wise she was just... Yeah. And then after, it was a couple hours later when one of the stage managers came back and said, "Do you have any idea?" Uh... No... (She says in a "dorky" voice.)

S - Has it changed the feel this summer?

A - No. Not in my part, at all. But I think the production side of it... just cause there's a lot of fans. But everyone's so sweet and nice that it hasn't been... it's been great. My side, it was always exactly the same as it always is.

S - Just another actor.

A - Yeah.

S - Did that - You mention her "no theatre" --

A - She told me later she has done theatre! (I finish the sentence with her.)

S - Yeah I know, just not on her resume. (We laugh.) But her ability... she said this was her first Shakespeare. As a director how did you see that? Was it even noticeable?

A - Her ability?

S - I mean, verses Patrick who's been - this is his nineteenth production. Did it have any affect? (I suddenly couldn't figure out how to say what I wanted to. I was not questioning Reneé's ability, but wondering about how her inexperience with Shakespeare affected her work, if at all. Thankfully, Anna picked up the gist of my meaning.)

A - No. No. Not at all. Reneé is someone who goes home and studies every single line and every nuance of every beat, every pause, every comma, every word. You know, she would come in and tell me things about the lines that I had no idea. "Oh right! I never noticed that. You're definitely right." So, I think... if you have the general acting talent, and you have the intelligence, and you have the desire... Shakespeare is just, it's just acting... It's, I don't want to say easier, but like I said, he does do the work for you. And she has a very good feel for it.

S - Patrick talked about the collaboration between the three of you was really strong.

A - Yes. The first night, it was incredible. You know, having this huge cast I went into this little tiny room with just the three of us, and it was...the collaboration was this magical - all three of us on the same page. And it remained so through the entire rehearsal process. Of, you know, give and take of "what does this line mean... how do we want to take it, where..." And then just... We would be off our chairs, just walking around, just so excited! (She demonstrates, with great enthusiasm.) And to find two other people who work as hard, and who are that passionate, and think the same way. It was truly just a gift. It came out of nowhere. Every time we met it was just... like a vacation. It was just wonderful!

S - Wow!

A - Yeah. It was really amazing.

S - Now a couple of things I'm interested in, in the show in general. The male witch. Where did that idea come from? And the costume...

A - Well, first of all, I definitely new I wanted to take the witches as the three furies of past, present and future. So I knew I wanted witch number one to represent the past, witch number two to represent the present, and witch number three to represent the future. So, if you'll notice, he's very tribal. The one with the dark hair is dressed in a typical Shakespearian kind of dress. And the other one actually has red hi-lights in her hair and in pretty much a modern day dress with the full-on make-up. (She sheepishly laughs.) I haven't actually given my source for my inspiration to cast the male witch, but it was actually a book I read by Ngaio Marsh, who is a... actually she wrote a lot of mysteries a long time ago. And she actually wrote one about someone who's putting on Macbeth. (She laughs.) And just, when I saw Dorsla (the actor playing the 1st witch), that book came to mind, and it was just this image that I never forgot of this kind of... It was this same type of characterization of this man who was just kind of tribal... So yeah, (another sheepish grin) I borrowed it. (She laughs.)

S - Hey, it's what it's all about.

A - Yeah. I give her full credit. Ngaio (pronounced n î a) Marsh is her name.

S - Another thing I found interesting was bringing Lady Macbeth on after she dies.

A - That was Patrick's idea.

S - Was it?

A - Yes! The "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow" speech is one of the most famous speeches ever. And it's a very moving speech. And we were just talking about the intensity of it and the fact that it's been done... the whole play has been done sooo many times. It's not that your fighting against the ghost of every single Macbeth that's ever lived, but you know, you really want to connect with it in your own way. Ian McKellen did a version that I saw on tape, and it was just brilliant. But we don't want to do Ian McKellen. Patrick is brilliant, and we want to do Patrick's Macbeth. And he just was thinking - I mean, he just came to me one day and he's like, "I have this idea." And we tried and I just... (She expresses great awe.) Oh yeah.

S - It's wonderful! And the way he plays with her and everything. And it really connects to what he's saying, so amazingly.

A - Yes. It really worked well. We knew immediately. The first time she did it she was kind of in jeans and a little jacket (We laugh.), and we're just like, "Well, that's nice." But when she came out with her nightdress on, I just went, "Ooooohhhhh!" And she's never moved!!

S - No!

A - She's never moved once! I always watch her and go, "Wow!"

S - And that's got to be uncomfortable, too, with her head --

Screams came from the stage, announcing the beginning of the second half, so we were cut off. I quickly thanked her and went back to my seat.

Once again, fortune was upon me for providing the opportunity to approach Anna for her picture and then for the interview. She was so lovely, and generous of her time and attention. I got the feeling she had this curiosity about me and all my interviewing and picture taking shenanigans... But a curiosity with a sense of humor! She was such a great sport to indulge my whims, and to express an interest in my quest. An awesome, wonderful woman. I envy the cast the opportunity to work with her. I imagine her to be a fun director to have.

Thank you Anna! It was wonderful to meet you.

P.S. At the end of the show, I had to go back to her and get the spelling of Ngaio's name. In doing so, I met her mother, I believe, who spelled the name for me and encouraged me to check out her books. The author is from New Zealand, she said! Good grief, is this a small world or what? Everything is connected!

Copyright - Sarah Mears, 7/7/02; Edited: 7/8/02
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