Describe Alan as a director.
He is a brilliant man, with a beautiful mind, and all the challenges that go with that. His vision for each show sometimes does not reveal itself until late in the process, so there is a lot of trust involved with working as a winter guest. Alan is one of the great theatricals, a great theatre maker, but he is originally a choreographer. As a non dancer I often feel bad that I don't have the quickness of mind or feet that dancers have, and that might serve his process best. You learn a lot about the craft working with Alan ... but you have to bring stuff to the table. He doesn't puppeteer us.
How many characters do you actually play in this piece?
At last count it was in double digits, but it's reductive to count characters! America Ep. 3 works on far more complex levels than that.
What is that like?
It is hard work, you want every character you play to have integrity, even if they only appear for a few seconds. Let's just say I do have an inner story arc that I follow ... you know, everything's connected. But honestly, as someone who has suffered from mental illness, I am not unfamiliar with how humans can be fractured into many parts, just to survive. Bit like Lord Voldemort ...
Favourite character in America 3?
I love them all.
