Notes from a Zizka - A directorial perspective from co-Artistic Director Blanka Zizka
August 27, 1999
A few days after we announced our 1999-2000 season, I ran into a friend
who has been subscribing to the Wilma for many years. She looked at me
with an ironic smile and asked if the Wilma finally had decided to turn
commercial with our announcement of the production, THE 3 MUSKETEERS.
I assured my friend that after 20 years of creating personal, challenging,
intellectually invigorating theater, the artistic staff at the Wilma has
no intention of changing.
Theatre de la Jeune Lune is a company whose work Jiri and I have been following for many years. We consider them to be one of the most exciting, "unorthodox" theater companies in the country, and their adaptation of THE 3 MUSKETEERS is theater in the best Wilma tradition: fresh and original, surprising and imaginative.
In July, I participated in Robert Redford's Sundance Theatre Institute in Utah. I was working with Dael Orlandersmith on her new play YELLOW MAN, which deals with racism within the black community. Her script is in the initial stage of development, but it is already promising to be a powerful and unsettling piece of theater.
Sundance is a great creative retreat. Projects were in different stages of development, and the pressures so often imposed by deadlines and production schedules didn't exist. We attended each other's rehearsals and got into heated discussions over meals.
A lot of Jiri's creative time this summer has been taken up in collaboration with LA-based Mark Saltzman, author of the Wilma's second production this season, THE TIN PAN ALLEY RAG. Although this play with music has already been produced, Mark and Jiri are developing the definitive version; many scenes have been polished or entirely rewritten, and brand new staging ideas are being conceived.
Last season, we decided to create a new program to support writers and help them develop new plays. We raised funds and, this past spring, for the first time in the history of the theater, we awarded two commissions. I will be working with Polly Pen and Laurence Klavan, the authors of the innovative musical BED AND SOFA, which I directed last season. They are planning to write a new musical about Henry James. We have also commissioned Michael Weller, and Jiri will be working with him to develop his newest play, MOMENTUM, which revolves around the rise and fall of a famous American industrialist. For those who don't recall Mr. Weller's name, he is an accomplished playwright (MOONCHILDREN) and screenwriter (HAIR and RAGTIME).
The Wilma also plans to establish a fund to support workshops, enabling writers to set up readings and explore their projects with actors and a director. If you are interested in learning more about commissions and the development of new plays and want information about supporting this program, please let us know.
With all these projects in development and upcoming productions of plays like the Philadelphia premiere of THE TIN PAN ALLEY RAG and Tom Stoppard's latest play, THE INVENTION OF LOVE, the Wilma is buzzing with anticipation and excitement. I hope that you will enjoy the season and let us know about your experiences at the Wilma.
Blanka Zizka, Co-Artistic Director
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