Production Thesis Concerning Direction Of Mass Appeal

Abstract

Directing a play is a long process, beginning long before any rehearsals do. The rehearsal process is merely the tail end of all the work and decision-making which leads, ultimately, to Opening Night. As a young director, I found myself making decisions without that knowledge which comes only from years of experience. But the learning process has to start somewhere, and directing Mass Appeal was the start for me. The selection of Mass Appeal as a project was a relatively easy one. It immediately struck me as a play that could be done well on Carroll's stage. The subject matter was, I felt, such that both the Carroll and Helena communities would find great interest in this play. It is performed without any set changes, and lends itself well to Carroll's small space. The fact that it is a two-character play solves some problems for a young director, yet provides other challenges. The greatest is the challenge to director and actor alike in making the characters successfully carry all the action. It is a play with a message that I felt strongly about: that the Church is made up of the people who are in it, not just the people who are in charge of it.