Richard Corley

Rachael: What was your path to becoming a director? Did you begin in another area of the business?
Rick: I started as an actor, and received my BFA as an actor from North Carolina School of the Arts. My classmates there would tell you that I was already a director, however; I obnoxiously demanded to direct them as often as possible. I’m so glad I started out this way: I am convinced that at least a basic amount of training as an actor is of great importance to a career as a theatre director. More than, anything, it helps to know just how – excuse my French – bloody hard acting is. Its brutal – and directors should be kind to actors as a result.

If you could have lunch with any person from history who would you choose?
Anton Chekhov. He was that rare person: a genius that everyone agrees was great company, and kind.

You are known for collaborating with playwrights such as Teresa Rebeck, Sarah Ruhl, Tina Howe and Eric Simonson on new work. What excites you about new play development and what is the directors role?
I’m from the south (Georgia and South Carolina) and storytelling is in my genes, going way back. People who can use language imaginatively knock me out. One of the most satisfying things in the world for me is to have an idea for a play and watch a playwright bring it to life, or to read a great script that no one has produced and put it up. My role in that process is to ask questions, to make myself as naive as possible, and make sure the playwright is telling the story clearly, within his or her own terms. A writer may fall in love with a character, or a particular line, but I try to be strict about keeping the story clear. I’m the story police.

What about your job and the directing process would surprise actors to know?
How collaborative it is. The truth about directors is that we can be very, very good, but we can never be great without great actors. Think of any great director you admire, from Elia Kazan (Brando/Lee J. Cobb) to Peter Brook (Paul Scofield) to Bertolt Brecht (Helene Wiegel) to Bob Fosse (Gwen Verdon), and you’ll find they had great actors in the room with them collaborating every step of the way. You can’t get there without their help.

As a director you have sat in on hundreds of auditions, what should actors know, or remind themselves of when auditioning?
To make strong choices. And then be flexible enough to change them if the director asks you to. Bring ideas to the table, but don’t be precious about them. And never, ever apologize. Be proud you have the guts to do what you do.

Who is your favorite playwright's?
See above, and also Shakespeare, who never wrote a line that isn’t worth exploring again and again. And Shaw because of his facility with language. And Brecht because of his brain. And Sarah Ruhl because she’s so funny and has such a great heart.

What's your advice to someone wanting to direct or wanting to advance their directing career?
Read. Read novels – Henry James and D.H. Lawrence and Tolstoy and Dostoevsky and all of Chekhov’s stories. Read history. Look at paintings – have a membership to a great art museum and use it often. Listen to music of all eras, but especially the great opera and jazz singers who know how to phrase and tell stories. I’ve learned a lot from Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong about form and clarity and beauty in art. Oh, and watch great films: Fellini, Bergman, Kurosawa. The masters. It goes without saying you should read plays constantly and see theatre obsessively – but there, I’ve said it. Finally, direct a lot and assist people whose work you admire. Don’t follow a method, just absorb and learn.

What is your favorite junk food?
Ben and Jerry’s Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. Its my downfall.

If you could be reincarnated as a historical figure, who would it be?
Charles Darwin or Charles Dickens. Those guys seem to have the whole world inside their heads.

What are you currently reading?
A great 20th century Russian novel called Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman. Its about the Battle of Stalingrad, the turning point of WWII. Its been compared to War and Peace; I think that’s apt. Very moving.

You are currently teaching at UIC, and have taught/directed at Julliard, NYU, and ACT among other schools....what do you find most exciting about teaching?
The purity of the goal. We’re all there just to learn and become better theatre artists. Its not about ticket sales or corporate sponsorship, its just about learning. That is a joyous and freeing thing; I would even call it restorative.

What's your sign?
Gemini – May 23. And I’m told I’m a pretty typical Gemini – you never know who’s going to walk through the door.