What is your role in the production of Dancing Lessons?
I am the costume designer.
 
How do the costumes in Dancing Lessons reflect the lives of their respective characters?
Clothes communicate so much about us on so many levels, from connotations we chose to those that come across unintentionally. For instance, Senga was once successful even though she is now deeply depressed. Her apartment is a bright colorful reminder of who she was, and the clothes are also from her past life. She wears her most comfortable clothes but it is the fact that she stays in pajamas that tells the story. The actress Cael brought edginess to the character that added another dimension to her character’s anger. I supported this direction by choosing to allow her to wear her nose ring and other piercings, and bold haircut. However, I did not trim or maintain the hairstyle to reflect how the character has been neglecting her body.
 
What questions did you ask yourself early on when designing costumes for a show?
What story am I helping to tell? What can I communicate about each of the characters in the choices that I make?  Designing a contemporary show depends on collaboration with the actors, so the first step was getting to know each of the actors and seeing what elements of themselves, if any, they were going to incorporate into the character. I needed to know their way into the play—what they felt was the core of the character.
 
Above all I needed to understand Asperger’s and what that can mean for an individual’s relation to their clothes. Most importantly, I have learned there are no rules, as each person is different. The text offers me some rules: he hates skin to skin contact. One of his tics is adjusting his glasses. I had to ask myself: what about his clothes protects him from the world? Would he choose a sweater that was too large so he could pull the sleeves over the hand to avoid a painful touch on the subway? Was there someone who advised him in his clothes at some point and now he only purchases that one style and brand?
 
Did the designs end up changing much from what you had originally planned?
The designs evolved with the actor’s process. As Andy grew into his character, Ever, and discovered how Ever relates to his world and his tics I began to make choices that would support those decisions. I really appreciated this design collaboration in that Cristina built things into moments—every choice became a part of the story.
 
The biggest design question was the final moment, which is best not to give away! What kind of formalwear does Ever wear? Does he take it too far and rent a tails instead of a tux? We ended up going with the tails as a moment to allow him to make a wrong social choice. For a person who has to study social situations and people, sometimes he shouldn’t get it right.
 
What do you like about Dancing Lessons?
I was immediately charmed by the piece. It’s humorous but full of substance. I think it is a beautiful story about how we all approach the world with the brain we have, each of us with different abilities and limitations.
 
Why do you believe theatre is important?
Theatre is important because storytelling is important. Storytelling is a way of learning empathy, even for those of us who don’t need to study to be ‘neurotypical.’
 

How does the set of Dancing Lessons reflect the lives of Ever and Senga?
This set is largely Senga’s world, which Ever inelegantly trips his way into (you can see a bit of his personality in the standing desk he uses at the periphery, though; Ever is definitely the sort of fellow who would take to heart to the health benefits of furniture). Senga's apartment, a standard Manhattan single bedroom, illustrates the layers of her life—it has morphed from a place in which she barely takes time to sleep, into a cocoon of sorts: a filthy den where she can lick her wounds and wallow in the misery of limbo.
 
What is your favorite piece of the Dancing Lessons set, and why?
I adored getting to plunk a tiny kitchen right into the living room. It’s very Manhattan, and wonderfully unusual to see next to a couch.
 
Did any aspect of the set change from your original plans?
For a long while we had a bed lofted above the kitchen to make the apartment feel that much more cramped, but ultimately cut it because of the challengingly low ceiling in FlynnSpace.
 
What questions did you ask yourself early on when designing a set?
I explored two enormous questions:
1. How can we translate Senga into the material world of her apartment? The script holds a lot of answers, but we also, as a group, rooted around into the unspoken depths of her character for answers.
2. How can we situate the set within FlynnSpace to achieve everything we need for staging? Sight lines and poles are always a problem, but we also needed a lot of wall space for doors and windows and the kitchen. None of the standard audience configurations could achieve good sight lines, good blocking, and enough wall space for us.
 
Why do you believe theatre is important?
Theatre brings us together as a community of humans. It inspires us to explore topics and emotions bigger than just ourselves and to experience a slice of the divine. Together we laugh and cry and marvel, not in the isolation of our living rooms, but seated among friends and strangers, both. Sharing an experience and a story allows us to better understand and empathize with each other.

What is Dancing Lessons about?
Dancing Lessons is a lovely story about two people working separately to rise above their obstacles in order to achieve growth.
 
What role do you play, and how do they fit into the story?
My role is that of Senga. She is an out-of-work Broadway dancer working towards understanding and acceptance of her current state of being. Her place in the story is that of a neighbor, teacher and fellow human who struggles with personal limitations and expectations of self.
 
What are some of your character’s strengths and weaknesses?
Senga’s strengths are also areas of growth; her passion and tenacity are positives while also being road blocks. Another area of growth for Senga is her propensity for anger.  
 
What do you find most challenging about your character?
For me, embodying Senga is challenging from a physical sense. The way she carries herself and works with physical limitations has been very eye-opening, while also fostering a greater sense of appreciation for my physical capabilities.
 
What line in the play means the most to you?
“Change equals courage.” This line is beautifully accurate.
 
What makes Dancing Lessons challenging/exciting/interesting to you?
An area I am quite passionate about is Autism awareness and education. It is a belief of mine that we should “Label Jars, Not People”. The opportunity to participate in a show that articulates even a glimmer into the reality of being an individual with Autism brings me joy. It’s exciting to have the chance to promote audience perspective and empathy.
 
Why do you believe theatre is important?
Theatre is so clearly an outlet for all involved. It gives more than it takes and even in its taking provides us with lessons about ourselves and those around us. This is an important outlet because of how it fosters support, liberation and development that gives shape to the world.

What is Dancing Lessons about?
Dancing Lessons, at its core, is about finding courage: to connect, to change, to relate, to explore, to touch, to try—and yes—to dance.
 
What role do you play, and how do they fit into the story?
I play Ever Montgomery, an award-winning geoscientist and professor at the New York Institute of Technology. Ever is on the autism spectrum, but is high-functioning. The premise of the play revolves around his desire to learn a few simple dance steps for an upcoming event celebrating his professional achievement.
 
What are some of your character’s strengths and weaknesses?
In a discussion I had prior to rehearsals, an autism expert at the Howard Center said about autistics, "If you've met one autistic person, you've met... one autistic person." I love that. Autism's idiopathic and completely unique to the individual. This is just as true for Ever. Defining his personal characteristics as being strengths or weaknesses is to do him a disservice; His eccentricities express the delightful dichotomy in his life-perspective. Ever sees things as right or wrong, black or white; there is no gray area, and he therefore struggles to pick up on social cues or understand nuance in conversational intention and subtext. And so, in an effort to fit in, he has made a life-long passion of studying the physical facial traits associated with human emotion, and tries hard to apply his understanding to his personal interactions. Ever doesn't want to be "neurotypical", but he tries hard to be what neurotypicals expect.
 
What do you find most challenging about your character?
At the most basic level, acting for theatre is the sending and receiving of energy. Actors spend years training their minds and bodies to learn how to send energy with intention, be affected by the energy that is sent to them, then convert the energy into a new intention and send it back. It is this exchange, simple on surface, complicated in practice, that fuels my creative process as an actor.

Ever Montgomery's given circumstances, however, have thrown all that understanding to the wind; Because Ever clearly does not pick-up on social cues or subtext in voice, he most always misunderstands the intentions/emotions of the energy being sent to him and is not affected in a "neurotypical" way. His reactions are literal, surprising, and unexpected. Sourcing these reactions from an authentic place is a unique challenge.
 
What line in the pay means the most to you?
"How can you be certain of that when I'm equally certain you're wrong?" - Revealing the confusion that naturally exists within two individual's perspectives on the same situation, this line is a moment of painful longing for Ever. He struggles mightily when he senses his assumed truths may not be reciprocated.
 
What makes Dancing Lessons challenging/exciting/interesting to you?
I'm excited to be working on a play with so much heart. It truly is a feel-good play.
 
Why do you believe theatre is important?
Theatre is important because it provides a safe environment for observing unfamiliar cultures, exploring fragile social issues, and initiating discussions that are difficult to speak about. Theatre brings communities together to encourage a deeper sense of place and self-identity. It is through the lens of theatre that audiences experience empathy.

What is Dancing Lessons about?
Dancing Lessons is a comedic play about an unlikely friendship/romance between a dancer and a scientist with high-functioning autism.
 
What do you like about Dancing Lessons?
It is VERY FUNNY and accomplishes a lot in a short time. By the end of 90 minutes you are laughing, crying, and might even have a deeper appreciation for people on the autism spectrum—I know I did after I read it.
 
What do you think is most challenging/interesting/exciting about the play?
The romance in the play evolves rapidly so getting that to work in a way that rings true given the huge differences between these people is a challenge. I also want each character’s journey to feel authentic. I want audiences to empathize with each character and root for them to connect. Figuring out all of those details is the fun part of directing, though.
 
What is your favorite part of the directing process?
Working with the designers and actors. I love the collaborative process. I like hearing all of the varying ideas that come from different people reading the same play. It is exciting to find unique ways to tell a story onstage while doing justice to the author’s original intent. I also love it when actors try new things in rehearsal and surprise me. It keeps me on my toes and challenges me to think about an approach to a line or a moment in a way I had not before. That’s when the work gets really interesting.
 
Have many aspects of the show changed from your original plans?
In terms of design, nothing has changed. We did end up having to replace our lead actor a week before rehearsals began, which was unfortunate. The original actor cast had a family emergency and he reluctantly had to bow out of the show. We were all sad about it. Then Andrew Butterfield very graciously stepped up to play the part of ‘Ever’ and has been doing an incredible job of breathing life into a character he has come to know in a short time. The play is going to be different than I originally imagined, but I am very pleasantly surprised at how wonderfully this pairing fits the play too.
 
What makes Dancing Lessons relatable to audiences here and now?
It is a classic love story. Opposites attract and they each become better people because their connection challenges their preconceived notions of ‘self’. I personally love that the playwright took the time to create layers of dysfunction within each character and also their own mechanisms to deal with them. In rehearsal we’ve been talking about how each character ‘stims’ to cope with their anxieties but only one of the ways they do it is considered ‘unusual.’ Funnily enough, the unusual coping mechanism is actually the healthier way of dealing with things. I also love that these characters are broken but not because they have a broken leg and autism. They are just struggling to better themselves and we catch them both in a moment of difficult transition; these kinds of moments are universally relatable.
 
What types of conversations do you want audience members to have on their way home from seeing this play?
I want to have conversations that help unpack preconceptions about people on the Autism spectrum. I know I have preconceptions and have been learning a lot through the process of working on this play.
 
 

 ehearsals are underway for our production of Dancing Lessons. While the cast and the production team are hard at work, we would like to share a portion of an interview between the playwright (Mark St. Germain) and Charles Giuliano (TotalTheater.com).

CHARLES GIULIANO: We attended a reading of Dancing Lessons last fall at Barrington Stage Company. What has happened since then?
MARK ST. GERMAIN: There have been two more readings and work between all of them. With the first reading, I was pleased by the reception.
 
CG: What kind of work?
MSG: From the first reading, I was very surprised by the response being as positive as it was. I already saw problems and needed to fix them. Mostly, that meant dealing with the dancer. Her story didn’t match his as far as interest and what happened to her. After a lot of thought, I ended up using parts of a friend’s life. That was more interesting to me. You end up stealing from everybody. The dancer’s story before was based on dancers’ stories from people that I interviewed. I don’t know about dancing. This time, it is about a relationship she had with her father. When I read about it and talked about it, I thought “this was really interesting.” So I did more work on her. Ironically, the actress we had playing it almost matches to a T her own background. The current actress, Paige Davis, I didn’t know her background other than that she has done a bunch of Broadway musicals as a dancer. There’s a TV show she is well known for, especially among young people, called “Trading Spaces.” You can’t walk down the street without people recognizing her. I didn’t know that when we cast her. I had no idea. There was a lot of work on her. Just trying to make the play a little deeper in parts. What I learned progressively about autism I tried to incorporate.
 
CG: Where did the idea come from?
MSG: There’s a man, Jim Houghton, who runs the Signature Theater [in NYC]. We were at a conference which he attended with his family. He has a son who is autistic. When I met the son, he was about five years old. He was non-communicative. He would sit at the table and not talk to anybody. He would just kind of curl unto himself.
About a year and a half ago I was walking down the street and met Jim and his son. The son is now about 17-years-old. He was so incredibly friendly and open. We had a nice conversation, and as we got into it, he said, “Your birthday is September 9, 1954. I remember at the table we talked about this, this and this.” I was stunned. I knew this was something that some but not all autistics have. I was amazed by the transformation. Jim and his wife had put a lot of time into getting him the right schooling to draw him out. That fascinated me. It kicked off the idea for the play.
 
CG: How about the fact that he’s a university professor who is about to receive an award? Hence the need for dancing lessons.
MSG: I knew he had to be high functioning in order to make the play work. People like Temple Grandin.
[Mary Temple Grandin, born August 29, 1947, is an American doctor of animal science, a professor at Colorado State University, a best-selling author, an autistic activist, and a consultant to the livestock industry on animal behavior.]
She’s very famous. She was also very withdrawn as a kid. To calm her down, she designed this box. She would get in, and the idea of being held tightly calmed her. That led to work with animals especially in slaughter houses. She tried to design humane ways in which animals were killed. There was an HBO movie about her which was very good. It won a bunch of awards. She’s fascinating.

There’s a man around here, Mike McManmon, who runs a program. A fascinating guy; I talked with him a bunch of times. What I learned about him got fed into it. [Michael McManmon speaker, writer, artist and psychologist founded the College Internship Program – a post-secondary program serving students with Asperger’s Syndrome, Autism, High Functioning Autism and learning differences. The Berkshire Visual & Performing Arts Center at the CIP campus in Lee, MA is a model program integrating community and student life with the Good Purpose Gallery, Spectrum Playhouse, and Joyous Studios all existing to support the mission.] There are some people who say, “this isn’t like any autistic person I know.” As Mike has impressed on us, everybody is different. There’s no one profile that fits everybody. Neurotypicals is the term given to people like us without autism.
 
CG: (laughing) But you’re crazy.
MSG: Oh, I am. But in a different way than you are.
 
CG: Who is to say that we’re normal, whatever that means?
MSG: Yes, it’s silly. There is no normal. But there’s no normal with autistics.
 
CG: There are group characteristics. Behavior patterns for identifying people with forms of autism.
MSG: There are some things. There are people who are high achievers. They are able to integrate themselves into society.

Check out the rest of the interview here.