During our first annual One Act Festival on June 19th, we’ll be hosting a live viewing party where you'll see a variety of new one act plays performed live, video recorded, or audio recorded.
We reached out to one-act director Julia Christgau about how her one-act is coming along and what the unique experience of directing Mackerel Sky written by Andrew Gallant has been like.
1. What do you think audiences will be left thinking about after experiencing the one-act you’re directing?
I hope after watching our piece, the audience will be reminded that they are allowed to grieve a deep loss forever and in whatever way they need to. This kind of pain may ebb and flow but it never goes away, despite our society’s capitalist practices that make very little room for this grieving process. I wish to inspire hope in the possibility that the spirit of our loved ones who have passed on are there to guide us when we need them. I hope the audience will be reminded to lead with kindness, recognizing that we never know what the person we are talking to might be going through.
2. What does it mean to you to be a part of Magnetic’s first ever one act play festival?
I am super honored to be making my Magnetic debut as an actor and director in this awesome and unprecedented project and time.
3. What challenges are you facing bringing the piece you’re directing to life?
The main challenges for me are in figuring out how to best use this medium of zoom/virtual meeting places. They actually offer a LOT of opportunities for story telling but, there is a learning curve. So, I’ve certainly had to use trial and error to figure out which formats serve the story best. I am grateful to my actors for their patience as I experiment with the platforms that are available to us. Also, I miss being in a room with my fellow theatre makers, of course.
4. Are there any unique elements you’re now able to bring to your piece that you wouldn’t have been able to under usual circumstances?
Yes! I think the somewhat ethereal nature of our piece is well served by the virtual version. I also think that the actors being in their homes while performing creates a beautiful, vulnerable intimacy that we often strive for in a live space. It also speaks so much to the age we are living in and offers some reflection on what grief means and/or looks like while we’re all confined to our houses and screens.
5. What’s your favorite line from the one act you’re directing and why?
“I’m the one who has to remember.” When someone close to us dies, not only is the initial pain profound and visceral, but there also seems to be this pressure to preserve their memory correctly. Like, each one of us has all of these versions of ourselves, all these ways in which other people know, see and define us. How will we be remembered? Is it even up to us? And how much of our essence gets lost in the cloud of memory?
Tickets are now on sale for our upcoming One Act Play Festival on June 19th! Grab yours here: https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=114699