Behind the Curtain with Josh Chenard
Co-Directors David Emerson Toney and Josh Chenard.
The words of Horton Foote come to life with a special production of The Trip to Bountiful, showcasing a predominately black cast and detailing the hardships suffered in the 1950s that can still be relevant today. While the play's overarching plot is about Mrs. Watts' desperate attempts to return home to Bountiful, Texas, Co-Directors David Emerson Toney and Josh Chenard curated this show toward racial struggles just as much as the homeward bound tale.
Rehearsals for The Trip To Bountiful began mid-August and we decided to stop by one evening to watch the process and ask Co-Director Josh Chenard about working on this heartfelt play.
Josh Chenard and David Emerson Toney cozy-up on the floor to give notes after a few scene runs.
What brought you to VCU?
This semester actually serves as a return to VCU for me! After graduating from their MFA program, I joined the faculty for several years teaching sophomore acting and serving as the Head of Performance before accepting a position as the Head of Acting at a university in New Mexico. I had a marvelous time in the American Southwest but felt restrained by a region requiring a three hour drive to the closest major airport and a program with limited scope. Returning to VCU was an easy choice with it's dynamic faculty, emphasis on professional standards, vibrant student body, commitment to excellence, and close proximity to DC and New York.
Vincent Ramirez, Mikayla Bartholomew, Kyla Garland, Dominique Carr, and Marcelo Guzmán take notes on the dialect of a southern drawl.
Tell us about your cast and the work dynamic you've had with them.
Our cast is made up primarily of VCU students with two professional community members added to the mix. Working with a group that has variations in experience and education is always a challenge but we quickly found common ground in this wonderful story of Mrs. Watts and her trip to Bountiful. We connected to the play and each other by exploring the play's themes in our own lives including those of longing, disappointment...pain. Human experience is human experience and we look forward to sharing our discoveries, story telling, and truth with an audience.
What's it like directing the "next generation" of theatre artists?
Exciting. There is nothing better than working with hungry, committed, curious actors; but beyond that, I get to share in the development of craft and approach with emerging technicians, designers, and stage managers! Sharing space with THEIR ideas, THEIR energy, THEIR unique contributions is thrilling! I hope they are learning from me; I am certainly learning from them.
Props table setup for quick scene changes during rehearsals.
Being Director's, you have the opportunity to share your knowledge of theatre with so many people, but is there anything you've learned on this experience?
I always ask students what comes out of an orange when it gets squeezed...the obvious answer being orange juice as that is what an orange is made of. I then ask them what comes out of you when you are squeezed by life or daily pressures? What are you made of? This is the first show of the TheaterVCU season, and the first show is always fast and furious; we are all getting squeezed! This experience has reminded me to lead by example and that when squeezed, humor and kindness goes a long way! We are lucky enough to have a phenomenal creative team and staff for this production, but that doesn't mean it's always easy; professionalism and good manners trump anxiety and exhaustion. I've also learned a heck of a lot from my wonderful directing partner David Emerson Toney who infuses rehearsals and interactions with meaning and kindness.
Karen Kopryanski, our new Head of Voice and Speech, steps in to discuss and exemplify the origins of the American Southern Accent.
What draws you to The Trip to Bountiful? What will audiences be drawn in by?
I loved the simplicity, the earnestness of the characters, the sense of disappointment and longing that the story hinges on. I think they are universal themes...and I think the audience will connect with them. They are experiences we ALL share. We all know something about loss, or life not turning out the way we wanted; we all know something about love.
Mikayla Bartholomew (Thelma) and Pamela Archer-Shaw (Mrs. Carrie Watts) find companionship on their bus ride through Texas.
Do you have a favorite line or scene?
I have so many! One I can share is from the first scene when Ludie returns to his bedroom after a brief argument with his mother. He sits on the bed and his wife, Jessie Mae, rises up from her side of the bed with great irritation that he even left the bed to talk to his mother to begin with. She is ready to launch in to him, but stops. She sees on his back and his neck and his spine that he is struggling, that he is deeply upset...and she softens. She knows his pain. So, instead of shouting, she moves her body into his and lends silent support. It's so human, it's so loving... and as we all know in our own relationships, it's the harder choice to make! It's also a subtle moment...maybe the audience won't even see it. But they will feel it. I love that moment.
The Trip To Bountiful opens September 22, 2016 and runs through October 2, 2016. On September 25, 2016, we'll be having a special talk-back following our 3pm show with a panel of People of Color in the arts as well as the cast and crew. Get tickets and receive $3 off when using the code EARLYBIRDWORM3 before 9/19/16.
Photos by Joseph H. Miller. Poster design by Robert Meganck.