Interview with Vistamar’s Director: Oliver S.

Vistamar’s final theatre production of the year is Ad Nauseam by Connor LaRocque. Students have been working hard in rehearsals for the show that is on May 22 and May 23. Not only are students acting in the play, but a group of hardworking students are also producing the play. One of them is Oliver S. who is the director of Ad Nauseam. To learn more about the production I have interviewed Oliver to find out what their directing experience has been like. 

1. What is a student lead production and what does it entail? 

A student-led production is what it sounds like – a production that is entirely led by students. From direction, to stage management, to acting, all of the various tasks are done by a team of students. My responsibilities are all about facilitating that team. I communicate with our Stage Managers to coordinate deck crew, with our Technical Director on the multimedia portions of the show, and I’m in charge of directing all of the actors. With the actors, it’s a lot of blocking and figuring out how the scenes work in the space with their individual characters and visions. We spend a long time in rehearsal trying to get it all locked down before we integrate with the deck crew and tech. I’ve also spent many long hours working with my friend and our Technical Director, Evan. A big part of the show is these massive TV screens (we have 6 of them) and so wrangling all of those has been a monumental challenge. After we had all that done, there’s still the task of integrating it with the actors. Even with all of the work, it’s been incredibly rewarding, and a true honor to work with such wonderful people on this production.

2. How would you describe the plot of Ad Nauseam in one sentence?

Advertisements invade a family home: hijinks ensue.

3. What is your favorite part about directing?

My favorite part is the people. The cast and crew are all absolutely hilarious, and we have a lot of fun during our breaks and dinners telling jokes and laughing. When I see the actors in the show, especially, their talent blows me away. They’ve given so much of themselves and their time to this show, and it truly wouldn’t be what it is without them. It’s been an absolute highlight of my Vistamar Theatre career.

4. What is the hardest part about directing?

The hardest part has been the management. Though I’ve assistant directed and technically directed two student productions, The Wolves and Clearing, respectively, this show has been in a league of its own with the amount of things to have knowledge on and handle. It’s truly been a monumental amount of work. What’s made it doable is the incredible team. Kate, Evan and I have such an amazing rapport and they’re both incredibly good at what they do. We’ve had really amazing support from Michael and Mr. T, and been amazingly lucky to be in the good graces of Mr. Collyer. Without him, we wouldn’t have the four main TVs and the production wouldn’t be what it is. The adage goes that ‘it takes a village’, and that’s really true for this production.

5. What is your funniest memory from rehearsals?

My personal funniest memory from rehearsals was quite recently, when we had just ended our run and one of the actors was practicing her spit take. The whole cast decided to join in (as did I) with our spit takes, and it was just absolutely hilarious. I was nearly falling over from laughter.