Ahead of its workshop performance, I speak to director Dean Johnson about the new musical 'Cliffs' which plays at The Other Palace Studio for a on the 22nd and 23rd of November.
Could you tell us what Cliffs is about? And what made you say yes to directing this project?
Cliffs is a story of navigating loss. When Teddy Thomas, a 16 year old girl goes missing in a coastal town in Britain, the community is torn apart by grief, guilt, suspicion and an influx of public scrutiny. Meanwhile, Teddy finds herself somewhere strange and unexpected, but I don’t want to spoil too much more than that! It was very easy to say yes to this project as I genuinely think the score and storytelling style are like nothing we’ve seen in Musical Theatre in the UK and I love working on shows that challenge the boundaries of what many perceive that a Musical can be. It’s so cool.
How would you describe your directing style? And how do you like to show your style throughout a show?
I think the key style elements that run through my productions are heart, provocation, wit and complimenting a grounded approach to text by driving through the high stakes. I love exploring duality in a show - I believe that real life is never just one thing at a time, so I enjoy unpicking those moments in a show where we can let the audience make up their minds about what is happening. Beyond that, I don’t particularly like to impose my style onto a show - listen to what the show needs and try to respond to that.
Your previous work includes ‘Lift’, ‘No Limits’ and ‘BKLYN’ plus many more, what have you learnt from your previous work that you are taking into this project?
That good collaboration between empowered people makes great work. The best projects I’ve been a part of are the ones where everyone is working to empower each other to take risks and this always results in a high quality of work. So much of our work in the rehearsal room revolves around cultivating this atmosphere so everyone involved can contribute towards the final result.
Cliffs is a workshop production at the moment, as a director do you think you have to direct the show differently versus how you would direct a fully staged production? If so, what do you do differently?
Definitely. At this stage my focus is very much on the story and the characters. As a team we are asking a ton of questions at this stage: Does this story feel compelling? Does it make sense? Do the characters feel real? Can we relate to them? How does the libretto and score interact to bring the story to life? These are all big questions to explore and right now we aren’t getting too deep into some of the physical elements; we are thinking about them for sure, but while we know there will likely be puppetry, illusion, movement and a design language that will really spark this show to life eventually and we have some very exciting ideas there, we aren’t getting bogged down by those logistics just yet - the story has to stand on it’s own without those.
The show is described as “This isn’t a sink into your seat naturalistic drama” could you expand more, and what does this bring to this project?
I think what is really intelligent about what Elan has created is that the characters feel incredibly grounded and real, but then he uses the musical world to open up some heightened stakes. There are supernatural elements and some moments of absurdist wit. It’s just a big electrically charged theatrical experience. It reminds me a lot of “In The Heights” in its form. It’s a different story and a different musical world, but the integration of libretto and score, the sense of community and the pulse that drives through the show feel the same. It’s so refreshing. And the music is sensational, it’s an eclectic sound we’ve never heard in UK musical theatre before. It’s got folk, spoken word, rap, emo-rock, brit-pop all wrapped up together - and yet it always makes sense.
What would your advice be for new and upcoming directors in the industry?
Make work you want to see. This seems like really simple advice but I think it’s very important. There’s a pressure in early career to take every job, chase anything but I think it’s really important to invest your time in stuff you really love. This can take a lot of patience but I think pays off in the long run. When I look at my CV I see a list of bucket list projects and I think that’s a result of investing time in the right projects. The other advice I always give is to remember to live. Don’t get so wrapped up in your work that you forget to enjoy everything about your life. As a director, your job is to bring the text into the world, and you need to be connected to that world.
In your opinion what makes you say yes to directing a show?
In every instance where I have really connected with a show, it’s because when reading/listening to it for the first time, it has instantly evoked some strong imagery - if I can already imagine myself watching it from row 7 of the stalls while reading it, I’m hooked. This tends to happen when the world of the story feels clear, or the score feels so specific to that world, or the story is asking questions of the audience while we read it. I love provocative stories that ask us a lot of questions.
What would be your dream production to direct?
I’ve been very lucky to direct a bunch of bucket-list revivals and while there are still a few I’d love to tackle, I always say my dream production doesn’t exist yet. It’s currently being written or developed. It’s currently an idea on a napkin, or a thought that will arrive in someone’s head five years from now. I find that incredibly exciting. I love making new musicals and I love connecting with writers and building something from scratch. I also wouldn’t say no to directing a full staging of A Muppets Christmas Carol, but that isn’t currently in the pipeline!
Favourite part of the show?
There’s a character called Metal Detector 2. They appear in 3 scenes, but I think they may be one of my favourite characters in any Musical ever. There’s also a song called “Don’t Touch Me” which I think is incredibly powerful. It’s a song where we see a victim of something reclaim their agency - the first time I heard it I was in tears. It’s all at once heart breaking and empowering.
Describe the show in one sentence or three words.
Like nothing you’ve seen in Musical Theatre before.
Cliffs plays at the Other Palace Studio on the 22nd and 23rd of November.
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