The JMK Trust

The JMK Trust provides talented young directors with awards, guidance and development opportunities

  • Home
  • About
  • Apply for the Award
    • For applicants
    • Designers
  • National Programme
    • About the JMK National Programme
      • New – JMK Nottingham
      • New – JMK Stoke
      • JMK Edinburgh – Traverse Theatre
      • JMK Newcastle – Northern Stage
      • JMK Manchester – HOME
      • JMK Yorkshire – Leeds Playhouse
      • JMK Birmingham – The Rep
      • JMK Northampton – Royal & Derngate
      • JMK South West – Nuffield Southampton Theatres & Salisbury Playhouse
      • JMK Reading – Reading Rep
      • JMK Bristol – Tobacco Factory and Bristol Old Vic
      • JMK Cardiff – Sherman Theatre
    • JMK Assistant Director Bursary Recipients
    • JMK Director Practitioners
    • JMK Bob Carlton Bursary
    • Groups
      • Members
      • Activity Streams
  • Take part
    • Workshops and Masterclasses
    • Development Opportunities
    • Designers
    • Work with us
  • Support us
    • How you can help
    • Support for Free with Online Shopping
    • Legacies
    • JMK Gift Membership & Awards Circle
    • The London Marathon
    • ShareGift
    • Thanks to our supporters
  • Blog
  • More information
    • Learn about directing
    • Archive Playlists
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

JMK Assistant Director Blog – Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir

September 20, 2018 by Katherine Rigg

JMK Assistant Director bursary recipient Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir gives us an insight into working on Ulster American at the Traverse Theatre and what she’s up to next…

Why did you apply for the JMK Trust Assistant Director bursary?

I’d been wanting to work for the Traverse as an assistant director for a while and I’d applied for their assistant director positions a few times before. When I saw that the JMK bursary this summer was to aid someone to assist on the new David Ireland play I knew I had to apply. As someone who fell for theatre very much due to my introduction to in-yer-face I felt sure that this was going to be the kind of show I’d want to work on, knowing David’s reputation and rising profile. Having seen a few of Gareth Nicholls’ shows and been very impressed with his style, sense of storytelling, choice of subject matter and skill of staging I knew there was a lot I could learn from him. As someone who is carving out a career in directing new writing, it was a unique opportunity to be part of something special. When we got to read the script ahead of our interviews I got super excited about the prospect of being part of it. It is such a visceral play, it skewers its characters and their world views fearlessly and it takes the piss out of itself all the time. It’s not often you come across a play like this and I felt very privileged to be reading it, let alone given to opportunity to be part of staging it.

 

What are 3 things you learnt from working on this production?

There was so much I learnt from being an assistant on Ulster American. I had never worked on a black comedy before. I hadn’t been part of a professional team working on a brand new text and I hadn’t been part of anything so politically dangerous to present.

I guess the first main lesson was how to pitch a black comedy like this, and that comes down to what you are wanting to say with the production. There are different ways to play this text but how it is played says a lot about the intent behind it. It took us a while to find where exactly to pitch this show and each new audience influenced this a little. It was a schooling for me, as someone who had predominantly worked on drama, to be working with material that felt volatile, responsive and fluid in the room in terms of how it hits you and what it says.

This fed into the second lesson, which was how you approach dangerous subject matters. It has been incredibly meaningful to me to be able to discuss this work with audiences, artists, fellow creatives and to see it discussed in criticism and online. I think the best thing about theatre is its liveness, the fact that it happens here and now. But there are degrees in which playtexts speak to their contemporary socio-political contexts. This was a play that needed to be performed in front of an audience here and now. Not in six months, it was pressing and urgent.  And as such it felt dangerous, it felt like it was a huge statement. We needed to treat that with a delicate touch, to discuss the connotations of the play, its history, context, politics and ideas thoroughly within the rehearsal room but not on our social media and our press outputs. It was important that the audience saw it without too much knowledge of how it might be interpreted to maintain an honest dialogue with them. In short, we really had to do our homework but we needed not to lecture anyone on the findings unless specifically asked. It was quite a task, I have fifty pages of basic research on it, with links to loads more!

In terms of the third lesson, the one on how to work on new text, it is the one hardest to share. Each new text will have different needs. But my main take away from this experience is to really interrogate the text, to keep an eye on its dramaturgy at all times and keep an open communication between the writer and the director and the cast. It was a joy to work with a team of actors and a director who are used to this process and with a writer who embraces it. It was so obvious we all wanted this text to be the very best it could and I think new writing needs that kind of passion.

 

What surprised you about the production?

What didn’t? I guess my main surprise was the audience reaction. We anticipated strong reactions but I don’t think anyone could have imagined the almost football match levels of engagement and vocal reactions we had during some of the performances. Some reactions were completely different to what I expected. A laugh in a place I didn’t foresee mainly but a few shock and horror reactions in places I didn’t expect as well.

 

What other projects are you working on, and what ideas will you apply from this bursary?

I am working on quite a few small cast, intimate new writing pieces and this experience will influence a lot of the work we do on them. I’m in development for a few new plays and having had this experience I feel a lot more qualified to lead those processes. It has made me a better dramaturg and a bigger enthusiast for the magic of the in-rehearsal rewrites, for sure! I think I will be more likely to push for shows to really go for the guts in their approach to their subject matters, and I hope I can lead artistic teams to that end. Now is the time to be brave and say the wrong things so that we can interrogate them.

 

What advice would you give for directors starting out, and for those setting up a theatre company?

Having just directed a version of Hamlet (currently touring) with my own company I guess the words ‘To thy own self be true’ feel really important to me right now. There are gigs out there that are good money, but don’t do shows because of that. Do them because they say something you want to say, explore something you want to explore, scratch a creative itch in a way you need it to be scratched and you can be proud of. And if a production doesn’t do any of those things, find a way to make them. Challenge the content and the team. It has to be relevant, to you, to the audience, and to the journey you both are on.

 

What excites you most about theatre directing?

Everything. I think being in a rehearsal room is the best feeling any job could give me. It is a chance to create, a chance to aid, a chance to surprise, a chance to grow, a chance to challenge, a chance to learn, a chance to teach, a chance to listen and a chance to be heard. It is a collaborative process that cannot be replicated or quantified and it always happens for a reason. I just think it’s beautiful.

 

Kolbrún Björt Sigfúsdóttir is the Artistic Director of Brite Theater. 

Brite Theater’s Hamlet (an experience), (Richard III (a one-woman show) and (Can This Be) Home are currently touring.

This bursary was kindly supported by the Leverhulme Trust. You can explore more about our National Programme and find a venue near you.

Filed Under: Assistant Director Blog, Blog

Latest News

  • #JMKSpace: Directing a one-person show with Rachel Bagshaw February 26, 2021
  • #JMKSpace: Using Circus in Theatre-Making with Gwen Hales February 11, 2021
  • #JMKSpace: What’s the audience for with Chris Thorpe February 11, 2021

Categories

  • Assistant Director Blog (14)
  • Blog (197)
  • Featured (2)
  • News (39)

Alumni

Tristian Fynn-Aiduenu Winner 2017 - Josh Roche Winner 2016 - Roy Alexander Weise Winner 2015 - Liz Stevenson Kate Hewitt - winner 2014 Winner 2013 - Alex Brown Winner 2012 - Sam Pritchard Winner 2011 - Cathal Cleary Winner 2010 - Matthew Evans Winner 2009 - Caroline Steinbeis Winner 2008 - Michael Oakley Winner 2007 - Polly Findlay Winner 2006 - Jamie Harper Winner 2005 - Natalie Abrahami Winner 2004 - Anne Tipton Winner 2003 - Bijan Sheibani Winner 2002 - Joe Hill Gibbins Winner 2001 - Orla O'Loughlin Winner 2000 - Thea Sharrock Winner 1999 - Mark Rosenblatt Winner 1998 - Tassos Stevens

Click here to view all JMK alumni

Patrons: Dame Judi Dench, Baroness Howe, Sir Ian McKellen and Tom Morris OBE (Founding Chair).  

The JMK Trust is kindly supported by Philip Hooker, The Martin Bowley Charitable Trust, Arts Council England, the Orange Tree Theatre, The Noël Coward Foundation, Didymus,
The Thistle Trust, The Chapman Trust, The Golsoncott Foundation, The Unity Theatre Trust and all our individual donors.

Registered address: Talton Farm Cottage, Newbold on Stour, Stratford on Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 8UB.

Registered Charity: No. 295080

Copyright © 2021 · Dynamik-Gen on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in