In the fall of 2016 I worked on Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui in collaboration with Oregon Center for the arts at Southern Oregon University. I applied and was accepted to assistant direct beside Jackie Apodaca, an instructor and mentor I was lucky enough to learn from during my time at SOU.

This show was incredibly challenging to work through, as the material directly depicts the rise of Adolf Hitler in nazi Germany. If the subject matter weren’t challenging enough on its own, the production was slated to open the same week of the 2016 election, I trust you can understand the ironic, but oddly perfect(?) timing for this show.

My most noteworthy contribution to the production was the preshow which included a full band, made up of actors in the show, singing and playing swing hits from the time period of the show. In addition to staging and rehearsing the preshow, I created staging for the opening sequence prologue that remained a part of our blocking for the final show. All this to say, my assisting during the rehearsal process was a bit atypical for the department as student directors are usually there to learn from watching, not necessarily joining the fray.

This show truly was a masterpiece, something I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in a theatre elsewhere. Most of this praise really goes to Jackie, a director who understood Brecht so thoroughly we could all easily join in bringing her vision to life.