Teaching Artist Leah Reddy spoke with Scott Ellis, Interim Artistic Director of Roundabout Theatre Company and director of Doubt: A Parable, about his work on this production.
Leah Reddy: What is your theatre origin story?
Scott Ellis: I was an actor. I graduated from Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. I was in the original Broadway show of Grease, and that brought me to New York. And I was an actor for about 10 years. Then I did a Broadway show called The Rink by John Kander and Fred Ebb, authors of Cabaret and New York, New York. I approached them to direct a [production of] their first show, Flora the Red Menace.
A couple of years later I directed that at the Vineyard Theatre and I got lucky. The show was successful and that opened some doors for me as far as directing. And then Todd Haimes at the Roundabout asked to meet me because I did a show Off-Broadway called The World Goes Round, and I brought him She Loves Me. That was the first Broadway show I directed. And it was with Roundabout. That's how my career started.
LR: Were there any educational or professional experiences you wanted to highlight as formative for you?
SE: The most formative was going to the Goodman School of Drama, which is now the Theatre School of DePaul University. Those years were probably the most important because I was – and I always tell this to students – if you decide to go to school, to college take advantage of it, because you'll never have that time again. I was doing everything I wanted to do during that time.
Now, tying Grease back into this story. You get the highs and the lows. I was in the Broadway show in Grease, I was understudying a couple roles. I went on for a role that I was absolutely not right for. The producer happened to have seen that performance and then they fired me. And I remember that moment of really going, wow, I just got let go from my Broadway debut.
I had to really think at that moment, is this going to be something I'm going to continue to do? I can stop now, because this is really devastating to me. Or I can keep going. And I chose to keep going and that was a great lesson for me. There'll always be ups and downs and failures and successes, and you just have to keep checking in and going, is this what I want to do? Which I've always been able to say, yes, this is what I want to do.
LR: Do you have a go-to definition of the job of a director?
SE: I think the most important thing a director does is collaboration. Is being collaborative. You have to guide a story, you're always telling a story. You have to pull everybody into discussion and a collaborative way of working so we can all tell this story together. A director is a storytelling collaborator.
LR: What drew you to Doubt: A Parable as a director?
SE: Todd Haimes had asked me to go see if I could find something. I tend to think that if a play is to be re-looked at, 20 years is a good time for a brand new generation. If you're looking at something to come back and be a revival, you look at it and ask, is this something that [shows you] that's the way it was. That's interesting. And is it interesting enough to remind an audience that that's the way it used to be, but it's very different now?
Or do you look at something and [realize] that's the way it was and that's the way it still is. I found it fascinating that the conversation about how divided people are not only has not changed, but we’ve gotten even more divided in this country. I looked at Doubt and that's what this [play] is about. I thought this is a story to be listened to again.
LR: Knowing that you're wearing two hats now as director and as interim artistic director, as interim artistic director, what are you excited about Doubt: A Parable to bring to our audiences generally, and to our student audiences specifically?
SE: For our students, I think it's important for them to understand that living with uncertainty and doubt is an okay thing.
We're in a place now where we’re taught to pick a side and go with the side. I think that can be dangerous. As young people, it's important not to think of doubt and uncertainty as weakness, but as growth. Doubt teaches you to listen, to ask questions, to really think and not to just jump into this is right and that is wrong. I hope that conversation continues.
LR: Playwrights don't often give directors all the answers, but Doubt: A Parable is specifically written to give as few answers about "what really happened” as possible. How have you and the actors grappled with that uncertainty in the rehearsal process?
SE: Doubt has three main characters. Two are certain of what they know, and one is living in doubt and uncertainty. So we talk about why [the characters] are so certain, why are they not willing to move? Then you have the [character in the] middle and at that moment in their life that they're going to either grow or go in a sense. By going through that process [of doubt and uncertainty], you can get to the other side, to another side, and feel like, this is what I'm coming down. There should be a journey to it. We discuss that a lot in the rehearsal room.
LR: Has working on this show changed how you experienced doubt or uncertainty?
SE: It does, because basically as a director, I live in doubt and uncertainty all the time. When I go into a project, what I want is to have the answer, but having the answer is not always the best way to go about exploration. But people think a director should have all the answers. So it's an interesting connection of realizing, oh, I'm in uncertainty and doubt right now in the middle of this [directing process]. I’m allowing myself to say, “It's okay, Scott. It's okay to be in uncertainty and doubt. You don't know all the answers. You're going to explore this.” My gut is always, “Get an answer, get an answer, get an answer.” It's a reminder that I'm living through this story as we do it.
LR: Is there anything about the design of Doubt: a Parable that you’re excited for the audience to experience?
SE: It's always a tricky question because every audience member is going to have a different reaction, a different experience. Your life experience is going to come in, and you'll sit in the theatre and have different feelings about a show as a result. I deliberately made a choice to not to tell too much of a story to the audience when they first walk into the theatre. Doubt takes place in a Catholic school and a church, and the first scene is in a church. So it was a question of how you pull an audience in without having people recoil. Everyone has different experiences with religion, and they have opinions about religion. I have my own opinion of religion having grown up Catholic. So that is one thing I’m curious about, how an audience is going to get pulled into this world.
LR: What advice do you have for people who want to direct for the theatre?
SE: The arts are an incredibly wonderful but very hard profession. Make sure you’re passionate about what you’re doing. If theatre truly is your passion, find a great school where you can connect with your peers and explore. Education is always very high on my list.