Every spring, a lucky senior gets to direct the Skidmore Theater Deparment’s Blackbox production. This year, the honor went to Theater major Jeremy Ohringer, along with his co-director Kathryn Rickman, who selected a Sarah Ruhl adaptation of the Virginia Woolf novel Orlando. A humble triple threat (director, actor and singer), Jeremy is known for directing pieces that are somewhat avant-garde, often involve movement, and are always something special. As the opening night of Orlando nears, Jeremy gives us the scoop on his work and why he’s so excited about this show.
Her Campus: Tell us a bit about your experience with directing, both at Skidmore and in the past.
Jeremy Ohringer: I directed Tartuffe, Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Iphigenia 2.0, among others in high school. At Skidmore I co-directed a piece of visual story telling with Grace Troxell called Rawhead and Bloodybones during my sophomore spring semester. I have also directed a devised piece, and an environmental version of Spring Awakening in addition to assistant directing the mainstage production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
HC: Ever done any acting here?
JO: I did do some when I first got here. I was fortunate enough to get cast in the black box productions my first three semesters.
HC: What got you interested in directing?
JO: I have been telling people what to do since I was a kid, but I started calling myself a director in high school. I actually started doing it because I had a really terrible high school director and I was so frustrated that I started directing plays. I realized I loved it, and have done it ever since.
HC: How did you decide on Orlando? Were there any other shows you considered?
JO: Kathryn and I sent some plays back and forth but Orlando was a pretty early choice. We stuck with it because as we went through the process of proposing it, it became very clear that it was the show we had to do together at this time. It is a beautifully adapted play from an important novel. We thought it would be a great addition to this season (and our last season as Skidmore students).
HC: What’s it like directing your peers?
JO: Wonderful! It is an exciting challenge to figure out how to be “dad” in rehearsal and leave that role in the rehearsal room. It also helps that our cast is so wildly talented. They make directing easy.
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HC: And how about working with your co-director, Kathryn?
JO: It is an absolute joy! Kathryn and I are now at the point where we often look at each other and have the same epiphany. It is awesome to have someone who always has your back, and to call you out when something needs to be thought through more.
HC: What’s been the best part of working on the show?
JO: Working with the actors. They are a unique group of people who have been trained differently and have varying levels of experience (we have freshman through seniors). Most days we have a blast in rehearsal. They continue to teach me new things every day.
HC: What’s been the hardest part?
JO: The hardest part is juggling all of the different aspects of the production. There are so many details that we have to be thinking about at any given moment. It is hard to keep everything straight.
HC: What influences your work?
JO: I ask myself this question a lot. It is always changing. These days I am rereading Anne Bogart’s work. I am interested in artists Marina Abramovic and Jordan Eagles. I really love listening to RadioLab the podcast. It is amazing how much the stories and ideas in it apply to theater.
HC: What’s different between your work on Orlando and other directing projects you’ve done in the past?
JO: The timing has been very different on this production than on any other I have directed. I have directed several plays in about two-and-a-half weeks and I have directed a few plays with closer to eight weeks of rehearsal time. With this show we had about four-and-a-half weeks. It allowed us the luxury of picking a more complicated show, but we have been sprinting to the finish line. Also, most of the text is taken directly from the Virginia Woolf’s novel so it has a very different quality than most other plays I have directed.
HC: What makes you most excited about this show?
JO: There is something in it for everyone. Like Orlando, we all live many lives and are each many selves. It is a show of surprises and beauty, and almost every element of the production is student designed. Nicole Dancel ’13 is the costume designer, Julia Bilbao ’13 is the set designer. We have featured music by Jarred Green ’15. The actors are fantastic. Basically, I see no reason not to be excited about this show.
Congratulations to Jeremy and the entire cast of Orlando for a job well done. We cannot wait to see where this talented director goes next!