Hometown: Brooklyn NY
Education: MFA Brooklyn College, Stella Adler Studio
Favorite Credits: Death In Venice In First Person: United Solo Festival Award Winner
Why theater?: Theatre teaches us what we need to know to be human.
Tell us about Still Not: Still Not is a beautifully written play about our connections to others and the chances we are willing to take to make those connections.
What inspired you to direct Still Not?: I was very eager to direct the play when I read it because it is such a theatrically pure work that looks no further than the words of the playwrights and the craft of the actor to engage its audience. No special effects, nothing blows up.
What kind of theater speaks to you? What or who inspires you as an artist?: A theatre piece that is character driven and explores what it means to be human has always been more interesting to me than plot driven narratives. A former student, Javier Munoz, has just taken over the lead in the Broadway musical Hamilton. He has a personal story that is just as engaging as the character he plays each night, and has already inspired many.
If you could work with anyone you’ve yet to work with, who would it be?: I love working with young people who are eager and bold and inventive, just like Harrison Bryan the author of Still Not. I hope I get to meet and work with many other new and exciting young artists in the future.
What show have you recommended to your friends?: Hamilton is such an easy answer to this question because it is such a brilliant phenomenon.
Who would play you in a movie about yourself and what would it be called?: They already made it; "Goodbye Mr. Chips" with Peter O’Toole.
If you could go back in time and see any play or musical you missed, what would it be?: I would love to have been in the audience watching my parents watch Oklahoma! together after my father came back from WWII.
What’s your biggest guilty pleasure?: Perry Mason reruns. Talk about someone who never loses.
If you weren’t working in theater, you would be____?: I worked for twenty-six years as a NYC high school drama teacher- been there/done that.
What’s up next?: I’m writing a play on a great American entertainer who is becoming less and less remembered, so I think it is time to revive interest in him. But I will keep the name private for now; good ideas in the theatre are very valuable commodities.
For more on Rory, visit http://rorylance.weebly.com/
