Alison Lawrence - And All for Love
Daryl Cloran Directs World Premiere at National Arts Centre, Ottawa
And All for Love is the story of 1660s Shakespearean actresses Elizabeth Barry and Winifred Gosnell, and their unusual friendship with Shakespearean actor Edward Kynaston
Never one to shy away from risk, Daryl Cloran who recently directed Harold Pinter's Betrayal, agreed to be photographed in a dryer for the cover of Now Magazine during his theatre company Theatrefront’s production The Underpants. Known as Die Hosen, German playwright Carl Sternheim's farce was adapted for North Amercian stages by comic Steve Martin and retitled The Underpants.
Cloran is still amazed that Now would stick him in a dryer for a cover story. But he’s never one to shy away from unusual and innovative art.
This award winning Canadian director who prefers to stretch the boundaries using a dynamic approach to all things creative, is also one of the three masterminds behind the groundbreaking NFB film Late Fragment.
Cloran, a man always with many projects on the go, is currently working with NAC artistic director Peter Hinton for the National Arts Centre’s English Theatre Studio Stage Series.
Tell me about your latest production.
"And All for Love is a new play by Alison Lawrence which is great. It’s about the first two female actresses on the English stage ( the famed Elizabeth Barry and the not so famous Winifred Gosnell) when they switch from using boys to play girls (Edward Kynatson was legandary in this actor / actress role) to actually using girls to play girls. We did a few weeks of workshop on this play in December and it is opening at the end of April."
Who is in the cast?
"It is a cast of three, Kelly McIntosh (Gosnell) Helen Taylor (Barry) and Michael Spencer Davis(Kynaston)"
So this play is actually about Edward Kynaston teaching these two women how to act and how they both want to please the same man?
(Authors note *** Kynaston's career was the main theme of 2004 film Stage Beauty starring Billy Crudup as "Ned" Kynaston. Elizabeth Barry played by Samantha Morton is a character opposite Johnny Depp as rauchous poet John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester in 2005 film The Libertine.***)
"Yes. It was a very different idea of what acting was like back then. One of the main figures in this piece is Elizabeth Barry. She is someone who changed the style of acting from a very presentational style to something more real and natural. But I would say this play it is still much more presentational then audiences are used to."
How did you get involved in this project?"I had not worked with Alison before. I have certainly seen her work but it was (National Arts Centre artistic director) Peter Hinton that approached me. Peter and I had been talking about different projects. This one came up and he knew that I had a lot of experience with new play development and he knew this needed kind of an extended workshop process and that is something I have done a lot of through Theatrefront. Peter thought this would be a good fit so he introduced Alison to me and it seemed like a good match so off we went. I think it is going to be good show. We have a great script and a fabulous cast so I don’t think we can go wrong."
And All For Love continues to May 3 at Ottawa's National Arts Centre.
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