Haven Theatre, which in its two-year history has made a habit of hiring rising directors like Jess McLeod, Marti Lyons and Elly Green, has announced a new initiative intended to boost directors even earlier in their careers. "The Director's Haven" is a showcase for what Haven artistic director Josh Sobel calls "true early career" directors, pairing them with mentors and resources to stage a one-act play; in the first public outing, three one-acts will run in repertory.
"Directors have some of the most ill-defined paths of any artistic specialty," Sobel told me via email, noting that there's no "audition process" for directing, and most theaters tend to tap folks they already know. Sobel suggests the difficulty of bridging the gap from, say, undergrad directing to professional gigs contributes to Chicago's "'yet another new theater company' issue," as young artists can't figure out how to get their work seen without producing it themselves. The Director's Haven aims to give the next generation a hand up.
The inaugural class includes: Monty Cole, directing Weird Kids by Alex Lubischer, mentored by Max Truax; Ariana Soloway, directing Carrie & Francine by Ruby Rae Spiegel, mentored by Jonathan Berry; and JD Caudill, directing Jane Doe 232 by Mark Joenks, mentored by Megan Shuchman. The showcase will run October 24–November 4 at Collaboraction; tickets are $10 and are on sale now.