Lauren Keating
Hometown?
Sergeanstville, NJ.
Where are you now?
Minneapolis, MN.
What's your current project?
I'm in auditions with A Christmas Carol for the Guthrie Theater, and pre-production on a short film called Power Out that I'm directing/shooting this Fall. In my role as Associate Producer at the Guthrie, the 17/18 season in full pre-production mode with auditions for Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Familiar this month, as well as a workshop of Enemy of the People and Romeo and Juliet starting rehearsals.
Why and how did you get into theatre?
There's a Howard Barker quote that always felt right on to me -- "The theatre is beautiful because it is a secret, and secrets seduce us, we all want to share secrets." Also, I love team sports and working all together to accomplish something, and theater feels like that, but with the added bonus of allowing me to communicate something unspeakable, something beyond any one medium or language - a deeper truth or question, and to reflect the world as I hope it become or truly see it to be, to tell stories from points of view that have been silenced or erased.
What is your directing dream project?
So many -- Hamlet, Vanya, Dipika Guha's The Art of Gaman, a one night/two act mash up of Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra, all the new Lauren Yee plays, my adaptation of Wedekind's LuLu....I dream of directing all the Shakespeares, and all the Chekhovs, and all the Guhas.
What kind of theatre excites you?
The kind that MUST exist in a theater - you have to be there for it because this story needs the 3-D, experiential tools of theater, and with a female-centric story or POV.
What do you want to change about theatre today?
Speed! The changes that I want to see - more female, POC leaders and directors and artists and administrators having a real voice in this field - are happening. I want to change the rate of change - accelerate it, especially at places like the Board level, where the influence and ability to create lasting changes can be seismic.
What is your opinion on getting a directing MFA?
Agnostic.
Who are your theatrical heroes?
Zelda, Anne, Tina, Oskar. Emilya Cachapero at TCG. My mentors and colleagues at the Guthrie.
Any advice for directors just starting out?
Make work! Keep making it! You don't need stuff or money - find your people and make your work.
Plugs!
https://www.guthrietheater.org/shows-and-tickets/2017-2018-season/a-christmas-carol/
www.Lauren-Keating.com/
http://www.thefeministcookingshow.com/
