My theater editor, Jonathan Abarbanel, has described Steve Scott as 'the busiest director in Chicago theater.' One look at his list of recent accomplishments, which includes directing Mirandolina at the Noble Fool and Wit at the Goodman, as well as the forthcoming Always … Patsy Cline, and you know that it is not an exaggeration. The award-winning director's current project is the David Margulies play Dinner With Friends. I recently spoke to Mr. Scott at the Goodman Theater, where he is an associate producer.
Gregg Shapiro: As the title suggests, one of the themes of Dinner With Friends is the role that food plays in social and romantic situations. Can you please say something about that?
Steve Scott: There are so many ways in which it works. Eating together is one of the most typical social situations. It's also a kind of nurturing situation. The fact that Gabe and Karen are always the ones who are making the food and feeding it to other people gives you an idea of what their role is in the world in which they live, which is very important. What's interesting are the scenes in which food doesn't appear (laughs). The bedroom scene with Tom and Beth, where food is mentioned, but it's not there. So it's a kind of sparse wasteland. Also the bar scene, although Tom and Gabe do share water in that, but no food. There's also no food in the final scene, where Karen and Gabe are trying to come to terms with all the things they've found out about their friends. The absence of food is probably as notable as the placement of food in the play.
GS: Absolutely. And food is often considered to be an aphrodisiac, but as Tom tells Gabe, 'rage is an amazing aphrodisiac,' following the scene in the bedroom between Tom and Beth. Were you concerned about the presentation of the physical fight between Beth and Tom?
SS: I think the only thing that I was concerned about, and that we talked about a lot in rehearsal, is that it not seem like a rape, like the man is taking advantage of the woman. That they are equally matched. The lovemaking comes out of equal passion from both sides. That's what we tried to emphasize.
GS: Do you think because she initiates the fight, she's the first one to strike a blow and make contact that it makes a difference?
SS: I think so. We tried to make them both equally as strong and to make sure that she was not ever looking like she was being taken advantage. In some ways Beth is the strongest character in the play.
GS: Another nearly universal experience in the play is being bored by friends' travel stories. Are you the kind of person who loads up the slide projector after a vacation to share your trip with others?
SS: God, no! We always forget to take our camera with us. For a while, my partner and I would take pictures of everything and then we filed them away. They're in boxes somewhere. No, we learned a long time ago that nobody cares (laughs) and often times we don't care. Half the time we get the pictures and we have no idea what they're of.
GS: Dinner With Friends also addresses the jockeying into position for who gets the advantage in telling the story of the break-up.
SS: Who gets custody of the friends? Everybody's been through the experience of a friend couple breaking up and who are you going to be friends with? Who sympathizes with whom? And how are the stories presented and how do you get a fair view of what happened? Which you never really can get. That's a very true-to-life thing. 'Now they're on your side. Now I have to work to get them on my side.' That's very common. I've been caught in that situation a number of times, as have we all. It's hard to know what to do.
GS: During one of their post-break-up conversations, Beth tells Karen that 'every Karen needs a Beth,' which I took to mean that she needed someone to feel superior to.
SS: I don't know about feeling superior to. I don't think Karen ever overtly feels superior to anyone. But Karen likes to take care of people. One of the things that Karen does in her relationships is to find ways of taking care of folks. Karen also admires Beth a great deal. Karen really does admire the fact that Beth is an artist and a free spirit. But earlier in their relationship she knows that Beth can't take care of certain things and Karen can provide those for her. The larger question is how we are defined in our friendships. Are we defined by the complementary fit or what the other lacks, you provide. Once that changes, what does that mean about the friendship?
GS: Gabe talks about 'feeling the impulse to chuck it all.' Have you ever had that impulse, and if so, what would you do?
SS: Oh, God, daily! (laughs) Of course! That's the thing. I don't know what I'd do, which staves off following through on the impulse. It can be an impulse of, 'Oh, if I could just go away to an island or somewhere for a month,' or 'If I could do anything I wanted to do, I would sell everything and just do volunteer work.' In relationships, too, when my partner and I have fights or disagreements, there is sometimes that moment of, 'Is this worth it? Maybe we should just call it off.' Of course that isn't the answer, for us, but I think most people have the impulse to do that. I don't know that everybody follows through on that either because they're afraid to or ultimately because they realize that it isn't the answer. But sometimes it is the answer. I know a number of people who have chucked it all and they're very happy, too. That's what the play posits. There are two ways of looking at this thing.
GS: Watching Tom's transformation—he looks younger at the end of the play then he does at any other point. That's his reward for chucking it.
SS: We had an audience discussion on Wednesday night (March 5) and some people were very upset by that. They were very threatened that Tom's relationship with this younger woman has worked out and seems to be a good one for him. It's mostly middle-aged men who were saying that (laughs). 'It would never happen. They would have problems.' Not necessarily. Sometimes that 's the answer.
GS: You have had a 15-year affiliation with Goodman Theater. What is the best part about being associated with the Goodman?
SS: The people that you get to work with. There is a fascinating group of people on staff and also a fascinating group of people that come in and out of this organization. Both nationally known and local people. It's just amazing, the friendships and affiliations that I have been able to make. It's wonderful. Every day you are not quite sure what's going to happen or who you are going to run into. It's really lovely.
GS: In addition to being a director, you are also an actor. Do you have a preference?
SS: (Laughs) The last time I acted was a couple of years ago. Before that I hadn't acted in a very long time and it was fun, but I like directing a lot more. Part of it is that once the show opens, you don't have go every night. Part of it is that I'm better at directing. As an actor, I find myself needing direction. As a director, I can work with actors and help them find what's going on. I'm not terribly free or inventive as an actor. I just do what I'm told to do (laughs).
GS: Doing all that you do, how do you maintain your focus, being, as some have described you, 'the busiest director in Chicago theater'?
SS: (Laughs) It's not easy. I sometimes have problems with it. The day after Dinner With Friends opens I go into rehearsal for another show. Sometimes I'm sitting in rehearsals or performances and I'm thinking about what I have to do next. If what is before you is really fascinating, and I try now to only work on projects that are interesting to me, then your energy and your concentration will go there. Then you'll find the time and the way to concentrate on the next fascinating thing.
The best experiences I have as a director are when I am kind of in love with the actors that I'm working with and that's what I try to find.