Cultural Storytellers: Lauren Jackson

This week Renee Liang interviews Lauren Jackson, an actor, playwright and director who is directing her award-winning play, Exchange, for the Auckland season of Young and Hungry 2010.  Lauren talks about versatility as a performing artist in NZ, how she juggles work with a young family, the importance of having young people in the arts, and creative karma.

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A few days ago I had instant coffee and some very nice chocolate with Lauren Jackson, sitting out the back of a Unitec rehearsal room. Lauren is an actor, playwright and director who is directing her award-winning play, Exchange, for the Auckland season of Young and Hungry 2010. 

Exchange was written and premiered in 2005 based on Lauren’s own recollections of her time as a German exchange student in the 1990s… although she’s keen to let us know that not all the material is autobiographical! The Young and Hungry festival, originally started by BATS theatre in Wellington, grabs talented young actors, designers, stage managers, publicists and backstage crew and puts them in a high-pressure situation making real plays whilst being mentored by seasoned professionals. In Auckland,  the Auckland Theatre Company (ATC) provides this support, with the three plays Exchange, Thinning by Eli Kent – see next week’s interview – and Fitzbunny: Lust for Glory happening at The Basement in July.

Renee: Tell me a bit about how you came to be a writer.

Lauren: Firstly let me just say I have huge respect for the craft of writing and know I still have lots to learn. Exchange was the first full-length play I wrote but I've always enjoyed writing. A little-known but very important fact about me is that I was runner-up in the 1990 What Now Milky Way Short Story Competition. I won an electronic typewriter and many, many Milky Way bars. Anyway, after graduating from drama school I was employed quite a bit to workshop plays as an actor. I loved watching how the plays grew and developed. It demystified the process for me and showed me that all writers hit blocks and hurdles. After a while I started to wonder if I could give it a go myself. In 2003 I was on a theatre contract in Wellington when the Young & Hungry Trust asked for submissions for the 2005 season. I had spare time and was babysitting a friend's flash computer. I had a great time listening to her crazy music collection and typing up my submission. There have been times in my life when I just knew I was going to go for something and this was one of them. Over the next year and a half I wrote Exchange.

Renee: Do you think being a "jack of all trades", as is common in NZ, is a good thing?

Lauren: Sure, why not? People in other industries shift around and move roles while still working in their general field, so why not us? Whether you're an actor, writer or director you are in the business of telling stories.  I've worked as all three and am really grateful to have an appreciation of what those jobs involve. Hopefully it makes me a better team player. I can see my work environment through the eyes of a few different people now.

Renee: How did you get the idea for "Exchange"?

Lauren: By going on one myself! In 1994 I spent a year in former East Germany. It was an amazing year in retrospect, although at the time it was a bit of a roller coaster ride - away from home for the first time, a new language, a bit of culture shock. Luckily I lived with a lovely family and made some good friends. A bunch of New Zealanders and Australians went over together and had vastly different experiences. Young and Hungry plays need to cater to large casts of young actors. This seemed to lend itself really well to a bunch of exchange student characters.

Renee: Did you hit any speed bumps while you were writing it?

Lauren: Yes, definitely. Trying to write with lots of heart and create a well-structured play was tough. The first draft was written carefully and neatly according to all the structural 'rules'. It was pretty boring. Fiona Samuel, my dramaturg, encouraged me to really remember my way back into that experience and write from there. I guess it was a bit like acting. I had to dive into the emotion of it then apply some technique to shape the thing. I spent days reading old diaries and letters. I emailed other 'exchangees' to ask them for their stories. I ended up with so much material and then it was a matter of paring it all back and placing it.
 
Renee: How much of the main character is "you" and how much is "stolen" from others' experiences?

Lauren: I did not want to write an autobiographical play! For starters I didn't misbehave enough - it would have been a dull play! Having said that, there is a little dimension of me in each character. There are five lead characters and on some level I can relate to each one. I've been to the places they live and met some of the characters they meet. I've felt lots of the emotions they feel. But no, I didn't sleep with a host-parent, develop an eating disorder or end up hosting an MTV show! The characters go through some extraordinary experiences yet they are all based on real stories - just not my own. Even then, the stories and personalities have been mixed around enough that no one could really say, "Hey, that's me!"

Renee: This is your first time directing the play, although it's been produced a number of times before. Do you think there are any advantages to a playwright directing their own play?

Lauren: Hmmm, that's tricky. As a writer it's an excellent exercise. I have written a one hour play with forty five scenes and over twenty characters. Now as a director I have to deal with the implications of that in terms of staging, costume, set and so on. I think the next play I write will be three actors sitting on chairs talking directly to the audience!

As a director it's easy to make changes to the script if something's not working. I know the writer will give her approval. On the other hand I don't have that editing eye that another director might have. That's why I have to ask for feedback when people come to a run - just to make sure I don't fall too in love with my own ideas! By the same token I know the play so well that I have to remember not to be too hard on it. I have to try to keep seeing it with fresh eyes. It's nice not to have to try to guess at what the writer might have meant when she wrote that scene or that line. On the other hand I have been trying to stay open to new interpretations - actors putting a new spin on things. The cast have been doing that and of course, it improves the work when I let my mind be changed about some things.

Renee: Describe your writing process.  Do you write fast then prune, or dream and slow?  Or does it change for each idea?

Lauren: I don't have a huge body of work but so far my process seems to be like solving a jigsaw puzzle. I start off with lots of partially-written scenes - notes, images and inspirations. Then I develop them and shift them around into something that feels like a good dynamic structure. It's not a fast process because it involves lots of editing.

Renee: Tell me about your work with young people.

Lauren: I'm a drama tutor at the Pacific Institute of Performing Arts (P.I.P.A.) and have tutored at three other organisations. I teach acting technique, history of theatre and I direct student productions. Last year for P.I.P.A.'s Sama School I adapted the Red Riding Hood tale, putting into a Pacific Island context. It was a musical comedy and had a great season in Otara as part of Pasifika '09. We put out an open call for participants and ended up with fifty cast and crew members. All these young people with so much ability and potential just walked through our doors. Most of our students at P.I.P.A. are P.I. and there is huge talent there. The landscape of New Zealand's performing arts industry is changing and I think P.I.P.A. is part of that change. It's exciting to be a part of that.
 
Renee: Who are your inspirations at the moment and why?
 
Lauren: At the moment the cast of Exchange inspire me. It's great working with young actors because they remind me of why I chose this industry. They are part of a unique group making something together. They are from really different backgrounds but they share this wacky outlook on life. I love watching them bond and make friends. I have a gorgeous baby girl so I'm very inspired by people in the business with kids. Keeping the creative fires burning while parenting is quite an art. I also have two stepchildren and a lovely husband. They inspire me too. Whenever I doubt myself or my work I think of them. I have this feeling of, "Well, I love them and want to provide for them. So too bad if I'm not feeling inspired. Get to work!" This actually helps a lot and I usually end up back on track.

Renee: What do you think of the notion of creative karma?

Lauren: I like the notion. I think it makes sense. So much of creative life in New Zealand relies on favours so if you're generous people are likely to repay you in kind. I also like to think there is a less direct form of karma at work. There have been times when I have put a lot of effort into a project or audition that hasn't come off. Then at other times a great job seems to have just fallen into my lap. I like to believe this is the universe's way of indirectly rewarding my earlier efforts. What's the saying? God loves a trier!

Renee: Do you think there is such a thing as a "career path" in the arts in NZ?  Or is it better to rely on ‘serendipity’?

Lauren: I think it's very difficult to chart out a career path in the arts here and then make it all happen the way you planned. I think it's good to have goals and work towards them but be very flexible. I've often felt my career was a series of haphazard jobs. But looking back I can see a definite cohesion and path that I couldn't have recognised at the time. I just try to follow my instincts, do my best and be brave about saying yes and no at the right times.

Renee: What is your next project?

Lauren: I'm going to look after my baby, teach part-time at P.I.P.A. and in October direct a beautiful new play by Fiona Graham called Passage. It's on at The Edge in November.