TBI Q&A: Michael Hurst

Michael Hurst is directing The NBR New Zealand Opera's nationwide tour of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. In this TBI Q&A he answers member questions about his opera directing debut, including his biggest challenge and the pros and cons of acting compared to directing.

"For me I see no real difference in terms of what I get out of it. It is the storytelling that counts. However, I love that feeling after a really good performance, in which I have functioned as an actor should - as a conduit for the vicarious adventures of the audience. This is what I call the 'priestly function" of the performer, and in my view comes with tremendous responsibility. Directing provides me with the chance to deliver strong concepts and ideas, and to be completely responsible for this. In the end, it is all about changing the consciousness of the audience."

During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
Inspiration can happen any time. I don't have any control over this at all.

What aspect of your creative practice gives you the biggest thrill?
Seeing other people's reactions to it. I love it when the common spirit of a work translates to an audience. Sometimes it is when it works in rehearsals, and I get a surge of gleeful anticipation - "Yes! That's great! The audience will love it (or feel scared, or hate this moment or whatever)".

How does your environment affect your work?
In theatre in this country the physical environments are often dingy and rough - a function of cheap rehearsal space. To be honest, I can work in just about any physical environment. It is the people that are important, and I can't work with bullies or cantankerousness. For me it is all about saying "yes".

Do you like to look at the big picture or focus on the details?
I always get the big picture before I start things. This is always the beginning - the first inspiration, if you like, and it is always total for me, like getting a download of the entire project. The detail emerges as we go - and the further we go, the more the detail emerges. I could give notes after every single performance and still not exhaust the possibilities that arise. Indeed, actors should operate this way all the time so that each performance is in some way an improvement on the last.

What's your number one business tip for surviving (and thriving) in the creative industries?
It is the work that generates the work.

Which of your projects to date has given you the most satisfaction?
Any given project means total involvement for me so that the instant answer to this question is that all of them have given me immense satisfaction, and to isolate one as being the 'most satisfying' is a bit of a non-starter really. I guess I can say that it is Theatre (and most recently Opera) that satisfies me most.

Who or what has inspired you recently?
Recently it is the new young actors I work with that inspire me the most. They are talented, driven, lively, positive, beautiful creatures.

Michael, what has been your biggest challenge with directing your first opera, Hansel and Gretel?
- Anja Emelie Lenner, Christchurch
To be honest, I thought it would be the musical thing - I don't read music very well and I assumed that this would be a drawback. However, it was a smooth, delightful experience and the challenges were all of the kind I am used to.

How do you motivate your lead actors?
- Jesse Liwag, Auckland
By pointing out to them that there is nowhere to hide and that they wouldn't be there if they weren't good at what they do. I also tell them that we are all in it together and that the play's the thing and nothing else, and that everything I do is to make them be as brilliant as they can be.

What is the hardest thing that you have found about directing?
- Marise Gold, Wellington
Watching the first performance! Letting it go, handing it over and knowing that I can't do anything as I sit there.

What are the pros and cons of acting compared to directing?
- Sierra de la Croix, Wellington
For me I see no real difference in terms of what I get out of it. It is the storytelling that counts. However, I love that feeling after a really good performance, in which I have functioned as an actor should - as a conduit for the vicarious adventures of the audience. This is what I call the 'priestly function" of the performer, and in my view comes with tremendous responsibility. Directing provides me with the chance to deliver strong concepts and ideas, and to be completely responsible for this. In the end, it is all about changing the consciousness of the audience.

I know you are using the translation by David Pountney. Did you make change to the libretto to accomodate NZ audiences, especially when it came to the nursery rhymes in the text?
- Melanie Wittwer, Auckland
Yes, we did do some tinkering with the (nicely modern) Pountney translation for NZ audiences. For example - "here are some lollies!" and "Now we are rally buggered". As for the nursery rhymes, we kept them as is because they are quite fascinating.

Was it your decision to translate into English? What was the rationale" - Growing younger target audience? Regional spread?
- Sarah Hutchings, Wellington
I didn't decide to use the English translation, I was just asked to do it. However, I can't imagine doing it in any other language and yes, accessibility is the thing, along with growing the audience. The immediacy provided by understanding straight off what is going on (instead of having to read sur-titles) is great, and I am thinking that perhaps more operas should be performed in English for English audiences.

How did you transition from a dark adult tale (Threepenny) to a dark children's tale (Hansel)?"
- Shona McCullagh, Auckland
Well, variety is the spice of life, isn't it? All my creative life has been about variety, with often wildly different projects butting up against each other. I have never been one to limit myself (or anyone else for that matter), and so the transition was pretty smooth. I started work on the opera two days after Threepenny opened, so there wasn't time to think, really. Also, you have to remember that John Verryt and I had designed both shows before Christmas 2007. I was always aware that both shows were quite different in content. One thing I have noticed though is that, new interpretations notwithstanding, both of these productions are very classical in their shaping and movement, and in that sense, I am not sure that there even was a transition.

Am just wanting to know, as a Director, how relevant you find the costuming when presenting an opera?
- Emma Turnbull
Costume is crucial to any project. The concept is only translatable through design in the first instance. The total look is absolutely essential to the clarity of the interpretation.

What can be learnt from fairytales?
- Jenni Long, Wellington
Just about everything to do with common sense, surely. Don't talk to strangers, don't judge a book by its cover, there is good in a dark world and so on. They operate on quite a deep level often. In Hansel and Gretel the children make the mother break the jug and spill the milk. The jug is a womb symbol, a vessel, and of course when it breaks, the mother has no more milk to give. She can no longer nurture and, in the eyes of the kids, becomes a scary, devouring mother, probably the scariest thing imaginable. But they overcome this thing by destroying the devouring mother and so bringing back the nurturer. And for her part, the mother, having lashed out, is instantly regretful and wants her children back. This seems to reflect a simple domestic occurrence - we all lose our temper with our children at times and then feel awful about it. Meanwhile, our kids see it as a much bigger event and it can really frighten or upset them. From this tale, we learn that balance can be restored, that people often forget themselves and that this is quite normal, and that children and their state of innocence is to be valued above all. Admittedly, there is a 'God" element in the opera whereby the creator deity will always hear our prayers when we are in need and come to our aid. For me this is a bit facile, and so I needed rather to diminish this aspect somewhat while still honouring the religious, literally "awesome" nature of the music, and so I suggest that the human spirit creates order out of a random universe. But that is probably over and above what may be gleaned from the simple fairytale.

If you could go back and choose a completely different career path to the one you've chosen, what would it be?
I have no idea really, though it is likely to be something academic - Shakespearean scholar? Philosopher? The thing is, I didn't really choose my career path, it was just always there.

What place is always with you, wherever you go?
Ancient, pre-classical Greece.

What's the best way to listen to music, and why?
In a quiet, focussed way. Music washes through you, I believe, and will stir your interior. I don't listen to pop music unless it is by accident. I don't dislike it; I just don't have time for it. Usually I listen to music because I am searching for something to do with the thing I am working on at the time (which is pretty much all of the time) and so I am wanting space in which to listen to it so that I can let any ideas flow easily.

You are given a piece of string, a stick and some fabric. What do you make?
A mage's outfit.

What's the best stress relief advice you've ever been given?
Never stand up when you can sit down; never sit down when you can lie down. Also, it always could be worse!

What's great about today?
Freedom of thought and expression, if you can afford it and you are not living in misery in some awful third world dictatorship.

What's your big idea for 2008?
I don't know yet.

National Tour of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel

01/07/08