New York is one of the few places in the world where the theatre continues to be, at the same time, industry, laboratory and experimental space. Festivals such as the Gene Frankel Theatre Festival are part of this border area: on the one hand they offer a platform to new texts and new artists, on the other they work as privileged observers on the state of contemporary dramaturgy. At its second edition, the festival has already shown significant growth, attracting hundreds of nominations and performing dozens of works in the first New York City, many of which are also world premieres. Among the members of the jury is Francesca Ravera, an award-winning actress and for years active Off-Broadway, who plays an increasingly central role in the selection and evaluation of theatrical projects. Ravera tells us how to build a critical look between stage and jury, but also what makes a really solid fire today and why festivals like this continue to be fundamental for those who make theatre in New York.
The Gene Frankel Theatre Festival is already at its second edition and you are part of the jury in both. What impression do you have of the evolution of the festival? And when you are in front of such different projects, what are the criteria that really guide you in the selection?
The Gene Frankel Theatre Festival has had a remarkable success since its first summer edition. This summer we received over 150 nominations, among unique acts and short pitches, and from these were selected 24 works, then produced and presented during the festival. More than one hundred artists came up on stage: actors, directors, dramatists and designers, and this immediately gives the measure of the response that the festival has generated. The great success achieved in summer made possible a second edition, which was staged at the Gene Frankel Theatre from 8 to 22 December.
My role in both editions begins with reading all the scripts sent. From there a first selection of works will have access to production. Later I attended the performances and, together with the other judges, Thomas Gordon and Thomas G. Waites, evaluated the performances of the actors, the registic work, the dramaturgy and the overall quality of the productions, both for the short and for the unique acts. The final goal is to identify excellence and reward, during the concluding gala, the works and artists who have distinguished themselves more significantly.
The first aspect to consider is always the respect for the criteria required by the festival, such as the fact that the works are at least prime New Yorkers. After this level, I focus on the originality of writing, creativity and the artistic value of the text. I am very interested in understanding how the characters are built, how they are defined and how they evolve in the course of the pitch; how clear the story is, how it develops and if it manages to maintain a precise direction. The attention to detail is also fundamental, because it is often there that you recognize a really mature and ready text for the scene.
When a play is then produced, my judgment inevitably shifts to realization. I evaluate the registic choices, the rhythm of the show, the work of the actors on the stage, their relationship with the text and among them, and if what is written on the page results in a sound, coherent and lively theatrical experience.
Francesca Ravera con il direttore artistico del gene Frankel Theatre, Thomas R. Gordon
All the pitches are New York premiere, many world premieres. How much does this factor weigh in the evaluations? And, according to you, what kind of concrete opportunity opens for artists who debut in a context like this?
The Festival is a great opportunity for many artists. Bringing on stage a New York premiere means guaranteeing new plays an official debut on a stage like that of the Gene Frankel Theatre. This aspect is very important because it allows unpublished texts to meet the public and, at the same time, to be seen and evaluated by professionals in the field.
For many dramatists, directors and actors, it is a concrete opportunity to create professional relationships and give momentum to new projects.
You played so many roles protagonists Off-Broadway and brought several shows on international tour. I ask you something a little more technical: how much your acting experience on stage influences your way of judging a pitch, an actor or a director?
I am very influential in my judgment. Aver worked on many stages in New York and on international tours, and having collaborated with very different artists – actors, directors, dramatists, different styles and theatrical traditions – provided me with a wide experience and a practical competence that allows me to accurately assess every aspect of a production.
This experience allows me to immediately recognize what makes an interesting and valuable show: the quality of the text, the accuracy of the actors’ work, the level of listening among performers, the intelligence of the choices, the relationship between text and staged.
In the two editions of the festival you spent hundreds of nominations. What are the most recurring errors you find in the projects that do not arrive at the final selection? And what makes you feel like a proposal “merits” the New York scene?
It is perceived immediately when a story is original and writing is consistent and pushes forward action. The same goes for the characters: When they are facets, credible, and their relationships are carefully constructed, the text naturally invites those who read to imagine it on stage. The attention to detail and a clear artistic sensibility are elements that really make the difference.
Among the most common errors, however, a non-finished writing, undeveloped characters or narrative inconsistencies. Sometimes a new perspective is missing or the text cannot stand out for originality.
That said, I should like to point out that, with such a high number of applications, not being selected does not necessarily mean making mistakes. In many cases it simply means that other projects have received more positive feedback from the jury. It is not said that an unselected text has received a negative judgment. For this reason I always encourage artists to continue working on their own scripts, and strengthen what can be further developed.
You were part of very different juries – from theater to cinema to Telly Awards. What skills do you carry behind from one sector to another? And what changes completely when you value a theatrical pitch compared to a movie?
When I evaluate a film, I am faced with a product already finished, definitive. In the work done for the Gene Frankel Theatre Festival, instead, I also participated in the initial selection, and this entails a different responsibility. At that stage I have to decide which one deserves the opportunity to be produced based solely on the script, without being able to see the final image of the production as the artist imagined it. This requires a lot of attention to the structure of the text, its scenic potential and its theatrical estate.
When, as in the case of the New York Movie Awards and Telly Awards, I judge a film or video content of other nature, I immediately value not only the structure of history, but also the quality of realization, acting, direction, photography, editing, music and sound. In the Telly Awards I have evaluated very different categories, from short films to feature films, from regional commercials to People’s Telly, from social and promotional videos to online videos, and this requires you to adapt your gaze while maintaining some fundamental parameters of artistic and narrative quality. I always value the purpose of the product. A narrative film, a commercial ad or promotional video respond to different goals: in the commercial or digital content it is essential to understand how clear, incisive and consistent the message is.
In addition to the festival, in these weeks you have been involved in a pitch, White Reality by Stella Rousaki, at the Consulate of Greece. How do you intertwine these works with the role you have at the Gene Frankel Theatre Festival and, more generally, with the path you are building in New York?
During my career I was lucky not only to play numerous roles, but also to create real artistic and cultural bridges, especially between the United States and Europe. Bringing an American fire, in the original language, abroad means not only to confront me, as an actress, with roles, teams, different spaces and theatres, but also to make known dramatists, productions and American actors in a wider European market.
Being invited to an event at the Consulate of Greece in New York, although not having personally ties with Greece, represents the continuation of this work of building cultural bridges. White Reality by Stella Rousaki was born as a novella, later adapted for the theatre by the same author. It is a project inspired by the great texts of American dramaturgy such as A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and Long Day’s Journey Into Night by Eugene O’Neill, and proposes a revisitation of these references for a contemporary New York audience.
The event has combined stage extracts, the presentation of the book and a public panel to which I participated together with prominent figures of the academic and theatrical world, including: Sozita Goudouna, professor at the Sorbonne; Robert Richter, head of artistic programming and representative of the Eugene O’Neill Society; Peter Danish, award-winning author and editorial director of BroadwayWorld; and Danae Stamatopoulou, actress and translator of White Reality. There were also prominent figures from the New York theatre scene, such as Andreas Manolokakis of the Actors Studio and Broadway producer of the Tony Award Brian Spector.
Similarly, being a judge at the Gene Frankel Theatre Festival means for me to reward excellence and help create new concrete opportunities for American actors, directors, dramatists and designers. It is part of a broader and more coherent project: supporting the artistic community and actively participating in theatre growth in New York and the United States.
The article The work of the theatrical jury: Francesca Ravera tells the Gene Frankel Theatre Festival proviene da IlNewyorkese.
