Page 9 - 2018 Festival Edition

Video helped him through this process. Sta shot throughout the week, and reviewing that footage put things in focus.
“Once I could see that I could actually see where I fit and see the thing that we were creating and see the story that he was trying to tell – it was interesting” said the father of two. “It was nice to have that
as my foundation.”
This marks Sills’ fifth season with the Stratford Festival, but also his return – he started his career here in 2005 with its Birmingham Conservatory for Clas- sical Theatre and played various smaller roles before departing nine years ago. At the time, it was a strategic move meant to further his career, but coming back to portray a lead character under Lepage’s leadership was a perfect reason to end his own hiatus.
“It was an o er I couldn’t say no to,” Sills said.
As for Lepage, he’s making his debut with the Festi- val and its o cials are ecstatic; the artistic director has sought him for years. Sills was able to put into perspec- tive how hard it is to line up his services simply by overhearing how hectic his schedule was.
“He said basically he was booked up for the next 12 years,” said Sills, who later described Lepage’s abil-
ity to communicate with cast and crew as very gentle. “Even when I got cast, trying to have a conversation with him had to be booked into his schedule.”
Sills proudly referred to Lepage’s production as “an epic live film” due to its hybrid of theatre and cinema through its use of technology, real-time video and
CORIOLANUS
projections. Without giving too much away, he excitedly pointed to an early battle scene that is be- ing done “much di erently” than past adap- tations on the Stratford stage. This will be its fifth incarna- tion.
Sills, who is
also Sebastian
in The Tempest
and Brigadiere
Ciappa in Na-
poli Milionaria!
this season,
aptly described
Coriolanus with two simple words: it’s big.
“There’s a lot going on, lots of big set pieces coming on and o ,” he said. “It’s a workout for everybody, it’s going to be a real team sport in regards to the actors, the crew calling things and the crew backstage moving all the things around. It’s a whole dance just trying to get these big things in place by the time the next scene
FIRST DAY OF REHEARSAL FOR CORIOLANUS. MEMBERS OF THE COMPANY WITH DIRECTOR ROBERT LEPAGE. PHOTO BY JASON CLARKE.
is ready.”
He summed it up by calling it a brand-new experi-
ence and a modern-day telling of the play.
“How do you modernize Coriolanus? And he’s fig-
ured out a way to do it,” Sills said. “It’s really cool.”
Coriolanus runs from June 9 to Oct. 20 at the Avon Theatre.
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THE BEACON HERALD | 2018 FESTIVAL EDITION
PAGE 9