I Interview Directors Part II: Mason Beggs

Mason Beggs

Hometown: Corry, PA

Current Town: Jersey City, NJ

Tell me about The Handless Maiden:

The Handless Maiden is a dark immersive fairy tale that composer Shayfer James and I devised for Art House Productions in Jersey City along with an amazing cast and creative team. It is based on a Grimms’ Fairy Tale called The Maiden Without Hands which we then placed within a world reminiscent to the 1930’s Dust Bowl. Over the course of a month, we devised an immersive theatre piece accompanied by  an Appalachian inspired vocal score and live prepared piano. It was a wonderful experience. Our main goal in the adaptation was to give the Maiden more agency over her life as she, in the original tale, was more or less constructed as a damsel in distress.

I loved creating in this world and hope to revisit it at some point.

What else are you currently busy with?

I just lead a Visual Thinking module at The New School for Drama MFA which was a lot of fun.  I am also the Drama Director at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City where I’m currently  producing a series of workshops and lectures including a Diversity in the Arts panel discussion which I am looking forward to.  This month I will  be directing a series of performances for The Terminal of Terror in Jersey City which is an event produced by ChicPea (http://www.chicpeajc.com) at the end of October.  

I also have to admit that I’m a hardcore geek and have spent the last year researching cooperative tabletop games with the intention of creating an open world board game in the next couple of years.

Tell me, if you will, a story from your childhood that explains who you are as a Director and/or as a person.

My aesthetic tends to lean towards the dark and macabre, but my childhood was rather boring and uneventful.  I often felt like I was living the movie Pleasantville.  Having said that, for years I attended a Christian youth group that, although surrounded me with a community filled with love and positive energy, tried to convince me that my Catholic family members were destined to burn in hell. Super Christlike mmright? This emotional manipulation, accompanied by vivid imagery of a torturous underworld, was quite frightening to me.

Around this time  Jim Henson was creating brilliantly dark  films like Labyrinth and Dark Crystal  which were being marketed as “family entertainment”.  He took the narrative structures of fairy tales and explored them within intense and haunting worlds. I was obsessed with his work and, in retrospect, I could probably attribute my interest in dark fantasy to these experiences.

If you could change one thing about theater, what would it be?

Several years ago I would have said that the medium had become too much of a science - formulaic - uninspired. However, I think there is a growing number of producers, directors and performing artists who are now creating groundbreaking innovative work.

That being said, I think that theatre currently runs the risk of the becoming an elitist art form. With the absurd debate of what appropriate theatre attire is alongside the current price of Broadway ticket, we are making it nearly impossible for young artists to attend. Rush prices, which were established for those who could not afford a ticket, are priced beyond the mission statement . We need theatre to be accessible to the masses. Dress how you want. Demand additional and fairly priced rush/lottery policies. Hamilton seems to be a beacon of hope with a $10 rush indicating that they still see the importance of providing opportunities for students and those who cannot afford the high price of tickets.

Who are or were your theatrical Heroes?

I don’t know if I have any heroes per say, but some of the artists who have heavily influenced my work are Robert Wilson, Sam Mendes, Pina Bausch, John Cage, Gary Trousdale, Tim Burton, Guillermo del Toro and Julie Taymor. I’m equally inspired by the new wave of current  theatre artists creating innovative and inspiring work.

What kind of theater excites you?

I mainly find myself drawn to visceral works that stray from realism. That’s a rather broad spectrum but it’s indicative of the type of work that gets me going.  Work that explores new ways of conveying information and creates a cohesive dialogue between mediums interests me.  I love the the idea of innovating the way we communicate story and world to  an audience.

What advice do you have for Directors just starting out?

Know the actor’s process and constantly immerse yourself in all forms of art.

Plugs, please:

Nothing in the near future but stay tuned!