Director’s Note
Hello, and welcome to AMOUR, a show you have likely never seen before. I’m so glad you’re here to try something new! I’m doing the same thing, working with TheatreLab Dayton for the first time. I hope your experience is as positive as mine. In a world were the “sure thing” is increasingly the only thing we’ll try, giving a show, an artist, or a theatre company a try is a little act of courage. I’m so happy I gave this show and company a try – and I suspect you will be, too.
I’m going to tell you a little bit about what it’s like to be a director in a new environment (something I’ve done a good bit lately). It can be terrifying, if you let it. So many new people! So much about the organization I don’t know! So much pressure to deliver! I’ve gotten used to that uncertainty and have come to really value it because it forces me and everyone involved with a project to make a choice: either I enter with a great deal of guarded fear, or I go in with an open heart and trust my experience and instincts. I choose the latter every time. And I see that it is almost always reciprocated. The more I do this Theatre thing (now over fifty years), the more I realize that everyone involved in most projects just wants to be in an environment where they are trusted and respected and encouraged to work with Courage and Joy (my mantra). I have certainly been given that by everyone at TheatreLab Dayton. And they started our first conversations about my working with them by asking what I wanted to direct!!!! Those four exclamation points are because I could count on one finger of one hand the number of times a professional theatre asked me to what I was interested in directing. On the occasions when I ran theatres, I had more input. But this is unique and very special.
I offer all of that because it’s exactly the story of AMOUR. An ordinary guy is given a magical opportunity, and he makes something beautiful and lifechanging out of it. The last two months have been just that for me, and I hope the next two hours will be the same for you!
I share my thanks and gratitude to every old friend and new colleague I’ve gotten to work with on this project. Many people have come together to support it, often as a response to my invitation. My spirit is leavened every time I enter the rehearsal studio or theatre for this delightful, open-hearted show.
With gratitude for all of it!
Joe Deer
Director and Choreographer
