Latest / The BSB Podcast / Exclusive Interview Mackenzie Conn and J.R. Spaulding of Farmington Players' 'The Haunting of Hill House'

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Exclusive Interview Mackenzie Conn and J.R. Spaulding of Farmington Players' 'The Haunting of Hill House' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Farmington Players is ready for spooky season as their season opener,
• 0:03
  the Haunting of Hill House is about to arrive.
• 0:05
  Today we're talking with the director of this production,
• 0:07
  JR Spaulding, and a cast member Mackenzie Conn Thank you both for being here.
• 0:11
  You're so welcome.
• 0:12
  Glad to be here.
• 0:13
  We're so exc
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  we're so excited to talk about this.
• 0:16
  And JR, you are about two weeks out from opening night well eleven days
• 0:19
  I should say. how are you feeling?
• 0:21
  I haven't counted.
• 0:24
  how am I feeling? How how is she feeling?
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  How are we feeling? we had our first
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  Yeah.
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  we had our first tech rehearsal yesterday.
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  And ~ it's it's there's some i issues,
• 0:36
  there's some tech issues, you know.
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  So this is the type this is the time of the the rehearsal process where
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  I think inevitably you're feeling a little,
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  my God, my god.
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  He you know, it starts out like,
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  this is great, we're way ahead of schedule and then it's like,
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  my god, we don't have enough time,
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  you know, so that's where we're at.
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  But it'll be great.
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  Because it's kinda cr crunch time now,
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  isn't it?
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  Yeah, crunch time will go.
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  It is, it's crunch time.
• 1:00
  We're fine.
• 1:01
  How you feeling about it, Mackenzie?
• 1:03
  Is it feeling good?
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  feeling great you know I I I think I would feel more ~ out of place
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  if everything felt perfect and in place.
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  You know, ~ the theater is just a wonderful place for the unknown to happen.
• 1:19
  And that's kind of what we dive into here in Hill House.
• 1:23
  ~ but JJ isn't wrong in you know the respect that there are
• 1:29
  a lot of technical aspects to the show.
• 1:32
  And there's a lot of pieces that have to come together now.
• 1:34
  So it's all happening very quickly.
• 1:37
  Yeah. My stage manager said I'm I'm sorry,
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  I mean it's awesome that when all the pieces start to come together.
• 1:40
  So ~
• 1:41
  my stage manager
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  said, ~ we went through a it's called a paper tech where all the the crew,
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  like the lighting head and and sound,
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  we all sat down and went through all the different cues that have to be called,
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  how many lighting cues, anytime it's a sound cue and I we're done.
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  She looked at me and she said,
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  I've I've never had this many tabs in my book before.
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  I've never had this many cues.
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  Not even in a musical. And I was like,
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  Whoa, all right then. So
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  So apparently it's a pretty complicated ~ ask.
• 2:11
  That's interesting. Do you think that maybe that has to do with the fact that
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  it is more of that like horror leaning story,
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  that it takes a lot more of those technical pieces to pull it off?
• 2:19
  Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you could do I mean the old adage Mackenzie knows is
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  is all you need to do theater is ~ you know,
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  a place, you know, an actor and an audience.
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  All I need is a a location to stand,
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  one actor and one person to watch it,
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  and I have theater. ~ and you can,
• 2:39
  you know, and and certain types of shows are are much easier to pull
• 2:43
  off a simple drama, you know, a a a bare bones comedy.
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  When you have something like this in order to
• 2:49
  To
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  create the the mood, the atmosphere,
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  you really have to have some of those technical elements.
• 2:54
  ~ and so it does become a little more complex,
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  I think.
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  I mean, that makes total sense.
• 3:00
  and Mackenzie, you'd mentioned previously,
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  one of the last times that we talked that this is one of your favorite kind
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  of horror films. You know, you love the original story.
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  What is it what was
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  Adieu.
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  your ki what was your kind of your first reaction when you found out you're gonna
• 3:12
  be part of this production of The Haunting of Hill House?
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  Well excited, of course, you know.
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  ~ I think nervous,
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  some anxiety, sure. I think they happen,
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  you know, the relatively familiar friends,
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  ~ anxiety and excitement. ~
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  Ha ha.
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  but you know, I I it's kind of nice to and difficult to be
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  in a world where our main character is unseeable and doesn't have a name,
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  and it's this house, and it doesn't
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  You know, how do we describe it?
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  How do we how do we like also make fear happen out of something that we can't see?
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  So that was my original feeling is,
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  you know, how are we gonna go about this together to create this,
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  you know, imaginary danger?
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  We do that all the time. So I guess we're doing it now.
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  JR, what was it for you that really kind of drew you to wanting to d direct
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  a show such as this one?
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  I haven't directed a show for five years or so.
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  ~ the last show I directed was not from or was not around here.
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  ~ and ~ I only I've only done one show with Farmington players prior to this.
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  ~ so when they had, you know,
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  put out ~ emailed the possible shows that they were gonna do,
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  ~ I'd never read this, and I started reading it and I was like,
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  this is crazy.
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  Creepy is is is is all act, you know.
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  I'm like, this is this is creepy,
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  man. And I love that course sort of thing.
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  My my daughter and I we watch zombie movies together.
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  So and I love I I just love like ~
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  the idea of of again like Mackenzie said,
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  how how are you gonna do this?
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  How do you do this? And so my brain just starts going,
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  I I love creative projects, artistic projects,
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  something more than just
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  your standard he likes the drama.
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  So it it really piqued my interest the the creepiness,
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  the artistic ~ opportunities,
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  you know, how we could do this.
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  That's what really captured me.
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  It truly is creepy. I was telling Mackenzie before,
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  I've never seen a production. I haven't even seen the movie.
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  ~ but I remember my sister had the book of it and
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  Mm-hmm.
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  when
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  I was younger, and it was just a creepy looking book as a child that
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  it still sticks in my head about it,
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  you know, just the house on a hill and it's dark and spooky and the the
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  Yeah.
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  the vibes are immaculate in a way.
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  I've never read the book. I've never seen the movie.
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  I've never seen any Netflix series or any series.
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  I had when I started reading the script,
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  I knew of it. I'm an English teacher,
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  so I know of it. I know Shirley Jackson.
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  ~ but other than that, I went in blind.
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  So you and I were together on that.
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  Absolutely. And
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  Mackenzie, correct me if wrong,
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  I think having Yeah,
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  it was the movie, right? For you?
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  you know, it's interesting. I think having the I didn't know that about your
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  experience. ~ and I I love having that combination of,
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  you know, coming into something blind if you haven't seen a movie
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  yet and you're doing a production or a play version,
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  or you know, you haven't read the Harry Potter series,
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  maybe, or something like that.
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  You know, it's always food for thought,
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  but it's also just such a treat to go in blindly and have your imagination
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  do the work for you.
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  You know. So I appreciate the lack of it.
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  Absolutely. It gives it gives you like a clean slate almost.
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  Exactly.
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  What
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  I've always preferred that. ~ and
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  Mm-hmm.
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  and if I do a show and I know that there is a move or I know that there is a
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  I s I very purposefully avoid ~ avoid that once I know I'm gonna do the show.
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  I don't want any of that ~ influencing me.
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  I wanna do it myself. That's why I'm here.
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  I want that that creative challenge.
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  With a show like this, Mackenzie,
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  you're playing ~ Mrs. Montague,
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  correct?
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  I ~
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  Who is Mrs. Montague to you, especially as you're kind of entering into this world
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  ~ of the Haunting of Hill House?
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  I like to think of myself as the catalyst.
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  You know, ~ the the straw that kind of breaks the camel's back in this.
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  The maybe, you know, there's a ~ I I come in with very good intentions
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  of communicating with spirits and thinking that it's a purpose of mine.
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  but I think it does kind of tip the scales by the end of the show,
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  you know, and and something in the house it it doesn't respond well to it.
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  Yeah, it's like poking
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  I love that.
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  the bear. You know, y you've awakened
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  Yes.
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  something that shouldn't be awakened maybe.
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  Mm-hmm. Some may call me a villain.
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  I don't think I would call myself that,
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  but you know, that's
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  Well, because it it it sounds like truly that ev if you awake in the house,
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  you're not actually like maybe the house is the villain,
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  you know, you're just the you know like you said,
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  the catalyst that brings it all together.
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  You know, a cauldron of sorts.
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  You know,
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  Yeah.
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  I think ~ yeah, it's it's that last little bit of the potion that is
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  the four these four to six people together in one room,
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  you know.
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  It's
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  interesting you you mentioned maybe the house is the villain.
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  We've had discussions about ~ how you know it's like everybody thinks
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  haunted house and and and there are moments in the show where they think,
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  ooh, the house is evil. But it's like maybe the house is being ignored.
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  You know, if you if you if you really personify this thing as a person,
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  you know, people nobody wants to be angry,
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  nobody wants to do, you know, bad things,
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  but
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  sometimes circumstances. In the house,
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  I think we've had c discussions where maybe the circumstances are such that it's
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  acting out. You know? your character,
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  Mackenzie, talks about the the peace and love.
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  And maybe the house isn't getting this,
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  you know, that it what it needs.
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  Right.
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  Yeah. So we do definitely try to characterize the the the house,
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  even though you can't see it or hear it or feel like,
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  you know, like you said.
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  Now when it comes to a show like this,
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  JR, like you know, you kinda have the psychological terror,
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  you kind of maybe have ghosts or a house waking up,
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  you know. How do you approach balancing like multiple forms of horror
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  as you're telling the story?
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  well first you you have to go to the script and and maintain
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  ~ the honesty and integrity within the the text itself.
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  ~ from there I I always like to sort of what can I where
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  can I go from as long as I'm not as long as I'm not being untrue to that,
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  where can I go? So ~ it's a live performance.
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  So
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  It's different than a film and it's different than a book.
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  You know, a a movie, a psychological thriller still has that screen between
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  you and it. And in in live theater,
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  that there are people right there.
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  And so we try to take the the psychological component of it,
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  the aspect of it, and really make it much more
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  visceral and tangible with certain
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  Sure.
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  things that we're doing to draw the audience into it to almost become a part
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  of the house itself.
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  I love that. I mean I feel like horror theater is having a real
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  big resurgence right now, especially if you look at some of the shows that
• 10:30
  are coming to Broadway. And I feel like this is kind of what you're describing
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  there. It's it's interesting because as much as I love horror films,
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  the idea of going to a haunted house freaks me out because you're surrounded like
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  it you're living it, you know what I mean?
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  So
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  Mm-hmm.
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  so to be able to go to a show and you're sitting there for an hour,
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  two hours, you know, and you're just living that terror.
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  I mean it I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about that.
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  ~ I've tried to create something of an environmental theater
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  ~ delivery where the the line between the audience
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  and the actors, between the reality and the show is blurred.
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  So it's it's this continuous thing going on and we incorporate as much as
• 11:14
  we can the audience into the production.
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  ~ to enhance that. Like you say,
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  when you're in that haunted house,
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  it's it's there. It's not a screen,
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  you're not it's not a movie, man.
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  That that
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  That
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  creepy thing is right there in front of ya.
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  Right. ~ Mackenzie, so I w having had experience with the story and having
• 11:31
  a love for the story, how do you go into a show and you're you're you know,
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  you're making this character your own,
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  you're you're trying to bring forth your Mrs.
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  Montague, but like when you have like the a blueprint,
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  like he's he talked very fondly of that film,
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  does that influence character choices or do you feel like you can set that aside
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  as you're making your own character for for the show?
• 11:51
  I definitely feel like I can set it aside.
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  There's, you know, a perspective.
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  What's really nice about the play and the novel ~ that I didn't have growing
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  up was in the movie there's not really there's a very different Mrs.
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  Montague and a very shorter Mrs.
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  Montague. ~ which is all well and good.
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  and ~ in the movie
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  She's not as in touch with the spirits,
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  we'll say, or
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  Okay.
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  willing to even, she's just kind of there.
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  So this is a whole new bout of it,
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  you know. I'm also, I think,
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  you know, I it's hard not to take some of those influences,
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  right? We can't unlearn
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  Sure.
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  films. I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I didn't see that,
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  you know, and I didn't know that actor's
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  Sure.
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  interpretation. But I really enjoy.
• 12:45
  Having all these new fresh takes come to my mind and having new influences come
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  and taking my time very slowly with the script and letting it,
• 12:54
  you know, become my own world.
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  There was a very different house every time I sat down to work with this script.
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  Very different from the one that I had in my head when I read the book,
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  and very different from
• 13:05
  Sure.
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  what I saw in, you know, the movie.
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  So Mrs. Montague's the same way.
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  Y you must
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  Sure.
• 13:12
  also be influenced by the other actors.
• 13:15
  Absolutely right. Yes. A very different doctor.
• 13:19
  And that's you know, it's always good to we all come with our
• 13:24
  own interpretations of of roles and of circumstances.
• 13:28
  This is just how, you know,
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  Mackenzie Conn would be if she was living in these circumstances.
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  She's an incredible listener on stage as well.
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  ~ meaning as as a performer, she hears what the other performer,
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  what the other actor is giving to her and and she she responds,
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  she listens and responds. So, you know,
• 13:51
  what she's you know, giving Monday might be different than what she's giving Tuesday
• 13:56
  because the other person is. So ~ you know,
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  I I I think not to speak for you.
• 14:01
  Or I may have discovered something new,
• 14:02
  Yeah, yeah.
• 14:03
  right? You know that
• 14:04
  yeah.
• 14:05
  So
• 14:05
  as an actor then, how do you 'cause this show is very much surrounded
• 14:09
  by fear and uncertainty and a lot of building that tension.
• 14:13
  How do you kind of keep that tension or balance of tension as an actor
• 14:17
  as you're building the story with everybody else in the room?
• 14:20
  That's easy. because I'm filled with fear and tension all the time.
• 14:22
  ~
• 14:25
  This is
• 14:26
  Ha ha ha.
• 14:26
  You're like this is it
• 14:28
  Least to my concerns.
• 14:29
  I'm sweating right now. I don't know how you can see that,
• 14:31
  but like, you know, no,
• 14:31
  Ha ha ha ha.
• 14:33
  I I'm like, that's you know, I'm not coming in now.
• 14:36
  Of course, these are dire situations,
• 14:38
  and of course our hands would be sweating if we were focused
• 14:42
  on planchette and thinking that these spirits were talking to us in a house.
• 14:46
  You know, they are the stakes are high.
• 14:49
  You know, I so ~ that's what I like to do.
• 14:53
  It's any kind of actor tension,
• 14:54
  actor nerves, you know. I just try to remember that,
• 14:56
  of course.
• 14:57
  You know, we don't have we don't tell stories at the theater about
• 15:01
  a mundane Tuesday. You know, it's not So that's convenient.
• 15:03
  Sure. No,
• 15:04
  Right. Yeah.
• 15:07
  that makes sense.
• 15:09
  I it's bringing the authenticity of to the role,
• 15:11
  right?
• 15:12
  We're all people. Mm-hmm. ~
• 15:14
  You you use what you got, you know.
• 15:14
  For sure.
• 15:17
  JR, what do you feel like is the biggest challenge to maybe translating
• 15:20
  the atmospheric story into theatrical production ~ here at Farmington Players?
• 15:24
  ~ well for me, I I would say because I'm
• 15:29
  I'm so n new and unknown to this particular theater,
• 15:34
  ~ one of the biggest challenges for me is is to navigate and you know,
• 15:40
  manage the space, the the stage.
• 15:45
  I don't know that stage. So when we started and I was designing,
• 15:48
  you know, s set,
• 15:51
  I I don't know like, ~ there's this that I have to consider.
• 15:55
  And and and ~ and I don't know the people that well.
• 15:58
  So, you know, you gotta sort of work with this person,
• 16:01
  work with that person. ~ you know,
• 16:04
  when I was working ~ from a different theater and I lived in the upper peninsula,
• 16:08
  I I had a ~ theater for thirty years.
• 16:10
  And ~ myself and ~ a small group of core people within the company,
• 16:16
  ~ I mean, we had shorthand, man.
• 16:19
  I could I
• 16:20
  To this day I could I could tell you all the the you know the lighting plot,
• 16:25
  I could tell you all the the the key areas on the stage,
• 16:28
  the problematic spaces, and then all the people I'm working with,
• 16:31
  it just makes it so much so much easier.
• 16:33
  I could look at a guy and say,
• 16:34
  you know, we gotta blah blah blah and he'd be like,
• 16:36
  yeah, I know what you're doing.
• 16:37
  You know, I could walk out of nowhere and start a conversation.
• 16:40
  But so it's really difficult here to to like add that into
• 16:46
  the mix of things for me, I guess,
• 16:48
  in this particular show.
• 16:50
  It makes a lot of sense. So Mackenzie,
• 16:51
  for you as an actor, what are the was there any scenes that were particularly
• 16:54
  challenging emotionally or physically,
• 16:56
  or what has been like a challenge to bringing this production to life from your
• 16:58
  standpoint?
• 16:59
  I don't want to give too much away.
• 17:00
  you know, I'm going ~
• 17:02
  Well yeah, dance around it.
• 17:05
  we're, you know, the as as we mentioned earlier,
• 17:09
  you know, this isn't the movie and this isn't the book,
• 17:12
  and this is live theater, so we have a gift and and playing with
• 17:16
  the person on person psychological aspects of things.
• 17:20
  So there's some theatrical movement that might be,
• 17:26
  may or may not be a part of this that
• 17:29
  You know, might add to the level of fear and unknown
• 17:35
  and what's going on here kind of vibes.
• 17:37
  ~ those have been ch not I wouldn't say challenging,
• 17:43
  they've been ~ pleasantly pleasantly new,
• 17:47
  like riding a bike again that you used to really like,
• 17:50
  you know, going back to Meyerhold and some biomechanics and some awesome
• 17:55
  old theater techniques, you know.
• 17:57
  So awesome. Then
• 17:58
  Mm-hmm.
• 17:59
  one final question for both of you.
• 18:00
  And McKenzie, I'll with you. Is just what are you hoping audiences
• 18:02
  are still thinking about as they're leaving the theater from this production
• 18:05
  of The Haunting of Hill House?
• 18:06
  What they thinking?
• 18:08
  Like, what are you hoping that sticks with them?
• 18:10
  Mm. Jay, you wanna go first?
• 18:13
  Okay, I'll go first. ~ I I don't
• 18:14
  I think you've thought about about this.
• 18:15
  I'm hoping.
• 18:16
  Ha ha.
• 18:18
  I don't want the audience to be thinking about anything.
• 18:20
  I want them to be feeling. ~ you know,
• 18:24
  there are certain productions,
• 18:26
  certain styles of of of productions and everything where it is very thoughtful,
• 18:30
  where you want them to be, you know,
• 18:32
  sort of engaged ~ on an intellectual level.
• 18:35
  But this is just all about raw emotion and having that that
• 18:41
  escapist, you know, experience and I I want them to be walking
• 18:45
  out just feeling something. And maybe maybe they've separated themselves
• 18:49
  now from from what they just saw.
• 18:51
  ~ and they're just feeling good that they were able that was fun.
• 18:56
  Or or maybe I don't know. I know if it's as creepy as a as I think it is
• 19:00
  as I want it to be, but you know,
• 19:02
  maybe there's somebody looking over their shoulder in that that hallway door where
• 19:07
  they saw something earlier that that shouldn't have been there.
• 19:10
  And they're like, what is you know,
• 19:12
  I want them to feel, not think as they walk out.
• 19:15
  That's beautiful answer. Mackenzie,
• 19:17
  how about you?
• 19:18
  Whoa, you know, ~ I really like that.
• 19:20
  I really like that. And I'm I want to just say,
• 19:24
  you know, I I like to think of my job as an actor is to have
• 19:30
  if one person in the audience is relating to what they are experiencing,
• 19:35
  to what we're experiencing on stage,
• 19:36
  then I've done my job. So if people
• 19:41
  are relating enough to feel that weight lifted off their shoulders for,
• 19:46
  you know, two hours.
• 19:48
  That's awesome. If they can leave changed or moved,
• 19:51
  that's awesome. And if they walk out just saying I had a good two hours,
• 19:56
  I like that too. That's good.
• 20:00
  Well, thank you so much, Mackenzie
• 20:01
  Yeah.
• 20:01
  and JR, for being here. ~ we're so excited for this production to arrive.
• 20:05
  ~ and we just are so thankful that you were here to chat about it.
• 20:08
  So thank you for joining us.
• 20:09
  Well, thanks for the opportunity.
• 20:10
  It was a lot of fun.
• 20:11
  Thank you guys.
• 20:12
  So the haunting of Hill House arrives at Farmington players
• 20:15
  on September twenty fifth and runs to October tenth.
• 20:17
  So get your tickets now and we'll see you the show.