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Show Director's Profile: Linda Martin i -U 1 I rv;:-.v:'-V'; .(;; ; '& m' " r 4 ' 4 : ' '- ' ' m.rrT f j ' rr" ii ir-wtitiTfr-""" , ,r s t - ,r. ''t - . -y ' 1 ;;. V , Mf .III - ', ' ' V. 1 v ' S The hardest thing about directing is being assertive without hurting someone's feelings, according to Arsenic Arsen-ic and Old Lace director, Linda Martin. Since I can't imagine Linda Martin ever saying anything which mighty hurt someone else's feelings, we talked about the problems she faced in directing this, her first full-length play. Asked about the problem of community theater, in that , you see the actors in Alpha Beta the next day, Martin said she tried to learn to get along with the entire cast and see that the cast remained friends, Then the rough moments seem to pass without totally alienating someone, she said. You can't be the type of director where you won't have any friends the next day. Martin said Arsenic presented presen-ted a particular challenge to her, since the cast was so large and diversified. She said she tried to deal with the problem by having the actors learn their lines first, within . allotted time, and then doing . the blocking and handling the other problems of characterization. char-acterization. Once the actors know their lines, the other problems aren't so hard, said Martin. Setting a scene, or an act, or planning a set are like painting a picture, she continued, you set it up, and . Linda Martin see if its pleasing to the eye. She said she really enjoys this aspect of her new endeavor. (Martin directed a one-act play last season for IAE, but she really feels this is the first time she has been exposed ; to. the . state , qi jtjie art.) Martin said the single most important thing for a first time director is having someone to talk to who has done it before, preferably the managing director of the theater company you're di- Please.turn to page 2B More Profile Continued from Page 1 B recting for. Being a director without direction is the pits, she said. Linda originally hails from Los Angeles, she laughingly said, a valley girl, before that sobriquet meant anything. She came to Utah, however. in 1976 to attend Utah State University in Logan. There, she met Van Martin in January and was engaged a week later. It was a long engagement, however. She wasn't married until August! The Martins moved to Park I City in 1974, where Van was the first Park City planner. Linda stayed home and mothered as a succession of three children joined the family. In 1976 she went to work for Judge Kilby and the Park City Justice Court. She stayed there, between children, child-ren, for the next two years. She has since held various jobs in town, including Martin said her first theater experience was with the production here of Oliver. She was given one of the leads, learned the entire part, went to every rehearsal, rehear-sal, and then got sick before the play opened. She never appeared in one show. She didn't let that bother her, though. . She has become a familiar sight in local performances, having roles in Once Upon a Matress, Streetcar Named Desire, Funny Thing Happened Hap-pened On the Way to the Forum, My Fair Lady, Harvey and Fiddler on the Roof. She has also done ' costuming for both IAE and PCP. Asked if she plans to direct again. Martin was evasive. Wait until this one's over, she said. TOw. ill? S W a 5 I V- J Os of the many Christmas works of art displayed last weekend at the Holiday Inn by the Park City artists. The etent It an annual showing by the artists. |