Theatre runs in her veins

By Susan Budd

Sam Scott is a fresh-faced blond of 37 years, the sort of person you see piling the kids and dog into the four-wheel drive before doing lunch and preparing for the evening's book club.

But appearances are deceptive. She is a powerhouse of passion for the theatre, living for her work with no respite, even in her dreams, from new ideas.

"Even while at school at Westlake Girls' High," says Scott, "I had a hankering for theatre. When I was 16 I became involved with the Auckland Youth Theatre with Mark Wright and Alison Wall, and Christian Penny and Anna Marbrook, who went on to form Theatre At Large.

"It was wonderful to be with people who were as passionate as I am. I remember walking through the park with Mark and realising that I had never had a conversation before with someone who felt as much passion as I do.

"I love the process of theatre. You set out to work with ideas, discovering and being surprised, building up trust."

Scott is enthusiastic about her work as a director on Shortland Street for the same reasons.

Oliver Driver, Madeleine Sami, Craig Parker, Simone Kessel and Jodie Rimmer are only a few of those who were first bitten by the acting bug while working with her in youth theatre.

It was inevitable that Scott become one of New Zealand's leading directors of youth theatre. "I worked out quickly that I wanted to direct and make stuff, to have an idea and work it through."

She began with the Northland Youth Theatre 14 years ago, and was co-founder and artistic director of the Maidment Youth Theatre from 1991-1997. In 1997 she started her new company, Aotearoa Young People's Theatre, which produced Legacy at the Herald Theatre in 1998 and is about to open with Still Moving on Thursday at the Auckland Town Hall Concert Chamber.

Still Moving began with a hunch that became a vision.

"I have learned to trust those hunches. I go with an idea that seems to be captivating me. I cut out pictures, images or articles that appeal to me from newspapers and magazines. They give a particular slant on humanity and I look at what ideas I want to explore. I like collaborating, handing over to a writer or designer and saying, 'Why don't you have a go?' It excites me, it is such a tangible experience."

She met writer Fiona Graham a year ago in London to discuss the concept of Still Moving.

"We talked about what happens when you have to leave someone or something that you know you will not return to. It was originally about people in transit, but became about people making choices and how they make them. If you have chosen not to make a choice, is that a conscious decision? Do you follow a dream at the expense of other things? What do you hang onto?"

Although they live 19,000km apart, Scott and Graham communicate by telephone, e-mail and the occasional visit. The production process began with a weekend workshop audition of more than 70 people.

Although Scott is undeniably in charge, she is no commandant. Dressed, like her young cast, in track pants and T-shirt, her feet bare, she moves quickly to give suggestions and discuss motivation and movement.

They all work extraordinarily hard for long hours: five weeks rehearsal for six days a week. From her training at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in London, Scott has learned to work on a physical basis from the text.

"In an argument scene I got them wrestling. It helps them find their voices."

In Still Moving two of the cast, whose ages range from 16 to 24, play old characters and two young versions of some characters, so they are grappling with ideas that strike most people in mid-life or beyond.

"We only ever do new work, but sometimes it condemns young people to playing certain things and ages. I don't just want to keep showing them the same things, although it is very hard work. Fiona writes sparely in a quite filmic way with lots of subtext and thought processes. Sometimes I have to work hard to find the ways in for them. They are working like Trojans - one minute doing a big physical duet, the next reflection."

In an ad hoc way, youth theatre serves as an apprenticeship for budding actors and those keen on careers in other areas of stagecraft.

The set and costume designer, Tracey Collins, has two young people assisting her, while the set and lighting designers and stage manager each have assistants. Almost all assistants have gone on to work in theatre as a career.

* Still Moving, Aotearoa Young People's Theatre, directed by Sam Scott, February, 10-19, Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall.