Editor’s note: This is the last weekend for Davidson Community Players’ “The Cottage” at Armour Street Theatre in Davidson, N.C. The production has added an additional show this Saturday and has already sold out Sunday, so don’t miss out on the chance to see a stellar local production of a constantly evolving play.
Hanley Smith is an award-winning actor with credits spanning theatrical productions, films, TV episodes and commercials across the United States, but “The Cottage” at Davidson Community Players is her directorial debut.
So why did it take so long for her to decide to direct?
“I have just been so enamored of acting for so long,” Smith told me in a phone interview. “I’m lucky to be working pretty consistently in that field.“
Consistent is an understatement.
Smith has over 40 credits to her name — including 20 leading roles — since graduating from Davidson College, including a pre-pandemic starring role as Cathy in a production of “The Last Five Years” directed by Jason Alexander (yes, that Jason Alexander).
However, that journey had never turned her eye to directing - nor back to the theater company that shares a town with her alma mater - until she got a call from Davidson Community Players executive director Steve Kaliski.
“It had never really occurred to me to branch out into directing until Steve approached me a couple of years ago about a different show, and I thought, ‘Oh gosh, wow, that would be really fun. Let me think about it,’” said Smith. “And initially I said yes, and then unfortunately had to pull out because I booked another theater show.”
Coming back to “The Cottage”
Smith and Kaliski both started at Davidson College in the fall of 2003 [Editors Note: as did the author] so coming to DCP to direct was a homecoming in more ways than one.
“Hanley and I have known each other as artists and friends since 2003, so it was incredibly gratifying to finally be able to get in the same room together on a show,” said Kaliski. “We’ve each collected so many different techniques and perspectives over the years; seeing what was consistent about each other and what had evolved as we’ve gotten older was really amazing.”
There’s a lot for a director to work with in “The Cottage.” According to DCP’s promotional materials, the play “offers a perfect showcase for six actors with endless laughs, hilarious twists, daring physical comedy, and a happy ending for lovers everywhere.”
Smith would know: she originated the role of Deirdre in the world premiere of the Sandy Rustin play at Astoria PAC, and then went on to play Sylvia - the lead role - at Florida Studio several years later.
An opportunity to return to “The Cottage” was something Smith couldn’t resist.
“This time, when ‘The Cottage’ rolled around, that felt like serendipity, because of my history with the show [and] my fondness for it,” said Smith. “I’m grateful to Steve for offering me the chance to dip my toes in a creative aspect of our field that I’ve been intrigued by, but never really had the time or opportunity to pursue.”
“I have a deep knowledge of the inside of how it works from having played in the sandbox for so long, and Sandy Rustin, the playwright, has become a friend of mine over the years. So I knew I could use her as a really valuable resource,” said Smith. “So there were a lot of different things that started to line up that said, ‘You have something to offer for this particular production, that maybe not many other people would. And though you’ve never directed before, you do know this play very well, and you can study up in advance of the actual job and then do a lot of learning by doing.’”
Smith’s experience with the play was hard-earned. Her first audition for the play was an agent appointment in a deconsecrated Korean church in Queens now known as the Astoria PAC. She didn’t know the playwright or director Adam Dannheisser, whose Broadway credits at the time included “Rock of Ages.”
“It was one of those auditions where I just had the best time in the room,” said Smith. “They were really laughing and generous and supportive, and whenever people laugh, it sometimes can unlock something in you as an actor where you start finding even more comedy … So I had a great time in that audition room and ended up booking it.”
Smith’s experience with the play has also given her a chance to see it evolve for over a decade. At first, she was getting new pages from Rustin while preparing for the premiere; now, she gets to play with a more developed text than she had as an actor, with refinements all the way until the final curtain.
“It’s been neat to watch the script. grow and evolve and become even more empowering for its female characters,” said Smith. “As the years went by, [Rustin] just got more and more specific and deep on those trajectories for the female characters. How people are changed by being in the cottage. How do they enter it differently? How do they exit it differently than they enter it? I think is a fun thing to examine as you work on the piece.”
While we won’t spoil anything, we can say that the play has changed “a medium amount” according to Smith, with a new ending perhaps more in line with the play’s values.
A Directorial Debut
With her professional acting experience, Smith already had a vision of what a director needs to accomplish before opening night. Her deep knowledge of the text made “The Cottage” the perfect play for her debut on the other side of the stage, but that didn’t stop her from learning.
“It was a question I [had] coming into this process of like, ‘What exactly does a director do?’ I understood from an intellectual level that the director’s task is to get everybody on the same page of telling … a compelling, engaging story,” said Smith. “What was surprising and fascinating and occasionally overwhelming for me was how many elements are involved.”
With all of the different parts involved, Smith compared directing for the first time to planning her wedding all over again.
“There were so many decisions to be made: do you have any visions for the set and where exactly the exits are and how many of them you need? What ways do you want the doors to open? What colors are the walls? What color towel do you want Beau to come in drawing his hair off with? What color are the cups? What do you think of this chair?” said Smith. “This sofa, this light, this sound cue, the music, the there’s, it’s so intricate, the work and the collaboration that goes into creating a theatrical piece. It’s astonishing.”
Despite learning and developing as a director as she went, Smith knew she wanted to make sure that actors and technical staff felt safe and empowered to be creative and bring their talents to the process. She measured her success not only by tickets sold or approving laughs from the audience, but also by how much she got back from her team.
“When you have a really good room of, of smart, generous, problem solving creative thinkers, a lot of your job is over,” said Smith. “Very often their ideas are better than your own. So I do think that another task of a director is to create a space where everybody feels free to contribute.”
The approach has paid off. Smith’s direction is receiving plaudits, with one local theater critic asking if this really is her first time directing.
“So whether or not she has directed anywhere else before her DCP debut, Smith quickly establishes that she has a sure feel for this script,” writes Perry Tannenbaum in the Cultural Voice of North Carolina. “This production is definitely worthy of its pedigree.”
“Fly Free, Birdies”
Smith and I discussed one difference she encountered between major equity productions and a local non-profit theater company: whether or not the director stays around after the final dress rehearsal.
The tradition in professional theater is that once the show is open the director has done their duty, they leave, and subsequent notes come from the stage manager.
That was the world Smith came from. She doesn’t live in Davidson, so she saw her job as done once she passed the play on, but many local actors were sad to see her go as they’re used to getting notes from directors who are often also local theater employees.
“My impression from the actors is that they are used to receiving feedback throughout the run, and in fact, they were disappointed that I wouldn’t be offering that,” said Smith. “So I have, sadly, not seen the show since. That part is really hard because the payoff of getting to experience the show with an audience and especially a comedy, with their laughter and how that impacts the actors and enriches their choices and their moments, and I hope gives them a sense of fun and fulfillment. I’m very sad that I’m not able to live in that joy.”
Like a mother bird, Smith was ready for the crew of “The Cottage” to spread their wings.
“Please continue to learn and grow, but do it with each other and within yourself. You don’t necessarily need me anymore,” said Smith. “Like, fly free, birdies, and take this play and make it what you now want it to be.”
“The Cottage” runs through Sunday, with tickets still available through Saturday at the DCP website.