5 questions with Ariel Bock, director

Shakespeare & Company continues its tradition of costumed staged readings of new plays set in the Jane Austen universe with “Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberly” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, playing this weekend in the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre.

The production is being directed by Ariel Bock, an associate artist at the company who has acted, directed and taught voice for 20 years. Just last month she was named Best Director by the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association for her work on the enchanting “Dear Jack, Dear Louise” by Ken Ludwig, which played outdoors in the Roman Garden Theatre at Lenox this summer.

I leapt at the opportunity to find out more about this consummate theater artist and these unique holiday stagings.

Question: What drew you to theater and made you want to make a life in it?

Answer: I was drawn to acting and gradually realized that art changes lives, my own included. I like working with other people — as part of a team rather than on my own. Live theater is physical, emotional, intellectual; strikingly present yet different every day, and enormous fun in both a silly and a profound way. 

Q: Do you have a history with Austen? Which Austen works or adaptations have inspired exceptionally strong reactions and why?

A: My only history is that as a girl I loved reading and I especially loved books that told women’s stories, took me into a world that was not my own and yet one I could relate to. That said, I have directed six of these adaptations or fan fiction plays of Jane Austen’s works and I have come to appreciate her even more — her wit, her engaging dialog, and her perceptions of women’s lives and the social world or culture they navigate. 

I find all of her books engaging. “Pride and Prejudice,” of course — I love how the characters meet and change each other in their journey towards true and lasting love. Sense and Sensibility — the sisters’ relationships really draws me to that story. In fact, all the very different women in that book — different ages, stages of life, classes.

Q: What happens in “Georgiana” and what does it offer for Austen fanatics or for those who’ve never read or seen a word of hers?

A: “Georgiana and Kitty” follows the story of Darcy’s sister and one of the younger Bennet sisters — both wanting more out of life than marriage and exploring the possibilities of their lives as artists in the world of music. I think the play has all that an Austen fanatic might want in terms of following the much-loved characters of “Pride and Prejudice” as well as allowing those characters to find new aspects of themselves and pushing the boundaries of what women can accomplish, both emotionally and artistically. It is also quite fun; warm, witty and filled with family relationships. Maddening at times, but ultimately loving.

Q: How is directing a reading different from a full production, and what are the traps and advantages?

A: Well, basically it is a much quicker process, so I really depend on the actors’ instincts and energy to jump in and find the depth of the relationships with very little time to explore. We let the energy of the text carry us along and we keep the scripts in hand, but not in a way that distracts from the story or the characters’ relationships. We have less time with props and such — it is a bit like looking at a wonderful series of sketches rather than the fine and completed painting. In this format there’s more flexibility even in each performance. The actors are right in the moment on multiple levels, still making discoveries about the text and their characters. I think that is very exciting.  

Similarly, with our designers — they have to approach this as a glorious and fun experiment in which they have to select what is most important to them. A full production would also be fun, though. … Someday!

Q: What is a play that changed your life and how?

A: Very long ago in Boston I saw a play called “Women in Anger.” It was a self-scripted or “devised” production put together by a small theater group called Reality Theater and presented in an industrial loft space, hardly any set or costumes, and with few of the amenities we usually expect at an evening of theater. It was so emotionally powerful; the actors were so intimately connected with the stories they were telling; the text and the physicality were very personal and unique. I had already had some experience onstage, but being part of that evening crystalised the level of expression I wanted for myself as a human being and as an artist. 

“Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberly” plays at Shakespeare & Company Dec. 15-17. For tickets, visit shakespeare.org.