First Time's the Charm

Tina Trimble, first-time director of Paper Thin, shared a few words with us about her experience.

For some time I’ve had the idea in my head of how the director and actors should collaborate to shape the play. My recent experiences on stage have been as a member of a large cast where the director has had little time for discussion of why the action is happening, what the characters hope to gain or fear to lose, how a gesture or position of a hand or inflection of a voice alters the audience’s expectations. To me the director’s role is not only to discover and reveal the play’s intention but also to explore with the actors each character’s impact on the action, to examine the validity of his/her emotions in each scene and to nurture the actors’ choices of voice, manner and spirit as they relate to the rhythm of the whole. I wanted to direct to see if I could do the job as I thought it should be done.


Marlise Garde and Gerard J. Savoy as Maggie and Clark

I chose “Paper Thin” for my directorial debut not because it spoke to me, but because it shouted. I fell in love with the characters – two damaged people who are emotionally distant from each other and from their own selves struggling to control the untamable human desire for connection. That’s juicy stuff. From the beginning I saw Clark and Maggie locked in this battle for control with the power constantly shifting between them right through to the final fade-out. Fortunately Paul Weissman, the playwright, shared my vision and gave me the opportunity to run with these beautifully complex people.


Marlise Garde and Gerard J. Savoy as Maggie and Clark

Paul conceived “Paper Thin” as a screen play and to me it felt far more cinematic than theatrical. I wanted to present the intimacy of film on the stage, and to achieve this we did numerous “takes” for each scene and even for many moments until we found the right mood or soul that worked. The challenge for me was to strike the right balance between the two characters so the audience would see them as equally matched in their emotional wounds as well as in their desire for and inability to embrace healing. The play has so many layers – so many choices could be made that would change the audience’s expectations and perception of what was happening. The actors brought numerous ideas about their characters’ essences and intentions which we discussed, tried, tweaked and sometimes threw away after several weeks. It was a wonderful gift getting to know Marlise better as a person and as an actress. She brought a lot to the table and kept adding more and more layers to Maggie as we worked. Being married to my leading man was not very different from living with him while he worked with another director since we always discuss his character when he is preparing for a role. The biggest difference in being his director is that this time he could argue with my suggestions but he had to try them anyway.

As Maggie and Clark came to life, anger became understanding, sorrow replaced empathy, stoicism morphed into humor (and sometimes back to anger) and we all laughed -- and ate -- a lot. I could not have had a better cast or a better experience as a first time director. Would I like to direct again? Absolutely!