1. Be an Actor's Director

Photo by Woods Pierce

Actors are a show's most valuable resource. It may feel as though your soul is on stage but it is the actor's voice that the audience hears, the actor's body they see. Bring your vision but cast artists whom you want to hear from, find collaborators. 

Deanʼs actors appreciate her talent and intelligence, but also her respect for theirs. "Asae really takes care of her actors," says Salt and Sage vet Samson Syharath. "She never says no until we need to start shaping. Itʼs a really free and open experience."

​Heath Hyun Houghton, who has previously acted on the Salt and Sage stage but this time is assistant director, concurs. "I appreciate her ‘actors playgroundʼ approach to the work," he says. "Her work tends to be built around the choices actors are making and the kind of relationships theyʼre building. As an actor itʼs really exciting because thereʼs a lot of freedom. Itʼs a very organic, dynamic process."

- Bobby Bermea, Oregon Arts Watch

2. Practice the Female Gaze

There is a lot I am trying to capture with this principle. First, men having been afforded more space within our culture will take more space on stage when left to their own devices while women will give space retreating to the corners even when playing men, even when playing kings. Place women center stage and in functional shoes. Next, build intimate moments based on the characters needs and stories, fill plays wherever possible with the kind of candid touch that counters depictions of touch as weak or shameful. Be bold and celebrate all kinds of bodies.

References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot

3. Embrace the Invitation

The mirror along one wall in the only venue available to rent, the impossible stage direction that happens to be incredibly important, these are often invitations disguised as problems - embrace them.

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