ARTS

Taymor revisits Oberlin

Well-respected director discusses her work

by Hanna Miller

Related Story

Julie Taymor OC '74 spent much of her time at Oberlin in a single studio. On Monday, she spent a few hours downstairs in Studio 3A, talking to Professor of Theater Roger Copeland about where she's been since.

During Taymor's tenure at Oberlin, she was a member of Herb Blau's Oberlin Group. The avant-garde performance group met in Warner behind closed doors to create, develop and improvise. The public was invited in on Monday to listen to Taymor discuss her work as a director.

Taymor is currently directing Disney's production of The Lion King on Broadway. The production has already earned near-universal critical acclaim.

"I know people here want to talk about the King, and we're going to talk about the King," Copeland reassured the audience that gathered to hear Copeland and Taymor's version of In the Actors' Studio. Seated in comfortable easy chairs, Copeland tossed a few choice questions at Taymor about both The Lion King and her earlier work.

Copeland noted that The Lion King seemed to be a departure from Taymor's earlier work. Taymor's avant-garde treatments of Oedipus Rex and Titus Andronicus have earned Taymor accolades as one of the world's best directors.

"To many artists, Disney is sort of the Anti-Christ," Copeland said. "What went through your head?"

"When I got the call, I wasn't jumping for joy, and I wasn't sure I'd have anything to do with it," Taymor said. "But these people knew who I was. I felt they really wanted what I do."

What Taymor does is combine masks, puppets and an understanding of folklore to produce a fully multicultural, and often epic, theater experience. Taymor has studied mime in Paris, theater in New York and puppetry in Indonesia. Although Taymor has never travelled to Africa, she made use of African influences in The Lion King.

"The thing that was most enticing was there were only five songs in the movie," Taymor said. "The new songs are by Lebo. There is now a powerful South African chorus."

Taymor also attempted to rewrite the play's second act, with somewhat less success.

"It was wild. In the film, Simba goes off and eats bugs and comes back. What kind of prodigal son journey is that? I studied myth and folklore at Oberlin. I know these things."

Taymor's revised interpretations, which took Simba to whorehouses, was rejected by Disney.

Taymor quickly adapted her brand of theater to the Lion King tale, attaching turfs of grass to chorus members' heads, so that as the actors rose from beneath stage level, the audience witnessed the grass grow and then watched the actors emerge from below. Taymor admitted she had been challenged by working with the anthropormorphic beasts that have become a Disney staple.

"I had to deal with the fact that lions are horizontal," Taymor said. Taymor achieved her desired effect through a combination of masks and sticks. "To use sticks is an African tradition, so this was tremendous."

"Rafiki is played by an African woman. I asked her to tell me a story about the changing seasons in her own toungue. She speaks Xhosa. I love language as music. When you have to concentrate on the words, you lose the music. She speaks now and the audience doesn't understand a word she says."

"The racial, cultural aspect of this show has been the best part," Taymor said. "The most gratifying part of The Lion King has been the respect of black America."

Associate Professor of African American Studies and Theater Caroline Jackson Smith saw Taymor's production of The Lion King. Smith said she had been impressed by the presence of African imagery. "As someone who has a young child, I've had to struggle with Disney's masking of race," Smith said.

"What I love about the Lion King is it is a predominantly non-white show that's not about race," Taymor said. However, Taymor said, she believed race was always a consideration for minorities. "It is also all about race. We're absolutely going to have to think about race here."

Hundreds of people crowded into King 306 later in the afternoon to hear Taymor speak and watch short video clips of her work. The room was temporarily transformed into a subway car chock full of communters, as listeners jockeyed for breathing room.

Taymor narrated her autobiography, highlighting her time spent in Oberlin and Indonesia.

"I came to this empty village square," Taymor said, remembering Indonesia. "I wanted peace and quiet, and all of a sudden, I could hear three gamelans. Twenty old men came out to the middle of the square and started to dance. I could only see them by moonlight. I swear it was that moment I understood what it meant to perform for God."


Related Story:

OC alum captures spotlight with production of Lion King
- November 21, 1997

Back // Arts Contents \\ Next

T H E   O B E R L I N   R E V I E W

Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 11, December 5, 1997

Contact us with your comments and suggestions.