N.Y.’s Silverman comes west to helm Of Equal Measure

by Christopher Cappiello

“I will always choose a new work over doing the 50th production of some other play,” says Leigh Silverman, one of New York’s most sought-after theater directors, during a break from directing the world premiere of Tanya Barfield’s Of Equal Measure for the Center Theatre Group. “It is, for me, the only reason to do theater—the only thing that really makes sense to me.”

The 30-something director—with a master’s degree in playwrighting from Carnegie Mellon—has made a lot of sense of working with writers on new scripts. In a relatively short period, she has developed a reputation for collaborating with some of today’s more adventurous writers, including Lisa Kron, Henry David Hwang and Barfield, with whom she shares a long working relationship.

“I’ve directed all of Tanya’s plays,” at one time or another, Silverman says. “[Of Equal Measure] is, gosh, I don’t know, either our sixth or seventh collaboration.”

The new work, commissioned by CTG, provides a glimpse into a chapter in American history largely unknown to most of us. Set during the Woodrow Wilson administration, in the lead-up to World War I, Of Equal Measure tells the story of Jade Kingston, a stenographer who is the only African American left working in the White House.

“The federal offices were totally integrated when Wilson started,” Silverman explains, “and then, over the course of his tenure as president, it kind of slid back about 20 years. … Basically, the federal offices went from being totally integrated to being completely segregated.”

For many Americans, the shorthand history of the period is that Wilson famously sought to “make the world safe for democracy” by entering the war. What is less well known, however, is that civil liberties were being trampled on at home while a devoutly religious president took the country to war.

If that sounds familiar, that’s the idea.

“There’s a scene in the play where Wilson says, ‘We’re not going to call it sauerkraut, we’re going to call it liberty cabbage,’” Silverman says. “It is totally true! And that isn’t even the weirdest similarity [to the current administration].”

Silverman, who had a commitment ceremony with her girlfriend in 2004, says that Jade’s experiences in the play can easily resonate with LGBT audiences. “I think Jade is an outsider. She is a woman. She is a black woman in an all-white administration,” she says, explaining that the play’s events speak to “anyone who has spent part of their life living as an outsider—passing, as it were—and being forced to sublimate part of their personality to strive from something in a career.”

Lisa Gay Hamilton was slated to play Jade before leaving the production—midway through rehearsals—for personal reasons. Silverman turned to Michole Briana White, who played Jade in an early workshop of the play.

“She’s an extraordinary actress,” Silverman says of White, “and to have someone who helped with the development of the play actually play the part is always a nice thing—and it doesn’t always happen.”

With cast changes and the requisite script changes that come with a world premiere, Silverman’s work is cut out for her.

“That’s why I have an ulcer and can’t sleep, you know? That’s the gig,” she says, lightheartedly, but perhaps only half joking.

“New work is really hard that way, but I also feel like it is the most rewarding experience to collaborate with a writer on a vision that is so ever-changing all the time,” she says. “You just have to be fearless.”

Of Equal Measure runs June 29-July 27 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City. For tickets and more information, visit centertheatregroup.org