Friedman spoke about the perspective she has gained from her professional experiences since graduation during an e-mail interview with justArts.JustArts: While you were at Brandeis, you were a set-building machine, constructing several sets a semester. Is the professional pace any different than the one you picked up in college? How's the general transition from undergraduate theater to professional theater?

Alexandra Friedman: It really all depends upon what theaters you work at in the professional world. At Berkeley Rep[ertory Theater], where I'm interning now, we do about seven shows a season, so each production gets a lot more time, as well as several dedicated professionals in every department working on it, and a much larger budget. This allows us to generally work 8-5 Monday-Friday, although load-ins, strikes, and certain projects do require more intense schedules sometimes. It's really satisfying to have the time and resources to do the best work we possibly can. It's also truly delightful to work with people who are really passionate about their work ... and to not have to come home and do homework! At the same time, I have recently been working with some other, smaller theater companies in the Bay Area and many of them have very limited budgets, which makes me realize how lucky we are at Brandeis to have the resources we do for student productions. Working on the sets for some of these companies, my task is to spend as little money as humanly possible-so there's a lot of creative scrounging and compromising that has to go on. Also, smaller companies have far fewer full-time employees, so many of their members have other jobs during the day and putting on productions is a labor of love. The short answer is that professional theater runs the gamut in its scope and size, and I think the quality of Brandeis undergraduate theater, as far as production values go, lands somewhere in the middle.

JA: Could you elaborate as to how you managed to end up in Berkeley, Calif., working on the stage adaptation of Green Day's American Idiot?

AF: I wanted to have a definite place to go after graduation, because free-lancing is so volatile, especially in (I hate to say it) the economic situation we're in right now, and I know myself well enough to realize that I like having a plan. There are several programs throughout the country that strive to provide a transition from college to the "real world" for those interested in pursuing theater professionally. I applied to a bunch of them for a few different positions and was initially unsure where I most wanted to be, but when I got the offer from Berkeley Rep I realized that the combination of location, quality of work, and program was exactly what I wanted. As for working on American Idiot, it's been an amazing experience. It is an enormous production, incorporating video, projections, and flying in addition to lights, sets, costumes, and sound-which means a huge amount of overhire on top of the permanent staff. It was definitely overwhelming coming into it, but everyone has been really wonderful, from the design team to the cast to the audience. I am consistently amazed at the stamina of the performers and I am so happy to have been able to be a part of it. I will really miss the show when it's gone! If you should find yourself in the Bay Area soon, American Idiot is in its final extension, running through November 15.

JA: Did you think that this would be something you would be pursuing post-college?

AF: I was lucky enough to realize before my senior year of high school that I wanted to pursue scenic design, and I've somehow managed to maintain that desire through college and beyond graduation. Even knowing that, nobody was going to tell me exactly what path to follow. I think that in any career in the arts, there are dozens, hundreds of ways to get to doing the work you want to be doing. The most useful and consistent piece of advice I've received (and this is specific to theater) is not to go straight into graduate school, but figure out yourself and your concrete goals in the real world, and when you hit a wall, then look into further formal education.

JA: Are there any new projects you're working on or will be working on soon?

AF: We recently opened Tiny Kushner, which is a collection of five short plays by Tony Kushner. When American Idiot closes, Aurelia's Oratorio, which is a touring show that I believe played in Boston, goes into that theater, and next up after Tiny Kushner is Coming Home, a new play by Athol Fugard. Meanwhile, something else I've been working on is B-Sides, a production of previously unused sketches by Killing My Lobster, a sketch comedy troupe from San Francisco.

JA: Have your impressions or understanding of theater changed since you began working outside Brandeis? Are these new perspectives positive ones?

AF: One of the biggest revelations for me has been the aforementioned gap between large and small companies, which is just the way it is-but I have also seen that there are so many theaters out there, and so many opportunities, and so many cities to create theater in. I also realized that I am really interested in producing new work. It's very exciting putting on shows that were recently written, and seeing what intrigues contemporary playwrights and how the shows are received.

JA: Any advice for people interested in pursuing your line of work?

AF: I'd say, first of all, don't go straight into grad school-see what's out there in the real world; what interests and fascinates you; what skills you're lacking; what your strengths are. Programs like Berkeley Rep's are a great way to transition into the professional world but the main thing, I think, is just to go out and do what you love, and if you should find that you aren't enjoying something, take what you can learn and move on. Meet people and make connections, because the theater world is tiny and everyone knows one another across the country.



-Marianna Faynshteyn