Interview: Director Kaylin Saur on GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES at Loud Fridge Theatre Group

Sometimes, lifelong friendships, relationships, and scars are formed on a playground, or, in the case of “Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Rajiv Joseph, at the elementary school nurse's office. Director Kaylin Saur talks about bringing this show about friendship, love, and a few injuries to the stage. “Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Loud Fridge Theatre Group is playing through April 26th at the Tenth Ave Theatre Arts Centre.

This play spans the friendship between Kayleen (Lark Laudenslager) and Doug (Nicolas A. Castillo), who meet in the nurse's office. Him because he rode his bicycle off the roof, and her because of stomach pain. What follows is an eight-scene, non-chronological one-act that explores the evolution of their relationship.

"Gruesome Playground Injuries" is an intimate play about love and friendship over the course of a 30-year relationship featuring special effects makeup, live scene changes, and an incredible two-actor cast. Just like falling in and out of love in real life, it is alternately heart-wrenching and hilarious, making it deeply relatable even for the less accident-prone among us.

Along with directing this show, Kaylin gets to use her performance skills as a circus artist and drag performer to help tell this story. Those skills were on display as the star of last year's "Twelfth Night Or What You Will,” and also came into play in her approach to this show as well.

I am not just the director on this piece, but the makeup designer as well! Rajiv Joseph wrote into the script that all the set, costume, and makeup changes for Gruesome happen in full view of the audience, and the makeup is a huge part of telling this story, something that I am constantly practicing as part of my drag performance. Additionally, because these between-scene moments don’t have lines written for them, they rely on non-verbal storytelling, which was my first form of performance as a circus acrobat and clown.

I am asking the actors to leave their words behind in these moments and instead amplify, for example, their breath, or the movements of their hands, or where they place their gaze to imbue as much meaning as possible into seemingly simple tasks like putting on shoes.

My belief has always been that a huge part of the magic of live theatre lives in all the details beyond the text, and this script is such a joy to work on because of the way it really allows me to showcase those elements. I believe that our production will let the audience not just enjoy a touching story, but be moved to think more deeply about how theatre gets made and all the ways that we all communicate with each other beyond our words.

Lark Laudenslager and Nicolas A. Castillo Photo credit: Nicolas A. Castillo

The cast and creative team are vital to bringing all shows to the stage, especially in one that is as intimate as this one. Kaylin says that she is lucky to have this team with her for her first main stage production.

I have been so lucky to have all my first choices for artists on this show, which means that this team is full of creative, generous people who I believe are ones to watch in San Diego theatre. We are an overwhelmingly young team, and the feeling has been very collaborative right from day one.

I am generally a very organic director, so I always expect that things will change from my initial plans — frankly, if they don’t, it’s because I am not listening to my team and their wonderful ideas. This show has certainly shifted throughout this process, but always because the team has brought new thoughts that elevate the concepts I outlined at the beginning of our work, which is what I always hope for.

The speed with which everyone has gelled into the vision and begun bringing their own elements to the crazy dream I spun them at the first production meeting has been such a gift for my Main Stage directing debut. The actors, in particular, are very different from each other in a way that makes them a fascinating pair, just like Doug and Kayleen.

Especially crucial are Laudenslager as Kayleen and Castillo as Doug; Kaylin says that she knew they would be the pair that would help bring this show to life in the most impactful way.

I knew when I saw them at callbacks that this was a cast who already had the most crucial elements of this show, but who also have the potential to learn a lot from each other because of their complementary strengths in their craft. In order to be as moving as I know it can be, Gruesome requires deeply playful actors, people who can handle the darker moments of the story while also reminding us that even in crisis, human beings are often silly, that we often switch from tears to laughter within the space of a breath. I saw that from Lark and Nicolas, even in the first table read.

Kaylin says that there is so much in this play for audiences to connect with and enjoy, including watching these actors play on the stage and help create this world.

I hope our audience will look back on their own love stories and see the ways that we all get in our own way, or in the way of the people we love, always with the best of intentions. We are all always trying to find connection and be vulnerable, but it’s difficult, and terrifying, and can involve a lot of injury along the way. Gruesome Playground Injuries asks us, “How far am I willing to go — what is love worth? How do I know if it's real?”

Beyond the themes of the story, I hope they will take home the feeling of having witnessed the power of connection as it relates to the craft of theatre, having seen makeup, costumes, set, lights, sound, and two powerhouse actors come together to build Doug and Kayleen’s world and let us all sit at the edge of it to watch them play. It’s all right there in front of the audience, and I hope they’ll enjoy getting to step inside the process even while viewing the finished product.

How To Get Tickets

“Gruesome Playground Injuries” by Loud Fridge Theatre Group is playing through April 26th at the Tenth Ave Theatre Arts Centre. For ticket and show time information, go to loudfridge.com