Review Fix Exclusive Planet Connections Theatre Festivity Coverage: Alexandra Siladi Talks ‘Two Sides’

Review Fix chats with Alexandra Siladi, who discusses her production “Two Sides” and what’s like to be a part of the 10th anniversary season of Planet Connections Theatre Festivity at the Theaters at the Clemente.

About the Production:

Alexandra Siladi weaves a powerful tale concerning a grieving woman at an impasse. Set in New York City in 1999, the end of the millennium and the loss of her mother forces Mimi, a young woman, to examine her life and purpose. Her reawakening puts her on a journey involving a dangerous love triangle. “Two Sides” and its modern noir setting offers up the question… can two sides ever tell the whole story?

Award-winning director Alexandra Siladi and Black Lodge Theater have a long and storied history in the arts. “Two Sides” epitomizes their canon of character-driven works.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Alexandra Siladi: The inspiration for “Two Sides” came from a vision I had in college of having a giant two-way mirror on the stage that would act as a window on one side and the reflective side of an interrogation room mirror on the other. The idea was that in one set of scenes, you bear witness to lives being lived through this pane of glass that is so typical of life in NYC, and one the other side, see yourself reflected as an observer of those events. This concept led to creation of a true noir play, that is a genre not usually found in the theater, with a picture of events leading up to a murder through two friends, versus a man and a detective trying to figure out what happened after the fact. As a director, I realized I was always trying to make plays fit into my conceptualization of them through a view of deconstruction, and thought it was time for me to get into writing to have full control of the story. This is the first play I’ve ever written (aside from one I wrote about a bully while in the fifth grade), while also serving as director.

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Siladi: My creative process is very instinctual. I get inspiration from everything I see, hear, and feel. An idea could hit me really at any moment, so I try to make sure and take in all that I do as “research”. It could be watching Real Housewives episodes for hours where I get the flash of insight, or remembering a specific scene from a Bergman film that leads me to a major discovery. In terms of the rehearsal process, I’m like Declan Donnellan in that I don’t go into the room with any particular plan of action. I like seeing what feels right in the moment to come up with an exercise or conversation around ideas and motivations. I like to create an environment that is fluid and comfortable in the moment.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Siladi: What makes “Two Sides” different is that it’s presenting a story from the noir genre (usually associated with film) and taking it from the cinema into the black box. I like using the language of film within the context of a play because it allows an audience a point of access that is more pedestrian. It’s a play that’s going to allow for an audience to take away their own interpretation of events, making for a lot of good conversation afterwards. It’s also a period piece in that it’s set in 1999, so the nostalgia and references from that time will be a lot of fun.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Siladi: Through the process of writing “Two Sides”, I learned not to be scared of writing. I’ve learned that I can take my experiences and have total freedom to create these characters that are so much a part of myself, yet exist completely outside of me. I also have learned my ability to multi-task exceeds what I thought was possible, and that writing isn’t so time consuming when you can edit things in real time as you’re rehearsing!

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Siladi: My ultimate goal with “Two Sides” is to come away feeling like we had a really good time. I had stepped away from creating theater for a couple years because it was becoming so stressful and complicated to produce on my own. I wanted to use this piece as an experience to fully enjoy, and I hope that audiences will be entertained, even though the subject matter is somewhat dark. For the future, I only hope to keep that feeling going. We need some levity right now!

Review Fix: What’s next?

Siladi: Who knows! But I’m excited for the ride.