Circle Theatre’s new artistic director, Ashley H. White, brings a widely sought skillset to the table: She is a director, fight coordinator and one of the few certified intimacy directors in the region.
White is a familiar face at several North Texas theaters and in Hollywood. She served as an intimacy coordinator in Ben Affleck’s most recent film “Hypnotic,” Amazon’s TV series “Panic” and the CW’s “Walker.”
Acting has a long history of portraying fights, kisses and other emotionally charged moments, but the practice of hiring a person who is dedicated to helping understand and communicate actors’ boundaries and choreograph intimate scenes is relatively new.
The role of an intimacy director, sometimes also called a coordinator, became more common as a result of the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, which revealed widespread patterns of coercion, sexual assault and retaliation in the entertainment industry and beyond.
Now, as theaters resume larger in-person productions, the role remains as important as ever, White said.
“I mean, we went through the apocalypse together, right?” she said. “We were hidden behind screens. There was no human connection. There was no touch … And then suddenly you’re hopping up on stage and you’re taking your mask off … you’re performing these highly intimate and highly vulnerable scenes. It definitely requires additional care.”
Whether the scenes involve an intense fight or culminates in a kiss, White said, communication is key to their success — a principle that she says applies elsewhere in life as well.
“The world would be a better place if we would just talk to each other,” she said. “Let’s talk about it, let’s name it and let’s navigate it together.”
Red, yellow and green zones
Charles Jackson Jr., who directed a production of “Moon Man Walk” at Jubilee Theatre earlier this year, recently attended a workshop on theatrical intimacy taught by White.
When he learned about it, he said, he was immediately interested in attending.
“I always want to do all I can to make art and creative spaces safe,” he added. “There’s never too much training for that.”
As a director, he said, it’s important to be upfront about what is involved in the production during the casting process so that there are no surprises about what the actors will be asked to do. But even if an actor says they are a good fit for the role, they also have a right to try something out and change their minds.
“Once you’re in the process of the show, communicate with them, make sure they still feel safe. And if there are moments where they don’t feel safe or then you (the director) need to fix the problem. It’s not really up for negotiation,” Jackson said. “To me, making the actor feel safe makes them give the best performance.”
Changing lighting or positioning can create the illusion of physicality without having the same physical touch, White said.
“A lot of times what boundary adjustments lead us to are actually more visually dynamic options.”
One tool to help make sure actors are OK with the blocking, or the choreography, of a scene is having actors share what they are and are not comfortable with. Having them describe and point to their boundaries as red, yellow and green zones makes it easier for the group to plot out the anatomy of a scene.
When Jackson is directing, he works with the actors to come up with a detailed plan about how the actors will get into and out of the kiss — including how long the kiss should last.
In the production of “Moon Man Walk,” when the mother and father finally share a kiss on stage, the actors decided that three Mississippis was the right length to fulfill the drama and buildup of the moment.
Logistically, making a clear roadmap also helps other cast and crew members hit their cue for a line or a change in the light or sound design.
“For example, if I say that my arm is green and you’re choreographed to grab my arm but then you grab my neck, that’s not what I was expecting,” he said. “It throws me off. It takes me out of the character. And now I’m trying to keep it together — even though that’s my red zone — and keep the show going. It’s just going to be chaotic.”
Another tool he learned in the class is having actors do a physical check-in, like a high-five or fist bump, during rehearsal as they get into and out of scenes.
“I think it’s important to separate yourself from the work,” he said. “In an intimate scene … or similarly, fight choreography, you’re doing something very intense and then you’re trying to get away from it. It’s just trying to make sure that you don’t get stuck in the character and that you can separate the two.”
Checking in and out of those also makes it easier for them to give feedback about what did or didn’t work in a scene. Jackson said it feels less personal when it’s clear that the critique is about the actions of the character and not the character of the actor themself.
‘That wasn’t always the norm’
When Ashley White started doing theatrical intimacy work in 2012, she was one of a handful professionals researching and developing a methodology for this type of work.
She moved to New York as an actor, but while attending school there she quickly realized directing was her true passion.
“I’ve been a director longer than I’ve done anything else, and I’ve just always considered boundaries and had conversations in staged makeout, kissing and sex scenes,” she said. “I would have conversations and make sure the stage manager was there and that everyone felt really good. That wasn’t always the norm in the industry that long ago.”
From there, artists she’d previously worked with remembered her approach and would bring her in to help them navigate intimate scenes in other productions.
Circle Theatre’s executive director, Tim Long, said White’s background made her an immediate asset to the team when she first came on as its resident intimacy and fight director.
“It made what could be very uncomfortable moments not uncomfortable because there’s an avenue for everyone to discuss these issues,” he said. “They’re addressed immediately and so everybody’s on the same page … I think that level of communication really just makes not only the production better but also the overall experience better for the cast and crew.”
White said that it’s fulfilling to see the excitement and gratitude from actors after they’ve figured out a creative solution.
“What I love is when they get lit up about the scene because they feel like it looks good,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Oh, this can actually be great. And I don’t have to sacrifice anything of myself to do that.’”
Her background and knack for troubleshooting will continue to serve her as the theater’s newly minted artistic director.
“My goal,” White said, “is always to make people feel more elevated and able to do their work.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers the arts for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org or on Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.