A Conversation With Director Jessica Aquila Cymerman, "TH IR DS," Zephyr Theatre, by James Scarborough

In “TH IR DS,” director Jessica Aquila Cymerman conjures an alternate historical narrative that examines America’s divisive nature with an incisive lens. Set in a world where the Civil War never occurred, America is split into three distinct entities: The Union, The Confederate States, and The Pacific States. This fractured reality forms the backdrop for a gripping story centered on Catherine Shepard, a powerful water tycoon, who must broker a clandestine deal to provide water to the drought-stricken Confederate States. Cymerman’s direction captures the emotional and political tensions that arise from this high-stakes negotiation. Her direction underscores the play’s exploration of themes of survival, unity, and the stark reality of human interdependence. The narrative reflects current societal divides and comments on the broader implications of resource scarcity. The play’s relevance is heightened by its timely message about cooperation and shared humanity in the face of existential threats. “TH IR DS” is not just a speculative exercise in alternative history but a call to introspection and action in our current socio-political landscape.

JS: How did the concept of an alternate history where the Civil War never happened influence your approach to “TH IR DS”?

JAC: That is the conceit of the entire play. We cannot do anything without first defining the walls that we are in. It’s a different history than the one that you and I know, so we spent two weeks at the table, before we got on our feet, defining and specifying the rules of this world. What are the laws, how do people behave as a result of the split.

JS: Discuss how you navigated the complex character dynamics, especially in the context of Catherine Shepard’s role as a water tycoon

JAC: We had to define where every character was from, and the value system by which they operate. Catherine is like the Steve Jobs of water control, so the actor playing her needs to know that she is playing chess when everybody else is playing checkers. She’s always 10 steps ahead of everybody else.

Catherine comes up against James, who works for the Confederate States of America, and James needs to try and anticipate which way she’s going to turn at any given moment. They kind of do tangos together as the people who know how the strings are pulled, and when they will be pulled. And with the character of David and Steven, all that they want to do is have this meeting where there’s going to be an agreement for water to go through, falling into this architype of a naive dreamer as compared to the cutthroat ruthlessness of both Catherine and James who just want to win this political game.

JS: In what ways do you think the themes of “TH IR DS” resonate with contemporary political and social issues?

JAC: We are in an extremely polarized era where political parties are no longer in opposition to people’s policies but in opposition to each other, person to person, in a very personal, angry, violent, dangerous way where we simple will not ever see eye to eye with somebody who opposes our political views in this country. That is how these people in these separate countries interact with each other – us versus them. So, it really is art reflecting life, acting as a caveat for the times that we are in and how bad it could get if we don’t come together.

JS: What challenges did you face in bringing Playwright Ben Edlin’s story to life on stage?

JAC: Ha ha, ok, what didn’t I face? This play is fun because it’s a multi-media production. But, essentially I’m shooting a short film on top of directing the stage play so that was definitely a challenge, and definitely a lot of fun. That’s one of the next things that is challenging, editing and combining and honoring what’s on the stage and what’s on the screen and marrying the two, once we get into our tech week.

JS: How did your background with Untold Wants Theatre and previous directorial projects inform your work on the production?

JAC: I don’t think that I would have been able to accomplish this piece with any kind of skill or grace if I didn’t already have experience producing with my theatre company. We have been producing plays at Untold Wants, some which I direct, for about seven years. It’s helped me work better in both film and theatre. I had never directed a documentary film before and it was an interesting challenge to wrap my head around but having experience in both mediums it helped me keep in mind that it was not just a film, but a film for a stage so that inevitably does change it stylistically a bit.

JS: Elaborate on your collaboration with the production team. How did their contributions shape the final presentation of the play?

JAC: Our wonderful producer, Gabrieal Griego, brought together an amazing team of designers and technical professionals. I would not have been able to do any of this without the producing team, and the ideas that the design team bring to the piece. Our set designer Jeff Rack doubled as our production designer on the documentary film. Our sound designer Joseph “Sloe” Slawinski is so creative, so enthusiastic about this project and has beautiful ideas for the transitions in bringing the film into the space with sound and choreography of different speakers. Costume designer Emilyna Zoë Cullen is one of the hardest working people in both film and theatre that I have ever met. I say ‘hey I need this thing for this random thing’ and she shows up the next day with three different options. It’s quite incredible! As a director I want my department heads to definitely know more than me, I always strive to empower those department heads with their vision of the film or theatre piece and honor their visions as it incorporates into the larger world that we’re trying to build. Our producers have been very vocal and knowledgeable about defining that world as well so we’re all on the same page about things, which is really lovely - and kind of rare.

JS: How did you approach the portrayal of the three separate American entities to ensure each was distinct yet interconnected?

JAC: We get characters from the Pacific States, we get one character from the Union States, and characters from the Confederate States. We know that we are probably performing this for a liberal leaning theatre going audience so we wanted to show the human side of the Confederate States. People just trying to live. Across the board, that goes for all of the different countries, as each of the characters from different countries talk about their hopes and dreams for the future. In that, we the audience get to see the humanity, relatability, the universal need to live and not just to survive. We have defined, from the very specific writing of playwright Ben Edlin, the separate cultures of each country. The Union States has a ‘we were here first, we are the old guard’ sort of culture, the Confederate States has the ‘old culture, rebellious model’ that has been theirs since they were able to secede in the 1860’s, since the Civil War was not fought in this scenario, and in the Pacific States we see a very distinct tech driven, vegan, hippie vibe. They each have their own personalities but we make a huge effort to humanize each one on a level playing field.

JS: What are some specific examples of staging or design choices that you made to enhance the thematic elements of the play?

JAC: A good example is our sound design, and how Sloe is curating specific sounds to speakers in the space in order to include pervasive elements of each separate country. An example of staging design is how the playwright’s specificity of the separate challenges in the play has us putting each scene in its own area of the stage. For example, the desks of David and Steven, the two men trying to get this pipeline deal done, are on opposite sides of the stage from each other. There is a corridor of darkness between them. When they have a phone call with each other both sides are lit, when something is happening in one person’s office only that area is lit, and when they meet in person it’s in a completely neutral third space, and when all four characters meet it’s in a fourth space. So, what you have by the end of the play is a reminder of all the places you’ve been, showing up on stage by the end of the play as categories of places defined in this world.

JS: How do you balance the historical aspects of the narrative with the speculative elements to maintain audience engagement?

JAC: I am constantly asking myself whether or not something is reading for somebody who doesn’t already know this story. I am constantly striving to strike that balance and make sure that there is an abundance of clarity, and not only with our expository elements of the fact that this is an alternative timeline piece, the Civil War was never fought, and subsequently the country has split into three. So, balancing is asking A: whether or not an audience member is going to understand? B: going to care? C: going to continue paying attention when they do get it. I’m always asking if something is translating - communicating both intellectually, physically, and emotionally. Trying to balance my staging with communicating in a more obvious literal physical way, talking to an actor about interpretation of a line in a more emotional way, and of course intellectually when there is a moment of exposition, reminding the actors to enunciate or hit a certain moment – simply because it’s explanatory or expository and we need it to define something else.

JS: What do you want audiences to take away from “TH IR DS,” both in terms of its narrative and its broader socio-political commentary?

JAC: I think narratively speaking, at its core it’s a story about humans trying to accomplish something, trying survive, trying to love and expand their families and navigate challenging situations with humor and love. Socio-politically, it is essentially an exercise in “what if’s” and it’s exactly the “what if’s” that I hope the audiences see reflected in their day-to-day conversations, especially during an election year. Comments that we have all been guilty of saying, like ‘depending on what happens, we’ll see if I move to Canada or not.’ Or, ‘we should have just let them secede when we had the chance.’ I’ve definitely been guilty of saying things like that because a solution, like the one that the play is exploring, feels so much easier than a lot of the socio-political challenges that we are facing right now as a county. I hope that the message of this play is received as – this was an exercise, and ultimately, we are better together, and we are just going to have to figure it out – together, between us. Start a conversation. One of my favorite things is when members of an audience will take the conversation out after the play, and discuss what they just saw, even argue in a bar, talking about how each of them saw things differently. We don’t want to answer the questions, we want to pose the questions. We want the audience to meet us half way with their experience, their empathy, their imagination - and fill in the gaps for us and themselves.

The show opens on Friday, September 6th. It closes on Sunday, September 29. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $35. The Zephyr Theatre is located at 7456 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90046. For more information, click here.

Jessica Aquila Cymerman

Photo of Corbin Reid (Catherine) and Ben Edlin (David) courtesy of Jeff Lorch.