Sheldon Metz has done enough plays to know when a script jumps off the page, it'll jump on the stage.
So when Live Theatre Workshop proposed he direct Donald Margulies' "Collected Stories," he jumped at the chance.
"It's a show I wanted to do a few years ago but couldn't," says Metz, speaking by phone while en route to California to see his mother.
"So when Sabian (Trout, LTW's artistic director) proposed it to me, I read it again and thought 'absolutely.' "
It wasn't just the story, though it's a compelling one - Ruth is an established short-story writer and a teacher. Her protegée, Lisa, learns well from her. But when Lisa decides to do as her teacher says and write what she knows, Ruth's life, and an affair she had with a poet, become the subject of her student's work. Metz likes "Collected Stories' " tale, but what he is particularly drawn to are the characters and what the play has to say.
People are also reading…
"I just love the strong characters," Metz says. "It's a wordy play, but it's so full of ups and downs and changes. And there's so much warmth and love in this play."
The central question in the piece is whether a writer can mine another's life for material.
"Writers deal with truth," Metz says. "This play is about loyalty, love and what one owes another person - teacher to student and student to teacher."
It's also about not holding your thoughts and feelings close to your chest.
It takes on "the inability of a loved one to actually communicate something that's painful to another loved one," Metz says. "I want the audience to see that everyone has this problem; it's so hard to say what we want sometimes, but so necessary."
What makes this play so effective in taking on these issues is the dialogue, Metz adds.
"Margulies writes like people talk. His conversations are real. They are sweet or brittle, but always real."
A strong script and a strong cast - Samantha Cormier and Cynthia Jeffery star in the two-character piece - doesn't make this one a snap, however.
"With just two characters, you have to keep the movement going or else it becomes very boring," Metz said. "I lucked out with Cynthia and Samantha."
He hopes the audience feels the same and that when the curtain comes down, "Collected Stories" will linger.
"I want them to discuss the play," Metz says. "Not whether it's good or bad, but what it says."
If you go
• What: Live Theatre Workshop's production of "Collected Stories."
• Playwright: Donald Margulies.
• Director: Sheldon Metz.
• When: Previews are 7:30 p.m. next Thursday and Aug. 24; opening is 7:30 pm. Aug. 25. Regular performances are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 22. The Sept. 22 performance will have an added show at 3 p.m.
• Where: LTW, 5317 E. Speedway.
• Reservations, information: 327-4242, livetheatreworkshop.org
• Running time: About 2 hours, with one intermission.
• Cast: Samantha Cormier and Cynthia Jeffery.
