My English theatre friend was a little embarrassed by the filmmaker’s brassy enthusiasm for her work. She and her theatre colleagues felt a little uncomfortable about the filmmaker’s puffing up.
This is why I love theatremakers in the UK. These three are not alone in their quiet, gentle, modest creation of their work. They are not in the habit of self promotion. They speak quietly. This feels like the theatre way to them. This is not the case in my native land.
Where I come from, most theatre folk are brassy and loud and very much in the habit of puffing up both themselves and others. To my eye, this filmmaker was doing what I’ve seen nearly every American theatre maker do at some point or another. For me, it was normal. Not MY way…but still, normal. But could I be the odd ball in the theatre? In a way, this filmmaker was the odd one in the bunch by being brassy and loud. I can be the odd ball by being soft and go softly on.