Need direction?
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 10, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 EVE COHEN David Schweizer works with
students in his theater class in Macgowan Hall.
By Jinjue Pak
Daily Bruin Contributor
Director and UCLA professor David Schweizer may be another Clark
Kent, busy playing dual roles on the set and in classrooms.
In addition to being a current professor for UCLA’s School
of Theater, Film and Television, Schweizer has been actively
directing two plays back to back. “The Blue Room” is a
Broadway hit playing at the Pasadena Playhouse now through April
21. He is also in rehearsals for another play titled “He
Hunts,” due to be performed at the Geffen Playhouse in
April.
Schweizer, who attained his degree from the Yale graduate drama
school for directing, has been teaching at UCLA for the past 10
years. However, because of his commitment as a director,
Schweizer has had to schedule his teaching quarters in between his
travels and directorial pursuits of his profession.
“I travel a lot and I have a very active professional
schedule,” Schweizer said in a phone interview.
His tight schedule used to include acting, but because he
disliked following other people’s instructions, Schweizer
decided to set his own standards and go into directing.
 Courtesy of Pasadena Playhouse Director David
Schweizer (left) guides actors Arabella
Field and Lenny Von Dohlen.
As a busy director, he must select which plays he wants to
direct.
“I like plays that are very theatrical, somewhat
fantastical. Plays that have a sense of magic to them,”
Schweizer said.
This choice is consistent with his recent direction of
“The Blue Room,” which engages a sense of illusion by
using two actors to play the role of 10 different couples in 10
separate scenes.
In the production of any play, Schweizer mentioned the
importance of collaboration between the director and designers,
actors and all other members of the production. To be a successful
director, he relies heavily on communication.
“You need the ability to communicate your ideas to them
and make people excited in going into a new direction,”
Schweizer said.
In his second role as a visiting assistant professor at UCLA,
Schweizer gives acting courses, specializing in the development of
the solo performance thesis project.
“I take (students) through these projects where the
ultimate challenge is to hold the stage by yourself for an extended
period of time and make it interesting and exciting,”
Schweizer said. “It’s like asking the student to be
responsible for every aspect of making theater. In some respect,
they direct themselves. I help them along, and I’m constantly
challenging them.”
Schweizer is also involved in directing students’ scene
showcase for agents at the end of their years.
Juggling the two professions as director and professor seems to
pose no serious challenges for Schweizer. He enjoys the time he
spends with his students and even what they can teach him.
“I love making theater. I’ve had so many
rewards,” Schweizer said. “Part of teaching is trying
to share and give some of it back to the younger people.
There’s a little bit of a mission involved, it’s
keeping the passion alive for theater. I like being around kids who
are starting their professional life.”
THEATER: “The Blue Room” plays at
the Pasadena Playhouse now through April 21. Preview performances
continue until opening night on Sunday, March 17. Tickets are
available by calling the Pasadena Playhouse at (626) 356-PLAY. For
more information, visit www.pasadenaplayhouse.org.
