Bruce Speas sat in Longwood’s small black box theatre surrounded by signs of construction. The floor was completely covered with large wooden platforms that, no doubt, were destined to become part of an ornate set. In the distance, the sound of not-so-faint drilling could be heard underneath the sound of some theatre tech’s pop punk playlist.
Speas explained that the set was currently being built for “Twelfth Night,” a Shakespeare classic that Speas hopes will draw large crowds to Longwood’s Jarman Auditorium, a much larger space than the generally used black box theatre in CSTAC.
Speas spoke about his upcoming production with passion and real concern. It was obvious he wanted the hard work of both the actors and the crew to pay off with a large audience. He was so excited to discuss “Twelfth Night” that it was difficult to get him to talk about himself and his own personal history. When he did go into his own theatrical timeline, it was clear that Speas has lived and breathed every aspect of the theatre world for most of his life.
“I went to New York to become rich and famous as a star, I quickly realized... well that’s gonna take a while.”
Speas went to New York in his 20’s to live the kind of life that many young artists dream of living. He was able to explore acting, directing, and playwriting, as well as learn what it's like to live in a very expensive town.
“When you're young and you're in the arts, the arts or theatre, being broke is always a problem, but everybody's broke, so (when) you have 20 bucks, you're like rich.”
To supplement his income, Speas took a regular gig on the popular daytime soap opera “One Life To Live.” He played a warehouse foreman that popped up with a line or two whenever one of the main characters had a scene at his work place. He enjoyed being able to pay his rent and he said working on the set was always a great time as well.
“My standard joke is if I’d done more then I wouldn't be here,” said a smiling Speas; however, his true passion was directing and playwriting. One show that he wrote in New York was picked up and performed in LA. The show did so well that Speas moved to LA for a few years and continued to write.
“I think my ideal would be to have a nice place on a Greek island somewhere. You wake up in the morning and do three or four hours of writing, and the rest of the time you just kind of enjoy the place.”
While Speas hasn't made it to that Greek island, yet, he has seen many years of success as a director and as a professor. He did some quick math and calculated that he has directed about 15 shows here at Longwood. When asked to pick a favorite, he named a few, but ultimately couldn't decide.
What he did gush about was the time he has spent teaching Theatre 101, an introductory class that a large majority of Longwood students take. Speas was really affected by the experience of getting to know such a large range of students in so many different majors. At one point when he was teaching three or four sections of the class, he was in contact with one quarter of the entire student body.
“I run into so many students in Richmond and other places and they tell me they enjoyed the class, that to me is nice.”
Speas truly believes that getting a theatre degree is not only applicable to a future as a performer, but a successful future in many career paths. The drive, as well as the ability to speak clearly while in front of large crowds, is something that makes an employee valuable. Those are skills that he tries to instill in all his students. Never too serious, Speas joked that, “I guess that's what they tell them in English as well.”
At the end of the day Speas feels that what makes him a great director and professor is his experience in both fields. He loves teaching because the feeling of being a theatre student is something that is not difficult for him to recall.
“I still know what it was like to be a student, so I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy it. I remember what it was like to be a student, it hasn't left me. I have empathy when I talk to a student, I know what they are going through. It must mean I was supposed to do this.”
