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[an error occurred while processing this directive] (none) Playing a lead role and directing a major production during the same season By Roberta Kent Special to the Tidings Actor/Directors James Edmondson and Ken Albers concur that the two jobs are very different but that they support and strengthen each other. This season, Edmondson directs "Force of Nature" and has roles in "Henry V" and "The Man Who Came to Dinner." Albers is Sheridan Whiteside in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and is directing "The Taming of the Shrew" this summer in the Elizabethan Theatre as well as acting in "Hamlet." "Working as an actor in one production and directing another, I am constantly reminded when I'm directing of what the actor's process is," Edmondson says. "I am more sensitive to the actors, their rhythm of learning a part-when they are ready to hear things. I would lose track of that process if I were no longer acting." Edmondson adds, "When I'm acting, I'm glad that I don't have to make all the decisions. I can be part of an ensemble. Directing has a parental aspect. You are building a world where others can interact and collaborate." Albers also says that acting and directing in the same season keeps him in touch with the actor's process. "I like the variety," Albers notes. "The two tasks are very different and they feed off one another. As an actor who is directing, I am reminded that a director expects certain behavior - preparation, a positive attitude. As a director who is also acting, it keeps me aware of the fatigue factor, the morale factor. It gives me more patience with it." Edmondson, whose title is Associate Artist and Director, has been at the Festival since 1973. "I was originally hired as an actor by Jerry Turner," he recalls. "But I had just directed something at the Utah Shakespearean Festival and Jerry decided to use both my acting and directing talent. He did the same thing with Laird Williamson (who directed last summer's production of "Pericles") and Pat Patton." Edmondson says he honed his directing craft by working on the experimental theater productions done by Festival actors, known as the "Black Swan Project," in the 70s. "We performed in spaces all over town until the Black Swan Theatre was built. We grew as directors by doing these unusual scripts. It didn't occur to me for a long time that acting and directing at the same time was hard." He reflects that he always combined acting with directing, even as a kid. "We would go to movies and then re-enact them when we got home. I was the one who always said, "no, it was like this." This year, Edmondson was preparing "Force of Nature" by Steven Dietz at the same time he was in rehearsals for "The Man Who Came to Dinner" and "Henry V". "Because "Force" is a new play, I needed to prepare much earlier than I would normally have and I had to be extremely focused in rehearsals in order to build that world that allows an actor to risk a lot." Edmondson says he has never been successful acting in something that he directed. "Certainly, Gielgud and Olivier have done it well. Also, I think it is easier for a filmmaker to act and direct at the same time. The way film is done makes it easier to step back and change hats." Albers had his first professional job at the Cleveland Playhouse. He went on to teach at Case Western Reserve University which had strong ties to the Playhouse. "Case Western was ahead of its time in giving tenure to artists. We were not expected to publish. We were expected to continue our professional work. I worked as both an actor and a director. After teaching for fourteen years, I decided I wanted to act and direct full time." He has been Associate Artistic Director at the Cleveland Playhouse and subsequently at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Albers first directed at the Festival under then-Artistic Director Henry Woronicz. Albers had been on the "short list" for Artistic Director when the Festival was looking for Jerry Turner's successor and Woronicz got the job. Woronicz knew Albers' reputation as a director and offered him Lillian Garrett Groag's new play "The Ladies of the Camellias." Albers was drawn to the work. "It's an old-fashioned play, a real play. The action arcs through each act rather than being a series of short scenes." Libby Appel knew Albers and his wife, Catherine Lynn Davis, from Albers' work in Cleveland and Milwaukee and invited the pair to join the Festival when she became Artistic Director. Since then, Albers has directed "The Comedy of Errors," "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and "Chicago." As an actor, he has appeared as Falstaff in "Henry IV, Part 2," Cymbeline in "Cymbeline," and as deTreville in "The Three Musketeers" last season, and as Cornelius Melody in "A Touch of the Poet," and Gianni Guarneri in "The Magic Fire." Albers and Edmondson agree that they don't have trouble "switching hats." The problems mainly stem from the time crunch in managing rehearsals, performances and personal life. Although Albers directed his wife last year in "Chicago," he notes that they had no trouble leaving their work at the theater. "We've been doing this too long for any of that." Edmondson recalls, "I remember the year I was directing "Rough Crossing" and played the lead in "King Lear." "Rough Crossing" was so zany that it was a relief and a release from the intensity of rehearsing "Lear". Some-times I think that the actors in "Rough Crossing" really thought they were being directed by a madman." 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