This week, justArts spoke with Lilly Hecht ’18, director of the Tympanium Euphorium production “The Last Five Years.” 

justArts: How did you choose to direct this show?

Lilly Hecht: It was proposed, and I had been listening to it all summer before it was proposed, so I had been obsessed with it for a while. I voted for it, then heard it was being done and so I had to be involved somehow! Then, people said that there was actually a possibility of me being chosen if I were to apply, and I worked hard and I applied and it was great, and I’m really humbled.

JA: The show is only a two-person cast. What has it been like working with such a small cast?

LH: It’s been the butt of many jokes. What’s great about it is that you really get to focus, you get to know these people as humans and then channel their humanity into the humanities of the characters in a very focused way. It’s funny, because the cast rep is fifty percent of the cast, so really, it’s only helped in terms of getting to the depths of characters, because you get to create real friendships, which foster productivity, which foster growth.

JA: What has been your favorite part of directing the show?

LH: It’s a spectacular show within itself, so it’s just an honor to be able to be included in any way. But it’s probably mostly getting to know people at a way more gratifying level, [They’re] just really great people — Derek [Scullin ’18] and Becca [Myers ’18,] and Jake [Hurwitz ’16], the music director, and Yennie [Mock ’16] — they’re just spectacular. Just making new friends.

JA: What’s been the biggest challenge in directing the show?

LH: from the many, many challenges, I’d say it was learning how to adjust my own style of communication and adjusting that to the actors’ needs, because I have very strong visions. First of all, I really wanted to include the actors’ [styles] in it, so constantly trying to make a compromise was a big element of it with every decision we made. But also just knowing how to make what’s [in their heads] turn into what’s on their faces and [in] their movements and learning that it’s not as easy as you wanted it to be.

JA: Is there anything you hope the audience takes away from the show?

LH: I guess what I told the actors is that I really want the audience loving these characters the way you love your best friends. Your friends are flawed — very, very flawed — but you still love them. So even when they’re making their mistakes, they’re going out there, you know, tripping all over the place —you’re rooting for them, and you want the best for them. You feel their pain when they’re in pain, you feel their happiness when they’re happy, and if anything, I hope people fall in love with the characters enough to see them as their own friends.