Danielle Kassaraté on ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ and the Audition Mindset Actors Need to Book More Work

The responsibility of an associate director is a role that requires managing daily operations while focusing on the execution of the director’s artistic vision. Stranger Things: The First Shadow, is a prequel to the Netflix television series Stranger Things.

It first premiered on the West End in 2023 at the Phoenix Theatre. Set during Henry Creel’s teenage years, the show reveals the origin of Creel’s psychokinetic powers. Danielle Kassaraté is the current associate director.

Danielle’s first experience directing began on a production of All My Sons, leading to work assisting on productions of The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Tambo & Bones, The Tempest at The Globe and King Lear at the Almeida Theatre.

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After studying musical theater at the BRIT School in South London, Danielle trained as an actor at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Her acting credits include the Netflix series The Sandman, The Color Purple musical performed at the Birmingham Hippodrome and the Leicester Curve, the international tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and The Architect at Greenwich + Docklands festival.

She is also the co-founder of Mawa, the UK’s first all-Black, all-female Shakespeare theater company.

First the resident director and now the associate director, she has her hands full. Danielle spoke to us directly from The Phoenix Theatre in London.

Can you tell us about your earliest inspiration to become a director?

My mum always took me to the theater, and when I was younger they used to have these offers, for … I don’t know if it was just for nurses, but you could get these discounted tickets. There were these vouchers that my mum used to get as a nurse for West End shows, which I obviously don’t think is a thing now, which is a shame.

That made theater accessible for me and her. Basically she took me to the theater a lot when I was younger, because of this discount, which allowed more people to go to the theater, especially in the West End.

I remember having early memories of watching shows and just being really inspired. I don’t know if it was to be an actor, but I knew I wanted to do something that linked with creativity. There was something in watching other people do and create a world on stage that I wanted to be a part of quite young, and I loved theater at school and all of that. I was always involved in anything that was creative.

I think it started with my mum really because she encouraged that side of myself from a young age, and we were able to go to the theater and I saw how that isn’t a luxury for a lot of people, especially from different backgrounds. I feel really lucky that I got that, but like I said, there were deals back then which we could use, which meant that we could go.

One of my earliest memories was seeing Porgy and Bess — it’s a funny full-circle story actually. I saw Clark Peters in Porgy and Bess, and I ended up working with him on King Lear as an assistant. I saw that production, and I saw myself on stage with all these wonderful actors, and thought, “Ah, I can do [that]” with an actor I admired, to then end up working with him on a show that I was also very passionate about. It was a beautiful full-circle moment.

How did your training at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama prepare you for working on the West End?

I trained as an actor, I did drama and applied theater in education, and that came about because I went to the Brit School from age 16. I was at BRIT studying musical theater and during that time, you know, you get to a point where you have to choose what you want to do, which schools you want to apply for.

We did a community theater project with a local school, and we did a big show at Fairfield Halls for lots of schools to come and watch as well, which was part of this community project, as part of our course.

I remember at the time, a lot of other actors in my year were like, “Oh I’m gonna apply for this school.” They knew exactly what they wanted to do. They knew exactly what schools they wanted to apply for. In terms of the next step in the industry, I was just like, “I’m not there yet.”

I’m not in this space of wanting to be like, “I’m gonna go to this school, and I’m gonna be doing musical theater and I’m gonna be on the West End.” I knew in myself that I just didn’t have that calling at that point in my career and in my life because I was only 17.

Then I said to my drama teacher at BRIT, “Yeah I’m just figuring out what I want to do, but I really love the community theater project.” She was the one that told me about this course at Central because she studied it. I was like, “Oh, okay,” then I did what everyone else does, I applied, went to the open day and got in.

I went there for three years, many ups and downs like lots of courses, but what I got from it was definitely life affirming. I’m glad I did something like that course before being an actor in this industry.

You get to understand that there is more to theater than just being on stage, and I know we all know that, but it’s a vessel and a tool that we can use in society to help heal and to make inclusive. To have fun and remind people that there’s escapism we can go to in hard times, and that’s what I loved about that course, that I was able to do that. I worked with Mind Charity, as part of our course and I worked with schools.

When I graduated, as part of my placement, I worked with a company called Haringey Shed full time. So that placement was like part of my career, somehow going into directing. You end up directing lots of youth theater and children’s theater, but at the time you don’t put that down as directing, you’re like, “Oh, this is my job.”

But, in reality you’re directing 50 plus kids on stage, trying to put together a production of The Tempest. So yeah! You are directing! My journey through to Central was not linear, but that’s how I got there.

You co-founded The Mawa Theatre Company, the UK’s first all-Black, all-female Shakespeare company. Can you tell us more about Mawa?

We founded it in 2020, during the pandemic, going into 2021. It came off the back of, you know there was a lot of unrest going on at that time, a lot of pain. There were lots of theaters and people opening up discussions. Maisey [Bawden] who had the idea for it, of wanting to create space for us, and that if we were going back into an industry that was going to open up, what would we want the industry to look like?

All of us had a passion for Shakespeare, and I kind of came in through my experience with the outreach and that sort of thing from my experience at Central. I was really keen on the outreach side of stuff, then eventually we put all our heads together. Me, Gabrielle [Brooks], Jade [Samuels] and Maisey, and yeah we came up with Mawa.

We did a series of online videos throughout the pandemic. We did some more online videos, with my stint at Queens Theatre Hornchurch, alongside with Maisey and through Mawa, we did Shakespeare on Sea. We did a monologue slam in Birmingham and we did one at The Globe in London.

In terms of the future of the company, like lots of things, people evolve and they keep discovering who they are creatively, but Mawa is still and will always be something that was founded from a place that was about creating more opportunity for people. Whether that happens individually or together is something we are still discussing.

There is always space to hold for that, whatever aspect and whatever job. What I know for myself, is that even if I’m not doing an all-Black female Shakespeare show, in terms of creating space and holding space for people that haven’t always had that, is always at the forefront of my mind.

As the associate director of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, can you explain what the role involves?

I look after the show on a week-to-week basis, and that includes going in, watching the show and noting anything office-based, as well to do with cast holiday. Communicating with the offices on anything we might need in the building, but the overall role is the director that is there day to day. That includes parish notes, which is something that we do at the beginning. You need parish notes, maybe to discuss things that happen throughout the week or something you want to work on.

To be the outside eyes as a director in the building, to help maintain the original vision of the show. A resident is someone that’s on the ground most days, throughout the week, and then you’ve got an associate director who comes in every other week.

Anna Girvan, is my point of contact. Then above Anna, you have the original directors, Stephen Daldry and Justin Martin. It’s about keeping Stephen and Justin’s vision of the show throughout the whole run of it. I rehearse in covers, I run the cover rehearsals and I re-rehearse anybody, like the young actors. We’ve got children in the show, the young Alices, so I rehearse them into the show.

So lots of creative input still, which is nice, because you still get to use your directing chops with the people that are being rehearsed back in.

What advice can you give to actors about auditioning for theater and about the pressure they might feel from being in the audition room?

Doing a long-running show, I think it’s very easy to feel like you have to be a carbon copy of what the show is, especially with a show like ours. You have a television series to reference, but Anna always says in the initial first-round discussion that we’re not looking for that, we’re looking to see what you bring to that.

Of course, there are backstories, there are characters that you can reference, and I think this is with any role, try not to come in expecting what you want us to see.

Always research the show as much as you can, and that doesn’t mean forking out money to go and watch the show. Like for our show, it’s just useful whether you know the series. If you know the series, you know the world of it, right?

So you’ve got a great reference for that, and what I’d also say is to be as prepared as possible, [and that] doesn’t mean having to be off book. I think there’s this pressure of actors always thinking they have to be off book, and yes it’s useful to be familiar of course, but be playful.

What can happen is you learn a version of it, and then because you’ve learned a version that you’ve rehearsed at home, you can suddenly come into the room and then without realizing it, it’s not as playable.

In terms of young actors I’d say just take the pressure off, having been on both sides, having been rejected many times in my career more than I’ve been said yes to, like we all have, it really sometimes comes down to the smallest thing, and don’t hold on to that.

There’s been amazing talent that along the way you say no to, and sometimes it’s literally just that they’re brilliant, they’re just not right for this show. So just remember that, remember that this “no” is leaving room for the next “yes,” and it’s not always a bad thing. I think straight out of drama school the want is obviously to get jobs and book, but realistically, this industry is very tough.

I would never want anyone to leave an audition process and think that just because they got a “no,” for their dream role in the West End that it means that it’s “no” forever. It’s very important to hold onto that, because I’ve been there, I understand that, it’s hard.

It’s important when you’re young to not let that define the rest of your auditioning process and let that “no” get to you. There really will be, if you want it, there will be other opportunities that are right for you.

That’s great advice. What would you say is the best approach for an actor in terms of collaboration with a director?

I think being playful with room to play and offer, and that comes through the rehearsal process, even on a long-running show. I’m lucky that I’ve worked on some that allow that room for the actors to still bring themselves and find choices that work for them, yes within the perimeters of the show, but it’s important that the actor still feels ownership, so room to play is definitely invited.

I think throughout, that my main advice is play and offer, and then we go on a journey together and discover what the role is for that specific actor.

What advice can you offer for actors who are also interested in directing?

I’d say go for it. Team up with your friends, I know someone I taught at at [National Youth Theatre] (NYT), she had never really directed before, and off the back of what we did was like, “I really want to try.” So her friend came to her with something and they just put it on at a fringe festival in Camden, and that’s really the way to do it. Even with us at Mawa, we’ve come together, and through coming together, I’ve directed a couple of things for them.

That’s the nature and the beauty of our industry is that we know so many people. Get your friends together. Drama schools are a great way to do that, I’ve done that, it’s a great way to exercise those directing muscles. If you have access at your old drama school, you can ask to assist on a first-year project and a second-year project, and eventually you get a third-year one.

That’s what I would say, is use your tribe to create your own opportunities and your own work.

How has your experience as an actor influenced your directing style?

I come from a place of understanding what it’s like to be on the other side. When I did my first assisting role, I thought, “Oh, I have so much more compassion for the creative team,” because as an actor you turn up and you do your thing and you go home.

You’re going home, and yeah, you’re running lines, but a lot of the time the creative team is sometimes going until really late some days, just discussing things. How this thing isn’t working, or that thing isn’t working, and once the actors leave for tech, the creative teams are still discussing stuff.

You know actors are on a break and we’re still discussing things. That being said, I have more compassion for this side of things because I’m on it, but I also have understanding and compassion for actors, because I have been on that side. I know how draining it is, I know that some days you turn up and you’re not feeling a hundred percent.

You’re not feeling it, and there’s nothing worse than when you’re not feeling great in your body and you’re trying to find a role. So I have lots of empathy for that side of it as well.

My main headline is having compassion for both sides, that’s how acting has influenced my directing style. Just making a call like, “Okay, maybe today isn’t the day that we run that bit, because I can see that actors are having a day.” Which most directors would do anyway, but I’ve been the actor having a day, and having to do something and it’s not been great.

I would have liked … maybe someone in the room to take a beat on that before doing anything. I’ve done things with heavy shows, when you’re being asked to do that scene, over and over again. So actually let’s finish at 4 p.m. today, because doing that until 6 p.m. for 6 hours or more sometimes, might not help us in the long run for that actor, you know?

Finally, what show on the West End would be your dream production to direct?

My background is in musical theater, so I would love to direct a musical for sure. There’s a production called Five Guys Named Moe by Clarke Peters, and I would love to explore a gender-swapped version of that. Especially because the themes and the songs are actually a lot about women.

I would be intrigued to unpick that story to see how it would look through a female lens about how men betrayed women during that time and now, and flip it.

You can watch all five seasons of Stranger Things on Netflix now.