Ain't Behavin'

Wendy Knox, the founding artistic director of Frank Theatre, has an imposing presence, a booming voice, and stands six feet, two inches tall. Some words that have been used to describe her are brash, bold, uncompromising, in-your-face, nontraditional, genius, lunatic, leftist, idealist, ambitious, abrasive, difficult, contrary, audacious. Strong words all, and they seem to follow her everywhere. Since she started her iconoclastic theater company eighteen years ago, the press has been both complimentary and cutting, often in the same article, and sometimes in the same sentence—as in “Frank Theatre’s production of [pick a play] is great . . . if you like that sort of thing.”

The sort of thing Knox likes to put onstage isn’t for everyone, certainly, but a Frank show is always interesting. Knox’s singular directing style never waivers from her kamikaze agenda: “If I haven’t pissed anybody off,” she is fond of saying, “I haven’t done my job.” If she hits a wall—or a nerve—she knows something exciting has happened. She and her company (they are inexorably linked) are known for tackling material that most companies are afraid to touch, either because producers think audiences will find it too abstruse or because there’s almost zero money-making potential. Knox also likes to put her own distinctive spin on plays that have been done to death, particularly hoary classics such as Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew.

Though Knox is known for speaking her mind, she prefers to let her work speak for itself (and wishes everyone else would too). She knows she’s defined by her—pardon the pun—frankness, and she can sound defensive when asked about her renown as a “difficult” woman. “I’m an old hag,” she says. “I don’t behave, and they don’t know what to do with me.” What few people in the general public know about her is that in addition to her well-deserved reputation as an artistic strongwoman, Knox is also a loving, loyal, good-natured person who laughs readily at herself and has a dedicated following of professional actors, top-tier designers, and enthusiastic volunteers who support her vision wholeheartedly—and who would grab almost any chance to work with her. When Knox asked Joel Sass to design the set for her latest production, he signed on immediately. “The thing I like about working with Wendy is once she asks you to be a creative team member, there’s a high degree of trust,” he says. “She allows herself to be influenced or guided by what you’re giving to her. She [gives] you creative latitude. There’s more elbow room, a true synthesis, and a true collaboration that can’t be found . . . with some other directors.”