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You are both listed as directors of Icon. Do you each have your area of expertise or do you work together and how do you both manage to direct the same piece without stepping on each other's toes?
 Leonard: PLANNING. We do not really divide the responsibilities of directing, or have easily definable areas of expertise. Though, of course, we are two different people and so we see things from differing perspectives. For example, I tend to pay more attention to language, what words we choose, how the actors handle them, the layers of meaning that we're working with in the text. Versus Chris who sees things more in terms of visual composition -- patterns of movement, the use of space and shape, etc. Yet we often split up to direct scenes and moments, and at those times we each work with the whole picture -- words, emotion, visual aesthetic, overall concepts. The way in which we (usually) avoid stepping on each other is we PLAN everything in advance, including discussing how we will approach scenes if we're going to be directing them separately. So there's time to arrive at a common point of view. And we process each rehearsal afterwards -- what we thought worked or didn't, and why. For every four hour rehearsal, especially in the first three-quarters of the process, we probably spend another three to four hours in pre-planning and post discussion.
Icon is described as an immersive multi-media landscape. What does this mean?
 Nichols: For our purposes a "multi-media landscape" refers to a variety of things. Firstly our protagonists (Echo and Narcissus) see the world and relate to one another through classic film scenes. To them the world IS an ever evolving giant multi-media experience. It also refers to the fractured media images that fill the theatre. There are over ten cameras in the space that John DesRoches (the video designer) is able to live edit with, two video projectors and five televisions. Plus, James Ford (the sound designer) is also mixing music, sound bytes and classic quotes live with the action; giving the performance a slightly different feel each night.
The description of Icon seems to be far more involved with film and video than the stage. Why did you decide to put this on stage rather than do a film and what does the live performance do to enhance this production?
 Leonard: The films exist -- they're still out there for anyone to see. We're not doing a remake or even a tribute to these films, though we'd be thrilled if audience members leave the theatre inspired to go out and rent these movies. They're fantastic films, and for better or worse, our culture is all bound up in these images and ideas. What is romance? What is fantasy? What is fear, or aggression? What is a man, or a woman? What does it mean to be noble, deluded, innocent, to lash out, to discover your true self? Movies have taught us what to expect from life, and what these things are supposed to look and feel like -- whether or not reality matches the illusions we've been raised on. And this is exactly why ours is a stage piece ... it's about the interaction of illusion and life. The actors playing these roles are right there in front of you. Yes, there's a gap between the illusion you remember and the actor recreating it, just like there's a gap between your life and George Bailey's, or Norma Desmond's, or Rick and Ilsa's great love affair. We exist in the shadows of shadows; defining ourselves and others in relationship to the images that are replicated the most in popular culture. Who's missing from these images? A whole lot of people. Most of us, one way or another. And yet, we still often dream in these terms -- again, for better or worse.
Treating these famous roles almost as shells, suits of armor to be put on and removed at will, has allowed us to explore what is most essential and Iconic about them. Icons are very simple images, not complicated portraits -- for example the Virgin Mary, the images of saints. These are not representations of complex individuals, rather they symbolize essential qualities and functions. So our actors experiment with distilling the roles, and we have removed the context of the films' plots, designs and time periods.
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Once in a long while I see a bunch of people do something and think, "How did they do that?"