In the back of a quaint theater, Siiri Scott sat silent, watching a play unfold as an audience sat and judged her work.

“It’s liberating,” Scott said. “Last night was the first night I got to sit and just watch the show. You go through waves, it’s like a plane going to take off, and then you kinda get to sit back and experience it as a true audience member.”

Scott, a DePaul Theatre School grad, recently directed “My Brilliant Divorce” at the Irish Theatre of Chicago,.The production starred Barbara Figgins as Angela in a powerful performance that carried the audience through Angela’s tumultuous divorce.

Scott is a renowned vocal and dialect coach, which came in handy as Angela goes through different dialects and accents as a way of differentiating different characters throughout the production.

“All the different accents and dialects were the hardest part of this production,” Figgins said. “But (Scott) is a dialect coach for Notre Dame and knew exactly how to handle introducing them into the show.”

“I felt safe in her hands and direction,” Figgins said. “But my opinion was heard and she always listened to what I had to say.”

Scott already had a dual undergraduate degree when she first came for her Masters  at DePaul, but she didn’t feel prepared to go out into the Theatre world.

“DePaul was fantastic in teaching me the tools and making sure I was able to use them,” Scott said.

Scott’s direction of “My Brilliant Divorce” has warranted her recognition from the Jeff Committee, the most prestigious theater award in Chicago, and the show has been Jeff Recommended.

The show was a brilliant example of storytelling. Figgins was able to carry the audience through an intricate story and tale of a divorcee whose husband left her for a younger woman.

It was able to keep the audience engaged and communicate the emotional distress that Angela was in.

For Scott, her primary focus was to focus on the text of her script.

“It is a matter of storytelling and leading the audience through that story,” Scott said. “Every element should enlighten the text. If the audience isn’t experiencing a story in the present then we haven’t done our job.”

The audience experienced numerous emotions while watching the heartwrenching play, including desperation, joy and eventual acceptance as Angela leads the audience through her journey in becoming a strong and independent woman.

Scott excels in doing what some directors do not; she listens to her actors. She learns from them and their experience and works it into her interpretation of the text and show.

This show was a beautiful tale of life and an honest tale of a challenging time, as Angela is left by herself to try and pick up the pieces of her scattered life.

Scott directed this show superbly, and is a shining example of what a DePaul graduate should strive to do: be successful in the field they love. She even offered a bit of wisdom to those striving for a long and happy career.

“Put your head down and work hard,” Scott said.

She has done just that.