My senior year English teacher at Clovis High School made the class read Joseph Heller's theatrical dramatization of his own literary masterpiece, Catch-22. I remembered the piece as both funny and tragic. After surviving college life, I began to read novels and classics that had eluded me during my days of higher learning. Catch-22 was on the list. Once I started the book, I became entranced by the ironies and absurdities that Heller exemplified again and again in the thick and complete novel. It took me two months to finish, and by the end, it had changed the way I looked at life.

Flash forward three years, and I had gotten my foot in the door at a local black box theatre called The Vortex. My goal was to get a play I had written called (pause) produced at the theatre. People who read the script generally liked it, but I couldn't find a director to commit to the project. I offered to direct the play myself and encountered a Catch-22. They wouldn't let me direct (pause) because I had no experience, and I had no experience because they wouldn't let me direct (pause). I realized that I would have to direct something else before they would allow me to do my own stuff. I decided to sink or swim as a director with a different and even more massive project. I proposed to do the play version of Catch-22 last spring, but I was told to wait and propose it again at a later date. I proposed it again last October, and the board voted to give me a shot. With 9-11 and our current war on terror, the story's themes took on a greater magnitude, and suddenly, the play meant more than I originally intended.

With a definite four weekend run set for March of 2002, I set out to get my Yossarian. I actually had only one guy in mind, my friend and theatre mentor Miguel Martinez. I took him for pizza and beer at the Copper Lounge and convinced him that he was the only man in town that could play the role. He accepted, and I knew I had half of what I needed already.

I spent two months by myself, preparing for the rehearsals. What would the set look like? How will people enter, exit and execute blocking in general? What did each scene mean? What was supposed to be learned? How do I keep it entertaining, consistent and important? I reread the book, I read the play countless times, I watch other plays in town, I watched actors and audiences. All the while making mental notes of what I thought worked and didn't work. When February 4 came around, I was as ready as I was going to be to direct.

For five weeks, my cast of 21 actors (16 men & 5 women) practiced. Their talents ranged from seasoned professionals to first time actors. We ran scenes, and ran them, and ran them some more. I sold the idea of creating one giant ego called Catch-22. Individual egos had to be put aside for this to work. The group bonded, and before long, the cast and crew were on the bandwagon.

To say there weren't tense moments would be a lie. It is impossible to get through a play called Catch-22 without a few catches. One of my actors went AWOL and had to be replaced, actors battled illness and mental blocks, tech week had its crunch on costumes and the set (both of which did not come together fully until the final dress). Looking at the process as a whole, however, I couldn't have asked for much more from the people involved. I had over 30 people volunteering their time and talents for nothing, and in the end, we accomplished what at times seems impossible. Creating a quality product out of nothing.

Opening night occurred on Friday, and although it was hard to actually accept, my job was virtually done. Catch-22 received preview press from most local papers, and the Vortex was filled to capacity (76 seats) that night. The play moved well for two and a half hours, jerking around people's emotions from laughing out loud to sniffles and tears. War and death never looked so funny and tragic at the same time.

I quietly walked to the nearby 7-11 this morning and picked up a copy of the Sunday Albuquerque Journal. When I got home, I pulled out the art section and flipped to the Critic's Corner. The headline read "Catch-22 shows the heroism of getting through war." The review was full of praise, and I almost didn't believe it. It's still hard to fathom that it worked out as well as it did. The play still has potential to get better, but it's up to the actors now. I created a good play. It's up to them to make it great.

So now I can add director to the myriad of self proclaimed titles. I can honestly say that if I hadn't directed Catch-22 that it probably never would've been done in Albuquerque. Most people would've shied away from putting up a large cast production in a small space, but I had to do it. I can't tell you exactly why, but I had to do it.

Now, I can go to the theatre for the next three weekends and see the beast I created and unleashed upon the town, and every time there will be a moment when I ask myself 'did I really make this happen?' Everyone says I did, so I will play along.

Chris Jungle has only one catch, and that is Catch-22.