Being on Stage

I had the opportunity to get on stage and perform twice last weekend in two very different situations. One was the culmination of these past two weeks work as we presented The Apology my play about incest I was cast in at Roxbury Repertory Theatre's Six Playwrights in Search of a Stage one act play festival thing. The other was earlier this evening with my improv troupe, Rebels Without Applause as part of Improv Boston's Geek Week festival as we presented our (and particularly my own) virgin foray into performing long form improv. Both were the culmination of weeks of preparation and rehearsal, both presented challenges and both were unqualified successes. Well, except for one qualification, in my mind there were things which could have gone better about both of them, despite the fact that they were very well received and practically I performed to the best of my abilities... but not to my very absolute best. Which is OK. But that's the theme of this post, I'm coming back around to the theme of a previous post, satisfaction. Being satisfied with your work.

Because the thing is, as an actor, once you put something out in the world you don't get to do revisions on it like an author or even a painter or film maker gets to do. In the case of stage acting, you might get to try it again. But each individual performance stands alone as a piece, even if it's a piece of a greater organism, the show itself and the run of performances. In the case of these two events though, it's just one show. I'm sure I'll get to perform long form again in the future. And who knows, maybe this play will come back but I don't know that the playwright would contact us about reprising our roles if it did. So for the time being, I just have to be happy with the work I did.

Allow me to obsess a little bit. In both cases, I felt like in rehearsal we were able to achieve certain things that in performance we had the facsimile of but didn't exactly achieve. This is because live theatre is live theatre, it's different every time. In the case of our improv show, I sort of felt like it could have congealed a little better. But there was a major difference between our rehearsals and our performance... for the performance it was a packed full room of people. Laughing people. Quite a bit, actually. They really enjoyed our performance. And even if it was a little more chaotic then in some of our rehearsals, it was really really funny. And hey that's what it's all about.

The other, much more serious performance was also successful. It was strange performing in a straight play for the first time since March and Swimming in the Shallows that we only had one chance to perform it live, whereas with Swimming we had like sixteen. And of course, over that many performances the piece really evolves and even if you don't get something one night, you'll get another thing the next night and another thing after that but then not this, etc. But nope, The Apology had it's brief time on stage and now it's over. That was also successful. But I do wish we'd had a longer run, because I can't escape the feeling I could have done more with it. I mean man, what an intense piece and what an intense arc to go from just hangin' out with my Mom to "oh hey I spoke to my older sister, so my older brother raped her repeatedly when we were children? Why didn't you do something" etc and granted it was much more intense and much less flippant. It was a great acting challenge, and I had some great people taking it on with me. And then there were the other pieces, all of which were delightful and all the new folks I was able to meet and all the old ones I reconnected with. In short, a great experience.

Next up is that reading I've alluded to periodically, the culmination of months of work on the writer's part and us actors meeting several times over the past few months to break down the script and give him feedback, yes ladies and gentleman THE LAST JEWS are coming to Boston Playwright's Theater this Monday. And can I be honest? Being on stage with Bobbie Steinbach is a great opportunity, and despite the fact that she is anything but intimidating in person I can't help but be a little intimidated getting on stage with someone of her caliber. You know what I mean? In the meantime, let's just say my role has been expanded and I have some work to do. We had a rehearsal this past Monday, and another one on Friday primarily focusing on the scene where I do most of the talking between the playwright, my scene partner and myself. Oh and in the meantime, Three Sisters is about to enter full speed ahead mode as we go up in a month. So that's plenty going on!

Stress Relief

Today was a rather long and taxing day, and a testimony to the power of on stage catharsis and the simple joy of performing. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

Perhaps against my better judgement, I actually sought a posting on Craigslist for an Emerson student shooting a scene from the Spike Lee film the 25th Hour (which if you haven't seen, do so, it's pretty great) mainly for the reason that I knew the material would be good, and it's going to be in a directing class on Emerson's big fancy sound stage. I've never shot anything on a sound stage, so I wanted the experience and I looked at the date and figured "I'm not doing anything that day, why not". So, today the film student, another film student also acting in the scene and I met to rehearse. I'd really preferred to meet during the week, but he wanted to meet today, so I consented despite having an audition at 1:30 (relatively nearby mind you, at Improv Asylum in the North End) and a performance tonight. The rehearsal was fine. Getting there wasn't my worst T riding experience ever (that would come later in the day and I'll get to it) although the Red Line was sluggish and I was like five minutes late but whatever. The rehearsal was fine. Lots of film student mumbo jumbo but it's a good scene, and hey maybe some of the material will maybe be usable we'll see.

After that was my audition for Improv Aslyum. I've never studied at IA but I know people who have, and have performed with troupes who came out of there, and by that testimony it seems like a solid if corporate minded operation. Also I thought "what the heck" so when the audition notice went out, I responded thinking "also I'm pretty good at improv, I think". Still, I went in with low expectations and they were met. I thought I did OK. Six people, twenty minutes, a bunch of short scenes. One thing I took away from it, it's especially important in an audition to really focus on fundamentals. The first few scenes, everybody was really nervous and all over the place, as you might expect and the scenes were extra not good. So, the auditors stopped us and said "OK let the nerves out and slow down, actually take your scene partner in before you start" and when my next scene started, I did that. I stepped out and created an environment, some one came into the space and we acknowledged each other and it went pretty well until I felt like I zigged when I could have and should have zagged, that is to say I could have "yes and"-ed one of their suggestions better than I did and when I didn't the scene kind of crashed. I wasn't called back, oh well.

Coming home, my transportation woes began. One of my pet peeves are stupid and/or inconsiderate people on the T, or just anytime anyone is in my way while I'm riding the T. Usually, my commutes are well plotted in terms of where I get on and how I get off the train to get to a given destination, usually a rehearsal, audition or performance since that's my life right now. People gawking, standing around, blocking stair ways or entrances, etc, that's what I'm talking about. The T was chock full of those kinds of people today. Stupid, drunken suburbanites who either don't know how to take public transit (this is my assumption), are just utterly inconsiderate, don't have any sense of the space around them or some combination of the above. As an actor, I'm hyper aware of my personal space, what is around me, and how to navigate around it. In large part I developed that skill taking the train a lot. I'm also very considerate, I try to let people off or on as appropriate and make way for people coming off or on a mode of transit, etc. The people I dealt with all day today coming and going from my performance were not. Multiple times I saw people just standing in the path of an exit for example, or barging past people trying to exit a train. People of Boston, this is not how you conduct yourselves!

You see, in addition to it being St Patricks day, there was a Bruins game, so my god the Bostonians and it's adjoining suburbanites were out in FORCE making me ANGRY and causing me to MUTTER OBSCENITIES UNDER MY BREATH IN THEIR DIRECTION. In addition to those factors, the Newbury/Rockport line which I take to Salem is shuttle bussing on weekends due to construction. This made my commute to tonight's show, so, so frustrating. As you would know if you read my Facebook page at all today.

When I got to the theatre, first I got a coffee and a chocolate from the Starbucks nearby to help myself relax. Then as I started to decompress, it came time for the Shark and I to run our dance sequence (yes we have one and it is amazing SEE THIS SHOW) partly out of necessity and at the behest of our cast mates who wanted some entertainment. So we did, and we entertained them, and it felt great! It was the beginning of a cathartic night of doing theatre, and a testament for me to it's power. It's interesting because the past few shows I've felt less "in the moment" than I could be, but tonight I was all about the moment, my scene partner, the audience, all of it except my shitty time getting there. And I felt really good about the show. And I came home having not chemically inebriated myself on St Patty's day, although I will have a beer or two before bed, the adrenaline and endorphins I felt performing were all the chemicals I need.

Written Words

Last night was my second time making it to the Democracy Center for the fantastic event "Have You Read? An Evening of New Plays" hosted by the play writing collective (co founded by my friend and collaborator on "The Muse" Cassie Seinuk) Interim Writers. Basically, local writers submit their work to be read aloud in front of an audience, then there is a talk back with said audience, and it's all for free (with suggested donations and muffins!) Once again I was astounded by the variety and quality of the four pieces presented and for an added bonus, this time I was able to participate as a reader! These are always extra enjoyable because I get to meet new people and be reunited with friends I already have made but don't always see across the Boston theatre community. For those readers who may be aspiring to get on Boston stages, these kinds of events are super essential for getting yourself out there and... *ahem* networking.

A slight segway about networking, I feel slightly dirty saying it. I guess because the subtext is "hi I'm interacting with you for the purpose of my own advancement" but at the same time, the only way anybody ever makes it in this business is by helping other people out, you know what I mean? And to do that, you have to introduce yourself and put out the image "Hi, I'm a worthwhile and intelligent person who has their shit together, so the next time a potential project comes up that I would be a good fit for, think of me!" you know what I'm saying? I guess it's not the aspect of putting yourself out that's difficult for me, but more the point where you need to say "hi, now that we've known each other and possibly there has been some sort of transactional aspect of our relationship, I need something!" which will be especially essential to my success in New York/LA/The Outside World. Anyway this has been a segway on networking.

Which you should do at the next Interim Writers event! Seriously, the material is always really top notch, and never what you expect to hear at one of these events. It's really cool. But make sure you get there early, because the Democracy Center is a small building and the Nelson Mandela room fills up fast.

Last night there was a piece I found particularly surprising, "Four Riffs For A Sailor" by Monica Raymond. It was a monologue from the perspective of Calypso in the Odyssey, you know the really hot nymph who holds him captive and has hot beach sex with him before he can get back to Ithaca (sorry gender studies major I know there is more to her character than that, as articulated by this piece). It's not obvious at first that it's about the Odyssey, but as the language rides the line between prose and poetry over time you come to that realization. My friend James compared it profoundly to getting a Boloco burrito but knowing what's inside except that it's delicious. Anyway, seeing the piece performed, I realized "Hey I used to write stuff like this, what's stopping me from taking one of those pieces and adapting it for performance?"

When I used to write poetry I was always hesitant about reading it aloud or performing it, despite the irony of my aspirations to act, I felt like it worked better as words on a page which is valid for many of the post modern poets who I aspired to in those heady days of teenage pretension. But frankly, I'm a much more capable performer then I was then, and the time is coming that I should really be working on my own stuff. Dramatic conflict has never been my forte as a writer, and up till now I viewed that as a barrier. But what the hell, I have all this material (I probably wrote hundreds if not thousands of poems as a teenager, most of them not very good, but some of them were passable) why not try to do something with it?

I was going to then cut and paste the first piece I had in mind... but my imagined judgement of me and my work by you and your anonymity has caused me to chicken out. Also, I should probably revise it, there a few things that popped out at me as being worth adjusting when I last looked at it. However, I may be trotting out to some open mics and or poetry nights in the near future to see how this goes down, and when I do, wish me luck!