Monthly Archives: August 2015

One week down. All is well. Only hitch to the week is my theatre history class with 57 students. The class size is not ideal but I totally understand the reasons behind the compromises made. My problem is that my first two classes didn’t meet them with quite the impact I wanted. This primitive core of theatre where we connect the human love and capacity for imitation to primitive man and the necessity and comfort they found in ritual was not hitting the point I wanted. Read more →

At the beginning of the year, our department has one audition after another. The thing that has always struck me about these auditions and become a bit of a bane in my side is how students are perceiving and preparing for these auditions. All through the year I preach how the words are only a springboard for the real meat of the play – and that is the thoughts and intentions between the words. What gets you cast is not about your ability to say the words. What gets you cast is your ability to find and experience SOMETHING between the words. One moment of meaningful silence is more likely to get you called back then all the clever recitations you can dream of. It is not a reading contest! Read more →

In acting class I find that students constantly want to learn more skills and tricks and dialects and postures and positions and and and – – all in the name of being a better actor. It takes me some time and patience to show them that ADDING more to the repertoire is the last thing they need to do at this early point. They need to get RID of “actor stuff” to be a better actor. In the metaphorical sense, they need to clear the room well BEFORE they even think of adding new furniture to the room. How do you even know what you need to add until you see the free space? Read more →

Today in class I introduced the use of interogatives with the directing class. So much of the success of the director depends on the way we use and respect the interogatives of who, where, when, how and why. The true danger for the young actor and especially the young director is to move to “how” too early. When a director introduces “how” into the rehearsal the creativity is stopped. Now the rehearsal process is stopped and everthing is focused on the product. With “how” it also becomes about getting IT right or getting IT wrong. Now the actor is simply seeking approval from the director; and the director is foolishly excluding the creativity of the actor. In the world of art how can you possibly be arrogant enough to say that something is right or wrong? There are experiences that mean more then others in the theatre, but they can never be called wrong. There is no Scantron in theatre – no bubbles to fill in with a number 2 pencil – – thank God! Read more →

First day of school done! For some reason – – on that first day of school – – I have to be the very first person in the parking lot. Of course then I am the one that sets off the security alarm because I can’t remember the pad code to turn it off. But custodians come, give me my first warning of the year and on I go. Grocery bag in hand, it is time to stock the pantry in my office with foods that are good for me (likely to go uneaten all the way through graduation) and “fun food” that will likely be gone before the end of the day. So goes meal planning in the office. Read more →