Why Didn't I Write That?
Wednesday, March 16, 2005, 11:52 AM
I know I've found a kindred spirit here. For months now, I've been a member of FlyLady - a Yahoo group that sends daily reminders and encouragement to help you manage your household, get rid of clutter, and organize your life. Her system of "babysteps" is so liberating, I wanted to find a way to apply it to my acting career. Constant, small progress, breaking my addiction to the "zoom, crash, burn" cycle of psyching up to tackle a huge project and being overwhelmed by it.
Now, I've found a wonderful article on just that topic - by Karen Kohlhaas, an director and teacher here in New York. It's called "Why FlyLady is Great for Actors" and Karen gave permission for me to link to it here:
Karen Kohlhaas - The Monologue Audition
You can read more about FlyLady and her system at:
Flylady's Home Page
Enjoy, and happy FLY-ing!
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Overture, Curtain, Lights...
Friday, February 25, 2005, 11:33 PM
So much for the “production journal”. One important thing I forgot about playing Edith is how EXHAUSTING she is. Life becomes a very small circle of rehearsing, doing basic life-sustaining activities, and riding the subway in between.
The show was wonderful. We had a beautiful big theater to play in, an attentive, appreciative house of about 450 people (this estimate from a friend in the audience), and we got a standing-O. There were some technical glitches (we probably could’ve used a preview), but the story and characters were right there. Mr. Arthur Giron, the playwright, was kind enough to come up, and said it was “the best yet.” Can’t ask for more.
There was a nice feature article in the local paper on the Sunday before the show. I haven’t heard word of any review yet, but if you know of one, please drop me a line.
You can read the article at the paper’s website, www.eagletribune.com. It appeared in “Lifestyle” on February 13. You can also see a copy of the text in the LINKS section on the top right - “Remembering Edith Stein - Feature Article.”
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Stimulating Creativity
Wednesday, February 2, 2005, 03:18 PM
One of the best sites I have found - that helped me so much as a writer - is The Snowflake Model for Novel Writing by Randall Ingermanson. This approach is not just for novels, but any writing project.
My dear friend Christy English, author of two novels, tells me she never sits down to write without knowing what she will be writing about. Every day when she finishes writing, she sets up her task for the next day.
She's never had writers' block.
This transformed my whole approach to the muscial, treatments, screenplays, articles, even this blog. I used to think writing was some kind of "burst" of creativity that flows spontaneously from an inner muse. Well, maybe sometimes it happens that way, but waiting for inspiration to move you to the paper is like waiting for the "muse of exercise" to come lace up your sneakers for you.
Of course, the same thing applies to acting. When I was studying with Michael Howard, the first question he would ask after students finished a scene was, "What were you working on?" You didn't just get up and play a scene. You were expected to be working on a specific creative problem or experimenting and discovering a specific aspect of the scene - relationship, physical circumstances, character body, preparation, etc.
Just last night at "Edith Stein" rehearsal, I told the AD I was going to work on my character's body in the next scene run, and would he observe for me. The difference was tremendous.
I'd love to hear stories of "intentional creativity" - how has setting yourself "homework problems" helped open up your work?
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Logic and Creativity
Wednesday, February 2, 2005, 02:52 PM
One of the most interesting questions I took at the Stone Soup reading was from a young man - about eight years old - who wanted to know whether it was "hard to make things up." He was learning creative writing in school.
As so often happens with children's questions, it got me thinking about some very deep issues - first, is it hard or easy to be creative and what is the nature of creative thinking?
Second (which I will deal with separately), is - how does the way we define a task ("hard" or "easy") affect the way we deal with it and our ability to be successful?
The answer I gave that young man was that it is a lot of work to write a play or a story, because you have to take the time and really write it, not just think it up in your head. (Stephen King points out in his book, "On Writing", that this simple requirement - the physical act of writing - keeps millions of self-styled "creative types" from ever becoming real authors. You have to actually write it down. You have to finish it. You have to keep rewriting it until it's good.)
I also told my young questioner that the most important part of writing is to have people who will ask you good questions. Once you have the questions, then you have a list of things to write - "like doing homework problems."
I realized later that this question/answer relationship is also the inner dynamic of the artist's mind - logic and creativity. Logic sets the "homework problems" and creativity answers them.
Creativity is our God-given ability to solve problems. He gave it to us, not just for "self-expression" or delighting each other, but for our very survival. "I'm trapped in a cave by a sabre-toothed tiger - how am I going to get out?" We get creative.
In fact, creativity demands obstacles. I remember working on "Measure for Measure" with the very lovely and talented Ann-Marie Falvey. She was incredibly frustrated by her role, almost to the point of giving up. I tried to explain to her that "there is no creativity without frustration." If our usual responses and methods work, there is no need to be creative - we can just keep on in our habitual way. Only when our first instincts fail - and we experience frustration - is the creative mind stimulated to solve the problem in a new way, a way we have not tried before. Only when we have exhausted all the "logical" approaches to a situation does that subconscious mechanism kick in and offer us the elegance and vibrancy of a truly creative solution.
I read once in an interview with Anthony Hopkins that when he is preparing to film a scene, he works alone on the script by running all of his lines at least one hundred times. That's why his acting is so brilliant - he's tried and used up all the obvious choices.
Many people speak as if the logical mind and the creative mind are in opposition, but in fact, they are symbiotic. The logical mind must frame the problem - "how do these two characters relate?" "how do I get my mother in this scene to hear me and forgive me?" The creative mind, properly stimulated, will provide a solution. The more specific the question, the more specific the answer.
So, my young friend, the answer is - it's a lot of work but no, it's not hard.
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Facing Edith on the Page
Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 04:58 PM
Rereading the script of Edith last night, I started getting really excited about the chance to tackle it again. There were three particular sections that I never felt like I fully "got". The director and the audience seemed to like them, but I always had that nagging feeling that I was just playing an arbitrary choice - I was not convinced inside that it was the "right" choice.
Of course, whatever choice you make, you must commit 100%. That will carry you through a lot. But that voice, the inner truthteller, what my first acting teacher used to call "the little dickey bird on your shoulder", knew it wasn't quite right.
How do you know the "right" choice, anyway? For me, it's an inner sensation, like a taste or a smell. A feeling of solidity, a conviction.
So now I hope that coming back to the script with fresh eyes, I'll be convinced of my choices in those trouble spots.
And I'll let you know how it goes.
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New Website Design Live!
Tuesday, January 25, 2005, 04:52 PM
Well, this is it. Today the redesign on my website goes up. I think it's gorgeous (possibly because I did it mostly myself).
If you have any trouble using the links or viewing any of the media, please drop me an email!
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Welcome!
Monday, January 24, 2005, 06:04 PM
As part of my new website redesign, I'm going live with my Blog! Oh, the pressure!
Two pieces of juicy news today - Stone Soup is having its first table reading on Wednesday - real live actors are going to read my words! Now, I finally get to hear what it sounds like outside my head. The reading is by the Threads New Works Development Series, and they're going to keep working with me as the script develops.
It's really different writing and knowing people are waiting for your results - concrete. Daunting. Liberating.
Let's hope the next round of feedback is as useful as the last. All the info about the Series is at FaithandWork.org .
Next big news is that I get to reprise Edith Stein next month! Okay, let's break that down:
I get do do Edith again, and get paid for it - YAY!
It's in 4 weeks - SAY WHAT?
Yep, the producer was going to go non-union this time, but something happened in the casting, and now they're bringing me back in. Most of the lovely and amazing cast is returning, and we're performing at the Rogers Center for the Arts at Merrimack College in Boston. All the info about performance times, etc. is listed on the website for the .Rogers Center. It's on February 17th.
I loved playing Edith the first time, but it's so draining - I think it took me the better part of 9 months to get over it. Kind of like mono.
In case you're not familiar with the play, Edith Stein was an atheist philosopher who became a Carmelite nun. On top of that, she was born & raised Jewish, so converting meant breaking with her entire family - her mother never saw or wrote to her again after she went to the convent. On top of that, she lived through the rise of Nazism, saw most of her family decimated, and was killed at Auschwitz.
Tears. Lots and lots of tears. I was constantly dehydrated. But the play rocks - people really love it. Here's an awesome review from the first production: Review Page.
The main purpse of this blog is a production journal and reference for myself, to record and learn more about my process as an actress and as a writer. Hopefully, it's helpful to others, too. If you have any insights, questions, or helpful feedback, please do leave a comment.
Lines. Gotta go study lines.
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