Tag Archive | acting
Get Tough
This week I stumbled upon James Grissom’s blog, Follies of God. The author, who is famous for his biography of his mentor, Tennessee Williams, publishes blog posts of his interviews with actors and artists, most of whom he was led to through his connection to Williams. One post, a conversation with the actor Kim Stanley, […]
It’s Not About You
You know what makes me A N G R Y? That people don’t care about the rapidly vanishing bee population? Well yes, but that’s not what I’m going to talk about. What makes me grind my teeth and tense my jaw is when actors make the work about them. Over the past few semesters I’ve […]
Holding on, Letting go
In Alexander class today we shared monologues. Every person would rehearse their monologue in front of the class, examine their experience, work with our teacher to explore their experiences and then take another go at their piece. Something rang true for me watching my classmates share their pieces. Acknowledge what’s happening (perhaps anxiety or tension […]
How to sell myself…just tip of the iceberg.
I am in post-grad land these days trying to build my life after I leave the walls of the CFA and I must admit that I am very excited! The main givens going out are that the path of an artist is difficult, the financial struggle is so real, and that embracing uncertainty is key. […]
Repeat After Me: Your Audience Is Not Stupid
Dear David J. Castillo, I’ve been thinking a lot about your being an utter waste of space. Now, while I believe that that is true for most people in the world, I think it is especially true because lately, you’ve been acting pretty recklessly. You’d think that after four years of training within a BFA […]
Now What?
This past weekend I completed my Senior Acting Thesis. That is a sentence I cannot believe I just typed. The past four years have felt as though they have culminated in this moment; a chance for me to share with friends, family members and teachers the experiences I have gained since starting my training freshman year. Although I started […]
The Challenge of the Truth
In London, I took a risk and bought a bunch of plays I knew nothing about. The first play I read had my eyes glued to the page and within minutes of finishing it, I was approaching my roommates saying READ THIS. please. Now. quickly. I need someone else to feel the wonder and appreciation […]
The Audition
Actors act. But before they can act, they must audition. That’s what they do. Right? Recently someone I know auditioned for a show they really wanted to be in. For the purposes of this post, let’s call them Janice. Janice found a deep, personal connection to the script and found that being cast in a role in this production […]
A Spectrum of Experience: The Amish Project
Resilience. Compassion. Love. Confusion. Hatred. Despair. Empathy. The realities of these words live within us all, often simultaneously. This is the human condition. How can one both fully hate and love? How do we find compassion in the midst of despair? And how do we walk through life with heads held high in the midst […]
Vaginas 4 All
Last week I saw Boston University Athena’s Players annual production of The Vagina Monologues. It was clearly a meaningful experience for the cast and crew. All of my friends who were involved said they had a great time. I loved going and supporting them. But I had a little bit of a problem. I’ve actually […]
Disability in Theater
So I have always kind of vaguely been aware of the fact that people with disabilities are hugely underrepresented in the theater. Like, duh. How many productions of have you seen where the lead actor is actually in a wheelchair because he can’t use his legs? If you said zero, we would have said the […]
Chicken Soup for the Dramaturg’s Soul
“I live in the world. The theatre is where I go to work,” quoth Canadian playwright George F. Walker in an interview with dramaturg and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre literary manager Paul Kosidowski. This very measured distinction struck me as helpful and healthy. My experience working towards my BFA in the School of Theatre has often […]
Beside the Table
Auditions are so unnatural. We all know this…it’s a necessary evil, yadayadayada. Everyone tries to make it better. But they’re just ew. (Funny our dramaturgy teacher brought this up today as I was about to offer this entry! It’s always a fact of life in this business!) I have been fortunate enough in my time […]
The Importance of Support
Our class was lately assigned to read the Theater Development Fund’s book Outrageous Fortune: The Life and Times of the New American Play, which I found extremely eye-opening not only in terms of its findings but what it means for me to do in my career as a theatre artist. There was a point made […]
Drama Lit Blog 2.0: BU School of Theatre 