The Good and the Garvey

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Thursday, 04 February 2010 10:57

99Seats, RVCBard and Parabasis all have posts up in relation to the last couple of posts. Check them out when you get a chance.

Then there's this.

Thoughts?

UPDATED: CultureFuture weighs in Add a comment

Casting and Diversity

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Wednesday, 03 February 2010 16:03

There are many theatres that could currently squash us in terms of budget. In terms of diversity, I think I'd put our work up against any company in the nation. I am a big proponent of culturally specific organizations; however, American theatres are functionally separate but equal--only some are more equal than others.

When I see a culturally specific organization--one that is entirely Latino, or entirely black--I don't necessarily see that as diversity. If Sunday morning is the most segregated time in America, Friday and Saturday night might be a close second. I am a big proponent of culturally specific organizations. I am a bigger proponent of inclusive organizations.

I haven't been shy about the fact that inclusion is one of our core values. It is something we constantly work at and learn from. Over the four years we've been in existence, some things we've tried have worked well, others haven't. We're still learning. As we worked with more and more directors who were not part of the company with the festival, it became clear that we needed to have a stated policy to give to guest artists.

It may not be the kind of thing that often is seen in public, but its current articulation is:

• Casting Policy: Halcyon Theatre strives to be as inclusive as possible. It is part and parcel of our mission. Diversity does not happen by itself and so we actively cultivate relationships with a diverse group of artists and writers. Working with artists who have diverse backgrounds, talents, and training fosters artistic growth and innovation. Artistic diversity also fuses styles and cultures into new art–forms and can prevent stagnation. We believe that most shows can be cast against type and ask if age and/or ethnicity are intrinsic to character when casting. (Safe is one example in which ethnicity IS intrinsic to the play and it should not be cast against type.) Halcyon Theatre’s directors routinely cross-cast and cast against type and we expect collaborating directors to do the same.

We're continually refining how it is articulated, but the overall vision remains the same. It's a constant process of examining how we view the world, and how we choose to depict it on stage. The most basic principle is: the more distinct voices in the room, the better the art will be.

I have heard many working with small theatres say they want a more diverse cast, but few non-white actors audition. I have had friends tell me they won't audition for most of the companies out there, because as a minority, they know they won't be cast--and so little changes.

There are some things I am not shy about doing. I am not shy about going out and trying to find the best actors I can find.  I want the best actors we can work with onstage. I don't sit back and wait for folks to audition. I am not shy about asking people around town for help, for recommendations. I am not shy about forcing directors to call people back and having people read for roles that normally might not be called for. I typically don't step into final casting, and if I do, it is often making sure schedules will work; but, often directors will cast someone that might not have been in the room.

Every person in the company has different feelings about it. It's something we discuss and thankfully our folks are comfortable speaking honestly about it. Toya felt pretty strongly that A Shroud for Lazarus should have had more black actors and she was honest about that. Adam was upset about how Lorca in a Green Dress was cast. He understood the process to mean that he could be in the show if no suitable Latino's were available. (He was pretty damn good in Green Dress, btw)

One of the things I find a lot is way more people are ok with a role that is traditionally played by white actors being played by an actor of color than the other way around. Jenn and I have to do a better job sometimes of convincing our company that they can be in shows like A Shroud for Lazarus or Lorca in a Green Dress, even if they are not black or latino; we have to show that artists of color can play roles traditionally played by white actors; and we have to prove that it can be done to audiences. I do not think you can reach inclusion by excluding people.

Often diversity is thought of in black or white terms, with Djimon Hounsou and Jake Busey having the only two skin tones. Artists often get passed over if they don't fit those types, or if they have an accent. Artists who are multi-racial--who aren't dark enough to be called in for "ethnic roles" and not white enough often don't have a hard time getting cast at theatre across the country. Artists with a foreign accent often don't get called back, unless it's for a "foreigner" role.

Many artists butt heads with those issues every day, and I think audiences and art suffer if we are afraid to provoke and question what is typically seen onstage, if we are afraid to have a stage that looks like the Brown Line train you would take to see the festival.*

The color of casting is a continual conversation. Because Jenn and I are white, does that mean Halcyon is a "white" company? Is diversity only skin deep? The way the conversation is typically framed, Adam, from Pennsylvania, and Irene, from Belarus, have more in common than Toya and Christine who both grew up in the Chicago area.

The conversation is still evolving. I know a few things for certain: the more open we are, the better the artists and writers we've been able to work with; a theatre catering to a tiny homogeneous portion of the world cannot be sustained; if anyone is excluded from the conversation because of how they look the conversation cannot happen.

Everything else we are still learning.



*had to fit a plug in there. The performance space is easily accessible from the Western and Damen El stops. Add a comment

Does Being a Parent Make You a Better Actor?

Life of a Theatre Wife

Written by Jennifer Adams Tuesday, 02 February 2010 14:38

I remember, at some point, deciding that being a mother makes you a better actor. I started to believe this in my 20's, before I became a mother myself, and before I became brilliant enough to stop making broad general statements. I thought it was something to do with being pregnant and having life grow inside you.

I have grown and matured, of course, but I have to admit that I still think that being a parent CAN make you a better actor.

There are 2 main reasons for this: Loss of Self-Importance and Tactics

When you love, you hopefully put your loved ones first. Whether it be your love of family members, friends or significant other, when you love completely you do at times put the best interest of those people ahead of your own. However, you CAN choose to put yourself first, and if you do choose to put yourself first, your adult loved ones have coping mechanisms that allow them to move on. You have a safety net for self-interest, as they are adults and can take care of themselves. If you put your own needs ahead of your children's, they have no coping mechanism. They could die. It takes away your safety net.

As an actor, I really believe that putting the focus on your scene partner makes the scene stronger, raises the stakes, and allows you to be MORE invested, MORE specific and MORE engaged than if you are approaching the scene thinking solely of your own environment, mood, etc...  There is something very grounding in putting your attention on the other person, and I believe this can become intrinsic to who YOU are when you are a parent;if you allow your own experiences to be a base for your character work, I believe you automatically have a deeper well to draw on and a more mature approach and presence.

Instead of "I want ______" your focus should be "How am I going to get ______ from YOU?" You need to listen to how your actions impact your partner in order to be able to proceed with the best chance of winning. "I just did ____. Did it work? Are you doing what I want/listening to me/leaving? If not, I need to change my approach and try something different."

This leads right into tactics.

I learned about Tactics in college.

"Tactics are the strategies of human communication; they are the active ingredients of dynamic interaction... Some tactics are used to seek the support of other characters; some to silence their opposition..." Acting One, Robert Cohen (I laughed at the book's ridiculousness as I re-read it for this post, but it IS meant to teach BEGINNING skills to BEGINNING actors, and can have something to offer in a classroom setting).

My acting teachers were ALWAYS talking about tactics. and I took the same approach to that as I took to everything else... "I GET it... now can we please just ACT???" When we were given the task of writing tactics in the margins of our scripts, I thought it was my job to have the most interesting verbs, not the ones that would work the best- instead of using "My goal is 'To hurt you' with this line" I would use "My goal is 'To slash your wrists with my words' with this line." I have always had a flair for the dramatic. My teacher was not amused. Another example was when it was suggested that using colored pencils to delineate when we were using different tactics in our scripts. Yeah, I did it, but I had no idea how it was really supposed to help me be an actor.

It wasn't until I took classes here in Chicago that I truly and intrinsically got it. I took classes with Kurt Naebig at The Audition Studio, now called Acting Studio Chicago. I think it is THE best place to hone your craft here in Chicago, and I think Kurt is one of the best teachers around. For me, Michael Shurtleff's 12 Guideposts take the best of many different strategies of acting (Uta Hagen, Viewpoints, Checkov, Meisner, etc) and give them a base that is easy to understand and activate and make actionable.

Guidepost 2: Conflict
What is my dream and what can I do to my partner so that this person can make my dream come true today? Your "Fighting For" is done in a variety of ways, which are called Actions. An Action is described as an undeniable communication that affects or changes your partner to get what you want. The best actions are physical, because they are undeniable. Some examples of actions: to berate, to infuriate, to surprise, to tease etc, etc. Name the action, then play the action.

Action=Tactic=Action: It is HOW you do what you do to the other to get what you want.

As a parent, your world is STEEPED in tactics... you excite, you tease, you threaten, you punish, cajole, lead, scare, inspire.... and that is all just to get them to eat their breakfast!
And you have to be watching and listening constantly to see if your tactics are working... and be prepared to change tactics in a split-second when they don't. The results of NOT doing this can run anywhere from always having to pick up the toys yourself to becoming a Screaming Shrew that isn't fun for ANYONE (and that noone listens too after a while) to your child drinking his own pee to your child running in front of a train... (these last two are, of course, hypothetical only. Because of TACTICS!)

Now, as I said, I have matured. I know many people without children, younger and older, who are fantastic actors, and I know parents who are not. Hopefully, my broad sweeping statements have gone the way of the color-blocked shirt and parachute pants. However, I do believe that calling on your own experiences makes you a better actor, and being a parent can give you an intrinsic understanding of using tactics and focusing on the characters you are using those tactics ON that makes you a more grounded actor.
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Ruminations on a Theme

Life of a Theatre Wife

Written by Jennifer Adams Friday, 29 January 2010 15:55

I really did it. I quit my job. I am a Stay-at-Home Mom...I'm sorry to harp on it, but I have to keep reminding myself that this is a life change and not a temporary situation...

No matter what you think, when you have children, you are plucked up from the life you have and transported into another life. It's a great life, but it's different. No doubt about it. Especially in a time where we live with our spouse before we marry them so the change from dating to marriage is not as great as it once was...

Every day I play a balancing act. I balance my attention for each of my children and the one I take care of, I balance cleaning to keep my sanity with a few moments of rest to keep my sanity, and I balance the wish for a moment of rest with the fact that I have been doing theatre since I was five and for most of my life it was my greatest love, and I have limited time during the day to accomplish my theatre work. (gasp, gasp, gasp... that was a really long sentence...)

There are days when all I can think about is theatre. There are days where I struggle to remember why I love it. When I have 1/2 hour to myself while younger kids are napping, why am I spending it calling businesses about doing classes in exchange for parking spots when I could be watching Ellen Degeneres?

I struggle with the difference between what I love about theatre and what Tony loves, and I struggle to maintain my theatre identity when sometimes it seems easier to simply support what he wants to do since he seems to have more time to think about it.

I know what I love about theatre. I love the sense of purpose that it can give, the feeling of being a part of something greater; I love the feeling you get when you reach into a place you didn't know you had and you take the audience with you. I love the sense of community it can build, and the way it can teach you about something you never would have known about otherwise.

I love that it can become the most important thing in a kids life and keep them motivated when schoolwork and Nintendo can't (dating myself, I know.,.. what is it now? Playstation 7000?) I love that you are giving something of yourself to people who have never met you, and when they leave and you leave, you are both changed somehow... Actually, Manual for a Desperate Crossing pretty much embodies what I love about theatre. Go see it; it's really fantastic.

Some days it's hard, I'm not gonna lie; whose life isn't hard sometimes? But when I am being tackled, when peas are being thrown at me, OR when I am called the best mommy in the world, I have to remind myself what my whole life has been working towards- having theatre be a part of everything I do. THAT is what brings this insanely chaotic existence into balance. And that's when I know that even though sometimes I feel incredibly fragmented, I am just watering, feeding and growing all the different and separate parts of my being so that one day I can bring them all together again. It has started already. Tony, Jr. doesn't say "Mommy..." or "Daddy..." are "gone." He says we're "at the theatre." He talks about lights and calls his toys actors... Our kids will understand that we work incredibly hard to be great parents AND keep our identities. And we will look back and remember "we would never be where we are today if we hadn't worked so INSANELY hard back then." Maybe cervezas and beaches will be involved as we share this conversation, Tony and I... or maybe it will be at the 25th anniversary of Halcyon House...I can't wait to find out! Add a comment

Black Theatre or No?

Tonys Blog

Written by Tony Adams Friday, 29 January 2010 10:22

IsThe Wiz black theatre? Is Israel Horovitz black theatre? 

What if it was this Wiz?



What if it was a production of The Line?

Adam Thurman asks: Do theatres have the courage and commitment to broaden their range of what a "black" play is?

Normally I'm not that interested in flipping race and casting for a publicity stunt. Productions like Steppenwolf's all black Glass Menagerie is pretty boring to me. It's still justThe Glass Menagerie. Done with artists of color, tucked away from subscription audiences: good for funders; good for talking points; not good enough for subscribers. (Though good for artists who draw a paycheck from it.)

I was thinking of that when I got a flyer in my email from Ropo Ewenla. He's a Nigerian writer, who's done some great stories on Rotimi Babatunde among others. This production of The Line is due in Nigeria after Ghana and Benin Shows in March. And they're hoping to travel to the US later in the year as part of activities for the 70th birthday of Israel Horovitz.



What happens when a company who may not look like the original cast just wants to do a show? If they are in Brisbane and want to do The Wiz, or they are from Benin, Ghana and Nigeria and want to do The Line. What would happen if a Korean company wanted to do Joe Turner?

Would this Line count as black theater? Would it only count if they were from the US, or the writer was black? When talking with African artists in the US, in the UK, in France, I have never heard them question if their work was black. I know a couple of them would be pretty offended if they were told that being Black is unique to the US. Most artists I've talked to or worked with would prefer to defy labels. Most African artists would probably point out their work is more than just African, more than just Black.

Do we need to amend Adam's question to add, do we have the courage and commitment to broaden their range of what a "black" play is? Do we have room to expand our outlook beyond the coasts?

I have a lot more questions than answers. What do you think?
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