Erika's Path To "Viewpoints"

Good morning, people of the world! Let me set the scene for you before you read this post. My scene. I'm in my pajamas, sitting on pale green sheets, listening to maintenance men do work to the exterior of my building through my open window. I have a small fan on my dresser, which projects a small yet effective breeze throughout the whole room. Freelance Whales plays on my pandora. (You're welcome, men outside, for the soundtrack. I don't thank you for the creepy noises I woke up to this morning.) A hot, freshly brewed cup of Trader Joe's coffee sits on my bedside table and its sweet, caffeinated aroma permeates my system with each turn of my fan.

Have a mental picture of my morning yet? I believe in the five senses of the theatre. Take an audience by the hand and help them understand the tastes and smells of your world while allowing them to hear the touches and listen to the sounds, and they will buy into your world. This is what we are trying to accomplish in our ensemble-built piece as part of play. For those of you who don't know, I am "directing" seven actors in a quest to create a new piece based on the theme of "Growing Up." How are we doing this?

The first step was to start working with our instincts instead of our brains. To do this, I introduced Viewpoints into the rehearsal room. Viewpoints is a method developed by Anne Bogart and Tina Landau that teaches actors to react instead of act in the rehearsal room in hopes that in performance, the actors will always be discovering, always be reacting. It keeps your mind and your scene always open, always fresh. It also is my new favorite way to get people to starting moving and reacting as an ensemble - a cohesive group. Viewpoints was first introduced to me while I was studying at Brandeis University where I was studying with a professor (and local actress - catch her as Emilia in CSC's Othello in the park this summer!) named Adrianne Krstansky. I'm a big thinker and this particular training method helped me to stop thinking and start doing. Although I took this class during the fall of my senior year of college, it was one of the first times I had truly felt alive while performing and this was a feeling I had been missing. And now, I'm passing it along to my ensemble!

It was scary to start teaching Viewpoints for the first time because there are so many components and I wanted them to make sense and actually be useful for my actors. So far, they've taken my direction and gone above and beyond what I've expected of them to this point in the process. (It is, after all, a collaborative process!) It's definitely been a learning experience - I know when I teach this the next time around that I'll approach different activities from different angles, and I truly understand why some activities are so important now. We start moving from training to actual construction of our piece at our next rehearsal, and I can't wait. This has so far been a very rewarding experience and I know that the end product is going to be an amazing thing to experience - with all five of your senses!

Production Info:

play. - A Night of Original Theatre

ONE NIGHT ONLY!!!

Tuesday, August 24th at 8 pm at The Factory Theatre!

SEE YOU THERE!

Check our website for more info: http://www.colabtheatre.org/upcoming-shows.html

Cultivating Future Audiences

In the coming year, dozens of productions will run in the Boston area. What I find particularly exciting this year is the number of new companies that have debuted or formed this past year. Ours is a scene on the rise, and more young artists are choosing to remain and work in Boston.

Early this past year, I had a disheartening experience that has influenced me and my call to arms in the months since. I sat in the audience of a farce produced by a prestigious regional theatre in the Boston area. I sat with a few friends, all in their early 20’s, all having a wonderful time. This production was stellar, the actors were world class, and the writing…well, my laughs spoke for themselves. I have often been complimented for my laughter. Sometimes, total strangers have approached me to appreciate my unashamed expression. I never feel the need to restrain my emotion during a performance, as I believe we are all part of the experience of seeing live theatre.

That evening, however, I encountered judgment for the first time. An older woman in the row ahead of us repeatedly turned around and glared at me. This perturbed me, but I continued to enjoy myself. She was seated about three seats to my right, one row closer. Later, one of my friends informed me that she overheard the woman complain about me. Evidently, I was “laughing rudely. Can’t he keep it down?”

We often discuss our concerns about the future of the American theatre. Maintaining audiences is a difficult feat, particularly when you consider the lack of a “theatre going” culture among younger generations. We grow up going to the movies or out for dinner as part of our social engineering, and as we become older these traditions are passed on and become habitual. What happens when our current young generations grow up without fond theatrical experience?

Imagine how a young man or woman without an already established love of the theatre would’ve felt that day? Perhaps he or she attended this production on a date, or perhaps because they were invited last minute by a friend with tickets? Whatever the reason, this new potential audience member is now immersed the world of live theatre. They witness world-class actors, and have an experience they did not know was possible. They are on the verge of discovering a new passion, a passion for attending live theatre. They will bring friends, grow older and instill this tradition in their children.

Now instead imagine, in the midst of this experience, he or she receives judgmental eyes from people who don’t share his background. An entire audience of older, caucasian and mostly affluent individuals glares at a young man or woman. Without a previous love of the theatre, without a sense of belonging, how would that individual feel? Were I not a theatre artist myself, I could’ve been that man. There exists a myth that theatre is an art form of the elite. This is not true, and we cannot let it be true. Since this experience, I’ve talked to others with similar stories. We all assume these are isolated incidents, but I worry that they are more common than we realize. We need to cultivate a welcoming culture for our potential audiences. We can’t judge those who wish to express themselves freely. That is the death of the American theatre.

But I have nothing but optimism. These incidents are few when compared to the sheer number of good, welcoming experiences I’ve had attending theatre of all scales and sizes. The best method to prevent the decay of our theatre is to remain vigilant and constantly welcome new artists and audience. Think proactively, towards the future. Not just one year, but ten years into the future. And as young artists, the best work we can do for the future is to create our own theatre in addition to the theatre created by those who came before us. When the young artists lose their ingenuity, the art will die. But luckily for us, young artists will always strive for more.

As we begin the New Year, I look to my friends, my collaborators and to the people I haven’t met yet with the knowledge that we get it. We’re all in this together and will work to reinvigorate the theatrical culture of our communities. I look to another year of collaboration between fringe and professional, community and regional, and theatre of all kinds.

Happy New Year!

Kenny

Why Kenny Does It

My life could be summed up by a string of key moments in which I received simple but profound words of wisdom. I am often asked why I chose the life I did, the life of an actor/director/playwright/artist. What sane person chooses a life on the edge? Artists of all types find themselves underpaid and overqualified for what they do, and we are sometimes tempted to apologize for the life we live, as if we feel guilt for not fulfilling our “potential for more.”

I am guilty of these things. Why do I do this? I stumbled onto the life of a theatre artist by complete accident. I come from an immigrant household that was constantly on the edge financially and emotionally, leaving me utterly unfamiliar with the concept of stability. For this reason, I sought education as a means to reach stability and become a productive, affluent and respected “contributor” to society.

I auditioned for my first play for the absolute wrong reasons. I attended a single-sex education high school, and at the age of 14 theatre was hands down the easiest way to meet girls. While the thought of trying to “get funky on the dance floor” horrified me (ironic, I’m sure, to those who know me now…), I found that the rehearsals after school were a comfortable and safe venue to show off what I desperately hoped was my “silly charm.” I did theatre all through high school and college under the assumption that my career choice would eventually jump out and whisk me away to an affluent future.

Theatre was a hobby, a hobby I took far too seriously. I studied acting and directing. Between classes and work, I spent all my extra time acting, directing or producing theatre. I found excuses to tie in all my other academic interests into theatre, even writing my final History paper in college on the leadership and artistic differences between Stanislavski and Strasberg. By the end of college, I had a major in History, but a "Super Minor" in Theatre Arts.

I became horrified at the realization that I didn’t have a passion…well, a REAL passion. “This theatre stuff is fun and I love it, but I’m not good enough to make a career out of it! I need a real job!” I knew that I desperately loved the arts, and felt truly alive when I was in the rehearsal room, but to embark on a life on the edge seemed a waste of my education, of my hard work, of my “potential for more.”

By the end of my junior year at Brandeis University where I studied acting, I had thrived as a director but became horrified at the prospect of a future without theatre. Where did I belong in the workforce? In the midst of my worries, I sought advice from professors, friends and family. The moment that changed my life wasn’t explosive or dramatic. The moment was simple, the words even more so: “This is all you do… You already know what makes you happy. Why keep searching when you’ve already found it?”

It’s been three years since, and I finally have an answer to why I do what I do: because I can’t be reasonably happy doing anything else.

While at Brandeis I had the pleasure of experiencing “The Collaborative Process”, both literally and figuratively. Just as I was to leave college and enter the workforce as an aspiring artist, I was given the greatest gift an artist can receive: the embrace of failure. I feared failure, just as we all do and will do for the rest of our lives. In the class that past and present students affectionately refer to as “Collab”, our instructor taught us a simple concept which guides me onward as I live this life on the edge: If you want to get yourself out of the “bulls***” world, you have to take yourself to the “oh s***” world. To paraphrase a common saying: "Courage isn't the absence of fear, but the action taken in the midst of fear."

Erika and I created The CoLab out of a desire to create theatre based on this idea, among many others. We hope to excite the theatrical community as well as reinvigorate the need for theatre in the world around us! Today, the CoLab is a small group of three artistic directors and community of artists, friends and well-wishers. We thank you for taking the time to investigate what is we do, and we hope to see you in our audiences, on the street and in the theatre!

Best,
Kenny

Why Erika Does It

Welcome to our blog - thanks so much for visiting! For those of you who don't know me (and hello to all those who do!) my name is Erika and I am a recent graduate of Brandeis University where I met Kenny and the seeds of this company were planted. Before I tell you about where we're growing (get it?) in the future, I thought I'd tell you where I come from.

When I was in sixth grade, my parents sent me to theatre camp. It was your typical experience, two weeks of theatre games taught by some college kids culminating in world's worst production of Grease. I know you're expecting me to say, "I fell in love with the theatre here and it changed my entire life!" Well, that's not what happened. In fact, it was one of the worst experiences my twelve-year-old self had been through. Basically I was told I was no good, sent to stand in the back with the other "talentless" children, made to wear too much eyeliner (the horror), and to make matters worse, I was totally turned off to the theatre. (Don't worry, I'll snap out of it.) Fast forward to the end of eighth grade where it was time to choose electives for high school. My best friend talked me into taking theatre because there would be no homework. So I showed up to class, ready to be told that I had no business being there, and found exactly the opposite. It was a world of games and play mixed with passion and a splash a literature on the side. I had never experienced such a network of support before and I had never enjoyed anything so much in my life. By the time spring rolled around, I was cast in my first show (I had SEVEN lines - woot) and I was in love. Over eight years later, this love has morphed and grown and has lead me to become a part of The CoLab.

I decided to major in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Acting at Brandeis. One of the courses taught here is one called The Collaborative Process (sound familiar?) which is taught by fellow Boston actress Adrianne Krstansky. The class is about searching through every corner of your mind and heart and finding the courage to present your findings in performance. It is about leaning on your fellow actors to create a piece that is a total mind and body experience for both the actors and the audience. This class taught me that theatre does not have to be about a polished performance so much as a heartfelt one.

So why do I do it? I do it because I want people to understand that theatre does not have to be about "talent" or "no talent." The theatre is about having a place to go when nothing else feels right in the world. Little girls should not have to feel badly that they can't sing well in public. They should be empowered by the fact that you can make someone think by simply standing on stage and pouring out your heart to an audience. I do it because I love knowing that I can cause people to feel emotion. I do it because it's magic and we all need magic sometimes in this world. I do it because I love it.

Thanks for reading about me. I'd love to hear more about you (I also do it because I enjoy meeting new people!). Please feel free to respond to this post, send us an email, what you would like. Come join us on this collaborative journey!

XOXO,
Erika