Gatherings just keep getting better and exciting!

Committed core AP members:
Sharon, Edgar, Lorne, Alex
plus Nonnie and David (not shown)

Wed nights & Thur afternoons are now permanent Gathering dates! We have a small handful of people that love being able to get together and play with text that they are willing to commit on a weekly basis. Now, all we need to do is grow! It's quite the exciting prospect!!

What made me really happy was that despite the shock of a snow storm we had Wednesday, three of us (Sharon, Edgar and myself) still wanted to show up and by doing so, we had a fantastic evening. And on Thursday afternoon, so far it's just Alex and myself but we use the time with gusto, and don't want to let it stop. We all commented how we felt this was benefitting us in a momentum type way. It's like I've been continuously saying, athletes and musicians gather all the time to sharpen their skills, so why shouldn't we?

We take scenes and explore how many different ways we can approach the text until we find something that really takes hold. This is especially valuable when dealing with works like Pinter or Mamet.

Sharon and Edgar played some more with the Betrayal scene and the second time round, Edgar became very unpredictable. At one point, the shift was so sudden and the scene became really compelling to watch.

I played with a monologue and surprised myself with how much it became personalized. If you want to take a peek and have 10 minutes, check it out at youtube.com/watch?v=ud1Z8BGNUsU. It's not perfect but that's not what exploration is all about anyway.

Alex and I continued our exploration of the first scene from American Buffalo and we personalized our text in different ways as we repeated it and moments started to crystalize! There are still some moments to figure out, but that's where all the fun lies!! Also, we had some creative accidents due to me spilling some tea in the middle of the scene. We just kept going and explored where our reactions to the accident took us. It happened twice! What a ride!!

Here's a great way to increase your listening skills. Make copies of the scene you want to play with and with the copy, black out all of the stage directions and the dialogue that is not yours. This way, you have to really listen to what your scene partner says and feel inspired to say what it is you want to say or do next.

Photos of all Gatherings can be viewed by going to actorsplayground.ca and clicking the Photos tab near the top of the page.

Best Gathering of all time…

Wed evening's Gathering.
Top: Chuck, Edgar and Nonnie.
Middle: Lorne and David.
Bottom: Sharon and Julia

What a great couple of Gatherings we had this week! I must say, Wednesday night was the best one ever: not only for the number of participants (which allowed us to work for 2 great hours) but also the quality of work that was shared and played with. David Calderisi had 2 of his scripts roughly put on their feet with staged cold reads by Chuck and Nonnie doing one and him and Julia playing the other. It was quite the show. Sharon and Edgar met for the first time and started work on another Harold Pinter scene from Betrayal. Then I got a chance to work on a couple of monologues (N. Richard Nash's Rainmaker and Landford Wilson's Burn This) that I was preparing for an upcoming general audition for London, ON's Grand Theatre.


On this last point, I have to say that Actors' Playground is quite the God-send! Working on monologues by myself for an audition has always been a major disappointment for me. It's such a different energy and there is no objective feedback to help point out where things are not as clear as they could be. But when I did my monologues at the Gathering and asked, "Comments?" it was such a wonderful moment to hear observations. 


Let's face it, doing a monologue is not the same as doing a scene. There is no one to work or react off of and 90% of it relies on imagination. Now to be clear, no one was telling me how to act. I was given specific answers to specific questions around clarity in regards to what I am communicating and believe me, it makes all the difference in the world. Also, one of the pieces was brand new to me. So to actually do it in front of people before an audition gives me an experience that really prepares me for when I'm to perform it in front of strangers who can give me a job. And when I do it at the Playground, I'm doing it in front of peers rather than friends, spouses or relatives who wouldn't know what to say.

Thur afternoon's Gathering.
Lorne and Alex

The next day, I spent an hour for a Thursday afternoon Gathering with Alex and we practiced a scene from David Mamet's American Buffalo. I only know Alex from a performance I saw him do… I think it was 2 years ago. He reached out to me via email and told me he wanted to be involved in what I was offering. So I sent him the scene and we did nothing but cold reads. What I loved about this Gathering was that we did thorough exploratory work with the text without discussing, planning or telling each other what to do. Essentially, we did what Harold Guskin refers to in his book, How to Stop Acting, as "taking it off the page." This opened up a lot of spontaneous and unpredictable responses. We kept remarking this and have committed to meeting up on a weekly basis.


Nothing beats communal practice!


To see photos of this and other Gatherings, just go to actorsplayground.ca and click the Photos tab near the top of the page.

Size doesn't matter… just the quality of the practice!

Lorne Hiro, Deborah Merrick & Edgar Fraser

It was only a small group the other night at the Playground but that didn't matter. What mattered was gathering and "jamming." I practiced a monologue script that I wanted to finesse for future possible performances, Deborah experimented with a short monologue to see if it can still be a compelling audition piece (the answer being a resounding YES) and Edgar fooled around with some new material that he wants to use for a stand-up routine. Then Edgar and I battled out the Pinter scene we were working on to find new possibilities and discover where we still have flaws… Great feedback!