How much of your creativity is inspired from within you versus being fueled by those around you?

 In an interview Jian Ghomeshi had with Catherine O'Hara on Q (October of 2009 in regards to her experiences around the movie Wild Things), he brought up this question to which Ms. O'Hara responded:

"Oh, I’m very fueled by those around me and I love acting in a pack. You get to work with great people, it’s just the best.

"And you go in with as many ideas as you can, you want to go in with something to offer, (but) maybe it’s because of my training in Second City, I just love…"

Jian: It’s almost like jamming, right?

"It is. We do it with each other. I don’t know if they’d say it the same way, if they fed off of me as much as I fed off of them but you know, in life… maybe I’m just too malleable or too sensitive to how people talk to me. What I’m trying to say is, I develop characters as much from my own head as how people treat me in their character. They’re in character and by the way they treat me, then I see more of my history with them and I see where we’re at and how we feel about each other. It just gives. We give each other so much."

To hear the podcast of this interview in its entirety, go to cbc.ca/podcasting/includes/qinterviews.xml.

I can't get enough…

Sometimes, I wish I could be doing this every day of the week. Exploring scenes with other actors is so much more productive than just examining it alone. The latter is intellectual while the former is more emotional and surprising… but only if you let it. That is, playing with what a scene partner offers you rather than what you think they should.

Case in point, I am privileged to be involved in a production of a Midsummer Night's Dream this July and a screenplay reading at this Saturday's Wildsound at the NFB. So, as part of my preparation, I have decided to play with the scenes at this week's Gatherings with actors that I won't be actually be playing with, just so that I can constantly allow myself to be surprised with different energies (of different actors) so that I am constantly conditioning myself to changes in circumstance. I can't emphasize how much more fun it is and how much more I'm growing as an actor than I was before I got involved in anything like this. It's just like a sports match, like in boxing or basketball. You may know what your opponents skills are but if he/she is really good, they won't play the same way twice and you'll always have to be on your toes for whatever may get thrown your way. Now that's exciting!!

Until next week, play hard and be happy!!
Lorne

Discoveries with cold reads…

So, it looks like I'm going to be playing Theseus and Oberon at a co-op production of Midsummer Night's Dream this summer on the roof of the Carrot Common (or Big Carrot). I decided I would use AP as a venue to help me make more discoveries with text along side rehearsal.

Being that I'm dealing with poetic language, I wanted to get as much out of the text as I possibly could, rather than just first impressions or what's expected. So instead of just reading the text out loud at the Gatherings, what I did was process my thoughts aloud while I went through the text and it's quite amazing. I take the imagery of the language and make spontaneous associations and affirm whatever imaginations come to mind, whether weird or logical. I don't worry about being wrong. And if I feel nervous about my processing in front of my peers, I voice that too, so I don't hide behind it. Very freeing and informative. I believe I discovered a duality in the character that was most surprising…

Always say YES! A Canadian inspiration…

Colm Feore

On my drive to Ottawa this weekend, I listened to an interview Jian Ghomeshi did with Colm Feore on the March 31st edition of CBC's "Q" radio series to promote The Borgias mini-series he's starring in. (If you listen to the podcast, it's the second interview, 21 minutes in.) In it, Jian prefaced his interview remarking that at this stage of his career, he could pretty much pick and choose whatever script he 'd want, to which Colm responded, "… I don't know what gave you that impression. I've never been able to pick and choose. I do whatever I'm asked to do… I very rarely ever say 'No,'" which we later on learn includes college student films for free. I WAS FLOORED when I heard this. Near the end of the interview, he expanded on this by noting that everything he had done always leads to accumulating experience.

What this tells me is that what I do here at Actors' Playground is so important. We don't work with directors, but rather challenge ourselves to slowly explore a text by allowing our inspirations to challenge our choices so that when it comes to working on paying gigs, we have a plentiful well to draw from. It's quite an exciting thing to be a part of.

Last week, I found myself in a bit of a depression. After giving myself permission to play at the Playground and allowing myself to trust in spontaneous choices with my peers watching my back helped to charge my batteries…

“No one — not rock stars, not professional athletes, not software’s billionaires, and not even geniuses — ever makes it alone.”

— Malcolm Gladwell, "Outliers: The Story of Success"

To learn more about AP, please go to actorsplayground.ca. To see more photos (with descriptions) of what's been happening, click the Photos tab/link near the top of the same web-page.

Play hard and be happy!

Trusting the uncertainty principle…

David & I exploring father-son
relationships with Arthur Miller's
All My Sons yet again.

It's amazing how much courage it takes to be truly present while acting with words that are not my own. It means to actively listen to what my scene partner is saying and trusting in a response that may not be what's in the words the writer gave me.

This can be even more difficult once lines are more settled in my brain.  I know what my partner's response is going to be but I'm not supposed to. I should be wondering what will be thrown back at me, whether he'll give me the response I want or not. In other words, how do I maintain an uncertainty principle when things start to get familiar so that we can maintain a sense of spontaneity?

I found myself really testing my faith in my craft this past Wednesday. I'd catch myself every once in a while doubting whether I could trust myself to be able to cope with uncertainty, finding myself wanting to cling to old bad habits, wondering how memorized I am and becoming uncomfortable in my body. Man, it was a struggle at times to take my time and explore the relationship I was having with my partner.

I've been blessed to play with David because he keeps me on my toes. I have to listen because I have no idea when he is going to respond sometimes, which gives me time to wonder what's going to happen next. We're not worried about timing or a plan and as a result, a sense of anticipation has developed between us, where we have no idea what the next response is going to be like. I believe it's been throwing us off guard a few times, adding some extra tension that seems to have put our "audience" on the edge of their seats (so they've told us).

This is why we keep our scripts in our hands. It's not the memorization we're practicing here but rather our listening skills and our spontaneous responses. When we look down at the page, it's like we're searching our heart and brain for what it is we want to say in response…

To learn more about AP, please go to actorsplayground.ca. To see more photos (with descriptions) of what's been happening, click the Photos tab/link near the top of the same web-page.

Play hard and be happy!

Just when I didn't think it could get any better…

Wed night Gathering

It's been quite a while since our beginnings back in Oct of 2010! Quite a few times, I wondered if AP (Actors' Playground) would pick up or if it was doomed to fail. There were a lot of mistakes and a few missteps, several times made out of fear. Amazing how persistence can finally pay off. Now I have 2 dates a week that I look forward to with great relish!!

Thur aft Gathering

I have to say, it makes such a difference in helping to evolve and strengthen my craft. I discussed this with some of the other members. We now find ourselves practicing every day because there is something to look forward to. And the creative risks some of us take! It's like we've finally been given permission to do so because we can actually practice these risks with our peers. I remarked how this in turn has built up my confidence to such a point that I don't feel nervous before going up to play anymore but rather, excited!! Even if it's a cold read. And let me tell you, this has been especially helpful before my last couple of auditions and my last couple of live performances. Now the only time I feel the shakes is when I'm in the middle of a emotionally charged scene and they are part of it rather than a distraction from it.

And at these Gatherings, I'm playing with brave people and we're having the times of our lives. I just can't believe it took me 20 years to form a group like this.

To learn more about AP, please go to actorsplayground.ca. To see more photos (with descriptions) of what's been happening, click the Photos tab/link near the top of the same web-page.

Play hard and be happy!

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.