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!

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!

unexpected surprises, daring courage…

Wed, Feb 16th's Gathering at the Actors' Playground:

David (far right) tackles audition scenes,

Anna (next photo) courageously explores,

Zan (next to David) slips bewitchingly under our skin,

Edgar & Lorne (far left) face off in a Pinter scene.

So last night, when we finally got together, some interesting surprises happened. Zan was running a little late but I gave us enough time for us to wait for her. Then Anna suddenly got up as she had a desire to warm up her voice, so she gave a sudden presentation of 2 Shakespearean speeches (the intro from Romeo and Juliet and something I believe from Henry V), passionately given. Little did I know that what was happening here was a foreshadowing of something rather interesting to come.

David was up next as he was needing to prepare for an audition for an independent film he was having "tomorrow." He had just received the sides that morning, so this was the perfect venue for him to explore the text and find some interesting choices.

After working on his scene, Anna then went up and did some more work on a Tennessee Williams' monologue from Eccentricities of a Nightingale. She had been working on it the last 2 Gatherings and then at a workshop she had attended over the last weekend. What surprised me was that she departed from her intimate work and played with it in a more heightened state. As a result, there were some interesting and unpredictable discoveries that were being made, making us wonder what was going to happen next. Now Anna was not fully happy with how the first delivery went but she was determined that for her second exploration, she was still going to use a heightened, although different emotion. That's when I paused and remembered something I had read in Harold Guskin's book How to Stop Acting:

"In order to find out what a character is, I have first got to find out what he (or she) is not, exploring without fear or self-censorship. Exploring the role is like sculpting in marble… All the actor has to do is get rid of the marble that doesn't belong…

"If  I find a right choice for a character in my exploration, it still may not be the best choice. But if I find a wrong choice, one that doesn't work, then I know something about the character. The character is not that!"

So I realized that Anna needed to work with these choices and isn't that what the Playground's all about: to have the courage to be fearless in trying out choices that may not work? Only when we do, do we really know whether our choices are worthwhile or not.

Chasing after a space…

There was a fly in the ointment yesterday. The studio that I usually book was unbookable due to loud renovations happening next door! Okaaay… Unfortunately, this is one of the interesting obstacles we have to face when dealing with somewhat impromptu gatherings. 

I learned last year that booking a 3 hour block for a space on a regular basis was too costly unless I had people committed to showing up. So this meant how long I booked the studio space was dependent on how many people would actually show up. For us actors, our lives often get in the way due to all sorts of reasons and commitments are sometimes unavailable until the last minute. There is also the possibility that no one would be able to commit at all. So I needed the flexibility to be able to book at the last minute, which can cause some problems. So today was the first such.

First I texted the 4 actors who said they definitely wanted to be there today, just so that they knew "tonight" had a chance of being cancelled unless I could find a solution.

I then called up a colleague and he told me to get a hold of a photographer acquaintance of his, giving me his contact info, supposedly after he had spoken to him to make sure this was at all doable. I figured that if this was the case, I should be able to get a hold of him right away. Well no one picked up the phone, so I left him an email.

Then I went to check out a community centre in my neighbourhood that another colleague of mine was using for another group workshop that I attended a few days ago. What do you know? The space was available, although I was told I was lucky because their spaces usually get booked really fast. The only problem was that it wasn't as nice a space as to what we were used to. So I went to the photographer's studio to see if I could catch him there and no luck. Well that's it. I had to make a decision quick and the Gathering would only happen if everyone was okay with the location change. After all, the usual studio was more central Toronto (midtown-west) and this place was more in the east. So I texted everyone and let them know the location. Trouble was, I needed to know answers soon. So, 5 minutes later, I started calling instead. David was fine. Great. One down. Anna wasn't sure. F**k. Was it because I said it was in a basement or because it's in the east end? Well, she's one out of 3, which we could still work out. Besides, she said she'd get back to me. I tried calling Edgar but all I got was voice mail. Frustrated, I decided that rather than calling up Zan right away, I would get something else done that needed to be done so I could get a confirmation from Edgar first. I don't know why I did that. Was I afraid of driving Zan crazy with my antics, making her think I didn't know what I was doing? Where do I get these crazy ideas?

Suddenly while I'm driving, I hear a ding from my phone. I pull over and see that I got a text from Edgar. He's okay with the location change. So then I call up Zan. No problem on her end either. That does it. I head back to the community centre and finalize the deal. Then I text everyone back with the precise location details.

I drive off to my other chores. (Funny thing, I get a call from the photographer just a few minutes afterwards. He didn't hear his phone ring during lunch. Oh well. At least he told me to call him back again if I ever find myself in another jam.) Precious time has been taken from my day but fortunately, when I head to the space "tonight", I'm just a 5 minute drive away. 

An hour later, I'm driving back but before I do, I text Anna one last time and say:

"Hey Anna. If you'd prefer, I have one person tentatively set for tomorrow afternoon @ the regular space. So, you could book for that. FYI, Tonight, we are 5 with you rather than just 2 and the space is not terrible."

5 minutes later, she says she's coming. All right! It all worked out. Whew! What a day!!

Exciting Opening Gatherings…

<- Wed, Feb 9th's Gathering at the Actors' Playground included: Natalie Fehéregyházi, Deborah Merrick, David Straus, Anna Fin, Shel Goldstein, Nonnie Griffin (not shown), and Lorne Hiro.

We've had 2 Gatherings at the Actors' Playground so far (Thur., Feb 2nd, 1-2:30 PM and Wed, Feb 9th, 8-10 PM) and both have proven to be quite the blast!  

It's an amazing feeling: allowing ourselves to practice a scene or monologue, either prepared or cold in front of our peers, knowing that they will help us find ways to make sure we are always actively engaged and listening to each other.  The discoveries that get made are electric to watch!!

I was surprised to discover an interesting trap that cost us a bit of precious time: the desire for lengthy discourse around "appropriateness" and giving synopses before we start. How important it is to make sure that the focus of our conversations during the Gatherings are on what was accomplished, whether it communicated what the performer wanted and maybe a play-exercise suggestion that can help develop it.  It's so easy to fall into tangents but fortunately, we seemed to figure that one out fairly quick. So we'll just have to keep vigilant on that point. When I noticed it happening, I was so caught off guard and started shaking inside. A couple of hours can go by real fast if we're not mindful and I'd hate to have someone miss their shot a bat.

What I love about these gatherings is the fact that we can experiment with any writing and not have to worry whether we made a right choice or not. The point is to make a choice, whether it seems "right or wrong" and if we fall flat on our face, well it wasn't for lack of courage!

The really special part of the last evening was getting to help David Straus hear his words off the page with his play-in-development, Little Keepsakes. Very clever and funny. Can't wait to see how it develops!!