East 4th Street. Mr. Noonan (pictured here at left) has been mentoring Stephen in his writing, and was on-hand for the occasion. The actors had only one rehearsal the previous Saturday, which was completely focused on the writing - developing the characters and teasing out plot lines. Yesterday they were handed new scripts fifteen minutes before the reading. The scripts reflected the changes Stephen had made over the course of the week, including entirely new scenes. The reading came off without a hitch. The actors were splendid under the circumstances, and by all measures the writing had taken a great leap forward in the week since we first had read it. After the reading, Stephen and I were invited across the street to Mr. Noonan's apartment so we could get his "notes" on the play.Tom Noonan has been working as an actor, writer, director, and teacher for 30 years. He's starred in numerous movies, on TV, and his film What Happened Was won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 1994. I confess I was eager to meet him, and grateful for the opportunity Stephen had given me. But what transpired in the course of twenty minutes left me flabbergasted. Mr. Noonan began his notes session with an attack on my directing (for a non-staged reading, with no rehearsal!!?), went on to insult the great majority of the actors who so graciously gave of their time to contribute to the process, and finally offered up a cursory analysis of what he perceived to be the weaknesses of the script. I was stunned. Not because he was critical. I can take criticism. And I really didn't care what he thought of me personally, or even my work for that matter. I'm not that insecure. What angered me, however, was his complete lack of generosity toward Stephen. All artists need support and encouragement, especially from their so-called mentors. Of course there needs to be criticism, but this must be tempered with a respect for the writer and his process. Giving credit for work well-done is every bit as important as picking apart what you don't like. That this man is charging for his space (which barely had enough light to read by, mind you) and then also charging for his "expert" services on top of it borders on the criminal. I could excuse his behavior if I thought he was high on crack. But alas, he seemed to be completely lucid, if not sober.
So here is my little warning to any of you out there who may be searching for a writing or acting teacher. Just because someone has fancy credits doesn't mean they're the person to turn to for your own growth and development as an artist. The creative impulse responds to "yes" and is stunted by "no". This is basic human psychology. Perhaps Mr. Noonan considers it his style to be curt, abrupt, and nonsupporting. I call it testosterone poisoning and consider acting teachers who affront students this way to be abusive.
The main thing, though, is that Stephen's work was a tremendous success. It's hard to put yourself out there, and open yourself up for commentary. I applaud him on his bravery and look forward to reading the next stage of development of Orange Alert .
