It was a day.Registration for the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab 2008 began at 2:00 PM. We got packets and badges. Then they took a group photo on the steps in the lobby of the Mitzi Newhouse Theater. I wish I had the photo to post here. I actually brought my camera, but didn't take a single photo all day. Sorry folks. Anyway, it's not an attractive crowd. It's just directors.
After the photo we were led down into the depths of LCT to the large rehearsal room. I had flashbacks. This is where, as a student - way back in 1988 - I had acting classes with William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, and Stephen Schachter. The room was pretty much the same, but cleaner.
There were opening remarks by LCT Executive Director Bernard Gersten. Bernie was also my teacher. I remember our class on producing meeting twice a week in the lobby to discuss how to bring in an audience for Speed The Plow. Gregory Mosher was the Artistic Director back then, and Maddona - yes, that Madonna - was spotted in the halls on her way to rehearsal. Bernie looks great now. Much thinner than I remember. And he's produced another hit - the revival of South Pacific directed by Bartlett Sher. (Mr. Sher will be coming to talk to us all next week.)
Next, we had our orientation from the creator of the Director's Lab: Anne Cattaneo. Anne is a petite woman with a dazzling smile and very hip eye-glass frames. She talked for about forty-five minutes. I took meticulous notes as she spoke. Her articulation of what the lab is and is not could serve as a primer on the process of creating theater. It was the singular highlight of the day, and at the risk of plagiarism (and of not doing justice to her speech) here are the Ten Points she articulated:
- The Lincoln Center Directors Lab is not a teaching situation. It's not about mentoring. Nobody is considered more "important" than anybody else. We all have experiences that are valid and worthy of consideration.
- You will experience some of what you encounter as utter non-sense, and other things as incredibly enlightened. Look for the things that you least expected.
- The Directors Lab takes place in a theater - a real, live, working, operating, theater. Some things are practical - not theoretical. (At this point Anne describe "kicking Alan Alda out" of th e room we were in to begin the start of the day.)
- The Directors Lab is intentionally large - 45 or 50 people. Its main asset is as a place to meet other people. Will directors even like one another?? It remains to be seen.
- The most important stuff will happen in a bar.
- Guests come into the Lab by serendipity (i.e. - whatever is going on and whomever happens to be in town at that time.)
- Distrust the notion of choice. "It's not true that a given director's career is created by institutions." Nobody at a big institution will pick you out. You will make your own career.
- Social aspect. Actress Lois Smith said "What I do in a reading bears no relationship to what I do in a rehearsal." The process is completely different as an encounter on a deeper and more personal level is what creates the work. Hence....Director Richard Ayre: "Invite the leading actor and designer to your house, read the play, and stop and ask 'what does this mean to us' at every scene, turn, punctuation, question." Group together around the play.
- Question: Who is in charge when you're really making art? Ride the horse in the direction you are going!
- We have a bias toward the actor.
Anne likened the Directors Lab to a boot camp. "We want to wear you down."Finally, at 5:00 pm, we received an official welcome from Lincoln Center's Artistic Director - Andre Bishop. Andre has a deep and authoritative voice. He could make tons of money doing voiceovers. He told us all to "take advantage" of Lincoln Center and the opportunity we have before us. "Remain open" was his message.
After a break from dinner, we had a talk from Steve Cosson, Jim Lewis, and Michael Friedman from the ground-breaking theater company The Civilians. Their new play This Beautiful City is based upon interviews with residents of Colorado Springs, CO, and focuses on the Evangelical Christian movement there. They were all whisked away at 8:00 PM sharp to receive their OBIE Award which coincidentally was also happening tonight.
Lastly today we had a visit from director Ruben Polendo of Theater Mitu. It was a fascinating talk. Mr. Polendo studied with Peter Brook and has created a philosophy of "complete theater". He is an engaging and charismatic presence, but I was conflicted about his philosophy. It was basically a re-hash of Peter Brooks' writings, but I will reserve judgment until I actually see his work. Theater Mitu is in residence at New York Theatre Workshop and will be presenting their new work The Apostle Project June 4 - 15.
Mr. Polendo said one very important thing that deeply resonated with me: No fear, no deception. This is the measure for your work. I thought that was wonderful, so thank you Ruben for that.
I can't promise this detailed a blog every day for the next few weeks but I'll do my best. Stick with me. I think it will get better.
Wayne
"Everything we do changes us a little, even when we purport to be indifferent to what we've done. And what we witness, we also do." - Joseph Chaikin The Presence of the Actor
In a little more than a week I will begin my participation in the Lincoln Center Director's Lab. The Lab is an initiative that has been in existence for, oh, I don't know...a dozen years or so. It's three weeks of intensive work focused on whatever plays/ideas/desires are in the zeitgeist of the Lincoln Center Powers That Be (i.e. Anne Cattaneo). I am perhaps a bit long in the tooth to be doing the lab at this juncture, but I probably won't be the very oldest. Maybe the second oldest. I don't know why age is such a concern. Suffice it to say for now that I am both excited and skeptical about the whole endeavor. But I guess it will be an experience.
My intention is to blog a little each day from the Lab, and leave my notes behind for whatever their worth. This isn't at all original. In fact, just this evening I discovered a very nice blog from a 2004 participant. Isaac Butler wrote a very charming and intelligent blog from LCT. He has a clear and honest voice. I appreciated his candor.
I guess I'm now entering a new phase in my career. I'm shifting from acting to directing. I've loved acting, it's been a great journey, and I am by no means giving it up. But it's become more and more difficult for me to do the work. I find the grind of going on auditions to be draining my enthusiasm for the theater. Actors are at their worst and most vulnerable when they're in an audition. Most good directors know this, and try to give some modicum of respect back to the actor. But until you are given the permission to fail, to not feel the pressure of a call-back, not needing to impress everyone in the room, not caring whether you get it right, there really is no making any kind of art. It's all an approximation. Can you be the character the director imagines? Will your resume be fancy enough to warrant your hiring? Is your agent important enough to call back? Will your presence in my show enlarge my power? It's all exceedingly seductive. And awful. And yes, Virginia, unfair. And I've been doing it for twenty years, and it leaves me feeling, frankly, bored. So I believe it's time to let the notion of a "fancy" acting career float away -- like a trail of leaves in an Andy Goldsworthy film. Going, going...
I'm under no illusions whatsoever that directing will by any more financially secure than acting. In fact, I'm certain it will be much less so. For every show there are several or even many actors, but only one director. And in New York, it's very often only one or two directors who get to direct the bulk of the shows.
I'm interested in exploring questions that are important to me. And I'm excited to discover a new path.
Here's what the lab has told us so far: re-read MacBeth, and find a play about religion. That's it. That's all I know so far. Oh, and they've asked me to give a presentation on Joseph Chaikin. I'll let you know how that all comes off.
On Wednesday evening, I went by the home of Judith Malina who was sitting shiva for her husband, partner, and co-director of the Living Theatre - Hanon Reznikov. Judith as lying down on a mattress in the middle of the floor. Friends encircled her in chairs, dropping down to give a hug, have a chat, offer a word of comfort. Needless to say, she is quite bereft. I reunited with some old friends I've not seen in many years including Ilian Troya and Judith's daughter Isha. I've drifted away from the Living in the past decade, and Judith took the opportunity to scold me for my absence. She's quite right. I've always felt a part of the company, but haven't held up my end of the bargain. "I don't care if you sit in the box office, or clean the toilet, or work backstage, or are acting in the shows. I'm not asking you to do anything at all. But be here. Be part of it. Come and support the work." It was a scolding I was happy to receive. It meant she noticed and cared if I was there. God bless her in the time of grieving. And for anyone out there that's looking for a theatrical home, come to the Living Theatre. I think it's time to make some noise.
Hanon's obituary appeared in the New York Times yesterday.
This week the downtown theater scene mourns the loss of two great artists: Janet Ward and Hanon Reznikov. Both were personal friends and colleagues of mine. Both were committed to the practice of theater as an agent of change. They were both writers, poets, activists, and performers. Both touched many other lives and gave inspiration to everyone around them. Both will be missed.
Janet Ward lost her brief battle with cancer on Wednesday, April 30th. I first met Janet when she entered the Joseph Chaikin Workshop. We became fast friends. Like Joe, Janet was obsessed with Samuel Beckett. She did many Beckett roles in the workshop, but I most remember her performance of Miss Fitt in the extraordinary production of All That Fall at the Cherry Lane Theater. Janet was also a member of New York's Tyna Collective where she played in Vaclav Havel's Largo Desolado directed by Eva Burgess at the Ohio Theater. I wrote an earlier entry about Janet's fight against cancer, but you can follow the whole story on the blog that has been maintained by her family. I will miss Janet very much.
Hanon Reznikov has for the past 24 years been the co-director of the Living Theatre. (He is pictured here with his wife and partner Judith Malina.) Hanon was in many ways the driving force behind the Living, though no doubt the legacy he has created will continue. Hanon is the author of many plays produced by the Living Theatre, most notably Utopia, Capital Changes, and Resistance.
Hanon was my teacher when I took a class with the Living Theatre at NYU in 1986. He opened my imagination to the possibilities of theater. He taught me that all theater is political, and unless you have a political agenda, it's all an exercise in vanity.
I spent more than a few New Years Eves at their home on West End Avenue. I worked as an intern in their office, and had a nice reunion with Hanon and Judith when they attended the opening of The Glass Menagerie (in which I played the role of Tom) at Yale Rep directed by Joseph Chaikin.
Hanon was an advocate for the pacifist-anarchist revolution, and a true philosopher and thinker. There is a wonderful interview with Hanon and Judith that you can look at here on YouTube.
