Unrelenting Truth-Sense of our Entrails! by Natasha Terranova

A desire for immediacy attracts me to the theater. I long to experience the indefinable breadth of our human experience, culminating in a single moment, or series of moments. I find it in the theatrical, before my eyes, penetrating my ears, surrounding me as the great globe itself. A string of words, a string of moments, are as contemporary as our need to experience them; written two thousand years or two thousand seconds ago, we know contemporary language when we hear it because it speaks to something so far beyond our comprehension that we are forced to rely on the unrelenting truth-sense of our entrails.


Why, then, am I so often estranged on paper from the words of writers with whom I do, literally, share space and time? Why do they seem so overly clever, so intellectual, and so dry, like an almond? And then how do I characterize the transformation that occurs once their words resonate in the chest and resound in the theater? Possibly the inherent theatricality and sophistication emerging on stage is born in the conflation of an almost-too-cleverness on paper with the living, full-bodied, bare-naked, moment to moment, energetic truth of theater.

Reading Sarah Ruhl’s “Melancholy Play” did not generate a sense of longing. Instead, I was removed from the visceral by an awareness of what I thought the writer was trying to get me to feel. The beauty of the piece only began to emerge once I experienced the impact of two characters, standing two inches apart, both closer and further from one another as any two people have ever been—breathing together, building a rhythm together and breaking it down together, experiencing a parallel weighted legato giving way to a parallel light and airy staccato. Sarah Ruhl does not break the fourth wall, she simply dispels the illusion that there ever was one.

Contemporary language contains the capacity to hit and engage an audience via a self-awareness that refuses to limit the size of the theater. In a successful artistic execution there is no room for commentary; There is no exit provided by which to get outside of the artifice. Today we are exposed at a rate of ten thousand flashbulbs per microcosm, but it has always been the challenge of a contemporary playwright to betray unrelenting scenic life, to imagine, endow, and record the seemingly disparate array of images in which we are eternally steeped. The scripted material remaining may not be a traditional narrative, but slowly reveals itself as a story.

Contemporary Theatre Playwriting in the 21st Century by Philip Cuomo

Over the past year and a half I have been in conversation with Natasha Terranova, who is now a second year student in our Two Year training program. Natasha is a published poet and has a deep understanding of the written word. As a Conservatory student, she has been required and encouraged to see plays. We have been talking about what is new and exciting in the Portland theatre scene. She is particularly excited about the plays she has seen from some of the country's newest playwrights. Adam Rapp, Peter Sinn Nachtieb, Jenny Shwartz and Sarah Ruhl. In fact, she is acting as stage manager on a production at the Conservatory of Sarah Ruhl's Melancholy Play. In our conversations we have begun to categorize the commonality in these playwrights and their plays. 

I think these plays are aware of their own inherent theatricality, a self-awareness that draws the audience forward and into the world of the play. They have an understanding of the energetic contact between performance and audience in the immediate time and space. They are sophisticated and clever in use of language and stagecraft, and could only be product of the theatre, not of any other artistic medium.

My perception has been influenced by the TBA Festival and the works of the avant-garde or fringe theatre (Richard Foreman, Marie Irene Fornes, Bill Irwin), and a performance movement to experiment with time and space to create immediacy. In talking about the Contemporary plays produced in this season in Portland, and those workshopped at the JAW Festival by writeres like Will Eno, Jordan Harrison, Adam Bock, Kimberly Rosenstock, and others, I have recognized similar experimentation in more traditional playwriting.

The best of the avant-garde and the best of contemporary theatre may break the traditional narrative conventions of time and space, may break the fourth wall, but they keep the story at the center, using it to communicate big ideas and bring the audience on an emotional journey. I define Contemporary Theatre as smart, theatrical plays exposing the soft vulnerable human center to an audience in the immediate time and space of performance.

Chicago in Feburary and PAC at the U/RTAs

I recently returned from a trip to Chicago in February. It was not nearly as cold as I feared. High temperature did only reach 25 degrees and there was little sun but (even the day it snowed) it was dry. So it did not feel as cold as 40 degrees sometimes feels in Portland. Oh, and there was very little wind.

I think I was lucky.

I was lucky to be the Conservatory’s representative in Chicago at the National Unified Auditions for the University Regional Theatre Association (U/RTA). As an accredited institution, Portland Actors Conservatory was able to participate in the new, open call portion of the traditionally graduate school-only auditions. I saw 121 students perform one minute monologues over two sessions. I scheduled 18 interviews and met some very talented people.

The open call is a brilliant idea started by U/RTA to provide students greater access to more performance training programs. Before the implementation of the open call, many students would attend the U/RTAs and never be seen by any schools. Competition for placement into programs is fierce, and U/RTA schools only have enough time to see a portion of those students interested in more training. So they hold screening auditions limiting the number of people seen by the U/RTA schools, which means hundreds of potential actors are screened out and are not seen. The open call gives these students the opportunity to be seen and heard by other training programs. This year they were seen by a representative of Portland Actors Conservatory.

I saw a cruise line employee do a grounded, simple and provacative Maggie the Cat. I saw a PhD candidate in toxicology with an easy charm who, miraculously, talked openly to the auditors in front of her. The Neil LaBute piece that followed was sharp, intent and transformative. I met a young man who wore his passion on his sleeve and a young woman with a winning, bright smile. I met a university student in New Orleans, the receipient of his school’s Denzel Washington Scholarship for actors. His sensitivity, self-awareness and intelligence were delightful.

I was lucky to be in Chicago in Febraury.

25 Reasons to Give ‘Em a Studio Class

This month in our series of 25th Anniversary Top 25 lists, we're devoted to heart’s desires – those secret, low-register rumblings that lead one to what artistic director Beth Harper calls the living arts. Whether you’re buying for someone else or giving yourself the gift only you know you want, here’s the top 25 WANTs a studio class can answer.

Give me attention – Sometimes you just need an audience. Don’t inflict this need on your friends and family.

Give me space – An empty room is a place where anything can happen.

Give me voice – Finding your voice in the world can start in your belly.

Give me expression – So much to say, but where to start? How about with the script.

Give me presence – The study of performance puts us smack dab in the here and now.

Give me drive – Don’t let aimlessness set in after the holidays! Your studio class will set a short term purpose.

Give me humor – Theater reminds us not just to laugh at one another, but at ourselves. Studio classes beget belly laughs.

Give me a schedule – Wanting to act doesn’t always make it so. With a studio class, you’ll have one night a week, guaranteed.

Give me community –Start with a roomful of strangers, and watch yourself congeal into a group of people with unique shared experiences. The connections we make in an acting class can be surprising, illuminating and profound.

Give me a jolt – Need a jump start? Give yourself a place where you’ll be taken to task.

Give me sensitivity – Acting demands we stop and take each other in. Rediscover your Spiderman senses in a Studio Class, and learn to use them for good.

Give me listening and memory techniques – The study of acting requires an agile noggin. In a Studio Class you’ll focus on focusing, as well as retaining, before you go spouting.

Give me discovery –If necessity is the mother of invention, invention is the mother of amazement. You’ll wow yourself with what you find in your Studio Class explorations.

Give me a chance – Want to act, but not quite ready for auditions? Nobody can take a Studio Class away from you. Turn your rejection into resilience.

Give me time – Earmarking a specific time and place for your passion ensures there is room for it in your life. Studio Classes happen once a week.

Give me something to call my own – Acting study reminds us that we really are snowflakes: no one will ever have the same insights, discoveries, and experiences as you in a Studio Class.

Give me something lasting – Benefits of Studio Classes long outlive the 12 weeks of showing up. You’ll have takeaway skills that will stick in your mind for years to come.

Give me growth – Start in one place, end in another. That’s measurable.

Give me mentorship – Getting guidance lights the way.

Give me play – Remember making sand castles as a kid? Studio classes are like that, but without the sand.

Give me appreciation – You’ll never watch a play or performance the same way again.

Give me a refresher – Weather its been a few months or several years since you last hit the boards, everyone can do with a brushup from time to time.

Give me regretlessness – You didn’t run away to join the circus? It’s not too late. Studio Classes allow you to keep your day job – and no cleaning up after elephants!

Give me imagination – What’s in there? When was the last time you looked?

Give me joy – Nothing like performing. Nothing like performing. Nothing like performing.

And BONUS number 26?
Give me a BREAK! - Just say "blog" when you're registering and pay in full before January 15, and you'll receive a 20% discount on a Studio Class! More info on Studio Classes here.

25 Reasons to See “Stay for the Cake”

By Scott Rogers, guest blogger and writer/director/actor, "Stay for the Cake," an evening of one-acts about the creative life. Hosted by Portland Actors Conservatory, "Stay for the Cake" is the debut production of The Montgomery Street Players, a new all-PAC-alum performance group featuring Sarah Farrell, Maria Aparo, Elizabeth Calhoun, Robby Lundergan, Tom Mounsey, Scott Rogers, Vinnie Duyck, and Phoebe Smallwood. The show runs Friday through Sunday, Oct. 30-Nov. 15, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, only $10, can be purchased here.

(in no particular order)

1. Bakery Bar is supplying the cakes for all shows.

2. Tickets are only $10 because we think Hamilton is the sexiest president on US currency.

3. Nearly a baker’s dozen of PAC alums are on the stage, in the director’s chair and managing the production.

4. Review 2500 years of theater history.

5. Get the scoop on what the Brothers Grimm actually did in their spare time.

6. Philip Cuomo curated the plays by working with PAC alums who were in the director’s chair.

7. The title is more than an invitation; it’s a command!

8. There’s cross-dressing.

9. There’s a sword fight.

10. Paul Graham doesn’t know (yet) that he’s being portrayed on the stage.

11. Collectable programs. Collect all three.

12. See what happens when a cease and desist order is served mid-show.

13. Axes, saws and at least one bloody apron.

14. There are many open seats after opening weekend.

15. We’re listed in the Oregonian, Willamette Week and The Portland Mercury – reputable and respected publications.

16. It’s the first show produced as part of PAC’s Alumni Performance Program.

17. Learn how to argue more effectively with people.

18. Get inside, and escape the rain.

19. You're very close to a 405 entrance ramp in case you need to flee the area quickly.

20. The show is in an old firehouse. You will be safe. Well, you’ll be safer than if the show was performed in an active, 19th Century lumber mill.

21. We swept the floors and cleaned the toilets.

22. Come see what makes us laugh, even after working on it for weeks.

23. Help PAC celebrate its 25th year.

24. More than likely, you’ll get to eat cake (diet restrictions and personal beliefs about cake aside).

25. It would absolutely delight us to do the show for you.

Stay for the Cake Opens Oct. 30!

PORTLAND ACTORS CONSERVATORY AND THE MONTGOMERY STREET PLAYERS PRESENT STAY FOR THE CAKE

In 25th Year, Professional Actor Training School Gives Rise to Alumni Performance Group

PORTLAND, ORE. – Sept. 25, 2009 – Portland Actors Conservatory, the premiere school for actor training in the Pacific Northwest, will present a new theater company comprised of Conservatory alumni called The Montgomery Street Players in Stay for the Cake, an evening of one-act plays running October 30 through November 15 at the Conservatory’s Firehouse Theatre. Tickets are $10 and available online at actorsconservatory.com.

Stay for the Cake represents all-original work written, directed, designed and performed by The Montgomery Street Players.

"Creating work opportunities, rather than just waiting for them,is essential for a theatre artist to remain vital," said Philip Cuomo, Associate Director of Portland Actors Conservatory. "As a school, we wanted to provide the faculty guidance, the infrastructure and the space that would allow alumni to create new works while exploring the producing, directing and design aspects of theater."

Each of the three plays in Stay for the Cake explores multiple aspects of the creative life. In Phyllis Hartnoll's Final Lesson, our heroine spins her last lecture as professor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, but gets most of it wrong. The Grimm Brothers take a break from folk tales in Donnerstrasse to write a pop song that will become popular one hundred years later – and a lawyer in a red hood tries to sort out the resulting legal mess Wrapping up the evening, a character based on philanthropist Paul Graham instructs the audience on constructive disagreement in How to Have an Argument. The existential crisis that interrupts him brings about an exploration of the creative process, gratuitous accents and cake for all.

Founded in 2009, The Montgomery Street Players is a performance group comprised of graduates from the conservatory's professional actor training program. They promoted Stay for the Cake with a public interactive performance on the Oregon Cultural Trust’s Day of Culture, October 8, in and around Pioneer Courthouse Square.

ABOUT PORTLAND ACTORS CONSERVATORY
Portland Actors Conservatory is the premiere school for professional actor training in the Pacific Northwest. Artistic director Beth Harper leads the Conservatory's multiple offerings including its fulltime, Two Year Professional Training Program, ongoing Studio Class offerings, and the Summer on Stage youth theatre program. Portland Actors Conservatory provides the highest standard in actor training with distinguished faculty.The Conservatory is located near Portland, Ore.'s city center in the historic Firehouse Theatre, housing an upstairs studio space as well an intimate 70-seat theatre. Portland Actors Conservatory annually produces a three show season featuring its second year students working alongside professional guest artists, in addition to two student showcases. Portland Actors Conservatory is Oregon's only independent professional actor training school accredited with the National Association of Schools of Theatre.

ABOUT THE MONTGOMERY STREET PLAYERS
The Montgomery Street Players is a performance group comprised of conservatory graduates from the classes of 2007 (Sarah Farrell), 2008 (Maria Aparo, Elizabeth Calhoun, Robby Lundergan, Tom Mounsey, Scott Rogers) and 2009 (Vinnie Duyck, Phoebe Smallwood). Stay for the Cake is the first production to be written, designed, directed and performed by the group.



 

All Gussied Up, Ready to Go

We're ready to go back to school! In preparation for the first day of the 2009-2010 Conservatory this Tuesday, Sept. 22, the building is all clean and spiffy, thanks to a major cleanup headed by Chris Mikolavich. We've dusted cabinets, trounced old furniture (you wouldn't believe our prop storage) and repainted the stairwell with the help of our intrepid Second Year students! Though it was a bear, we DID eventually get the dumpster delivered from the City.

Personal heroes and First Year Conservatory students Rich Cashin and Dan Selivonchick did the heavy lifting outside. Alum Kendall Meyer sorted through the all-too-well-stocked kitchen with Beth backstage. Together we got the place into tip top shape.

Even Beth is excited about starting Conservatory this week, and she's been doing this for a while. There's no denying it: the shift to a fulltime day program is a major, exciting, big deal change for Portland Actors Conservatory. I can tell you what the press release says, which is that our Conservatory enrollment has grown 41% over the past year and 33% from three years ago. I can even tell you that this year’s enrollment is the largest in the Conservatory’s history (with 24 students - we like it that way). And you might go "Hm. Impressive statistics."

Or I can tell you this: we've got more international interest than ever before (possibly three non-US countries represented by our new First Year class) and Beth made the front page of the Oregonian's Business section last week. Who would have thought? These are firsts no one would have thought possible even a few years ago.

The icing on the cake will be our new banner on the front of the building that should go up this week. Wheee!!!

Philip's even gotten a haircut for the occasion. It is the $12 variety, but it looks darn good.

Our new office manager, Maureen O'Connor, is fresh from Chicago and wo-manning the front desk with class and style. Make her talk Chicagoan to you; it's pretty cute.

And First Years - you are welcome to fill this (blog) space with your thoughts, experiences, travails, and worries. Email me to find out how to contribute and share your Conservatory Confessions with the world.

We're ready. Are you? What's you're worst back to school fear? What was your best back to school outfit ever? Mine was first grade, I think: fleece lined denim jacket with plaid shirt underneath. What can I say, I'm from the Northwest. :)