Reflections on Steven Karam's Sons of the Prophet

Writing facilitates thinking.  I am writing about the things I read because it helps me to think about them.  Just finished reading Steven Karam's Sons of the Prophet published a few months ago in American Theatre Magazine.  As is my usual mode, I had just planned to skim the play given mommyhood provides me with limited reading time but I was drawn in.  I found the play universal and profound.  The fellow is not afraid to stop and reflect.  Gloria's line "Manhattan is fabulous but...I'm not sure there's anything more...invisible in that city than a single, 60 year old woman."  He underscores this with humor by having the male character respond with "A single, 70 year old woman?"  This observation took my breath away.  Performers frequently get sidelined after 40 - an acting career - the hardest thing ever to decide to do - becomes hard in ways that were unimaginable when one was twentysomething.  Yet, I've always felt most actors don't realize their full potential in terms of emotional depth and thinking until after 40.  The other line that really grabbed me (there were many) "...no one's life should be about finding stability..." "Yes, but whose life isn't?" These words in terms of a life in the theatre.  Yes, I agree, this young writer is compassionate and profound and understands well beyond his years.  Steven Karam was discussed at a producer round table at the Roundabout that I recently attended.  Todd Haimes said he gave this young man a chance because he felt he would drop out of theatre if he did not receive immediate encouragement.  Though I felt the punishment of this remark, I can understand too.  However at the time I felt like shouting, "What about the rest of us, Mr. Haimes?  Those of us who keep going in spite of receiving very little encouragement, very little major recognition?  You feel you need to encourage yet another white male?"  But I didn't.  Any remark like this would make me seem ungrateful, bitter, unhappy.  So I look to this script as inspiration for my own work and hang on to that.  I like the idea that Karam allows characters to observe profoundly on life, on what it's like to be alive.  A play isn't just about true to life dialogue, it must contain those universal hooks, else why write?  These hooks must be woven into dialogue so that the characters HAVE to say them.  That makes the work truly remarkable.  Thank you, Mr. Karam.

More on Uncle Vanya at Lincoln Center Festival

Thoughts are flooding in fast and furious.  The purity of this production staggers me.  I have to go back and read the other translations I have of this play.  Part of the poetry of this production was embedded in the entrances of every single character.  What was being said onstage before any character entered either reflected on that particular character or provided a stark contrast to that character.  I cannot count how many entrances were like this but one in particular I vividly remember: Sonia is complaining about how plain she is and Yelena enters just at the perfect moment to counter-pose the two.  This was like sculpture to me.  It was truly great art.  Unforgettable art. In a world of corruption, and it's everywhere, there was no corruption here.  Nothing was ruined.  And it was so simple.  The actors played clear, clean intentions unmuddled by garbage.  The whole vision of the production true to Chekhov.  If I could challenge myself to clean up the entrances on "Belles" in this way and to simplify the language where it needs it in the way this production has done, I would have a shot at something real.  So I throw down the glove to myself.  Thank you Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton and Tamas Ascher.  On Ascher's website, it says his productions of Chekhov have run 5 to 7 years in Hungary where there is still a repertory system.  I well know how shows and actors improve with time, having performed as Aphra Behn from 1996 to 2011 and as Jane Austen from 2005 and still going.  Why, why can't we go back to this system in the United States?  It is our loss. http://lincolncenterfestival.org/index.php/2012-uncle-vanya

Pitch-perfect production last night at Lincoln Center - stunning emotionally - the acting, the directing, the adaptation - all faultless:  http://lincolncenterfestival.org/index.php/2012-uncle-vanya.  Makes me want to get to work on everything, inspiring, stirring, can't stop thinking about it!

Toolbar gone - no pictures - help?

I have now entered the "new post" section of my blog about 20 times and the tool bar is incomplete.  It will not let me post photos.  I hope to have this resolved at some point but will struggle thru for now.  If anyone is reading this and can show me how to get my tool bar back, please send instructions in the comments section.  Thanks!

Abundance...

Have been using my pages mainly to write about my bookings.  I've had a good bit of work the last few months.  First a reading of "Rust" a new 10-minute play I wrote for the Blue Roses Douglas Stevens Infusion Reading Series in May held at the Bruce Mitchell Room at ART/NY.  "Rust" having to do with the way suburban areas have devolved (meant in the archaic sense) in the "Rust Belt" state of Ohio.  In June, I was invited to guest write a blog entry and appear as Jane Austen at a benefit for Going To Tahiti Productions adaptation of Persuasion.  Also in June, I directed a reading of the CBS Radio Version of As You Like It adapted by Brewster Morgan at the Players Club.  In July I was asked to play Miss Maria Mainwaring (prounounced "Mannering") in a reading of an adaptation of Jane Austen's Lady Susan put on by Theater 2020 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Brooklyn Heights.  Such varied activity has been stimulating, exciting and fun.  Being a Mom, though, I feel as if I've got ADD and I don't know which direction to look first.  I have plays to improve and submit, a hilarious show about Jane Austen that I love to do and an acting resume of which I've been quite neglectful.  And then there's the directing side of me!  Some would say, an embarassment of riches, while I say, I don't know which direction to turn.  Each has an aspect that I love.  Some might think I am just tossed about from project to project lost without a compass on the professional ocean of theatre work.  This is defining me right now.  But I like to think it is shaping me too.  Our child won't be little forever and I must choose to look at this as the universe's way of preparing me for something larger that will come my way in the not too distant future.  This is the optomist in me.  In a jaded world - and I consider myself jaded too - I still feel positive about what can happen in the theatre - what theatre actually makes possible not just for me but for everyone.

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"The Belles of Beccaria" by Karen Eterovich. A family frozen by loss awakens to repressed desires with the return of an old flame. A Midwestern take on The Three Sisters. Starring Louisa Cabot, David Copeland, Marianne Cullinan, Barbara Farrar, Anthony Newfield and Leslie Shreve, Music/Sound David Green. Original Direction by Erma Duricko.

Very happy to have finally hit upon my synopsis summary. Always excited about the work, feel something very special about this work. Have had all sorts of ideas about directing it too. Yet how could I hope that anyone would ever let me or why? I mean I've had the full fantasy of it...Lincoln Center phoning me up, giving me an unlimited budget. Why we could have a real kitchen, live orchestra, ballroom dancers...starring Olympia Dukakis, Marian Seldes, Angela Lansbury, Vanessa Redgrave, Kevin Kline, Meryl Streep, somebody stop me!

Tech is done, Locust Grove is lush and green, beautifully situated, an idyllic setting for the show. I can well imagine myself back in time. Skin terribly dry, can't seem to get anywhere with it, I am grateful for the humidity. Dress working beautifully, providing much needed coolness. Tired, happy looking forward. Very good I ran play backwards, I felt ready to jump around as I had to!

Had final fitting Friday, delighted with new dress, it will still be in keeping with the December date of play, but be light and cool for any warm weather bookings we might get. Photos must come soon!

Travel Journal Pick Up - MAY 1, 2011 HILTON HEAD ISLAND - Every thing is running on schedule. Hank met us at the theatre, gave us a tour, signed and gave us his book too! Went to lunch first, then to housing, a lovely condo near the beach - Fiddlers Cove. The warm air so soothing. Back to the theatre for tech. Which goes quite well. We run it with cues, then go cue to cue. Ann and Andrew, from Next Stage - Bath - drop into rehearsal - I am thrilled to see them - it has been since September! After tech, back to condo for a walk on the beach and a light dinner. Very happy with the SCRC black box theatre. Quite comfortable, acoustics excellent. I've discovered I've no access to a computer. The condo is not wired. J will work during the day while I have our little one and then I am performing every night. So no access. A week without one. A week of emails piling up. But there it is. I will make the best of it. I have posted the wrong charity, Hank tells me, but I cannot correct this now until I am home and can revise the link. Home is where I have "contribute" so there it is. The correct charity is linked here: http://www.hhisafeharbour.org/

Pick up from Travel Journal: April 30, 2011, Saturday
I write today from Savannah, GA. So comfortable down here. One arrives and one feels taken care of. I feel I have a special link or tie to the south. When I came down here for graduate school (University of South Carolina) I had just been through a terribly difficult time. And here we are, my dear father, Anthony Eterovich, has just passed away. It's very hard to explain how comforting the warm wind is. May is a perfect time to be here because it's not too hot yet. Though the heat never bothered me much, I used to walk around carrying a large cup of ice and sipping it as I walked up the street to rehearsal. Wish we could see Jeannine, but will be too hard to make the trip up and perform. We had a lovely meal at Vic's By the River. Our little one went to sleep early because no nap today. But I worry about everything and am excited to see the theatre tomorrow, May1.

http://www.hiltonheadtheatre.com/Just back from a rewarding week in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I will provide updates as I look back in my journal from the week. There was no opportunity to do real time updates. The condo where the theatre located us had no internet connection. I performed the show every night and was not able to go to the club house during the day to do updates. On my project list, get a new phone! I can't believe I've waited so long to do this! Just very out of date! Want to post photos as well. SCRC is an absolutely lovely theatrical space with wonderful acoustics. Jane Austen did well in there!

Photo by Owen Benson

Every day is a fun day. Even when there are challenges. Even when everybody in the house has a cold. Working though, lots on my mind. Today worked through the first half of Jane. Focused on my posture and the body types of Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, the Dutchess, Mr. and Mrs. Harcourt and Miss Tilney. The silliness must still be based in reality. Even though I was tired from running around, I still feel joy from doing this work. Couldn't get it out of my mind that Michael Kahn said he might come to see the show at the EAG. But I'm sure he says that to all his ex-students to give them encouragement without really meaning to come. I guess, after all these years, I feel like someone that is as big a deal as he is wouldn't come to a play by little old me. But then there is part of me that loves to hope and loves to imagine it. I feel I can say almost anything I want here, secretly, I think I am the only one that reads my blog! So how can it matter if I express a little self doubt here? It just happens some times. I'm working on "Belles" too. I've found a really nice ending for the play, I think. Like the idea of continuing the Ballroom Dance motif throughout. Photo taken by Owen Benson at the 10th Annual Jane Austen Festival in Bath, UK.

Rehearsing Jane today with props. Working on word endings. One gets lazy, you see. So I am back at it and really having fun. I love the idea that anything can happen (within reason)! Worked on differentiating the physicality of all the characters Jane plays. Amazing that ballroom dancing makes me much more conscious of my body in space. If I were running an MFA program I would make yoga and ballroom dancing part of the required curiculum. What is the well-rounded performer? With so much (technique) out there, sometimes the basics get left behind. Moving and speaking, not just so one is in character, but so one is communicating that character with an audience. Communication must never be left behind. I love all aspects of the theatre and some would say, in my old age, have an appreciation that I never had when I was younger. So this bit of acting I get to do in "Cheer from Chawton" and the writing I get to do on "Belles" I really have come to cherish.

Yesterday, April 7th, was my first ever Skype Interview as Aphra Behn. I was so nervous beforehand! I reviewed the script I had prepared with Dr. Cheryl Wanko's help. We were doing revisions up until the night before. But it went really well! I was surprised to find that I was able to connect with the students and the students really appeared to be having fun. They seemed to be happy with the fact that Aphra questioned and challenged some of the things they asked. I need to work on my endings. I could feel that. When I got to the end of my response, there didn't seem to be any finish. But I look forward to continued work on this! Shout out to Dr. Wanko - want to keep working on this with you! Yay!

Worked with Dr. Cheryl Wanko on Friday, March 25th, another run at how a Skype interview with Aphra Behn would go. I was speaking too slowly, searching for words. Not happy with it. Aphra Behn's mind works like lighting, she speaks at a normal, if not, fast pace. Then it hit me. There are answers to most of the students questions right there in my Love Arm'd text. My secret is, once I get the questions, I will cut and paste and modify answers right out of my text. And it's amazing, I really do remember almost all of that text, though it has been a year since I have performed it! I am excited about this. This I can get my teeth into!

"Belles" has been postponed to September 9th, 6pm due to family illness. On a lighter note I am preparing Aphra Behn for a Skype interview with Dr. Cheryl Wanko's West Chester University students. A shout out to West Chester U Theatre Department with congrats on their recent production at the KCACTF! With regard to the interview, it will be custom made, I am weaving Aphra's words in with spontaneous responses to students questions, how will it go? Thinking stages right now but giving me new ideas about revising the show too!

EVENT POSTPONED TO SEPTEMBER 9TH, 6PM
"Belles of Beaverdale" on Broadway!

Previously scheduled for Friday, February 11, 2011, 7:30 pm, "Belles of Beaverdale" a reading of a new play by Karen Eterovich, directed by Erma Duricko starring Louisa Cabot, David Copeland, Marianne Cullinan, Michael Graves, Susan Laubach and June Springer. Part of the Friday Night Footlight Series at the Dramatists Guild, 1501 Broadway, 7th Floor, in the Frederick Loewe Room. A Midwestern take on Three Sisters for 5 characters.

Just realized I had 7 gigs to post! It's 11pm and I got them all up. Now to prep a New Year's Newsletter. You go along, you think nothing is happening and then there it is, stacks of mail all around me, how to get to it? But this is a happy kind of busy to be! Miss Bates in Bath, silly, silly, silly!

Where did the week go? We are at the airport. Show was yesterday, we sold out! Every joke landed. Very gratifying. Lots of questions after the show. Amy should be glad, people gasped at end when I spoke with my American accent. I don't know if I'll get any kind of review but I was very happy with how the show went. And I was nervous beforehand. The Wessex Suite was a lovely venue. The platform ended up working better than I expected. The people were responsive, laughed alot. Expect the unexpected. Many were in costume and I loved that. Acoustics mediocre but not as difficult as the library - those books absorb sound. Our little one came in for part of the show, she watched for a while, Mummy very distracted but stayed on course. Tech started at 12 noon. Jackie had everyone in place. Worked thru lights and sound and with folks playing my family. Everyone was happy to be there and in the mood to have fun. Once finished with all that, there was another show at the venue. I went downstairs, slowly applied make-up, wig, put on jewelry and started running the show full tilt. My voice finally seemed warmed up and I got thru most of the play before it was time to go upstairs again at 3:15. Ran Miss Bates several times over, as I got confused the first few times. But glad I stayed with it because the pay off came in the performance where I stayed straight on course. Around 4:00 I went downstairs again to do final prep, write some thank you's, suck on cough drops. Then up again at 4:25 as they were getting the last few audience in. You enter and you are terrified. Heart pumping. Will they be cross with me or go with me. You ride it out. Intake of breath, terrified look, sudden smile, everyone laughs. I think they'll go with me. Next joke coming up, "Fanny and I are just back from London, I was hardly there a minute before I could feel my morals declining." Big laugh, I've got them. Tense during the Pride and Prejudice sequence, aware everyone knows it. Susan and Amy admonishing me to go slower here paid off. Just trusted the words, welcomed the audience in the world. After P & P, things got easier because I trust more. Fun with Northanger Abbey, Henry and Eliza, Lady Susan. Wandered into audience after Tom Lefroy for the Three Sisters section. Jane's language in that is great. Miss Bates was hysterical, warm responses from everyone. Ann says I'm a clown. I love playing comedy. Who knows if I'll get to do this again? But much joy experienced in making people laugh. I must continue somehow. Don't know if anyone reads these posts, but they are fun to write.