An Actor Prepares [for Medea]

CONGRESS IN SESSION

Medea is a role actresses wait their entire careers for. I am playing her at 23. It is quite the undertaking.

I have no equal parallel in my own life to what Medea goes through. But I have experienced the emotions - loss and love, hate and hope, anger and ardor. What makes her human is that she lives always between these contrasts and that is where I will find her.

The beauty of the way we are working on this project is that I do not need to recall sad memories to play this character truthfully. I need only to rely on the intricate text, to push it, analyze it, live in the sound of the words and the emotions will come.

We are using an approach, a system, very new to me on this production. I am like a recent convert to this way of working. It inspires and excites me and I have put all of my stock in it. But I also go through moments of doubt and frustration. I just have to trust it.

It is first and foremost about the text. Everything - character, emotions, honesty - will come from the form. Ryan Emmons, our fearless director, had me read Peter Hall’s Shakespeare’s Advice to the Players.

• "First comes the form and second comes the feeling."
• "Here is the paradox: by hiding the feeling you reveal it, by not indulging it, you express it. This is the contradiction of all great acting."
• "Shakespeare’s text is a complex score that demands to be read as a piece of music, learned like the steps of a dance, or practiced like the strokes of a duel."

Shakespeare may not have written Medea, but we are working with a finely crafted, rhetorical, verse play. Sir Peter has made me hyper-attuned to the sound of words. I dig at the script searching for antithesis, monosyllabic lines, onomatopoeia, and repeated sounds. To this I add the wisdom of Michael Chekhov (I’m currently reading his Lessons for the Professional Actor)

• "Whatever we are going to experience on the stage - even if it is terribly heavy and uneasy - the impressions that it is terribly heavy must be given, but how it is produced must be artistically light and easy always."

For me, at this moment, Medea is not a woman who kills her children. She is a woman in pain. She must sing though she only talks, dance though she only walks.

My mind is very full of ideas at the moment. It is excitingly overwhelming.

Written by Julie Congress

Medea Cast List

I am thrilled to officially announce the full cast for No.11 Productions’ MEDEA!

Medea Cast List (Alphabetical)

JASON - Willy Appelman

MEDEA - Julie Congress

CHORUS - Laura DellaVilla

TUTOR - Mark Ferguson

CREON - David Henry Gerson

CHORUS - Haley Greenstein

CHORUS - Debbie Habib

CHORUS - Sara Kliger

CHORUS - Nina Meijers

AEGEUS - Roger Mulligan

CHORUS - Alison Novelli

MESSENGER - Sam Parrott

NURSE - Vanessa Wingerwrath

LIGHTING DESIGN by Maura Cordial

MUSIC/MUSICAL DIRECTION by Rebecca Greenstein

CHOREOGRAPHY by Ava Conaval

PUPPETRY by Jen Neads

COSTUMES by Brooke Cohen

SOUND DESIGN by Mitchell Conway

ACTING/VOCAL COACHING by Liz Coley

DIRECTED by Ryan Emmons

The Benefits of Starting Out

It’s easy to think, as you watch the group of singers you’re working with huddle around a microphone that you have jammed into a roll of paper towels because you lack a microphone stand, what are we doing?  If you fin yourself looking at that shoved in microphone or building all of your props out of cardboard, don’t doubt yourself…applaud.  Think “wow, this was a way better idea than using that beer glass on a pile of chairs.”   Whether recording a song or rehearsing a play, if you are just starting out, you’re probably working in somebody’s apartment, your neighbors hate you, and you rehearse after an eight hour work day.  These conditions are less than ideal, but at the end of the day, no one is going to see your apartment, they will see your work on a stage, they will assume you had a long rehearsal period in a large studio with a full day of technical rehearsal…this is part of the magic of indie theatre.    

So as you tie up your bed sheets to make yet another set of costumes, I wanted to take a moment to mention some of the positives of creating theatre as a new company:

·      No one is working on a project because of all the money they are going to make, people are working with you because they want to create art and believe that your company can facilitate that.

·      You don’t have to follow any rules…but it’s a good idea to make some up.

·      No matter how ridiculous your choices are, people will read them as gutsy because you’re just starting out – so the theatre you make can be way out there.

·      You can drink wine at rehearsals (not recommended for every rehearsal). 

·      More established artists are super enthusiastic and encouraging about your work…grass roots are trendy right now.

·      You have the gift of time, if you want to spend 5 months on 1 project…that’s possible. 

·      You’re not cornered into a niche, you can keep exploring different genres and mediums.

·      You can choose the work you do, it’s always better if you are passionate and have something to say about the play you are working on.    

·      If you have a flop, it won’t destroy you…your audience base isn’t that big anyway.

 

Those are just a few thoughts…there may be more, but I’m young and have crazy ideas and lots of time…so you’ll have wait.  Be adventurous and let us know when you are…we’ll come check it out.

 

Written By Ryan Emmons         

Acting

There are countless books on acting. Everyone has their own theories and systems. But how does the 21st Century, Indie Theatre actor tackle a role? Here's what some of the working actors we most respect had to say when we asked them the question:

How do you prepare for a role?

Daniel Talbott: "I wish I was better at answering this question but the thing I find most helpful for me to begin working on a play is to try to read it as many times as I can and ask as many questions as possible before going into rehearsal. I try to figure out as much as I can about the world of the play, the other characters in it, and the given circumstances for all of us based on what’s written. I try to be as full and inspired as possible and have ideas and choices and questions to bring to the table on the first day, and at the same time always try to make sure I haven’t made anything truly concrete yet cause I don’t think the work can really happen without everyone else in the room. You may come up with the most brilliant physical characterization in the history of theatre but if it has nothing to do with what the rest of the cast and the director and playwright and designers are trying to work on in telling the story of the play it really doesn’t matter. I read somewhere once that great acting is like walking a tightrope or plate spinning. I guess I try to know as much as I can and be in the best shape possible—spiritually, emotionally, physically—as an artist to try to start learning how to walk that specific rope or spin the particular plates that the play I’m working on requires. For me all the preparation you do on the outside is about making it possible to come to the rehearsal room excited, open, positive; with ideas, choices, and confidence to be able to be a brave and risk-taking part of the ensemble, because for me there’s no play and no theatre without the other folks in the room." http://www.risingphoenixrep.org/


Daniella Rabbani: "I start with the text which is great when you're working with a good writer and a little tricky when you're not. But judging the writing is not my job, so before anything, I trust the writer, director, other actors, and myself. Which sounds a lot easier said than done. So when I read the text, I'm looking for clues about the character and the given circumstance which informs my physical choices. Where I hold tension, weight or energy. I try to improvise in that new body in rehearsal and then get off book as soon as possible. Walk down the street speaking my lines, dream about moments that could be better, and generally obsessing." http://www.daniellarabbani.com/


Michael Criscuolo: "First, I read the play once, maybe twice, to determine the story, where my character fits into it, and to get a sense of the relationships between my character and all the others."

"Then I start going through all of my character's scenes one by one to figure out what my character wants (i.e. their intention) and how they're going to get it (i.e. their activity). Those two things are my anchors throughout rehearsals. If I run into trouble at any point, I re-examine/tighten/clarify the ol' intention-and-activity game plan, and that usually takes care of things."

"I'm also a fan of what others might call more "external" facets of acting: characterization conveyed through voice, body language, appearance, etc., and how one's intention influences those things and vice versa. Often times if I get stuck or want to figure out a new way to develop a character, I imagine how another actor might play my role. For instance, I just finished playing Lopakhin in The Ninja Cherry Orchard at The Brick Theater. This is a character who's gone from being a peasant to a wealthy merchant. I had no idea what that meant in terms of actualizing the role in a flesh-and-blood way, but I remembered that Brian Dennehy had once played this part for Peter Brook. So I started thinking about how he would do it. Well, for one thing Dennehy wouldn't put on any airs. Everything would be very straightforward with no frills, because he's a very salt-of-the-earth type of guy. And once I started thinking about Lopakhin that way, it became much easier to figure out how he would pursue his intention and react to certain other things in the play."


Adam Lerman: "Every character is different, and often the way that I approach the role tends to work alongside how the director is approaching the play. That may sound obvious, but if we're mining the text at the top of the process, then the dramaturgical work will come in first. Sometimes the director and I will talk about other actors or characters as references, but sometimes the characters come from notions in the text, or physical work, exercises, etc... Sometimes the character will remind me of someone in my own life, and I'll blend that person(s) with myself and other sources. The possibilities are endless."

"One of the challenges I battle with the most is avoiding my go-to tricks and old habits. People-watching tends to alleviate those issues, because in impersonating other bodies outside my own, I find I immediately depart from my natural muscular patterns (which can make for some uncomfortable and awkward postures and walks). And additionally, once the text has really been analyzed and the intentions are evident, the clarity of the character starts to really shine through, my obligation is to use those mental, emotional and physical tools to just honor those things." http://www.thisisadamlerman.com/

Medea Performance Schedule

Medea

Presented as part of FRIGID New York

The Kraine Theater
85 East 4th Street
New York, NY 10003

Wed 2/24 at 6:00 PM
Sat 2/27 at 7:00 PM
Mon 3/01 at 7:30 PM
Thu 3/04 at 9:00 PM
Sat 3/06 at 1:00 PM

Medea Trailer

We will have this video up on our website soon...but until then you can view the Medea trailer on youtube at this link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBcYnUw_sNo

Enjoy and let us know what you think!

Surfing Medea Part 4

Alright, here it is...our last picture post before our big release. Things are coming together nicely and we are very excited for the end of the week, but still have a lot to do before then!

Our noble film makers set up the perfect frame.  


The men stand by as the women pose on the rocks.

One of our movie stars consults with the director of photography.  


"That's a wrap!"