Blog #6 A Brief Musing on Made Up Words 01/24/2012
I want to talk to you today about words, we all use ‘em whether written or uttered, their meanings are mutable depending on the tone we use, context--the different words we choose say a lot about what kind of person we are. Something that’s always fascinated me as an actor and a lover of the written word is the way that certain words manage to encapsulate exactly the thing they stand for. Take as an example the word MOIST. Kind of a gross feeling when you say it, just take a second and say it out loud...Moist...what does it make you think of? A clammy, sweaty handshake? That rag long ago forgotten that has been occupying the place under your sink, growing a dewy, delicately fuzzy mold? How about SCURRY? Can’t you just see a mouse running for it’s life or a particularly shy librarian hurriedly skittering among bookshelves? Then of course there are ottomottopoeaic words like ZOOM, BUZZ, MEOW, GURGLE... I’m getting a little carried away now... but there are literally tons of other words that are just as visceral-- I think that’s what words were actually invented for in the first place. But then there are also words that don’t really seem to have much meaning to them, as if they were arbitrarily assigned to a thing and are sort of embarrassed and unenthused, like that kid that gets picked last in kickball. The word WORD is an example of this...who actually decided that word would mean...word? How did these words actually manifest themselves, though, how did they go from an odd sound or action observed by the eye into a few squiggly symbols written on the page or printed in a book? Who chose them? Questions!? Back during Elizabethan times it is much noted that the English Language was a living, breathing entity--people loved to hear words aloud, liked the sounds they made and were constantly adding new ones in a variety of different spellings. Shakespeare himself added to this pool by creating over 1700 words of his own according to the Oxford English Dictionary. What keeps us modern types from being so facile with language today? Why isn’t everyone making up their own words and using them among the general public? Yeah, yeah, I guess you could count some of the internet speak like LOL and sexting and the lolcat crazy grammar-ness, but I mean like actually finding something and naming it something else. Maybe all the actual things have been taken, but there are plenty of situations that are just itching for a word to actually describe them! Like that uncomfortable feeling you get when you see someone in the street whose name you don’t remember. Why don’t we make this interesting? If anybody feels so inclined, make up your own word (with a meaning attached, obviously). I’ll give a shout out to the best ones that are listed in the comments and then we’ll send a list to the Oxford English Dictionary for consideration... not really...but that would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? Add Comment Blog #5 - George Wilkins 12/31/2011
A Little More about George Wilkins, Courtesy of Wikipedia Gee whiz! Can y’all believe it’s the end of December? Well, I wanted to sneak in one last post before the new year. I’ve been thinking a lot about authorship these days. Now, I personally believe that William Shakespeare did in fact write all of the plays attributed to him (partly because of a documentary I saw by Michael Wood called In Search of Shakespeare, which I highly recommend, it’s on Netflix if you’re curious...no, really, I’ll wait...), I don’t think it was some Earl somewhere or Marlowe or whatever other theories are floating out there...we have a lot of information about him from documents meticulously kept by the Elizabethan government, numerous speculative books and of course, the plays themselves. But as far as Pericles is concerned, it’s not just Shakespeare that influenced the story, there is in fact another author to learn about! I was curious about this fellow, the circumstances surrounding his authorship of Pericles-- did he write just the first two acts, with Shakespeare coming in to clean up the mess? or did he come back later and tack on the beginning to a fragment Shakespeare had penned? --and his background, so I decided to do a little investigation into the mysterious past of George Wilkins, the illustrious co-author of Pericles, Prince of Tyre.  Not to be confused with George Hubert Wilkins the noted Australian Polar explorer: Though, I prefer to think of him like this anyhow. Source George Wilkins (the correct and not quite as dashing one...though we don’t know, because I couldn’t find any pictures of him to the contrary) died in 1618, though apparently had no birth date. He was an innkeeper on Cow-Cross Street, London, in an area now known as Clerkenwell near Smithfield Market and the Farringdon Tube Station. Back in Jacobean times, this area was considered a “haunt of whores and theives” and good old George seemed to be in the thick of the action. Most records of his life stem from his appearances in court for such brutal acts as kicking a pregnant woman in the belly as well as other instances of thievery and violence. Perhaps this is why the bawd scenes in Pericles are so viscerally disgusting: whether Wilkins wrote that part or not, it is thought that Wilkins was in fact the real-life version of the low down pimp, Pandar.  Wilkins’ literary history is interesting as well; he co-authored a few plays and was most known for his work as a pamphleteer. He also published a novel entitled The Painful Adventures of Pericles, Prince of Tyre, which is not only told by the old storyteller John Gower (who also appears in the play version of Pericles), but follows the story of the play extremely closely. Here’s the whole text of that novel, if you’re in the least bit curious-- I read the first few paragraphs and my brain started hurting, very dense. Any who, that is the extent of information to be found on Mr. Wilkins by my roving eye. I will admit that I did not search extremely diligently while picking up my kernels of wisdom and that I credit it all to this article, right here. At the very least, our George seemed like an interesting fellow, I’m curious how he came to be associated with the King’s Men in the first place, but, whatever his actual relationship to Shakespeare was, he should feel quite proud of himself that his name has found its way onto stages and into books beyond his misdeeds and unread pamphlets. Blog #4 Zip, Schwartz, Svigliano. 12/05/2011
When I first started taking theater classes, theater games scared the crap out of me. Whenever we would do them in class the same things would pop into my head: “What’s the word I’m supposed to say? Wait, why are you looking at me? What motion and the---AAAH!” Then my face would turn a vibrant shade of beet red for the rest of class... 
Needless to say, I avoided them at all costs--the same went with improv, I didn’t know what to say or do, and I was so worried about looking like a doofus that I’d hang back and hide till the game was over. Now that I’m a little older(ish) and wiser, I’ve realized that these games don’t actually have anything to do with me. Or with any one person for that matter. The whole point is to be a doofus, to surrender yourself utterly to the fact that you are a part of a group of people whose job it is to tell a story, no matter how silly or x-rated it may become (and believe me, improvs and theater games can get pretty raunchy). The purpose of these games is to train an ensemble to work together, give and take focus and to trust that wherever the story they make may take them, they are in it together. Fast forward to Pericles workshops and Bryan’s introduction of “Zip, Schwartz, Svigliano,” (Hereafter referred to as ZSS) a variation on ZIP ZAP ZOP except with more complicated rules and more exciting names. We, as a group, had just barely gotten the hang of doing Zip Zap Zop together and now Bryan was patiently shepherding us through a variety of improv games, including the infamous “ZSS.” All the old terrors came up--I could tell that everyone else (with the exception of Bryan) were all having similar worries as to the complicated nature of the game, especially that darn Svigliano. The first couple of times we played it I know I was susceptible to quite a few brain malfunctions, but after a few tries we did get sort of the hang of it and Erin developed a comforting catch phrase "We have months". 
I’ve been thinking about what makes a really good ensemble since Gwen Sisco brought up the point in her comment to my last entry...and my brain keeps bringing me back to theater games... There’s something to be said for being willing to act like a dork in front of the rest of your ensemble members, it brings everyone closer together and I think also lets people see the realest you there is, when you’re the most vulnerable, trying desperately to make sense of rules that don’t actually make that much sense. Also, the ability to move past the dork-acting phase and communicate with each other is empowering to say the least--the group develops a vocabulary together and becomes a tighter unit. When that same level of attentiveness and willingness to give over to spontanaety is translated to the stage, it can make for some exciting theater indeed. For me, it’s totally worth looking like a dork if it means learning something in the process--and after all, what we put up on stage are called “Plays” for a reason, right? What do you, the viewers at home think? More on this Next Entry...In the meantime, here’s some “Who’s Line is it Anyway” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfsaSouIus8  Hi there folks! These days there’s a lot in the works for ABTC-- we’ve started our workshop of Pericles and the ideas and characters it’s generating are truly exciting. Natalie Holmes is our new Artistic Director (!) and the great captain of this maiden voyage into the land of adventure and myth. I figure, since a lot of things have been set in motion in the past few weeks, it’s time to step back and check in. Why Hello There. So, instead of imparting upon you some sort of pensive treatise on a theater-related subject with plucky photographic enhancement this go around, I want to see what you guys are thinking. I’ve written two entries now and, to be honest, I am quite proud of them, but I have no idea what kinds of responses I’m getting on these from the general public (aside from the inner circle of the American Bard family). As an actor I’m well aware that whether or not I’m doing a good job up on stage is only a fraction of what makes a knockout show. I’m only a part of the puzzle here, you readers, my audience are another, and I dare say, most important part of the equation. In my humble opinion a good show is when there’s a conversation between the audience and actors going on, so let’s get started and make this a damn good show, eh? A few queries: These can be augmented by you in the comment section or detested or whatever, I would just love to have a dialogue—and who knows, maybe your idea could be the seed of the next blog entry! Pericles, Prince of Tyre: What are some of your preconceived notions about the play? What have you heard, seen, etc that makes you feel that way (feel free to post pictures too, I love visuals). How do you feel about Shakespeare in general? That movie Anonymous about him being a pilferer of ideas/puppet has stirred some heat up no doubt, what do you think about the whole debate? What has your favorite experience in the theater been like? Are you a fan of the more intimate? Or is a grand stage with an entire town cast as chorus more your style? What about Indoor Vs. Outdoor Theater? In Shakespeare’s early years (and even now still in some places) theater companies would gallivant around the country performing in tiny town squares and old churches, would you go and see a performance in a location other than an amphitheater or a black box? What are some of Shakespeare’s contemporaries or other classic playwrights whose work you’d be interested to see put on stage? And one last question: As far as show times are concerned, which do you prefer? Are you more of an early bird for nighttime performances and would rather see a 7 PM show than an 8 PM? Is a 2 PM Matinee on Saturday or Sunday too early to recover from that crazy party you had the night before? Would a 3 PM matinee be better? Also, who started that convention of show times anyway? Now, this isn’t a test or anything by any stretch of the imagination—it’s rather me in my little apartment reaching out across cyberspace to you in your little apartment or house or closet or wherever in search of connection. It can be scary in this big world yelling at the top of your lungs over circuits and knowing there’s a billion-to-one chance that someone will actually read your blog the entire way through; but I wanted to have a go and see if I could make the web a little bit smaller for a few seconds. Seriously, though, answer some questions, dare to communicate! And so, I leave you with this final link. Happy days my friends!  Pericles is one of those peculiar plays no one really knows what to do with. I’ve told people that American Bard is doing Pericles for its spring show and they have given me varying responses of, “Oh, Pericles…that’s a hard one… what’s it about again?” This Guy (Source) Of course, like most Shakespeare plays that have some root in history, the actual historical facts are bent somewhat; but yes, it is about one of the greatest figures in Greek history, Pericles. It recounts his adventures to various cities at the edges of the known Greek world, the people he meets, the love he finds and loses and then finds again, and his growth as a human being throughout this life-spanning journey. It has all the juicy features we love in a good Jacobian drama: incest, attractive royalty, dance, dumb shows, music, exotic locations and people—actually, for how little produced it is in our time, it was one of the most popular plays in Shakespeare’s own era. There are a few problems textually with Pericles, however, the first one being that Shakespeare didn’t actually write all of it. There’s a very clear demarcation between what one of my teachers at RADA called the “crap verse” of Shakespeare’s most likely co-writer George Wilkins and the Bard’s own handiwork (the supposed shift happens in Act III Sc. 1, read the scenes before and afterwards and respond back in the comment section, I’d love to hear opinions on this!).  In order to make it work today I’ve seen directors paint it with every kind of concept one could think of, from classic Greek… Like My Production at RADA… yes I’m wearing a turban, don’t ask. (Source)  To productions where Pericles is making his voyage in a spaceship across the vast regions of outer space. That Thaisa is one hot space babe. (Source) Now, to be clear, there is nothing terribly wrong with setting Shakespeare plays in different time periods per se…but in my mind plays like Pericles and other works by Shakespeare reside in their own particular niche in the present. They aren’t period pieces, fixed hard fast to a time, but constantly changing worlds based on the current epoch’s sensibility and understanding. I mean if you think about it, Shakespearean histories produced during Shakespeare’s own time weren’t actually portrayed in the era in which they were set—every play produced was done in the actors’ finest Elizabethan garb and maybe a toga if they were doing Julius Caesar or something.  You can slap a time period on any Shakespeare play to make a statement, or just to make it cheaper to produce by not spending hundreds of dollars on traditional Elizabethan hoop skirts and bum rolls, but I think the most interesting productions I’ve seen don’t impose any specific era on the text, but rather create their own world, their own adventure by listening to how the story uniquely speaks to them. Bum Rolls! That’s the most important part of plays like Pericles! The adventure! The best productions take you on an adventure of some kind, whether it be an emotional journey or twists and turns of a plot, or simply the world in which the story resides. This is what makes pieces exciting to me, at least—because what’s the point of seeing a play, or any art for that matter, if it doesn’t transport you to a different facet of reality for awhile? Just like returning home after a long voyage, you always look at your life a bit differently. After our last company meeting, I’m super excited to begin American Bard’s journey into Pericles and I have no doubt that come spring we’ll be taking audiences on quite an interesting adventure… So I guess the moral to be had from all this talk of eras, bum rolls, and crap verse is that there is much to be learned from other points in time, yes, and history does indeed have its place in theater…but as far as molding the world of a piece, there is something to be said for creating something not completely of a specific time, but rather letting it reside in the imagination. To find out more about Pericles, Elizabethan Times, or anything else I mentioned in this article, I suggest reading Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt and checking out Wikipedia.org for other interesting reads. Communication makes the art grow stronger. 08/10/2011
 http://theyearoflivingunofficially.com/05/18/no-dirty-dishes-day/ Sort of obvious when you think about it...but it’s just like being in a relationship, the petty little details get in the way: the mound of dishes in the sink from last Tuesday, the electric bill taped to the fridge, that weird odor emitting from your loved-one’s sneakers... your life. Believe it or not, theater companies and just about every organization worth its salt has their own metaphorical (and sometimes literal) dishes/bills/strange odors they have to deal with every day in order to make it even possible to survive. Unfortunately, just like the passive aggressive fight you may or may not have with your loved one over why-in-the-hell-can’t-you-for-the-love-of-GOD-stop-breathing-so-LOUD, the turmoil that comes out of growing dissent within a theater company can crack even the strongest of foundations.  This last April, such was the state of American Bard Theater Company. Because things got so piled up, things had unknowingly been pushed aside. The immense workload was being shared--but only among an intrepid few--and the very structure of the company was called into question. A work-session was scheduled for the last Sunday of July as a concerted effort to air out all grievances and determine the most important question of all: Who are we? What do we want to be? In my opinion, the outcome was truly inspiring. Folks, we have had an overhaul here at ABTC: Vision? We now have one. Mission Statement? Fine tuned to better fit what we’re doing these days. Company Structure? An Artistic Ensemble, thank you very much. What was interesting was that when asked to write down how we envisioned American Bard 3,5,7 years from now, the same ideas kept popping up on our flip chart papers: we want to make an impact, we want a home base, we want to produce exciting, innovative theater. Our visions were somewhat similar without us even realizing it. Go Figure! There is still a whole lot to figure out, of course, but this is a fantastic start! Out of that we came into our meeting that next Thursday with a renewed sense of purpose and knowing each other a little better. And since the company members had taken some time to address the nitty gritty everyday housework, the majority of that Thursday meeting was spent discussing fun artistic stuff, namely our spring show, Pericles.  Pericles Aerialist: http://www.globe-education.org/discovery-space/plays/pericles-2005 So, I guess what I have learned from this adventure is that a relationship is still a relationship, whether it be between 2 people in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn or the entire population of New York City, both need communication to survive and flourish--if you actually take the time to work through the difficult stuff (and/or just suck it up do those damn dishes) then you can enjoy the relationship for the reasons you became a part of it in the first place. To end on a neat little proverbial note: take a step back, don’t be someone who can’t see the forest for looking at the trees. STAY TUNED FOR MY NEXT ENTRY! Pericles: A peculiar history. New Blogger at ABTC 08/01/2011
We are very excited to introduce our new blogger, Lily Warpinski, a member of ABTC's artistic ensemble. Lily played Elbow, Abhorson, Juliet and a nun in ABTC's 2010 production of Measure for Measure. Last week of Four by Tenn 04/18/2011
This has been an amazing run, full of appreciative audiences and great feedback for all four pieces of Four by Tenn. Many audience members have seen one show and loved it so much that they came back to see the others! I am so proud of the cast and crew of this production and how with each and every show here at ABTC we are stepping it up to a higher and higher level in our effort to offer our patrons, fans and friends exciting, moving pieces of theater. I would like to especially thank Seth Duerr for his beautiful directing, giving each piece its own style and signature. The following are our remaining shows: Tuesday- 7 p.m. Small Craft Warnings with Talk-back after the show Wednesday- 8 p.m. One Acts with Talk-back after the show Thursday- 8 p.m. Small Craft Warnings Friday- 8 p.m. One Acts Saturday- 2 p.m.- One Acts *Closing* Saturday- 8 p.m. Small Craft Warnings *Closing* Thanks and we hope to see you at the theater! Mary Our New Site is Live! 04/14/2011
Introduction the all new AmericanBard.org! (*cue dramatic car commerical music*) We've been working hard over the last month to create a clean, fresh, and easy to use site for our patrons and fans. Take a look around and let us know what you think. We will be re-creating the Current Artists/Founders/Board/Past Production pages so please bare with us while we get that information back up and running in the new format. Feel free to leave your comments below. Is there something you want to see on the site? Let us know your thoughts, we'd love your feedback! Thanks and if you haven't bought your tickets to Four by Tenn, what are you waiting for? ABTC We are so excited tonight for the cast and crew to meet each other and for our very first read-through of all four pieces. We've got a lot coming your way so keep checking the site. We have a interview with director Seth Duerr that will be posted as soon as it's all edited and ready to go, postcards that you will be seeing around town, more interviews, possible talk-backs, a great closing night shindig and more! In the words of Mr. Williams/Blanche DuBois 'I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.' ...and so do we! So if this is your first time on our site or learning about our company, drop us a comment and let us know how you found us. We would love to know where you found us, where you think you should find us, and how to expand our audiences with new faces like yours. | AuthorLily Warpinski  Lily Warpinski as Elbow in
Measure for Measure.
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