From Our Studio: "Commitment, Play the Action, Make Choices" by Denise Powell

"Commitment, Play the Action, Make Choices," these are all words that you'll hear and experience as part of the Intro to Acting I class with George Lewis.

We start our first class by standing in a circle, taking a temperature of how each person is feeling and then launching into a series of movements with our bodies, I mean your entire body! I hope you're not shy because this class is all about experiencing the action not just being an innocent bystander. I soon realized people come for all different reasons, to feel more confident, those that are actively pursuing the profession and those that have just always secretly wanted to take an acting class.

There were many different experiences in this class; one of my favorites was one where you bring in something of importance to you. We weren't given any more information about what to bring. Each person got the opportunity in front of the group to re-live their recollection of the item. It was wonderful to see and feel that person's experience. It was also a chance to be vulnerable and see how that experience can make you and the audience feel. In George's words "that was lovely to watch".

Another great assignment was the 2 Minute Exercise where you choose a recent ordinary moment and recreate that in class. You also bring in and set the stage for that moment. You'll never look at ordinary every day moments quite the same anymore. Humanity is so much fun to watch and experience. You don't even know the idiosyncrasies each of us have until you put a spotlight on it. It's what makes acting so interesting.

I've taken several classes other places but this felt like I really was taking my first 'real' acting class here at Freehold. I know this is what I want to do even though I know it's one of the most competitive careers out there. I really appreciated the constructive feedback that George gave; he was specific and knowledgeable in his responses. I really liked and appreciated his no nonsense and direct approach. I would highly recommend this class to anyone ready to take a crack at this acting thing. I'm sure you'll walk away hungry for more, I know I did!!!


Denise's Fellow Summer Intro to Acting students had their own thoughts on their Freehold acting experience:

"I experienced a wonderful connection with myself and my partners in the different activities we did. It was amazing what place you can get to when you really open yourself up and become vulnerable in the moment with yourself and your partner." - Dani

"Class provided me the chance to break down, examine and understand what I felt during the exercise. The activities challenged me and got me thinking in a whole new way. Instead of ignoring feelings to maintain appearances which often happens in real life we were asked to express those feelings. It was great." - Holly

"This class helped me develop my whole instrument with vocal and movement exercises. I learned how to use my voice and body to be a stronger actor." -Brie

From Our Theatre Lab: "Embrace" by Vanessa Skantze

A longtime desire was realized for me this past July, when Robin Lynn Smith asked me to join her in conducting workshops inside the detention facilities we had performed within during the tour of the Freehold Engaged Theatre Program's production of Julius Caesar. I had long wanted to share the essence of my passion, Ankoku Butoh (Dance of Darkness), with incarcerated people and veterans. Butoh dance is a way of delimiting the self by awakening movement through deep focus and visceral transformation. In highly charged situations such as prison and war the person must be embodied and focused, prepared to engage with any danger that arises. This can prove highly stressful, but it can also hone an ability to be present and immediate, to listen deeply and respond authentically in ways the outside culture can distract the rest of us from doing. I knew entering into this experience that I would be more taught than teaching. It was such an honor to share the work I love and the gifts received from dancing with my teacher, Atsushi Takenouchi, that any resistance I perceived did not dissuade me. I saw his face and heard his voice, and felt graced to be able to transmit elements of this dance to these individuals.

In joining Robin Lynn Smith, Daemond Arrindell, Reggie Jackson, Sly Kamara, Sarah Harlett, Lori Evans, Eva Abram, Kirsten McCory, and Trina Harris for these workshops I was also agreeing to be a participant in the acting and writing exercises, as were they. I found myself paired the first evening at Monroe with a small and wiry bookish fellow who chose for our improvisation an ancient god and the first woman he created. I found the encounter sweet and playful, a gift of the saving grace that wild imagination provides for this man. I led the men in a brief movement exploration -- feeling the breath as wind, flying the body, experiencing the waves within -- and there was laughter and uncertainty. One guy exuberantly shouted out "I'm a bird!" another "I'm a surfer!" In that moment we shared the pleasure of the child at play-- a quality many of us bury when very small out of pain and fear. Each time I beheld and felt this sense of play I was reminded of its healing power and also its value for learning and change: the essence of beginner's mind (this is how teachers are paid-- we get to steep in that quality again and again with our students). The joy of resurrecting that openness has been one of the great gifts of butoh for me -- the recovery of our original wonder and curiosity which blasts through the fear of being ridiculed or exploited. This recognizance gave me an understanding when the kids at Echo Glen were hesitant to give over to the butoh imagery I was leading them in exploring... I knew at that long-ago point in my life how hard it would have been to enter into that space. At the same time it was wonderful how impressed the kids were with our performance -- that the intensity and rigor of our dance could strike them so profoundly. One, a young guy who said he stood for original hip hop, asked how long would it to take to get to our level? He said he thought he could do it, and that he would see us out on the road one day. To have my strange and obscure dance affect this kid so much was thrilling!

The rawness of the life experience in these places gets under your skin immediately. I felt feverish and quickened each time we entered a facility. Our time was so concentrated -- rather than a steeping in the practice of acting, or writing, or butoh we were asking them (and ourselves) to throw back undiluted shots. Which they did without flinching. They entered in along with us.

On our second visit to Monroe the guys were beautifully exuberant, horses let out of the stalls into pasture with eager bodies and hungry spirits. I again had a remarkable duet improvisation exploring the mistrust and pain experienced in the long separations these men have from their partners. I was in the body of a woman trying to hold it together alone, frustrated with but still so much in love with her man. How much these people carry inside! We listened to their words about what they fear: Would they get out? How would they live if they got out? We were seared. They have no respite from feeling this fear, they breathe with it day and night. This gauntlet they walk -- if only more people could hear and empathize with these people and see how much they yearn for another way. This remarkable guy who nakedly shared his experience of fear -- of how that was the real deal for all of those men, running through everything -- came up to me afterward and asked about the practice I had led, which evoked waves of wind and water, bearing the flowers that bring life and death, the dead body being carried by loving hands rising, spirit walking into the heart of the sun. He asked about me - was I vegan, did I practice yoga (yes to both) -- immediately understanding that this work I love was also part of a path, a different way to live. We graced each other: me by extending my practice of seeking deep connection to life force in all things through deep attention and care, and he by intuiting the spirit life the dance is a manifestation of.

My teacher calls his dance Jinen butoh. Jinen means All, the energy or life force infusing all things. One of the first practices I danced with Atsushi was the Embrace -- using the mantra of the OM while extending the arms out and drawing into the core of the body, reaching and touching all life and bringing it into oneself, becoming more viscerally part of the All. The embrace does not judge -- it draws into its field the young and the old, the beautiful and the hideous, the joyous and the brutal, the vast and the infinitesimal, the sick and the dying. At last one embraces ones own death, and then experiences oneself embraced in that dying. When I led this practice at the VA hospital center and at the women's prison, I had my heart caught by that vulnerable space of people when they are listening and feeling deeply. This is what I fell in love with from the first yoga class I taught, fourteen years ago. I believe in sharing our work we become empathetic bridges, through visceral connection with others. I felt the whole experience of these workshops was an embrace -- a deep part of me touched and transformed irrevocably by the willing spirits of all whom we worked with. It is palpable how much these individuals desire not only their own healing but want to be sources of healing for others. Like returning vets who dedicate themselves to helping other vets heal and find a valuable life path, these people have the innate capacity to be empathetic bridges for others struggling with hard choices around how to live. Witnessing not only their articulation of their personal struggle, pain and triumph but also their energetic support as they listened to each other (and to us) in the potent writing prompt exercises that Daemond led, I experienced a piercing shimmer of the vision of community that fires our work and life. I am fortunate to have been present.

Vanessa Skantze practices and teaches yoga and butoh dance, and is co-director of Danse Perdue Ankoku Ritual Butoh. She performs regularly in Seattle at alternative venues and at her space Teatro de la Psychomachia in SoDo.

Photos from Freehold's production of Julius Caesar, photo above Sylvester Kamara and Vanessa Skantze and second photo: Vanessa Skantze, Lin Lucas and Jacob "AZ" Squirrel. Photo credits: Kate Gavigan

From Our Studio: Freehold's Summer New Play Lab: Truth as Theme by Dickey Nesenger

When Oedipus discovers he's the one who killed King Laius, slept with his own mother and caused the plague, he rips his eyeballs out. The protagonists created in the plays during this summer's New Play Lab may not have succumbed to a similar fate but each was built on the necessity of telling the truth; moreover, accepting the consequences. As evidenced in all the plays, "truth as theme" was foremost on the minds of the nine playwrights, each writer using his imagination and considerable dramatic skill to kick start characters into "coming clean." The writers and I shared much dialogue on the nature and application of craft in terms of character development and how to peel away the proverbial onion of behavior and personality to get to the core of truthfulness or, knowingness.

I have excerpted a few questions and comments offered by the playwrights and myself, on how to transform protagonists into truth-seeking missionaries.

Q: How will using the "truth as theme" help me in the writing of my play?

A: It will assist you in creating proactive characters with strong acting choices for your actors and a point of connection for your audience.

Q: How will this concept help me with my story-line?

A: It will help you find what your story is about. (In the New Play Lab, the plays were about family longing, loyalty, betrayal, corruption, fear of failure, loss, redemption and guilt).

Q: With all the information I have gleaned on this subject, how do I feel like I am writing a play rather than a thesis?

A: You won't if you write succinctly, focusing on what it is your character ultimately needs to reveal (All great plays have a story that is simple. It's the characters who are complex).

Q: I understand the concept of external event, and what a character wants; for example Oedipus wants to find out who started the plague, but what about the internal event, the deeper story that evolves from a character's point of discovery?

A: Great question! When a character discovers the truth--through unfolding events--he changes big time, moving in a new direction, either succumbing to his dark side (tragedy) or enlightenment (all other genres). Ask your protagonist by the end of the play, okay, now what do I do with the rest of my life? If you built your "truth as theme" story on solid foundation, he'll tell you the answer.

Dickey Nesenger is a playwright and playwriting instructor. Dickey teaches at Freehold and Hugo House and mentors for PATH for Art, a Seattle based community outreach program, and serves as panelist for Artist Trust Foundation and Advisory Editor for Knock Press at Antioch University Seattle.

JOIN US for Freehold's New Play Lab
September 16, 17, 18
At Freehold, 2222 2nd Avenue, Suite 200
FREE!

Check out some exciting new excerpts from the plays of Freehold's summer New Play Lab students taught by Dickey Nesenger. The staged readings/showcase are directed by Bill Selig, Dave Tucker, Meghan Arnette and Susan Harrison.

Featuring excerpts of plays by:

Patty Cogen
Robert Flor
Bonnie Foster
Don Harmon
Marcia Helme
Michele Lucien Erickson
German Munoz
Mary Paradise
Kathleen Thompson

Cast includes: Jim Anderson, Simone Barron, Jillian Boshart, Alice Bridgforth, Eloisa Cardona, Gary Estrada, Bonnie Foster, Jason Franklin, Gail Harvey, Katelyn Hanson, T’ai Hartley, Gail Harvey, Barbara Lindsay, Kere Loughlin-Presnal, Richard Payne, Matt Riggins, John Ruoff, Ron Sandahl, Michael Xenakis

FREE - Donations Accepted

The performance times are:
Program A, Thurs, Sept. 16 @ 8:00pm
Program B, Fri, Sept 17 at 8:00pm
Program B, Sat. Sept 18 at 3:00pm
Program A, Sat. Sept. 18 at 8:00pm

Program A: Thursday and Saturday Night

Aftermath by Mary Paradise
Brain Tumor Dreams by K.C. Thompson
Sentimental Journey by Patty Cogen
The Route by Don Harmon

Program B: Friday Night and Saturday Matinee

The Dealer's Hand by Bonnie Foster
Icarus by Marcia Phillips Helme
Daniel's Mood by Robert Flor
Garage Sale by Michele Lucien Erickson
The Abortion Play by Germán Munoz

Questions? (206) 323-7499 or kate@freeholdtheatre.org

Freehold's Engaged Theatre Program at Prison by Trina Harris

July 2, 2010 Monroe Washington State Reformatory Unit or WSRU

The front desk guard instructs our group of 26 nervously joking actors, musicians, dancers & crew, “There are two things you need to get out of the prison: your ID badge and the invisible stamp you just got on your hand. Without either, you’re staying with us ‘till Christmas and Santa doesn’t come to the prison.”

Santa doesn’t come to the prison, but Freehold does.

This is my third Monroe men’s prison performance. I went with Freehold’s Ensemble Training Intensive (ETI) a couple of years ago first in the fall for a Commedia dell'Arte production of Goldoni’s the Venetian Twins and again in the spring for the tour of Merchant of Venice.

So all 25 of us (our fearless director, Robin, was pulling the yellow Handy Andy truck around to the gym) cram into the sally port – it’s tight, but we’re told that actually 32 is the record - and the outside heavy barred door closes and the inside heavy barred door opens to a locked away world. I felt like Dorothy stepping off the porch into the Land of Oz, only it didn’t switch into color.

We were an explosion of chaos and color in this orderly landscape of cement and metal. No weeds even dared cross over to the inside of the fence. I was thankful for the brilliant colors of our grand set. Kudos to the patient guards who per procedure checked every single piece that came off of our truck and went back on again when the show was over.

The men file into the gym, wearing identical uniforms to our costumes which worried me a little at first, but then made me feel like an honorary member of their team, like I was fighting for them when maybe not enough people had fought for them before they did whatever it was they did to land them here in this gym. It was undeniable that at that moment looking down from above, we were the same. And then I was reacquainted with why performing here is so profound. These men are nothing but real. There’s no pretense, no need-to-please poisonous politeness. This is not the place for that. These men become my instructors on how to be real and present in the moment, freely talking and giving feedback during the play, asking me, “Why are you shouting?” or reminding me after I’d switched characters or at least thought I had of what I had done to Caesar 2 acts before.

Imposters need not apply. I am not entirely sure why this might be, but what my experience at Monroe boils down to is that there is enough that is already locked up there, so my heart and courage must run free.

Photo: Trina (in center of photo standing at top) with her JULIUS CAESAR cast-mates performing for the veterans at American Lake Veterans Hospital.

TWO more free performances of JULIUS CAESAR for the public will be performed at Broadway Performance Hall this weekend, July 10 at 8:00 pm and July 11 at 5:00 pm. We hope you'll attend!

Thanking the Gods for JULIUS CAESAR

Susanna Burney will be playing Cassius/Cassia in Freehold's upcoming production of JULIUS CAESAR. (photo above: Susanna Burney in rehearsal for JULIUS CAESAR)

Monday, June 21 – 8:30 a.m.

Just found out I’m not called till 9:45 this morning so I have a moment to write this blog for Kate and the good folks of Freehold and Engaged Theatre. I live the crazy, chaotic life of the freelance theatre artist which means any given day I could be caught up in three or more different activities—performing for schoolkids, doing a voice over, auditioning for (hopefully) my next gig, rehearsing, etc etc. This weekend was no exception and Sunday was my only day off (it usually is).

Every year or so I say to myself, I’m not going to act anymore. I’m not very successful at it (never worked at the Rep, ACT or Intiman) and there are other people out there who are so much better than I. Plus, I’m a woman, and there are grossly disproportionate roles for women than men and a grossly higher number of actresses than actors.

And then, out of the blue, I’ll get a call—like the one I got from the amazing Robin Lynn Smith, and I’m irresistibly drawn back in. I’d heard of Robin for years, but we’d never met. She wanted me to audition for Cassius (Cassia), to play opposite my dear old pal, Reggie Jackson (I was Emilia opposite his first Othello ten years ago). I’d looked at Julius Caesar a lot over the years, it’s always been one of my favorite Shakespeare’s—I’ve read for Portia, Casca, Calpurnia, and it never worked out, partly I think, because those parts didn’t quite fit in my mouth and my being. Cassius was a different story. As soon as I started working with the material to prepare for my audition, I felt it. I got his (her) hunger to be taken for what he’s worth, to connect with Brutus, to make the world right again, to undo this wrongly gotten and dangerous power. And the way Cassius is written—the logic of his words, the directness and indirectness that rides a driving desire for the world to be set right again. Thank the gods, Robin let me do it.

And we are deep into it now. One more week of rehearsal and I’m almost completely off book (Cassius has a lot of words!). There’s work to be done, but the ground has been laid. It’s still a minefield of unconnected dots, but there’s great people all around me to lead me onward. Reggie is a dream scene partner—so focused and so kind, so GENEROUS. Which I can say with all my heart about Robin. Who seems hell bent on giving 100 times more than anyone else can give, not to compete on giving, but because it’s necessary. She believes in the work that much. It’s in every fiber of her being—it’s captivating to watch her; that much focus, that much brilliance which she wisely keeps a little in check so we can find a little of our own brilliance to make it ours.

I’ve performed for a lot of different populations over the years. But never prisoners. This is a particular challenge and gift I am deeply curious about and grateful for. I wonder how they will relate to a character so bent on her own personal sense of justice. Justice and honor that demands every risk, even to the death. Robin and I talk about how Cassius is a woman in our production, and how her sense of indignation and powerlessness in the face of the current state drives her rage, drives her hunger to make her voice heard—at all cost. Shakespeare gives you a bottomless well of opportunity with his words, his rhythms and his dramaturgy. I’ll try to cram as much as I can into this short lived process. Oh, it’s 9:00! I’ve got a bus to catch.


Freehold will be touring JULIUS CAESAR to two prisons, a juvenile detention center and for the first time to Veterans at American Lake Veteran's Hospital. PLUS we have 3 Public Performances of JULIUS CAESAR for you to attend.

We hope to see you there.

Public Performances:

Wednesday, July 7, 6:30 pm at Seward Park Amphitheater
Saturday, July 10, 8:00 pm at Broadway Performance Hall
Sunday, July 11, 5:00 pm at Broadway Performance Hall
Tickets: Pay What You Can
Reservations are not required but if you'd like to reserve a seat, email us at tickets@freeholdtheatre.org.
Questions: call us at (206) 323-7499.

Saying "Yes" to JULIUS CAESAR by Kevin Thomas McKeon

Kevin Thomas McKeon will be playing Julius Caesar in Freehold's Engaged Theatre production of JULIUS CAESAR this summer.

It's often difficult for me to be an actor because of family and work and financial considerations, but every so often a project comes up that demands that I put life aside and go for it. I wrestle with the task of being an actor anyway, always have; it's a love-hate thing (and a much longer blog post), that steers me away from seeking just ANY acting job.

But when Robin Lynn-Smith told me about Julius Caesar and what she was planning to do with it I had one of those moments where I saw a clear path in front of me. If I had issues about the selfishness of acting versus responsibility, this project by nature gave me a reason, larger than myself, to want to participate. The facilities tour, the audiences that we would encounter, the blind faith it would take to even mount such a show - all of a sudden the task ahead seemed incredibly self-less. It was the kind of project that, when I was much younger and idealistic, I imagined myself doing. And here was Robin, fearless, committed and incredibly enthusiastic, giving me all the right reasons to join up and be a part of it.

So here we are in the second week of a whirlwind rehearsal period. It's whirlwind because of all the stuff going on with the movement, music and pageantry aspect of the production, not to mention merely telling the story as actors. Can you spell a-m-b-i-t-i-o-u-s? Dude, it's all here. We got Gods descending from scaffolding, we got major-label quality musicians working on some incredible stuff, crafting it as we work. We got I don't know how many folks slithering and writhing and yelling and rejoicing and all it takes to embody Robin's creative tour-de-force. We used to do those trust exercises when I was an acting student (all young and idealistic) - you know - where you close your eyes and fall back into the circle, and trust that people will be there to catch you? Believe me, a lot of years have passed since then, but here I am, falling back into the circle (literally) and trusting the support. Hey! It still works!



Stay tuned ... more blog postings weekly from other JULIUS CAESAR Cast Members!
Public Performances of JULIUS CAESAR:

Wednesday, July 7, 6:30 pm at Seward Park, Amphitheater
Saturday, July 10 at 8:00 pm at Broadway Performance Hall
Sunday, July 11 at 5:00 pm at Broadway Performance Hall

More information on our Engaged Theatre Summer Tour: Engaged Theatre

Freehold's Engaged Theatre Program Presents JULIUS CAESAR

Julius Caesar
by William Shakespeare

Directed by Robin Lynn Smith









Public Performances:

Wednesday, July 7, 6:30 pm
at Seward Park Amphitheater

Saturday, July 10, 8:00 pm
at Broadway Performance Hall and

Sunday, July 11, 5:00 pm at
Broadway Performance Hall

Tickets: Pay What You Can

Freehold will tour Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, directed by Robin Lynn Smith, to unique locations across the greater Puget Sound area, June 28 – July 11, 2010. Realizing the power of theatre to bring about an extraordinary communion between audience and performer is at the core of Freehold's mission and at the heart of our annual Engaged Theatre tour. Since 2003, Freehold’s Engaged Theatre has toured professional Shakespeare productions to communities with little or no access to live theatre. This year the tour will again include the Washington Correctional Center for Women, the Monroe Correctional Complex for Men, Echo Glen Children’s Center, a juvenile detention center and New Futures housing community. We are also performing for the first time at American Lake Veteran’s Hospital for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The tour concludes with performances in Seattle for the general public.

This year’s phenomenal Engaged Theatre cast includes: Reginald Andre Jackson (Brutus), Kevin McKeon (Caesar), Sylvester Kamara (Mark Antony), Susanna Burney (Cassius), Sarah Harlett (Portia), Eva Abram, Kjerstine Anderson, Shawn Belyea, Trina Harris, David Brown King, Kirsten McCory, Lisa Norman, Kate Parker, Lori Evans, and Hal Ryder. The production will include live musical accompaniment with a score composed by Gino Yevdjevich of Kultur Shock, set design by Roberta Russell, and choreography by Butoh dancer Vanessa Skantze.

Cast across gender and race lines, reflecting the diversity of our audiences, this talented company will bring this story of power, corruption and sacrifice simply and vividly to life.