Rediscovering the Bard by Alyssa Keene

Signing up for a Shakespeare Intensive seemed exciting, slightly impetuous, and a bit daunting. After 13 years of acting on Fringe and LORT stages and everything in between, I had only been in one Shakespeare play... as a tiny blue kabuki cowboy singing Sons of the Pioneers songs. I hadn't had any verse on my lips in a long time.

Additionally, I am a teacher and Amy Thone, the instructor for the class, is a colleague of mine at Cornish College of the Arts. I teach voice and speech and many years ago grew tired of the way that Shakespeare was used as the go-to author for voice and speech text. Frankly, I had grown weary of Bardophiles. I wanted a way to come back to this text, find the wonder in it while casting aside the groupies, and possibly find a new way in to teaching voice and speech.

Amy Thone spoke to us about meter and using it in a way that finally turned on the lightbulb over my head. I taped my text over my kitchen sink while washing dishes and bobbed up and down to learn my lines. I read plays again until the language felt fluid before my eyes. As a voice teacher, I was familiar with highlighting comparisons in a text, but I had never thought of them as a form of persuasive speech. Suddenly, my dry technique had a fire under it, a need, a hungry pursuit.

I watched my classmates of varying levels of skill and experience crack open, grow, find passion and clarity. Their bravery and intellect was invigorating and their openheartedness was palpable. Everyone rooted for each other in their work and we gave both criticism and praise. Amy demanded more of me as an actor than I can remember in many years. The specificity, clarity, and ballsiness that she helped me find was new territory... And in the end, I found my own love of the Bard.

Exceptional Acting Classes in Seattle this Fall at Freehold Theatre

Freehold’s highly acclaimed fall Acting, Improv, Voice classes (and more!) are now open for registration at Freehold Theatre in Seattle. Freehold Theatre is a Seattle acting studio and theatre that for 20 years has been providing extraordinary theatre and fantastic classes taught by exceptional faculty. Be sure and sign up now as our classes fill quickly!

We are privileged to have highly acclaimed artists as faculty including Marya Sea Kaminski (2010 Stranger Genius Award for Theatre), Amy Thone (2007 Stranger Genius Award Winner for Theatre), Annette Toutonghi (YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU, Seattle Repertory Theatre), Matt Smith (starting in the movie "Outsourced") and many more. Our students include the beginner and the advanced trained student. There is truly something for everyone!

Here is our complete list of our great Fall 2012 class offerings ...

Fall Quarter Classes

Step I: Intro to Acting, Section I with Meg McLynn
Step I: Intro to Acting, Section II with Meg McLynn
Step II: Acting with Text with Stefan Enriquez
Accelerated Intro to Acting with Sarah Harlett
Step III: Basic Scene Study with Annette Toutonghi
Acting for the Camera with John Jacobsen
Auditioning with Annette Toutonghi
Improv with Matt Smith
Meisner: Foundation with Robin Lynn Smith
Public Speaking with Gin Hammond
Solo Performance with Marya Sea Kaminski
Stage Combat with Geof Alm
Voice with Gin Hammond

Registration is available online at http://www.freeholdtheatre.org or by calling us at (206) 323-7499.

If you are looking for outstanding training in a supportive atmosphere, Freehold is the place.

Freehold Theatre
2222 2nd Avenue, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 323-7499

A Very Human Communion by Joshua Holguin

Freehold’s Engaged Theater Project, King Lear was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I’ve ever undertaken. I’m so grateful for the opportunity and firmly believe in the power of bringing theater to underserved communities as a way of fulfilling human communion.

In my experience at the Women’s Correctional Center, it was incredibly challenging to stay focused and contain my own anxiety. My sister battled with heroin addiction for three years, which almost killed my mother, (death being a fresh concept in my mind, Grandma Holguin had passed away only a few weeks before), the fear of those memories and the thought that I might’ve performed for my sister rattled my nerves she could’ve ended up in prison or dead. The memories gnawed at the back of my mind, and the exhaustion of working through those events and the project itself made me realize, I needed help. I have an old habit of locking myself into my head, and I realized I couldn’t do that anymore, I reached out to the cast and crew of the project and the support and love I received was enormous, it was sincere and it snapped me right back into a very good place.

This project turned into a very human communion united under a similar cause, it became a whetstone to sharpen my own abilities, I’m eternally grateful. Every audience on tour received us with generosity and an unprecedented ability to engage with the work, the Engaged Theater Project is a necessary endeavor, bringing theater into realms that are uncomfortable, strange, beautiful, and human shows the versatility of theater and the incredible dynamics that can occur when we struggle through the past into the future.

Improving by CT Doescher

A life in theatre has many joys and challenges. Ideally, if we play our cards right and keep our ears sharp, we are able to find directors, writers, peers who challenge and inspire us, whom we trust and who trust us. Creative artists who make us brave to do something truly new each and every time.

The practicalities of that can be trickier. As actors, we get cast based on ways of working that we already do, in projects that we then need to work relatively quickly on (four weeks of ready-set-go!), and frequently with people who don’t know us, who may not appreciate when we start taking risks that don’t offer immediate and obvious results.

Which is fine. And then a few of these happen in succession, at varying intervals, and a year or two goes by, and one show and the next start feeling the same, a little. We avoid working in ways that are uncomfortable or that require more time or that don’t yield sure results (there’s no time! they won’t rehire me!), and don’t pay as much care to making sure we keep expanding as artists. And the weakest parts of our craft are completely avoided—there’s no time to expose those and deal with them, so we muscle through the best we can.

Taking Tyler Polumsky’s Creating a Character class was a great gift for me. It gave me a chance to take purely physical work—work which I freely admit is not my strongest suit—and give it time and attention. On some days it felt wonderfully free and redemptive: “Hey, look, I’m working in ways that are really opening me up!” and on some others I would hear my loudest, meanest critic shouting in my ear the whole
time, and be half a second from walking out the door, I’d be so frustrated. But I’d stay.

Sometimes improving is being the worst one in the class. Sometimes improving is letting yourself be mediocre for a while. Sometimes being “the class’ worst” is your personal best. Sometimes you fail, your ego bruises, and you need to go home, pat yourself on the back, sleep on it, reassess, bring it back. (Swearing a lot helps, too.) Sometimes you surprise yourself and do something awesome.

Working on your weaknesses—be it verse for one, physical for another,imagination for yet another, concentration for yet another—can be ego-busting business. It’s also where a lot of one’s vulnerabilities sit. It’s also where it’s most easy to mine for gold, since it’s the territory most left unexplored. Who knows what artist lies inside us, uncultivated because we can’t get past the topsoil to the good stuff down deep?

I leave Tyler’s class with a new understanding of fundamentals I already had, and excitement to approach material with new, risky ways of working. I feel less shy about exploring roles in more physical ways. I created things that didn’t exist before. I fought ten rounds with my critic and lived to tell the tale. I also met some great new peers, which was alone worth the price of admission. And even though that critic’s voice tried to shout me down:

I improved.

Meisner with Robin: Acting to the Bones by Meredith Smith

The Meisner Progression at Freehold is easily the most exciting and rewarding thing I've ever done as an actor and perhaps as an individual as well. Witnessing the passion and talent Robin brings to the stage is such an honor. The personal attention she gave each student and the intensity she brought to every class was unparalleled. With her, no moment was wasted.

With Robin Lynn Smith as the guide, it was a rich and challenging nine-month ride. We did exercises from Meisner and a whole bunch of others that required great internal work. Whether it was tapping into personal fantasies or building specifics around a relationship, we had to bring what moves us so we could in turn move the characters. The more internal work, the deeper you could go. It gave me tools that are now my personal weapons I will take forward to develop my everyday experience and my craft. And, doing this with 16 others is an amazing opportunity - there is so much learning from watching!

Each class challenged us to feel and participate in the world on stage down to the bones, and to watch others do the same. To go on this journey was a process in unmasking. Something we are each capable of, and can be all the more powerful because of it.

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Freehold's Meisner Progression is a 3 quarter, 9 month class which begins in September and runs through June, 2013.

If you would like to schedule an interview with Robin to explore the possibility of being admitted into our Meisner Progression, please email info@freeholdtheatre.org or call us at (206) 323-7499 to schedule a 15 minute interview.

The Meisner Progression is rooted in the work of Sanford Meisner and has evolved with other influences. Classes run twice a week, 5 hours per class in the evening (total of 10 hours of in-class work a week) over each 12 week quarter. The fall schedule will be September 16 - December 18, Sundays and Tuesdays, 5:30 - 10:30 pm.

Prerequisites: Freehold's Step III: Scene Study or equivalent training and performance experience.

Meisner Progression Interviews Available - August 1

Meisner Progression Interviews with Robin Lynn Smith
Wednesday, August 1, 5:40 - 8:00 pm

Interviews are available with Robin Lynn Smith for Freehold's 2012-2013 Meisner Progression, a 3 quarter, 9 month training program based on the work of Sanford Meisner. Classes run twice a week, 5 hours a week in the evening over each 12 week quarter. Check out the great testimonials from previous Freehold Meisner alums at the bottom of this blog post. The Meisner Progression is taught by Freehold's Artistic Director and Freehold co-founder Robin Lynn Smith.

To schedule an interview or for more information, contact Freehold at (206) 323-7499 or email us at our contact page. Please bring a resume detailing your theatrical and performance experience and be prepared to speak about why you are interested in participating in the Meisner progression. Prerequisites: Freehold's Step III: Scene Study or equivalent training and performance experience. Interviews will be roughly 15 minutes each.

The Meisner class description for the 3 quarter progression is as follows:

Meisner: Foundation: Step I - Fall Quarter, September 11 - December 18, Tuesdays and Sundays, 5:30 - 10:30 pm

Through cumulative exercises based on the work of Sanford Meisner, the actor learns to be habitually available to and affected by life that is actually happening in the moment, and to fully release instinctive, uninhibited responses. The class culminates in a work with text.

Meisner: Instrument: Step II - Winter Quarter, (Dates to be confirmed)

Students continue the exercises from Foundation, supplementing them with work in personalization, preparation, and other tools in order to access a meaningful inner life and "make real" the text and imaginary circumstances.

Meisner: Text: Step III - Spring Quarter, (Dates to be confirmed)

Applying the work from Foundation and Instrument to scenes, students focus on detailed, in-depth text and character work -- analysis, subtext, particularization, and moment-to-moment process work on scenes.

Robin Lynn Smith is a Founding Partner and Artistic Director for Freehold Theatre Lab Studio in Seattle. She has worked for the past thirty years acting, directing and teaching in Chicago, Boston, Seattle, and New York where she directed where she directed CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS Off-Broadway at the Promenade Theatre. She has directed in Regional Theatres and is presently directing Freehold’s Engaged Theatre Program which tours Shakespeare productions to prisons, projects, and tent cities, for which she has directed OTHELLO, CYMBELINE, A WINTER’S TALE, THE TEMPEST, and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE. At Freehold she directed the award winning production of Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL, THREE SISTERS, AN ALTERED LIFE, and VERONIKA FALLING. She was an Artist in Residence at the Seattle Repertory Theatre with Dan Sullivan, and directed several productions including MARVIN’S ROOM, FRANKIE AND JOHNNIE IN THE CLAIRE DE LUNE, and CITY OF GOLD, and the developmental workshop of Elizabeth Heffron’s NEW PATAGONIA. She has also directed in Seattle at ACT, On The Boards, The Empty Space, New City Theatre, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Intiman where she is an Affiliate Artist with Bartlett Sher. She has an MFA from NYU TSOA, and she is currently on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts. She is featured in ACTING TEACHERS OF AMERICA, and she is a member of SDC. She is the 2008 recipient of The Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award.

Testimonials from Freehold Meisner Alums

"Meisner for me was really transformational and not just for the acting but really just for the rest of my everyday life. Meisner really strives you to live in the moment and to react to things as if it is the first time, being genuine and authentic. I do some commercial work on the side and I’ve been told that there is a new quality to my acting and that is 100% related to the work from the class. There is another piece that I got out of Meisner which was unexpected which is that it actually changed the quality of my day to day life … it allowed me to be more present in my life … it makes life much more interesting." - E.J. Gong

My Meisner Progression Experience by Bob Rousseau

I should say that I think calling the class "The Meisner Progression" isn't quite accurate: it really should be called "Meisner and A Whole Bunch of Other Cool Shit Robin Knows". You work through a lot of the exercises and learn the techniques that you would learn in a typical Meisner program, but Robin also brings to the table a whole host of other tools and exercises in areas like movement, meditation, text examination, and preparation, so that you end up with a much meatier experience.

I liken working with Robin to working at a gym with a personal trainer: rarely does anyone push themselves as much as a personal trainer will push them. The trainer's going to make you do those extra sets of push-ups and sit-ups that you might give yourself a pass on, and while you may grouse at times, inside you know that your muscles are getting stronger month by month. Robin pushes you to work your imaginary muscles farther than you ever have - farther than you probably have thought possible - and when it's over, you realize how much stronger those muscles have become, and how much better prepared you are to face the challenges that come your way.

It was through working with Robin that I acquired one of the most important things any actor can get - an actual process on how to bring a role alive. While I've taken other classes from some extremely talented instructors that included some discussion of methods for examining text, the bulk of what I typically got was notes by the instructor as though they were directing me in a play. That is very valuable stuff, but it doesn't really give you much of a process for starting work on a role on your own, nor do you get much of a glimpse of the variety of techniques that have come to light in the theatrical world. Robin gave us tools we could use to bring the character to life in ways that went beyond what was on the printed page, and thereby make those scripted words come even more alive. And I think a huge part of that came from her making us push the limits of our imaginations for nine months.

And about those books about Meisner's techniques - while I now think part of the reason they didn't grab me is that they aren't very well written, to pick up the sports analogy again, you can read a book about playing golf, but actually having someone guide you who really knows what they're doing is going to make you much better at the game and a whole lot quicker. (Now that I've been through the progression at Freehold, I actually recommend you not read the books). And on top of all of that you get from Robin, if you're lucky like I was, you'll go through the progression with a group of actors that also work hard at it so that you feel challenged and inspired to keep up. You inevitably feel closer to those who took the journey with you. There are other talented folks teaching at Freehold who I also look forward to working with in time to focus on areas we didn't have time to cover during the progression with Robin, but I know that my ability to present truthful work grew by leaps and bounds during the past nine months.

To sum up, if you're not sure whether taking the Meisner progression at Freehold is worth your time, let me help you decide: YES! Absolutely! Be grateful that the gods have aligned the planets so that you have this opportunity and grab it!


Freehold Theatre
2222 2nd Avenue, Suite 200
Seattle, WA 98121
(206) 323-7499

Working with Freehold on King Lear by Annett Mateo

When Robin and I first chatted about using puppets in King Lear I was thrilled both to be working with Freehold Theatre and to be doing puppets for Shakespeare! I have certainly done this before; I am one of the originators of Drunk Puppet Nite, an adult puppet cabaret. In many other cultures puppetry is a much more broadly accepted form of art as opposed to our culture that views it primarily as a children’s medium. This is a very exciting time for puppetry as that perception is just starting to change here, this production is just one example of that. However most of my work is still for children’s theater, specifically the Seattle Children’s Theatre which is wonderful because I get to do many fun and fantastic things. So the challenge of making puppets for Shakespeare for adults I was really excited about.

Robin had some clear ideas about how she wanted to incorporate puppets: the Fool and Gloucester were to be puppets for sure. We also tried out an idea of making puppets of some of the Knights that ransack the dinner scene. She had a workshop in January and working with some crude prototypes we were able to refine what we wanted the final puppets to be like. Out of that workshop also came her desire for a number of additional puppets that got dubbed ‘the 99%’. These puppets were to represent the disadvantaged under Lear’s rule and generally be other bodies during the performance.

The Fool (pictured in photo at top), though it is in somewhat standard courtly fool garb is most unusual aesthetically. The most striking example of this is that it has no feet! I am not sure how this particular design decision came about but it gives the Fool a strange somewhat otherworldly appearance. Robin had found a wonderful picture of an ancient carved puppet and we emulated that in the creation of the Fool’s head including reproducing the tone of the dark carved wood. The face is so full of character and fits the role well. Choosing to make the Fool a puppet was brilliant as Fools have traditionally been rather strange people.

The Gloucester character as a puppet was a daring choice as the role is so significant to the story line. It works quite well and lends an extra dramatic air to the part after he has his eyes, literally in this case, gouged out. This puppet was extra challenging as it has to have so much functionality built into it and still look more or less person-like. It is also a challenging puppet to operate because it has to do so much.

One of the ideas to come out of the workshop was to have the hoard of Knights (a hoard in this particular case is actually six) throw paper. The actors were creative in making this happen with the prototypes but in order to make it easier for them during performances I came up with the idea of making their hands small slingshots! It worked great: paper balls end up all over!

I came up with the idea of using large forks, spoons and other utensils for the hands of the 99% when Robin mentioned that she wanted to start the show with them interacting with the audience, begging or just chatting with them. This gives the audience investment in the show as they can relate to these ‘folks’ who were just among them and are now part of the story. Puppets work really well in this capacity of engaging marginalized societies, such as the very young, the elderly or the incarcerated for instance. Puppets are at the same time sub-human and super-human. They are not as threatening as live people but can also do things that people can’t do such as loose eyes during the course of a performance, or fly or become talking animals. This is especially the case for people who have trouble relating socially; puppets are the essence of a person without all the possibly confusing or conflicting nuances of displayed emotion. They are basically generic people which we can create to be very specific for a performance, a wonderful tool for theatre.

Working with Freehold on King Lear has been a great experience; a chance to work with a Theatre I have not worked with before and doing puppets different from my usual style. I will be thrilled to see how traditional audiences respond to Robin’s wonderful interpretation of this story.


Photo at top: Dan Morris, photographer.
KING LEAR has public free performances (donations warmly accepted) on July 12, 13, 14 at 8:00 pm and July 15th at 4:00 pm at Seattle University's Lee Center for the Arts. Reserve your free ticket(s) here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/251700
Tickets will also be available at the door (and if a show is sold out, we will have a waiting list at the door).