Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Sanctuary

Last night in my class I had one of those experiences that make me so grateful to be an actor and a teacher. A very talented student and colleague of mine Ogy Durham, and a wonderful young actor named Nicole Lagstein did a scene from Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. Both actors came to class fully prepared, they had both obviously paid a lot of attention to wardrobe and brought in rugs and accessories so that the stage was transformed into a quiet and lonely dining room in an old home. The storm had passed, and Sonya and Yelena reached for life by reaching out to each other and got a few moments repast from their individual loneliness. The critique after the scene was invigorating. Both students asked challenging questions which led to deep script analysis work. Like that late night conversation between Yelena and Sonya, our little class in a tiny theater deep in the valley became for a few hours, a sanctuary, a repast from the loneliness of the “business” of acting. A small group of artists in the pursuit of growth and excellence, reaching for life.

2 comments:

RJ said...

What a great experience! Yanted our students are very fortunate to have you for their teacher.

On a personal note I noticed that on your one page of your website you had mentioned a recent family emergency. I wanted to extend my sympathies to you and your family and I will keep you and your family in my prayers and hope things are doing better.

Lally said...

Beautiful. What "art" is all about after all.