Thanks for checking this out!!!
Hi, everyone! This idea came about just talking about how great it would be to find a way to share what we are learning with one another. We hope you enjoy this! We are very excited about this project and would love for it to become a means for us to share what we are learning and experiencing with one another as we are all growing as a company. Everyone learns differently and we are all at different points in our training. Even those in the same classes take away something different from every point, every exercise, every lesson, so what better way to learn from one another than to share those thoughts, insights and experiences? We hope you find this useful, enlightening and fun! Again, if you have something you would like to share, we’d love to hear from you! It could be anything, be it something you are learning in a class, through a job you're doing, work on a scene, on a show, from a master class or something you just woke up thinking about with regards to theatre or your work. It could even be questions you are forming as you are working and learning. We’d love to hear it! Email Stephen Ochsner at sochsner.stu@okcu.edu. We are hoping to have new “journal entries” to share every month. Thanks for your interest, everyone! Hope you’re all having a fantastic year!
—Stephen Ochsner and Erin Stanley
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Journal #2: Brooke Culbertson
A few weeks ago at a dinner party, I met a woman who was ending a twenty-year acting career and planning to become a teacher. For an hour I watched her entertain the people around her with stories about the theatre and the thrill of being onstage, but when asked to compare her acting career to her new one, I was startled by her response. She said, “I feel so much more effective teaching. Acting is all about me, me, me, but teaching is a way to connect with other people and help them grow.” I was shocked. With only a few words, I felt that this woman had just denounced the way of life I aim to live, and she was completely unjustified. To think acting was only for “me, me, me,” it was no wonder why she had given it up. I cannot imagine a more personal connection than what an actor has with an audience, or a more community-based atmosphere than that of the theatre.
If I were asked to sum up all that I feel for acting in one word, it would be trust—most importantly in the audience. This ability to trust is more meaningful to me than anything else because in everyday life, I have very little trust in people. Being a very private person, I rarely display private emotions or concerns around anyone but a few select individuals. When acting, however, I have to trust the audience to accept every little detail of who my character is, details that I would never reveal to another person in real life. My character is forced to put herself at the mercy of the audience’s criticism with a sense of vulnerability that I lack. If I am truly connected on an emotional level with the audience, the others on stage with me, and my character, I know that I am doing my job. And without those connections there would be no illusion of acting. My greatest goal as an actress is to be able to enhance the audience’s mind: whether it is through an idea, a memory, an opinion, or a sense of sympathy. The moments I am inspired the most as an actor are actually when I am in the audience—when I am forced to change my mind over an issue or a view on a character because an actor convinces me—and I could imagine nothing more thrilling than to give that to someone else. For me, there is nothing more personal than acting.
If I were asked to sum up all that I feel for acting in one word, it would be trust—most importantly in the audience. This ability to trust is more meaningful to me than anything else because in everyday life, I have very little trust in people. Being a very private person, I rarely display private emotions or concerns around anyone but a few select individuals. When acting, however, I have to trust the audience to accept every little detail of who my character is, details that I would never reveal to another person in real life. My character is forced to put herself at the mercy of the audience’s criticism with a sense of vulnerability that I lack. If I am truly connected on an emotional level with the audience, the others on stage with me, and my character, I know that I am doing my job. And without those connections there would be no illusion of acting. My greatest goal as an actress is to be able to enhance the audience’s mind: whether it is through an idea, a memory, an opinion, or a sense of sympathy. The moments I am inspired the most as an actor are actually when I am in the audience—when I am forced to change my mind over an issue or a view on a character because an actor convinces me—and I could imagine nothing more thrilling than to give that to someone else. For me, there is nothing more personal than acting.
Journal #1: By Quinn Gasaway
I’m in the Acting IV class this semester, which is the hailed Chekhov class taught by the one and only D. Lance Marsh. I had basically no exposure to Chekhov before this class, other than hearing some crass jokes about how boring and pompous he was. I caught wind that the department might be putting on Three Sisters next year, so I decided I would read it. Upon reading it, I was flabbergasted that this play was known as a comedy. I couldn’t see the humor in it. It was intriguing for the depth of the relationships, but I just didn’t see the splendor of it. Then, in my first day of class with Lance, I asked him how all these somber sops could possibly be funny. He proceeded to get a girl in the class to stand in front of the group and say “I’m alone. I’m lonely. I want somebody to love. Why is there no one for me?” Once again, I didn’t find this funny. Then he called me up and had the two of us stand back to back. We recited the four lines together, and all of sudden, the class erupted into laughter. It was because they could all see that the person we needed was right there, we just couldn’t see it. This exercise was a simplified version of the dramatic irony that Chekhov employs. After this, my entire outlook changed, and I found that by playing the tragic scenes in earnest, the comedy just came out. Layering on the costumes and the period movement only added to this, as the people in this period were so concerned with their outward appearance that they completely internalized what they were truly feeling.
My scene is from Uncle Vanya, and I’m happy to say that I am pumped about it. My partner had the scene recommended to her by Lance, so I was scared that my character, Astrov, wouldn’t be that good for me. On the contrary, after reading the play I found a delightful sorrow in the character that drove him to alcoholism and solitude, something I’m familiar with… through literature. He is a doctor who is living with the central family to care for the ailing patriarch, who seems more interested in dying than getting treatment. I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of an altruist trying to appeal to someone who doesn’t want to be helped. It’s an interesting acting challenge to try and play this. Astrov is a character that is highly respected by everyone but himself, for while all this drama is occurring within the realm of his practice, his true passion is forestry and wildlife, a hobby that earns him mostly ridicule. This depth of character is something that you rarely see in contemporary theater, so I’m thrilled beyond words to be getting the chance to play this character, a 40 something that I won’t be playing till I get a few more gray whiskers.
My scene is from Uncle Vanya, and I’m happy to say that I am pumped about it. My partner had the scene recommended to her by Lance, so I was scared that my character, Astrov, wouldn’t be that good for me. On the contrary, after reading the play I found a delightful sorrow in the character that drove him to alcoholism and solitude, something I’m familiar with… through literature. He is a doctor who is living with the central family to care for the ailing patriarch, who seems more interested in dying than getting treatment. I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of an altruist trying to appeal to someone who doesn’t want to be helped. It’s an interesting acting challenge to try and play this. Astrov is a character that is highly respected by everyone but himself, for while all this drama is occurring within the realm of his practice, his true passion is forestry and wildlife, a hobby that earns him mostly ridicule. This depth of character is something that you rarely see in contemporary theater, so I’m thrilled beyond words to be getting the chance to play this character, a 40 something that I won’t be playing till I get a few more gray whiskers.
Introducing....TheatreOCU's Company Journal!!!!
So we all write our deepest, darkest, and most secret sentiments in our little journals each week – or the night before their due – but what are they really for. While some claim that journals are a perfect medium to compartmentalize each and every one of our frustrations, challenges, and discoveries, others (i.e. our professors) predict in the future, one magical day when we realize that we’ve entirely forgotten everything we learned here at OCU, and we will sprint to our trusty journals for nostalgia, review, or warm fuzzy feelings. But is this personal use of our journals all we can gain from what has become an expected normality in each class? I think not. Beginning now, a new use for our most secret thoughts regarding theatre is born. Beginning now, our journals are not only a tool for us to come closer to our artist-self, but to each other as a company. Beginning now, I challenge each artist in our company to consider new ideas, and share their own. If anyone who reads these very much appreciated, first journals has a response, or is inspired to write something of their own, please email me at sochsner.stu@okcu.edu as we begin on a new road of sharing and growth in our company.
Thank you,
Stephen Ochsner
So we all write our deepest, darkest, and most secret sentiments in our little journals each week – or the night before their due – but what are they really for. While some claim that journals are a perfect medium to compartmentalize each and every one of our frustrations, challenges, and discoveries, others (i.e. our professors) predict in the future, one magical day when we realize that we’ve entirely forgotten everything we learned here at OCU, and we will sprint to our trusty journals for nostalgia, review, or warm fuzzy feelings. But is this personal use of our journals all we can gain from what has become an expected normality in each class? I think not. Beginning now, a new use for our most secret thoughts regarding theatre is born. Beginning now, our journals are not only a tool for us to come closer to our artist-self, but to each other as a company. Beginning now, I challenge each artist in our company to consider new ideas, and share their own. If anyone who reads these very much appreciated, first journals has a response, or is inspired to write something of their own, please email me at sochsner.stu@okcu.edu as we begin on a new road of sharing and growth in our company.
Thank you,
Stephen Ochsner
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