500 Clowns

I love finding new podcasts to listen to, and recently I stumbled on Talk Theatre in Chicago!  The first podcast I listened to provided some wonderful insight into producing children's theatre, and their show about auditioning was taped while an audition was happening, with actors coming out of their audition and going into taping.  How cool is that?

Today, I downloaded and listened to an episode called Interview with 500 Clowns, about the Chicago based troupe of three actors.  They take serious stories, such as Macbeth and Frankenstein, and turn them on their heads in a way that creates pathos by engaging the story in surprising ways.  

Frankenstein, from their website

The structure is that three actors are trying to put on the play Macbeth, say, and a series of misfortunes occurs that prevents them from telling the story, but as such, they are telling the story.  There is a lot of improv and audience participation, though the framework is always the same.  Doesn't it sound like fun?


I was inspired by their ideas of clowning, such as "always say yes to the audience".  This is an idea we accept between our fellow actors, but I've never heard it in regards to the audience's energy.  They also mentioned that it is the clown's job to be honest; they don't just make us laugh, they make us cry and cause us to get angry.  It is the supreme truth that elevates clowning.  Their words are inspiring, and I can't wait to see how I can implement them in Scapin:)

 500 Clown Macbeth trailer

Would you want to or have you seen their show?

Animal Kingdom

Our director for Scapin challenged us the other day by asking us to each pick an animal to base our characters on.  Usually this is not my thing: I tend to come from a more vocal than movement base in acting.  With this play, however, the choice seems to really work.  The goal of this production is to be truly funny and family friendly, and so basing characters on animals moves us closer to that goal.  So my friend David (also in Scapin) and I went to The Columbus Zoo yesterday to do some research.  We caught some amazing things on camera, including a wolf rolling around playfully and flamingos fighting.

My character tends to laugh a lot, and so naturally I gravitated towards the jovial hyena.

It's body movements and hang dog look, however, didn't suit my sensual gypsy character, so I'm now looking towards the sly fox for body movements, and keeping the hyena for vocalization.

Doesn't she look like she's smiling?  We saw two arctic foxes get into a brief play-fight yesterday, and it was over as soon as it started: it made me think of how quickly a summer storm blows through a sunny day.  

I was surprised how naturally the work came to me, as soon as I was open to it.  My body and instincts took over.  I'm looking forward to really playing with this technique and seeing where it takes me!  Have you ever done animal work in your acting?  Where did it take you?

(Photo from Woodland Park Zoo.)

So Charming

I've been thinking a lot about lockets lately: I love the idea of putting a picture or a lock of my darling's hair in one.  I think it must be a fantastic gift for new moms as well, and Mother's Day is just around the corner!  Here are some beautiful lockets from Etsy.

Do you have a locket?  What do you keep inside?