FREEHOLD FORUM 2007 JUNE ISSUE

This month the Freehold Forum is excited to feature the following:

• Read a compelling interview with Freehold Theatre's Artistic Director Robin Lynn Smith as she shares her insights about the process of teaching acting.

• Uncover the up-close and personal behind-the-scenes perspective of J.D. Tracy's experience playing Henry Antrobus in INTIMAN'S The Skin of Our Teeth

• Peruse over Margery Muench's ponderings of the joys and challenges of being Fefu in Fefu and her Friends

• Reflect on Freehold Faculty Lynne Compton's musings about what is on her must-read, must-see list.

• Freehold Theatre Guild News. Learn more about the opportunities with the Freehold Theatre Lab and their recruitment for Clown Lab.

• Find out what you missed in our past enewsletters and catch up on your reading of previous Freehold features.

• Freehold Faculty and Alum News/Shows. Get the most current news about the upcoming performances (and get them on your schedule now!) that Freehold Faculty and alums are performing in locally, nationally and internationally.

• Freehold Calendar Highlights. Read about upcoming exceptional Freehold events! And so much more!

We always appreciate your input. Please feel free to contact us at (206) 323-7499 x14 or kate@freeholdtheatre.org with story ideas, upcoming shows of alums and articles that you would like to see highlighted.  

Robin Lynn Smith is a founding partner and Artistic Director for Freehold Theatre. She has worked for the past twenty-five years acting, directing and teaching in Chicago, Boston, Seattle and New York. She has directed Off-Broadway and at regional theatres and is presently directing Freehold's Engaged Theatre program, which tours Shakespeare productions to prisons, projects and hospitals. She served as an artist-in-residence with Dan Sullivan at the Seattle Repertory Theatre and has directed in Seattle at the Empty Space Theatre, New City Theatre, On the Boards, ACT Theatre and Seattle Children's Theatre. She is the director of Freehold's annual residency in the development of new work with the inmates at the Washington State Correctional Facility for Women. Robin is presently on the faculty at the Cornish College of the Arts and teaches at Freehold Theatre. The following interview is from the newly released book "Acting Teachers of America: A Vital Tradition" by Ronald Rand and Luigi Scorcia (2007).

Ronald Rand: Who has been the most influential in how you teach?

Robin Lynn Smith: A few different teachers: Ron Van Lieu, Joseph Chaikin, and Sanford Meisner (indirectly). Interestingly enough, my karate master, Tadashi Nakamura. With Ron it was his ability to see what was going on in each individual student. What I learned, what I am still learning, is that you have to see what is going on in the actor. The most important thing for an acting teacher is to somehow develop an eye for what is authentic, organic, and connected in the actor and be able to sense the places of disconnect and ask questions to help the actor find his way back in. Ron is a master at that - that sense of really watching and asking questions. It empowers the actor.

more ...  

FREEHOLD THEATRE'S AUCTION UPDATE

Thank you to everyone who contributed to Freehold Theatre's sixth annual auction, "Raising the Stakes," on Saturday, June 2nd.

We had great support and a tremendous turnout for the event! Attendees acquired amazing auction items; gave generously to our programs; ate and drank tasty contributions from Sorci's, Cupcake Royale, Central Market, Elysian Brewery, and Trader Joe's; enjoyed the performances by Jodie Knowles and Sachie Mikawa; and were bewitched by our awesome auctioneer Matt Smith.

Proceeds from the event will support Freehold's Studio Classes, Lab, Engaged Theatre Program, and Diversity Scholarship students. Freehold's Diversity Scholarship Program is now in its 12th year and is designed to support the artistic development of actors from under-represented populations who can generate material that speaks to a diverse array of ethnic communities.

We thank everyone for their support including a big thank you to the planning committee members, office staff, and volunteers who made the event happen.

	A Theatre Named INTIMAN by J.D. Tracy
Almost a year ago today, I learned a theatre named Intiman won the 2006 Tony for Outstanding Regional Theatre. That cinched the deal: the dart hit the map on Seattle. I left Albany, NY at 1 AM, September 26 2006 in my 93 Buick Skylark with my two best friends, Ben and Glenn. The car blazed a trail of black fire sparked with the dream of beautiful art on a Pan-American quest to taste the Pacific Northwest. Within one week of our arrival, my brothers were in a play and I was enrolled in a Stage Combat class at Freehold. I had heard about Freehold's class, taught by Fight Master Geof Alm, from the class's TA, Heidi Wolfe, in a workshop in NYC. My class at Freehold was amazing from day one! It gave me an escape and a focus; with each class came nuggets of delicious technique. I was in love. When the TPS auditions rolled around in January I was prepared. I had worked long and hard for that moment. Standing behind the curtain, just about to go on, I made the final decision of which monologues to use. I went for it. And it was good. more ...

 

	Past Freehold Theatre Enewsletters
Here is your chance to catch up on your reading of Freehold's past e-newsletters which include everything from a fascinating article about Marya Sea Kaminski's experience performing in My Name is Rachel Corrie at the Seattle Repertory Theatre to an interview with renowned director such as Brian Yorkey plus a whole lot more. Read them all! http://www.freeholdtheatre.org/newsletter/March2007.html http://www.freeholdtheatre.org/newsletter/April2007.html http://www.freeholdtheatre.org/newsletter/May2007.html     My Time with Fefu by Margery Muench   Seven weeks ago, shortly after reading through Maria Irene Fornes' play Fefu and Her Friends the first few times in Rehearsal and Performance class, discussion began with comments like "I really love it. What is it about?", "I don't know if I like it yet but I want to understand it" and "It intimidates me. I'm fascinated!" I remember feeling intrigued and excited by the text and by the prospect of working on it together with the wonderful diverse group of women in the class under the guidance of our director/instructor Amy Thone. At one level the play is deliciously familiar in its testament to the qualities of relationships among women. At another level however it is often slightly mysterious in its externalization of the struggles, oppressions, emotions, and crises simmering just below the surface for many women, having been socialized to find ways to cope and keep themselves together . . . many suffering in silence. more ...         Freehold Faculty Snapshot - Lynne Compton   Hello to all you lovers of Freehold, At the beginning of May, Kate Gavigan asked me if I would answer a few questions for the June newsletter, "Sure," I replied nonchalantly, padded with days and weeks before actually receiving her gentle set of questions that on arrival sent me into a mild turmoil. The first was "What are you working on currently that is exciting to you? What about it in particular has been exciting?" Am I working on anything I wondered, other than a vacation trip to Hawaii? After eighteen years in the Northwest, I am firmly into creating plans that brighten the long dark months. I'm certainly excited about the prospect of visiting a tropical environment having lived and worked in deserts and temperate zones and seen enough snow to know that I'm up for short visits to Snoqualmie in the winter but t-r-o-p-i-c-a-l, oh my! more ...         Freehold Faculty/Alum Shows and News   Upcoming Faculty Shows and News Marya Sea Kaminski will play Imogen and Amy Thone will play Pisania in Cymbeline as part of Freehold Theatre's Engaged Theatre's Summer Tour. The production will be seen at Freehold's East Hall Theatre, Volunteer Park and will tour to underserved populations including Harborview Medical Center, New Futures and several Washington State prisons. The Summer Tour will open at Volunteer Park on Monday, July 9th and in the evenings on July 12, 13, and 14th at 8:00 pm at Freehold Theatre's East Hall Theatre. In addition to her role in the Summer Tour, Marya also will be playing the role of Hedda in WET's upcoming destruction of Hedda Gabler. Dates TBA. Timothy Piggee will be in The Mojo and the Sayso at ACT late this summer. Matt Smith has an interview with John Moe (KUOW) http://www.kuow.org/defaultProgram.asp?ID=12052 (last third of program) Preview of film Outsourced with Matt Smith: http://youtube.com/watch?v=LImhTTFu4b8 Annette Toutonghi will be in The Women at ACT (October 5-November 11). Kate Wisniewski is in Dromios in Comedy of Errors on San Juan Island for Island Stage Left July 12 through August 18.   Freehold Alum News Freehold Alums will be performing in The Community Theatre's selection of Raymond Carver's Pieces: What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, What's in Alaska? and Fat, May 31st - June 23rd at 8pm playing at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center, information: http://www.thecommunitytheatre.org/contact.html Kristin Alexander will be performing with Last Leaf Productions, playing Adriana in Comedy of Errors and Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night beginning June 16th. For more information, go to http://www.geocities.com/lastleaf99/. Phillip Aurand will be performing in Take Me Out running June 1, 2007 through June 17, 2007 at the Olympia Little Theatre http://www.buyolympia.com/events/?details=209 Lee Ann Hittenberger will be at Snoqualamie Falls Forest Theater this July where she will be choreographing and playing the mother in Meet Me in St. Louis. Eric Newman will be acting in the Bellevue Civic Theatre production of Love, Sex, and the IRS from July 13-21. Loni Tipton will be in As You Like It this summer at the Troll in Fremont produced by Work it Productions. Saturday, June 16th at 3 pm and at 1 pm on Sunday, June 17th.         Freehold Theatre Guild   Clown Lab Recruitment Clown Lab is an opportunity for individuals who have had clown classes (either at Freehold or through Cornish and are members of the Freehold Theatre Guild) to explore the intricacies of doing clown work. 1. Clown Lab meets once a week (Sundays Noon-2pm) for two hours where we work on continuing to get to know our clown through exercises such as growing emotions and The Ring. 2. Clown Lab is open to anyone who has taken Personal Clown at Freehold or Cornish and is a member of Freehold Theater Guild. 3. Future plans include field trips, movie night, and perhaps having others with clown expertise attend once a month to give guidance. 4. If you are interested in joining Clown Lab or what to hear more about it (think of it as Sunday morning clown aerobics), contact John Leith at "king2112@earthlink.net" or 206-841-0169. more ...

   

June 15, 2007, Deadline for Diversity Scholarship Registration

July 9, 1007, Summer Tour of Cymbeline begins

2007 Summer Quarter, July 2 - August 31, Registration starts May 21st

2007 Fall Quarter, September 24 - December 16, Registration starts August 13th

	Yahoo Your Way to Help Freehold Using www.goodsearch.com!
Here is a free, quick and painless way to contribute financially to Freehold! GoodSearch is a search engine (www.goodsearch.com) which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. It's a simple and compelling concept. You use GoodSearch exactly as you would any other search engine. Because it's powered by Yahoo!, you get proven search results. The money GoodSearch donates to your cause comes from its advertisers - the users and the organizations do not spend a dime! To support Freehold, on the "Who do you search the web for?" type in Freehold and search away! Every time you do a search, money gets added to Freehold's account. Make "goodsearch.com" your home page and encourage your friends to do the same by going to: http://www.goodsearch.com/MakeHomepage.aspx. Thank you for your continued support!     About Freehold   A group of artists, who after years of professional work felt that the full potential of the theatrical event had yet to be realized, founded Freehold Theatre in the summer of 1991 when two prominent actor studios-the Pasqualini-Smith Studio (est. 1985) and the Mark Jenkins Actors' Workshop (est. 1985) joined forces. The founders, Robin Lynn Smith, Mark Jenkins and George Lewis, among others, are professional actors and directors whose credentials include recognized work on and off Broadway, as well as in major films, television, and regional theatre. They formulated the following mission: Freehold engages artists of all levels in training and experimentation so that they may become more innovative and heartfelt in generating theatre that has a lasting impact on the community we serve. As a center for the development and practice of theatre, Freehold Theatre is committed to art that embraces the full range of human experience and that inspires performers and audience to connect more deeply to themselves and to each other. We move toward this goal in four ways: Our Studio provides a place for actors, from inspired novices to working professionals, to train. Our Theatre Lab provides a forum for mature artists to research and develop new work and to re-interpret classics. Our Engaged Theatre Program reaches out to culturally under-served communities. Our rehearsal and performance facilities in the Oddfellows Bulding on Capitol Hill comprises of four rehearsal and performance studios, including a fully equipped 92-seat black box theatre. The facilities and equipment are available for rent at very reasonable rates. Here we strive to provide our artists with the tools necessary to make a deep and lasting impact on the community based on organic esthetics. Freehold has become an integral part of Seattle's thriving theatre community, having gained a reputation as the place for serious young artists to train and take the leap into performing and creating original work. In 2003 we developed an Engaged Theatre program in which we reach out to culturally under-served communities. The program comprises an annual tour to organizations that represent culturally under-served populations and a four-month residency at Washington Corrections Center for Women, in which the women create, rehearse and perform a theatre production. This year for the first time, George Lewis has developed a similar pilot program at the Monroe Correctional Center for Men. For more information about our programs and services see our website: www.freeholdtheatre.org.     What is the Freehold Forum?   The Freehold Forum E-Newsletter was born out of our desire to respond to requests from you, our Freehold community, to hear about the innovative and powerful work being done at Freehold Theatre by our incredibly talented and diverse faculty and alumni. The Forum will provide you with a wealth of information that will serve you in your work as an artist. The monthly Freehold Forum will include insightful interviews with talented actors, directors and playwrights, compelling articles on a wide array of topics to assist you in your artistic growth, cutting edge news on upcoming Freehold Faculty and alumni performances, highly newsworthy articles by Freehold's Theatre Guild and Freehold Calendar Highlights showcasing upcoming must-see Freehold Calendar events.     Become A Part of the Freehold Community!   Freehold is always looking for people interested in joining our team of committed and enthusiastic volunteers. Whether you have time, wisdom, strength, money, a desire to be involved in your community, or any combination thereof, we would love to have you join in our efforts. Here are some ways you can participate in our work at Freehold: Volunteer Opportunities Volunteers are highly treasured at Freehold!! We rely on and appreciate the invaluable and diverse skills our volunteers contribute which enable us to further our mission. We are currently seeking volunteers to help us with our administrative functions, staff performances and fundraising events!! If you have the desire to be part of a committed group of staff and other volunteers, please give us a call at 206-323-7499. Donations Freehold is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We rely on philanthropic donations from the community to help us continue to be a part of the theatre community and to keep the cost of our classes affordable. Donations may be sent to: Freehold Theatre, 1525 10th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. back to top       Interview with Robin Lynn Smith RLS: Joe Chaikin was a very important influence. As a performer, I learned to use a physical path to intuition, instinct, and internal inspiration. The whole thing for a performer is to have tools, techniques to access something deep inside, a deeper river. It is a powerful thing. Joe's way through physical impulse was an alternative to the ways I had learned in more traditional Stanislavsky-based training. Really, both ways are going for the same deep source. The physical work helped me tap into astonishing images and dream spaces. I have found that for some actors and students, it is the most useful way to get hooked up. The Meisner work brings that deep, mystical imagination into the present moment and a truthful response to the life around you. I have learned so much about availability, transcending blocks and defenses, and getting past hiding through Mr. Meisner's work. What I learned from my karate master was that art is a practice. In theater, as in the martial arts, there is a sense of ongoing, lifelong practice, and there is always further to go toward mastery with techniques. It is exciting as a teacher to work this way. I am not some font of knowledge, but a practitioner, facilitating others in this practice. RR: Have you changed the way in which you teach acting? RLS:It is continually changing, always with the intent of finding more effective ways to help actors access and develop their individual inspiration. One thing that was confirmed for me from working with a Stanislavsky-based Russian teacher in the late 1990s was that there is a force, a creative force, in us - natural inspiration. In teaching, we help people access that, their talent. Once you start to respect something larger than yourself, you open up to more depth and range. Actors become a vessel for that larger force to move through them. The more I work with it, the more I'm astonished and in awe at how profound the imagination is. So much of my work is to make our imagination visceral. That is something I trust - that it is there, available to us. The other change is in continuing to experiment with form as a way to free the intuitive, inner life. The form of verse, or a strict physical score, can be a springboard to release spontaneous inspiration into living in imaginery circumstances. I used to think of them as corsets; now I understand that they can be mini trampolines to meaning. RR: Do you stress the importance of voice/speech and body work of the actor's instrument? RLS: It is enormously important. You need organic, truthful roots to live in imaginary circumstances and vocal and physical technique for extraordinary expression. If you are not manifesting the mystery specifically and clearly, the audience cannot receive it. That communion is the point. To read more from Robin Lynn Smith's interview, check out next month's e-newsletter! back to top         A Theatre Named INTIMAN by J.D. Tracy My girlfriend Lorran, who I am blessed to have met soon after arriving in Seattle, told me that Intiman was producing The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder, and that I should audition for it. I told her I was sure it was probably already cast. Then the call came. They had seen me at TPS and wanted me to read for Henry Antrobus. I prepared as best I could, but I suspect there is no way to properly prepare for Bartlett Sher, Artistic Director at Intiman. Auditioning for him was a paranoid gauntlet in a hall of mirrors. What I knew to be true was false, what I thought to be false was green, what I was sure was green was Stockholm Syndrome. But he let me finish my sides. The callbacks were no easier, but finally, several days later, I was done. Then I got another call. Henry was mine. All this work, those four thousand miles driven, the love and blessings of my friends - my dream, my goal, had come true. Then the work started. Boy oh boy they move fast in regional theatre. I was working with an amazing cast: Larry Ballard, Anne Scurria, Clayton Corzette, to name but a few. And then there was Howie Seago. Howie is deaf. I had never spent more than a few moments with a deaf person, let alone acted with one. I knew in my heart that it was no big deal, but I must admit that despite my best efforts to be a modern gentleman, I was a bit apprehensive. How would we communicate? Those feelings evaporated the moment I met Howie. He is an amazing man: He played the title role in Ajax directed by Peter Sellars, was on Star Trek: The Next Generation, is deeply involved in the development of teaching techniques with and for the deaf, and is so accurate a lip reader and oral speaker that not only was communication possible, it was easy. However, lip reading was not always practical, especially when multiple people were speaking at the same time. Thankfully there was Brad. Brad is an interpreter extraordinaire. He can translate spoken English into ASL (American Sign Language) in the moment. ASL is extremely theatrical, and Brad should have been an actor. The depth of emotion and meaning he was able to express was ineffable. In three weeks we went from concept to reality. Wilder's play is a wasteland planted with hope. The story begins out on the grey plain of New Jersey immediately preceding a glacial onslaught. The Antrobus's fight and survive, and bring other's with them. Then in Act II we move to Atlantic City where lust takes rest in the heart of Mr. Antrobus. Again the family remains intact and escapes by the skin of their teeth. Finally in Act III it all comes home. A World War 3-type event has occurred, a war at least seven years in length. The women find each other, and then the men return. Henry is broken, defeated, and looking for love in the only way he knows how. Mr. Antrobus has fought for the world and won. This was my hardest scene. We worked so hard. Bart helped me understand not only what was going on, what I was doing, but he also helped me break some very bad habits. It seems that I had fallen into the trap that I most dislike: doing the play for you rather than everyone else. I wasn't connected, I was not acting. There was one day just before tech when rust fell off in chunks. We were rehearsing my final transition and I hit a wall. Again and again we went at it. I received note after fervent note. Then the words disappeared. I couldn't remember my lines, the lines I had memorized weeks before. I struggled, fell apart. Then with the help and support of the entire cast it all came together, we built the castle Henry grander, simpler, and closer to the truth than it had ever before been. There were several scuffles in the play, including my five-foot jump from the platform to the deck immediately followed by an attack on Mr. Antrobus. I was thrilled when I came into rehearsal and Geof Alm was standing there. Geof's fight-direction was safe, exciting, and totally believable - we were very comfortable slugging it out for the entire run! Once the show opened, every day at work was a strenuous vacation. Closer and closer I crept to fully understanding Henry. There were a few moments of union, but on those shows I often received the most corrections! Balancing a character described by the author as "pure evil" was an exciting chance to work on consistency. Perhaps my favorite performances were the two my Father, Mother, Sister, and Grandmother saw. They flew across the continent to see my biggest gig ever. I love them very much. It was nice to see them. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to work with Intiman's cast, crew and staff. I learned a lot from Bart, Howie, Geof and all the rest. I am blessed to have had this chance. Thank you. back to top         My Time With Fefu by Margery Muench Working on this play has challenged and stretched me in so many ways both as an actor and as a person. Many days I find myself returning home after rehearsal, or on days off, going over and over it in my mind, not just sorting out beats and actions, but grappling with the material as well, with its relevance in my life and the lives of my mother, sisters, aunts, and friends. It is striking to me that after a full quarter of rehearsal and analysis by all of us in class, certain of the ambiguities and questions we had in the beginning still remains and yet it doesn't seem to matter. Contrary to my initial expectations, the text seems to demand of us not that we pick apart every unknown and tie off every loose end conclusively, but rather that we engage with it and bring that engagement and that dialogue to the audience. It is a play that refuses to give up all of its wisdom quickly and easily, but which stays with me long after it is over. And this is what I love most in theatre, the chance to open dialogue on things we might not otherwise have the tools, reason, or courage to talk openly about. Margery Muench is playing Fefu in FEFU AND HER FRIENDS as part of Freehold Theatre's Rehearsal and Performance class. Performances run from Thursday, June 14th through Saturday, June 16th at 8:00 pm at Freehold Theatre, East Hall Theatre, free/donation suggested. back to top   Freehold Faculty Snapshot: Lynne Compton This winter I had the great fortune to have those dark months emblazoned by the women and men I met through my involvement in Freehold's Engaged Theatre Project at the Washington Correctional Centre for Women. From November to May, beginning with weekly and then bi-weekly visits to 'Purdy', the Freehold volunteers led by Robin Lynn Smith and Elisabeth Heffron were welcomed by the residents. These women generously shared their thoughts and life experiences using a variety of writing and acting exercises and games, they generated a powerful script and then performed it for fellow residents and visitors. These past dark months were illuminated with the sharing of these incredible women who risked so much to reveal the depths of their experiences; to cry, laugh and sing together and to unpretentiously offer extraordinary experiences of the transformative power of creativity. I learned a lot about freedom from the women at Purdy and find myself listening to these lines from the script that continue to buzz in my mind: Ricochet off disappointment I am not defined by my surroundings . . . Kate goes on to ask, "What are you reading and what have you seen recently that you liked?" The latest film I saw was a romantic comedy called Outsourced with Matt Smith (yes, yes, yes ... our very own Matt Smith) in a great role. You can see him at http://www.outsourcedthemovie.com/ A young Seattleite goes on his first trip to India and we see him learning and navigating through the similarities and differences between the two cultures. It nudged me to pull out "A Passage To India" by E.M. Forster, a writer who loved to observe just such events and could catch and write about the sensation of missed understandings so that you taste them. I also had the luck to see A Year of Magical Thinking By Joan Didion with Vanessa Redgrave loving every single audience member. I knew I was truly in the right place at the right moment and I'm just starting a search for some of Pinter's one person pieces. Right, that's enough. See you at Freehold or in the park as we move delicately into summer. Warm wishes, Lynne back to top   Theatre Guild Theatre Guild Membership The Theatre Guild is composed of a group of Freehold students and alumni who have shared in the unique Freehold experience. Freehold Theatre Guild's (FTG's) stated mission is "To help members of the Freehold Theatre Guild make the transition from student to active participant in the greater theater community". For those interested in joining Freehold's Theatre Guild, email Andy Tribolini at atribolini@hotmail.com with your desire to join. You will receive confirmation of membership by receiving notices about monthly meetings and activities in which you are strongly encouraged to participate. The Theatre Guild would love to have you be a part of the group!