. . . my job as an actor was to support and connect with my cast mates through listening and reacting, making my contribution as truthful and as vulnerable as I could every night. Because no matter how insignificant it might seem, the beauty and truthfulness of everyone’s work shines the brightest when we’re all equally invested in our circumstances together onstage.
Read MoreReadings tend to bring out voracious readers of plays or books, other playwrights, and avid theatre goers or performers. As a technical theatre person who is not a wordsmith, or a huge reader, and most definitely not a performer, I am not the typical audience member and I don’t hear or see the play in the same way.
Read MoreDirecting the first reading of a new play is less about staging and more about creating a safe container for discovery.
Read MoreWe’re heading into autumn and things are busy here at Seat of the Pants as we onboard new ensemble members (for a total of 14), finalize contracts with our performance spaces, casts, and crews, update our website and social media platforms, and kick off our 2025-2026 Annual Fundraising Campaign. Each year, I try to encapsulate our goals for the campaign in a single word or phrase, and this year I’ve chosen EXPANSION. Here are a few highlights of how your financial support will help us do just that.
Read MoreThe end of the 2024-2025 theatrical season has been my most recent time of reflection, so here are a few things I think I've learned as the Artistic Director of a small professional theatre company, offered up here in the hopes that maybe you'll find these ruminations useful as well. In no particular order:
Read MoreIn the Michael Chekhov Technique for actors, there is a concept called The Four Brothers. These are reminders and qualities that can lead to integrated, inspiring, full-bodied performance. The first three Brothers are: a feeling of Ease, a feeling of Form and a feeling of Beauty. The fourth Brother, a feeling of the Whole (sometimes called Entirety) can refer to the actor’s awareness of the full scope of a play or story, but it can also refer to an ensemble of actors being tuned into each other as a unified, cohesive unit.
Read MoreI have been lucky to have been involved in several “World Premiere” projects - some that have died on the vine (sadly) and some that have seen some decent life after my iteration. All of them included lessons about myself, the different ways the creative process can take shape and the underlying current of the business of show.
Read MoreIn the weeks leading up to our first rehearsal, I had one major concern: how were two directors - one who had been working with the play for two years, and one (me) who’d only been involved since auditions over six months ago - ever going to co-direct a group of six extremely talented, creative, and smart actors in. World premier play?
Read MoreThis week, we wrapped up our year-long commitment to four free artist workshops with our culminating session: Devised Theatre Practices. Each year, our goal is to create opportunities for artistic exploration that are both meaningful and accessible. We remain committed to removing as many barriers as possible so that artists from all backgrounds and disciplines can participate, explore, and grow.
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