SUGARMAN'S SEAT OF THE PANTS HIGHLIGHTS - BY LANA SUGARMAN

After 3 years as an ensemble member with Seat of the Pants, I have decided to take a year away from the company to pause, take stock, and continue to build roots in my new-ish home of Buffalo, NY. I am so grateful for these years of growth, play, and community. Here are some highlights from my time with Seat of the Pants:

1. Meeting Craig Joseph at a Piada in Canton in 2017. In August of 2017 I moved to North Canton, Ohio, for love. One of my dear friends, Rhonda Kuster, suggested/insisted I meet Craig Joseph who was always putting on amazing theatre productions and hanging out at galleries. That first chat over Italian Street Food led to the next 9 years of collaboration, mentorship, multiple shows, and invaluable connections. This included Craig directing me in Doubt at the Players Guild, teaching and directing at Malone University, joining The Greenhouse (a monthly gathering to train and connect with local artists), becoming one of the first wave members of the ensemble, and assistant directing at the Cleveland Play House. Dang, thanks Rhonda!

2. Seeing a bunch of early Seat of the Pants’ productions. One of my favourite shows over the years was Smokefall by Noah Haidle. This script, abstract design, and the incredible cast and direction highlighted the artistic sensibilities that Craig and I share. Beauty, heart, poetic text. Molly Sweeney, The Christians, Apples in Winter, The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey are other moving pieces that popped for me throughout SotP’s seasons.

3. Acting in Our Country’s Good. 10 months of exploration, Michael Chekhov Technique, and an incredible ensemble of actors and designers. I loved acting in this play as Mary Brenham and Reverend Johnson, but truly adored being in the studio learning from Christopher Bohan, Lionel Walsh, and Craig, applying tools like Atmosphere, Fantastic Psychological Gesture, the 3 Centers, the Palace, Imaginary Body, Rhythmic Wave. Beginning each session with Crossing the Threshold and Staccato Legato. Dreamy.

4. The first Seat of the Pants Ensemble Retreat. In February of 2023, me, Craig, Jeannine Gaskin, Michael Glavan, and Sam Landgraf (and Ben Gregg, virtually!), rented an Air BnB in Columbus for a night to immerse ourselves all day Saturday and Sunday in brainstorming/dreaming about the company, its values and mission statement, and shifting it from a one-man extravaganza (aka Craig doing ALL of the things), to our current ensemble model. On a more personal note, it was also a tender weekend for me, as I was newly navigating a separation, and I felt very held by this fabulous group of humans. This continued to be the case as I moved from Ohio to Minnesota for a year for a Visiting Professor position, and then to my current homebase of Buffalo.

5. Season Selection. One of my favourite aspects of being part of the ensemble was reading a ton of plays and discussing them each month. Contributing to the crafting of our future seasons was very satisfying and exposed me to a plethora of playwrights and scripts.

6. Directing the staged reading of The Vase by Tyler Whidden for our Salon Series. This was a wonderful opportunity to work on a compelling new play, and to cast actors whose work I love (Nicholas Chokan, Scott Esposito, Kelly Strand, and Tabi Raithel). Digging into a new text, asking questions, discovering characters, playing with pacing and staging, and connecting with the playwright are all exciting aspects of new play development and I appreciate the curated talkbacks that SotP facilitates.

7. Assisting Julia Fisher with Intimacy Direction on The Book Club Play. One of the gifts of being part of the ensemble is that, every year, you have an opportunity to work in a role that you don’t normally take on, or apprentice with someone in their field of expertise. While I have trained in Intimacy Direction and often lead this work educationally, it has been a delight to reconnect with Julia, Christopher Bohan, the director, Sam Landgraf as producer and house manager, and the wonderful cast and team. Julia has been an ID when I’ve acted and directed, but we hadn’t collaborated in this capacity in 3 or 4 years. Because she is one of the leading Intimacy Directors in Northeast Ohio, it has been so valuable to see how her process has evolved, and how I can continue to refine my work in this area.  And it is always a joy to pop into a rehearsal and be invited into the Staccato Legato warm-up!

8. The Curtain Speeches. Even though I moved out of Northeast Ohio in summer of 2023 I’ve managed to make it back to see each production since then. These have been little seasonal landmarks for me. A chance to reconnect with the Ohio community, our Season Pass holders, and the ensemble.

I trust that you will still see me around at Seat of the Pants events, buying a KitKat from the concession stand and soaking in excellent theatre with wonderful humans. All the love, Lana.