PEEK INTO PROCESS @ AMERIKIN

Some standardized tools that we are finding to be universally fruitful in our SOTP productions are “The Play Through”, “Observations & Interrogations”, “Michael Chekhov’s (MC) The Four Brothers”, “Stanislavsky’s Principles of Objectives and Given Circumstances”, and “The World of the Play.” There are certainly other tools making their way into the box, but these are the ones that serve as a solid backdrop for the work we build. Over the next weeks, we’ll talk more about these other tools, but today we’re going to introduce you to the World of the Play for Amerikin by Chisa Hutchinson.

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Craig Joseph
SNAPPING BACK & FEELING FULL: BY MICHAEL GLAVAN

HOLY SMOKES it’s a new year! Perhaps you are like me (and I suspect like many people), feeling the dichotomous mixture of the exuberant  eagerness for a fresh start and dread that I’m somehow already behind…Personally, there’s been a lot of transition for me and for a number of members in our ensemble.  I left what felt like a dream job to pursue ambitions for a different kind of dream job.  I know others in the ensemble have been transitioning into new roles,  jobs, homes, lifestyles, etc in this last calendar season.  That kind of change can be depleting, but with this group, I feel full….

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Craig Joseph
WORK-SHOP, BABY, WORK-SHOP!

Sometimes the high stakes and pressures of a performance…can compromise one’s ability to utilize those processes for continued growth of fundamentals.  It is an awesome thing that so many stories are being told in NE Ohio theatre, and surely, each story/play/musical, there are lessons learned and gained over the experience.  We’re hoping to bring a more targeted and intentional approach to that sort of lesson building and removing the strictures that can pressurize or limit the experience.

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Craig Joseph
TRUST THE JOY, F[orget] THE REST; BY MICHAEL GLAVAN

It is altogether possible to get so preoccupied beating yourself up that you miss the forest for the wood shavings (not even a tree). I’ve tried to change my vernacular around what feels like “mistakes” or “wrong/bad” choices to “challenges” and “less clear” choices. That’s all they are.  They are the wood shavings of one less option I need to pursue from a menu of infinite options that can build joy-filled art.  There are lessons and forests to explore. Don’t get stuck in the shavings.

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Craig Joseph
CHASE WHAT YOU LOVE: AN INTERVIEW WITH JONO RODRIGUEZ 

At one time I was squatting 765 pounds “ass-to-grass”. [Football] was my way of life and a huge part of my identity. I graduated from Ohio State in 2017 with a degree in world politics.  One moment I’m taking a  photo with my family and with my degree in hand. The next… I’m taking a very different kind of photo with a very different kind of document in my hands…

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Craig Joseph
A RETURN AND A NEW CHARGE: BY SCOTT ESPOSITO, ENSEMBLE MEMBER

I’m happy to take on the administrative tasks, but what I’m most excited (and scared) about is the opportunity to produce and direct two of our Salon Series new play readings. I’ve never produced anything before and haven’t directed anything since I was in college (almost 25 years ago). I’ve been acting since I was in middle school, but recently have started to feel like I should take a risk, do the scary thing, and look for something to direct.

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Craig Joseph