You're Always Auditioning

An email arrives in your inbox, one you've been awaiting for weeks.  The subject line reads something vague about casting.  You open it up and find the complete cast list of the show you auditioned for earlier in the month.  Your name is not mentioned.
Why?  You KILLED that audition.  Your reading was spot-on, you had it memorized, and you took direction well.  Everything the director asked you to do you did.  And you have the perfect look for at least three roles in that play.
Was there anything more you could have done to get that part?  Maybe.  It depends if you've really taken this concept to heart: You're Always Auditioning.
Perhaps your behavior, your acting, your look, and everything else were perfect on that day, but any interaction with any theatre person before that may have affected your casting.

I just finished a summer of teaching 2nd-to-5th graders at the Alliance Theatre and was reminded of this simple truth.  On the first day of every camp we'd play a number of games, then go into an audition to cast our show to be performed at the end of the week.  The games were fun and primarily meant as an icebreaker, but the truth was, those games were just as big a part of the audition as the cold readings.  Some kids didn't pay attention to the directions for playing the game.  Some tended to argue or back-talk.  Some showed a mean streak.  Those kids didn't get the meaty roles.  One girl, while waiting to audition, kept talking while others were auditioning.  At one point she knocked over the chair her feet were propped on while another actor was mid-audition.  That girl didn't get much to do on stage.

But it's not just when you're in an audition setting.  Maybe you did something in the last show you were in that rubbed someone the wrong way, and that someone knows casting directors.  Maybe your reputation for being late, or not learning your lines on time, precedes you.  Maybe you were out to dinner with some friends and your waiter recognized you, thought you treated him poorly, and it turns out he's stage managing the show.

It's a lot of pressure to be on your best professional behavior at all times, and maybe that's not a good way to live your life.  Fine.  It's impossible to please everyone anyway.  It's not necessarily fair.  But one bad experience is all it takes for someone to have a negative opinion of you.  And in the theatre world, we all know each other.  You're always auditioning.

Onion Man Productions, A Community Garden for Artists

As we approach the opening of Summer Harvest 2012 on June 14th, Onion Man Productions' Founder James Beck was inspired to write a few words inspired by the concept of the Community Garden and how it fits in with his vision for OMP.

A Community Garden

"A simple piece of land.

Woven, threaded, sewn

arm in arm, hand by hand

a small space, a simple grace, a shared piece of land"

 

I’m not a gardener. I’m not. Nor are many of the people I know and create with in the small world of theatre and with our company, Onion Man Productions. But we now have a home for classes and programs at the Norcross Garden Club. And we are a company that steals part of our name from an odd little bulb known to both make you cry and add flavor to food. And we certainly cultivate, nurture, plant, water, and of course, harvest. We just do it all in the language of metaphor, in crafting emotion and story and in asking pointed questions of life, God, and of ourselves . . . So,yeah, we garden.

I wish I could find a clear way to state this purpose. The why in, "Why we do it?" Like anything in life it is a struggle, a worry, a danger, and a certain challenge - to create anything is to risk. Yet we keep doing it. The only strength I find to answer the questions lies in the simple fact that we are working together, building relationships, finding ownership and in the end, giving of ourselves back to our community. We till the soil, roll it all over again, and start creating yet again.

 

But there has to be some method to gardening in the realm of metaphor and story. Not the "why" but the "how." A long journey has led me to the raw earth and smell of soil. I know to access creativity is never a certain journey but one that must be ridden and not controlled. We must let nature do her work – images rise from the unconscious, truths show themselves in a phrase or in the juxtaposition of one reality against another.

It will leave your head spinning. How to make sense of what comes spilling out of you as a writer, actor, or director? How do you piece it all together in order to present a bouquet of wildflower and fresh vegetables?

 

One method I find myself leaning on more and more is taken from Onion Man’s Joanie McElroy’s directing workshop. You identify the climax, the crucial moment in the play, and you then work your butt off to ensure that every moment in the play leads to and/or comments on the crucial turn in the text. It is an idea I loved so much I find it entering into my own teaching of playwriting and in something as basic as how to lead an organization.

With an organization I think the question then becomes, "What is so crucial to the mission that all else would fall apart without that element? And how can all of the efforts of an organization reflect on and support that critical point?"

 

But what is that for Onion Man? It is the idea of being a community garden that serves the broader landscape of Atlanta theatre artists and our local community as a whole. I want Onion Man to be that place where every theatre artist can come stick their hands in the dirt and play and create. Onion Man is that nice healthy piece of ground where an artist can see the possibilities instead of the limitations of their ego and insecurities. A place to find joy instead of anxiety and fear. Now, I am fully aware that you can never truly get rid of the human acts of self-destruction and the behaviors that limit growth, but we can certainly be diligent in protecting our shared acreage.

A community garden. That is what we are, what we represent, all we care to be.

Daphne Mintz's Helpful Tips for Writers

OMP's Literary Manager Daphne Mintz is a pretty awesome playwright. Besides that she is a skilled writing instructor, with lots of wisdom to share. Recently, she conducted her much loved "Action Speaks Louder than Words" Workshop with OMP. Because Daphne loves to help writers, we prodded some more writing gems out of her....


DAPHNE'S NOTES ON...ABSTRACT CHARACTER

Examples of abstract characters: Feminism, Civil Rights, the Depression, Beauty, etc.
You can complete the character breakdown exercise for your abstract characters, including giving them a name.
Example of FEMINISM name: Candy (give yourself a challenge)
Example of DEATH habits:

• Death keeps a compact mirror and lipstick handy. She methodically applies lipstick whenever she is about to take over a situation or conversation.
• Death keeps a pair of dice handy, but never rolls them.
• Death is always reading. You're never sure if he's really listening to anyone.

Most of us will NOT personify our abstract character as the examples above indicate, but your actual characters may interact with the symbol you assign to your abstract character.

Example:

• Abstract character: Death; Symbol: Lipstick
  Susie keeps a compact mirror and lipstick handy. She methodically applies lipstick whenever she is about to take over a situation or conversation.
• Abstract character: Love; Symbol: Dice
  Lewis keeps a pair of dice handy, but never rolls them.

DAPHNE'S NOTES ON....SETTING 
Setting is a character, it has a personality and an agenda.

• Read the Lillian/Martin example again (You can find this in Daphne's earlier post on Action here:  http://onionmanplays.blogspot.com/2011/07/action-is-character.html )
  Notice the use of "or"..."science or philosophical" informs the director that you simply want to get across that Lilly is a "brain." The director can then make some choices to help create that concept throughout the play (have examples of lab equipment laying about or a bust of Sigmund Freud on the bureau.)
• Have your set description capture atmosphere. Do not use theatre jargon. If you want eerie and foggy, describe it thus "The wood was eerie, but not at all silent, until a fog crept in" not "on stage are bent and crooked old trees with moss. Tree fogs, crickets, screech owl, and howling noises are heard. A fog machine from stage left sends a heavy fog across the stage. As it progresses further across the stage, the sounds fade."  A fog machine is not the only way to create the essence of fog. You do not want your director to hear "cha-ching" as he reads your work.
• Limit props to those that matter. If your set is a Victorian style tea room, say just that, plus an item for atmosphere or character. "Lights go up on a Victorian style tea room except for the velvet Elvis portrait on the wall." Notice "wall" not "fireplace." Say "fireplace" only if there is to be a fire for someone to warm himself by or burn evidence in. Likewise, if you're going to have a line like, "Why didn't we put a fireplace in this room? This place is always so damned cold," be sure to give a heads up so the set designer doesn't automatically picture a fireplace even though you didn't mention one: "Lights go up on a Victorian style tea room, except for the velvet Elvis portrait on the wall, hanging above a spot where a fireplace should be, but alas, the Jamison's could not afford one (or chose to not have one because it irritates Aunt Alma's emphysema)."

Onion Man Productions: State of the Union 2012

As we start 2012, we thought it would be a good time for a little message from Manager and Founder, James Beck:

Each June for the past three years, Onion Man Productions has produced a collection of short plays by local playwrights at the Lionheart Theatre Company. This year Onion Man Productions will present “Summer Harvest 2012,” a new collection of ten minute plays by local playwrights. This showcase gives playwrights the opportunity to be produced, while local actors and directors have the chance to work on original pieces. Since January 2009, Onion Man has produced 33 new plays by Georgia playwrights, which resulted in 33 directing opportunities and 95 paid roles for actors. In addition, Onion Man has always performed staged readings of some of the submitted plays that do not make the showcase. All in all, every June is a rich harvest of talent and a treat for the Norcross community and the Atlanta theatre community.

But Onion Man Productions now has to ask the question, who do we want to be on a year round basis? Based on the experience that Founder James Beck had while living in Chicago, it was clear that what the Atlanta theatre community needed was a more fertile field for creativity. More than yet another theatre company, what Atlanta needed was a theatre organization dedicated to providing opportunities for theatre artists from all backgrounds, or an "open door" where they could learn and grow. Whether performing on stage in shows, attending classes, or by participating in ongoing free and open programming, members of the local community, as well as current theatre artists, could find a creative home with Onion Man.

Therefore in 2011 Onion Man started the journey to becoming a well rounded theatre arts education center while continuing to produce new plays annually. With the addition of some terrific talent like Programs Director--Joanie McElroy, Artistic Director--Daniel Carter Brown, Literary Manager--Daphne Mintz, and Director of Social Media and Marketing--Brandi Kilgore, who will work with James Beck as the Managing Director, the "open door" was created for the theatre community.

As 2012 begins, Onion Man has a home for classes and programs at the Norcross Garden Club located at 33 College Street, Norcross, GA 30071. This February, Onion Man will feature an Audition class taught by Daniel Carter Brown. Starting in March, Onion Man will also offer the first in a series of film classes, beginning with a screenwriting class and followed by an On-Camera acting class. All of the classes are affordably priced in the spirit of community outreach and participation.

Also, Onion Man hosts regularly scheduled, free events that the public is welcome to attend. A regular meeting of actors and playwrights called “Roots and Shoots” is held once a month, where writers are offered the chance to hear new works in progress read aloud by actors. Onion Man also hosts a reading of a new play on the “Second Saturday” of every other month. In addition, Onion Man is always open to finding new ways to be a benefit to the local Norcross community, as well as the greater Atlanta theatre community.

For more information, about Onion Man Productions visit www.onionmanproductions.com

Onion Man can also be found on Facebook at facebook.com/onionmanproductions and on Twitter @OnionManNews

The Craft of Storytelling: Endearing Characters

A wise, old man once told me, “Young people like to write about death. All their stories are about facing death, facing disease, facing a gun, losing a father, losing a brother, losing a baby. They need to know what it is to face unemployment, face a child with a note in your hand that just says “Gone out,” lose a job, lose a house, lose your heart, lose your pride. Then, they’ll have something to write about.”

Subsequently, I have participated in several writing workshops where the only rules are:

• No death or terminal illness
• No big guns
• No genre fiction (ghost stories, sci-fi, fantasy).

Death and terminal illness are fine in memoirs. Big guns are fine in plot driven stories. Genre fiction is fine for your third or fourth attempt at creating a story, but not to start off—you get too caught up in creating an imaginary world so that your characters become understudies.

The first chore of telling a story is to endear your audience to your main character. Why should they care about this person? If she has a big gun pointed at her, has liver cancer, and is being haunted by the ghost of her lost love, then we care about her for the wrong reasons. We don’t even have to know her to hope she finds a cure for cancer, doesn’t get shot, and wakes up from a bad dream to find that there is no ghost at after all. These are contrivances (nice word for “cheap shots”) to get people to care.

Now think of all the people you care about in real life. Do you care because they are victims of some dreadful circumstance? Hopefully, you care about them because you know their heart. Hopefully, you care about them in spite of their shortcomings. Think of someone you once knew that you wish you didn’t let get away, someone else who made an impact on one recurring theme in your life, someone you weren’t able to help when they needed a hand, someone you took time to change your whole day for. These are the seeds of the stories you will tell.

The wise, old man said it best, “Stories should be about life.”