Meet the cast and crew of Seminar: Charles Waxberg

 Charles Waxberg serves a variety of purposes in our Theatre 9/12 community: his is our mighty leader aka Artistic Director, he heads our Wednesday Actor Development workshop - doling out super smart advice, great big hugs and invaluable guidance, and he also served as Acting Coach for our latest production, Seminar.

We grilled Charles and his answers were simple and direct and humble and gracious; exactly what we expected them to be.

1.       Have you ever written anything that you had published/presented? What was it? How was that experience for you?

My book on script analysis (The Actor's Script: Script Analysis for Performers) was published in '98.  It's currently in its 14th printing.  When asked if this was the first book I wrote, I answered "it's my last."

2.       Have you ever taken a workshop/seminar/master class and had it turn into a nightmare? What did you learn?

I learned that ego is the most destructive thing to art and talent.

3.       Who were/are your favorite writers?

My favorite writers are playwrights: Edward Albee (The Zoo Story; ‎The Sandbox; The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?), Harold Pinter (The Birthday Party; ‎Betrayal; ‎The Homecoming), George Bernard Shaw (Pygmalion; Mrs. Warren's Profession; ‎Arms and The Man), and Tennessee Williams (The Glass Menagerie; A Streetcar Named Desire; Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) to name a few.

4.       If you could have any career, what would it be?

I have been blessed to make my entire adult living in theatre--acting, teaching, directing, writing--and if I could not live in art, you'd have to bury me.

5.       Dream project?

To own a theatre and school with free tuition and housing for actors.  Alas...the inconsequential question of money.

6.       Why might people know who you are? If you are recognized on the street, what is it usually for?

In restaurants, servers often think I'm Anthony Bourdain (of Kitchen Confidential fame) and I'm treated VERY nicely.

7.       Tell me one thing about you that people would find surprising.

That I'm a terrorist behind the wheel of a car. (I avoid driving...)

Meet the cast and crew of Seminar: Paul O'Connell

Paul O'Connell is Theatre9/12's Producing Director and he served as Director for Seminar.
Directing a bunch of actors to not only convincingly play writers but to create this life in the harshly intimate realities of a very small theatre completely surrounded by audience certainly proved a challenge and Paul, through patience, guidance and an actor meltdown or two, met that challenge with a lot of humor and just a little bit of good old fashioned snark.

We put Paul through the "yes, you MUST participate in the questionnaire - I know you're the boss and please don't fire me" ringer and his answers certainly explained his reticence at answering the questions in the first place.

Have you ever written anything that you had published/presented? What was it? How was that experience for you?

I had a poem published by the National Poetry Society about 20 years ago.  Felt reaffirming and prompted me to keep writing.   Became more of a recreational endeavor than a professional pursuit.  Still love to write for my own enjoyment and creative expression.

Who were/are your favorite writers? Why?

Many writers interest me, both fiction and non-fiction.  Great stories from the Nineteenth Century Russian greats,  great mysteries from many, many writers, great poetry from Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson among many others, great children's fabulists, playwrights from all ages, philosophers and scientists who expose the mind's discoveries in a way that makes sense to my curious mind.  The one thing common to all of them is their ability to engage my imagination and bring insight to my understanding. 

If you could have any career, what would it be?

I've always had the career I wanted.  Life to me is a big adventure from beginning to end.  Wherever I am, whatever I am doing is where I am supposed to be at the time.  I find my universe to be a friendly environment if I stay open to its possibilities offered.

I have had many changes in direction on my path through life, some self chosen, others thrust upon me; but I always landed on my feet and pursued what I wanted at the time.

Dream project?

My dream project would be to write and direct a major film exploring multiple points of view and the differences of people from around the world.  Told through the young eyes of a child who doesn't understand why people don't get along. The film finds its resolution in honest non-judgmental communication and mutual respect, awaiting visitors from another world.  After all, we earthlings all put on our pants one leg at a time.  We just wear different pants.  ET beings may not even have legs.

Tell me one thing about you that people would find surprising.

Most people might be surprised to know that I began my career paths, of which there have been a few, first as a Benedictine Monk for six years an "ice age ago"; and that despite my curmudgeon appearance, I'm a nice guy who is attracted to interesting people who are honest, forthright, caring of others and have a sense of humor.  Life is too short to spend much time with people who for the most part only talk about themselves, their work, or worse yet other people. 

Conversation for me is like human "preening" similar to our monkey ancestors' behavior.  Only we are not cleaning one another’s fur, but engaging in familial give and take with other humans.

Our new form of so called technologically advanced communication like Facebook, tweets, blogs, email; all full of personal announcements, takes up far too much time and has little substantive result.  It's not very personal, nor similar in any way to "preening," it's more like cyber bulletin boards. 

Necessary to be sure, but hardly communication and not very interesting.

Meet the cast and crew of Seminar: Jeff Berryman

Jeff Berryman makes his Theatre 9/12 debut as Leonard, the acerbic workshop leader upon whose approval the other writers’ futures are hinged. Even though their personalities could not be more different, Jeff and his character do share some similarities. Namely, both are published novelists.

Jeff was asked the same questions as the rest of the cast and his answers might surprise you.

Have you ever written anything that you had published/presented? What was it? How was that experience for you?

In 2001, I managed to have a novel published called Leaving Ruin.   It's the story of a small town Texas pastor and his very human struggle to navigate a time of crisis and transition.  Having the experience of receiving letters and notes from people who've read the novel and been moved by it is one of the great joys of my life.   I also toured a one-man show based on Leaving Ruin for almost a decade, and am currently in the process of remounting that show for run in Calgary this fall.  I have also had several plays produced, including The Carrolls of Queen Anne, Arthur: The Begetting, and Arthur: The Hunt, though none have been published at this time.    One other note related to this play:  I have a completed draft of a second novel that is unpublished.  I've been working on it for over ten years.   (See the play...you'll see why it’s relevant.)

Have you ever taken a workshop/seminar/master class and had it turn into a nightmare? What did you learn?

Fortunately, no.  All my experiences with workshops and seminars have been good. 

Who were/are your favorite writers? Why?

Richard Ford (The Sportswriter, Independence Day and The Lay of the Land), Anne Patchett (Bel Canto, Run and The Patron Saint of Liars), John Updike (Rabbit, Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit Is Rich, Rabbit At Rest, and Rabbit Remembered), Barbara Brown Taylor (The Preaching Life, Mixed Blessings, Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith, and Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation), Annie Dillard (Tickets for a Prayer Wheel, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, and Holy the Firm), Frederick Buechner (A Long Day's Dying, The Book of Bebb, Brendan, and Telling Secrets), Czeslaw Milosz (The Captive Mind and The World).  I tend to like literary fiction that mingles the toughness and grit of the everyday with the mysterious force we think of as spiritual life.  I am drawn to non-fiction that does the same.   I love language, the pursuit of God, and all the questions surrounding the reality of what it means to be human.   Writers who muck around in all of this attract me, especially the ones who are grounded in a faith in the possibilities for goodness and hope. Milosz is my poet of choice.  

If you could have any career, what would it be?

Next time around, I think I might want to be an orchestra conductor.   To stand in the middle of that kind of dynamic beautiful sound YOUR WHOLE LIFE would be really amazing.  

Dream project?

To direct a well-funded theatrical mounting of Coleridge's "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner."   Why?   I couldn't tell you.  I just think it would be haunting and amazing.

Why might people know who you are? If you are recognized on the street, what is it usually for?

There would be no reason for me to be recognized.  Occasionally, in the Greenwood area, a Taproot subscriber might say hi.   I've been in lots of plays there in the past 18 years. 

Tell me one thing about you that people would find surprising.

I have been serving in Christian ministry one way or another virtually all my life.   The dance between faith and art-making has always wooed me.  Doing this play is a step in that dance, albeit a quirky, offbeat one.