Author Archives: thevsstudioblog

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.” -Joan Didion Playwrights… Leave your thesis statements behind. Don’t try to prove anything. Don’t know where you’re going. Instead, know your characters inside and out. Put them inContinue reading “No Thesis Required”

There’s a famous acting adage that goes: “The more interested you are, the more interested we are.” This is why we can endlessly watch babies at play. Or people fully engaged in their work (aka “flow”). Even the old man feeding the pigeons in the park can be captivating. (This is why authentic behavior onContinue reading ““Where’d That Come From?””

There’s a lot of interest today on the topic of morning routines. It’s a frequent podcast question. There are several books devoted solely to it. Lots of social media around it. And understandably so. It makes intuitive sense to get your day off to a good start. After all…You are the power plant. What getsContinue reading “Evening Routines”

A most generous act you can do for a friend and fellow actor is to think of a role(s) they’d be great in and tell them. Call them up and ask, “Hey, have you every thought of playing (insert role and play)? You’d be awesome in it! Here’s why….” This is actually an assignment weContinue reading ““Have You Ever Thought Of Playing?…””

“The fact is always obvious much too late, but the most singular difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is a solid and joy a liquid.” -J.D. Salinger, Nine Stories “I’m going to need all of you. Put your embarrassment in a box and set that box on fire, when I clap you clap.”Continue reading “One Hand Clapping”

“Telemachos saw Athene and went straight to the forecourt, the heart within him scandalized that a guest should still be standing at the doors. He stood beside her and took her by the right hand, and relieved her of the bronze spear, and spoke to her and addressed her in winged words: ‘Welcome, stranger. YouContinue reading “Come From Away”

“So we struggle and we staggerDown the snakes and up the ladderTo the tower where the blessed hours chimeAnd I swear it happened just like this:A sigh, a cry, a hungry kissThe gates of love they budged an inchI can’t say much has happened sinceBut closing time.” -Leonard Cohen, Closing Time “Closing time, every newContinue reading “Closing Time?”

Some definitions of systems are as follows: A group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and expressed in its functioning. A set of things working together asContinue reading “System Thinking”

“In times of national emergency, one fact is brought home to us, clearly and decisively—the fact that all of our rights are interdependent. The right of freedom of worship would mean nothing without freedom of speech. And the rights of free labor as we know them today could not survive without the rights of freeContinue reading “Labor Day”

Your art is good. But your messaging isn’t. That’s on you as a producer. Change your message. Change your story. Keep grinding. Keep iterating. Give people a more compelling reason to show up. And eventually they will. P.S. – Our Vs. production of STAND UP IF YOU’RE HERE TONIGHT has extended through September. We’ve beenContinue reading ““Why Isn’t Anyone Coming?””