The Vs. Studio Blog

“If you believe the good reviews, then you have to believe the bad ones too.” -Jackson Browne

As an artist, you want absolute freedom to risk, push boundaries and make mistakes. You want the ability to swing for the fences knowing you might just fall flat on your face.

Examine your attachments to people’s expectations and your own. Examine your attachments to positive feedback of your prior work. The last thing you want is to have to live up to any of that. Don’t. Don’t be a prisoner to praise.

Anthony De Mello writes beautifully about this in his book “The Way To Love”…

How easily we are taken in by the judgment of other people and then form an image of ourselves based on this judgment. In order to be truly liberated you need to listen to the so-called good and bad things that they tell you, but to feel no emotion at the feedback any more than a computer does when data is fed into it. Because what they say about you reveals more about them than about you.

As a matter of fact you also have to be aware of the judgments that you make about yourself, because even those are generally based on the value systems that you picked up from the people around you. If you judge, condemn, approve, do you ever see reality? If you look at anything through the eye of judgment or approval or condemnation, is that not the major barrier to understanding and observing things as they are in themselves? Take the time when somebody told you that you are very special to him; if you accepted that compliment then you ate the fruit of tension. Why do you want to be special to someone and to submit to that kind of approval and judgment? Why not just be content to be you?

When someone tells you how special you are, all that you can accurately say is: This person given his particular taste and needs, desires, appetites and projections has a special desire for me, but that says nothing about me as a person. Someone else will find me quite unspecial and that too says nothing about me as a person. So the moment you accept that compliment and you allow yourself to enjoy it, you will give control of yourself to that person. You will go to great lengths in order to continue to be special to this person. You will be in constant fear lest he meets someone who will become special to him and thus you will be dislodged from the special position you occupy in his life. And you will be constantly dancing to his tunes, living up to his expectations, and in doing so you will have lost your freedom. You have made yourself dependent on him for your happiness, for you have made your happiness depend on his judgment of you.

Then you can make things worse by beginning to search for other people who will tell you that you are special to them and you invest so much time and energy in making sure that they never lose this image they have of you. What a wearisome way to live! Suddenly fear comes into your life, fear that the image will be destroyed, and if what you seek is fearlessness and freedom, you must let go of this. How? By refusing to take anybody seriously when they tell you how special you are. The words “You are special to me” simply say something about my present mood regarding you, my taste, my present state of mind and development. They say nothing else. So accept that as a fact and do not rejoice in it. What you may rejoice in is my company and not my compliment. What you may enjoy is my present interaction with you, not my praise. And if you are wise, you will urge me to find many other special people so that you are never tempted to hold on to this image that I have of you. It is not my image of you that you enjoy because you are ceaselessly aware that my image of you can change so easily. So what you enjoy is the present moment, because if you enjoy the image that I have of you, I will control you and you will be afraid to be yourself lest you hurt me, you will be afraid to tell me the truth, to do or say anything that would damage the image that I have of you.

Apply this now to every image that people have of you and they tell you that you are a genius or wise or good or holy, and you enjoy that compliment and in that minute you lose your freedom; because now you will be constantly striving to retain that opinion. You will fear to make mistakes, to be yourself, to do or say anything that will spoil the image. You have lost the freedom to make a fool of yourself, to be laughed at and to be ridiculed, to do and say whatever feels right to you rather than what fits in with the image others have of you. How does one break this? Through many patient hours of study, awareness, observation, of what this silly image brings you. It gives you a thrill combined with so much insecurity and unfreedom and suffering. If you were to see this clearly you would lose your appetite to be special to anyone, or to be highly regarded by anyone. You would move about with sinners or bad characters and do and say as you please, regardless of what people think of you. You would become like the birds and flowers that are so totally unself-conscious, too busy with the task of living to care one little bit about what others think of them, about whether they are special to others or not. And at last, you will have become fearless and free.

Remember…if you aim to please, you will please no one.

P.S. – And if you receive an unexpected compliment?…Politely say “thank you” to acknowledge their gift. Then let it go. Move on. Back to work.

“Books remain the same but we certainly have changed, and this later encounter is therefore completely new.” -Italo Calvino

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” -Heraclitus

“Intellect is a magnitude of intensity, not a magnitude of extensity.” -Arthur Schopenhauer

“A person who has read widely but not well deserves to be pitied rather than praised.” -Mortimer Adler

“If I read as many books as most people do, I would be as dull-witted as they are.” -Thomas Hobbes

What’s the last book you read that blew your mind? How old were you when you read it? How old are you now?

Instead of reaching for yet another book, why not re-read that original one? Go deeper. For example, the author Ryan Holiday has read “Meditations” over one hundred times. (Bill Clinton reads it every year too.) Does your book still blow you away? If yes, are the reasons any different now versus when you first read it? If it doesn’t blow you away, why not? What’s changed? Isn’t that interesting?

And if books aren’t your jazz, maybe it’s a film or an album or a painting. Whatever. Revisit that art and investigate your feelings towards it. You’ll be glad you did.

P.S. – Would love to know your revisit. If so inclined, email me or leave in the comments. Thanks! (And if you’re curious, here’s mine.)

“Be in the moment. Period. Just be there. Because if you get all like, ‘Oh I got to do this big thing.’ It just never works. It just doesn’t work. You’ve just got to let go. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Whatever you do is ok, just be truthful, honest, real, and that’s all you can ask for.” -Robert De Niro

“The reason we want to go on and on is because we live in an impoverished present.” -Alan Watts

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it ‘The Present’ –Eleanor Roosevelt

For the actor…

Not…”Was I good?” Or “Did I do it right?”

Rather…”Was I present, alive, in the moment?” (And only you can answer this question.)

If yes, you can do no wrong.

P.S. – In the last week, we’ve sadly lost three giants in entertainment. R.I.P. Mr. Poitier, Mr. Bogdanovich and Ms. White.

“One must be pitiless about this matter of “mood.” In a sense, the writing will create the mood. … I have forced myself to begin writing when I’ve been utterly exhausted, when I’ve felt my soul as thin as a playing card, when nothing has seemed worth enduring for another five minutes … and somehow the activity of writing changes everything.” -Joyce Carol Oates, “The Paris Review” Interview

“Waste no more time arguing what a good [person] should be. Be one.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Stop waiting to be “in the mood” or “being moved” to act.

Move now. Act now. Solve now.

Remember, mood follows action. Not the other way around.

“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.” -Richard P. Feynman

For anything you’re thinking about doing, ask yourself “why” over and over and over again. Until you drill down enough and get at the real reason you wanna do the thing. (Five or six times should do the trick. Bonus points if you have a trusted friend ask you.)

It’s easy to fool or lie to ourselves. To just skim the surface. Don’t. Go deeper.

That’s what will enable you to stick with it. To have staying power. And no regrets.

P.S. – Arguably, the greatest breakdown scene ever captured on film.

We’re four days into the new year and maybe some of you feel bad because you broke one or all of your daily resolutions. Before punting on 2022, why not take a different approach? Take the pressure off. Call January your “test drive month.” Just like you wouldn’t buy a new car before taking it for a test drive, do the same for your resolutions. See which ones realistically work for you in terms of schedule and commitments and energy. And which ones don’t. That way you don’t feel bad if you miss a day or two here and there. No biggie. You’re experimenting. You’re iterating. Then at the end of the month, decide which ones go and which ones stay.

Even if you only end up keeping one resolution this year, it’s still a HUGE accomplishment.

And the others?…Put them on a “no for right now list.” You can always revisit in 2023.

“I’m not doing dialogue because I like doing dialogue. The characters are telling you the story. I’m not telling you the story, they’re going to do it. If I do it right, you will get the whole story.” -George V. Higgins

Some of the best writing advice I’ve heard, especially for playwrights, is this…know your characters inside and out, put them in a room and get them talking to each other. Trust that they’ll tell you where the story needs to go.

If you haven’t seen it, watch the fantastic 70’s crime film, The Friends Of Eddie Coyle (based on the George V. Higgins novel) for a clinic on this writing advice. Everything about the movie bleeds authenticity including the dialogue. Kent Jones writes in his terrific essay, “What is remarkable about the film is the extreme degree to which Yates and the producer and writer, Paul Monash, adhere to Higgins’s aesthetic, banking on the contention that if you render the action among the characters as faithfully as possible, their entire moral universe will be revealed.”

Also, the acting is first rate. Robert Mitchum, one of the most underrated actors of all time, headlines a knockout ensemble. Watch this clip. And this one. So good!

“I think of the trees and how simply they let go, let fall the riches of a season, how without grief (it seems) they can let go and go deep into their roots for renewal and sleep…Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go.” –The Journals Of May Sarton, Volume One

A new year equals new plans and goals and resolutions. A fresh start. Exciting!

But before you get to the new and to give yourself the best chance of success with those big plans, just make sure you’ve fully let go of the old.

If you’re having trouble, just say “Thank You.” Those old thoughts and ideas and sunk costs are a gift from your past self to your new self.

Moving on.

“I’m going to count to ten. I’m here, you’re there…You know what to do…Welcome…Welcome back.” –Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight by John Kolvenbach

Dear Friend and Vs. Ally,

I hope you had a great Holiday and this letter finds you well.  I know we’re all still dealing with this pandemic, but we will get through it and come out stronger on the other side.

2021 was a tough start for Vs.  We lost our theatre, our vibrant home for the last decade.  (The building in which we leased space was sold to a commercial kitchen and all tenants had to exit in April.)  Shutting everything down and moving equipment into storage was emotional and a difficult pill to swallow.

But I’m proud to say we didn’t let that stop us.  We persevered.  In August we opened a show!  The West Coast Premiere of John Kolvenbach’s poignant and funny and heartwarming play, “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight.”  Originally slated to run three weeks at the Atwater Village Theatre, the show ran three months.  It received some excellent press including this article in the Los Angeles Times.  Most importantly, we gave audiences a great night out and reminded them of the power of live theatre and communal gathering (all the while doing it safely and responsibly).   I loved seeing the smiles on people’s faces as they exited.  Talking to them in the courtyard afterward brought me so much joy and affirmed why we produce theatre.

Speaking of joy, in 2021 we also launched the Vs. Studio Solo Workshop.  Aligned with the mission of The Vs. Studio–helping artists find and manifest the work they’re passionate about and doing so with excellence and generosity—the Solo Workshop was another high point.  Conceived and taught by Paul Stein, a world-class teacher and creative guide, it brought many artists together over Zoom.  The work they created, the vulnerability they displayed and the courage they had to share their work with others was remarkable.  When Paul and I first discussed launching the class, we were just thinking a single, stand-alone workshop and maybe 6-8 people would sign up.  By the end of the year, we’ve had multiple workshops and levels; all because the artists wanted to keep going.  The testimonials and feedback we’ve received is incredibly inspiring and I can’t wait to see what work stems from it next year and beyond.

We’ve also continued to offer weekly community through our Tuesday Night Play Readings.  This is a free reading series on Zoom and all are welcome to attend.  What I most love about these nights is that it’s a platform for artists to bring in the work that inspires them.  They have a warm and supportive environment in which they can “sponsor” a night–you can read more about what exactly that means Here and again, it aligns perfectly with The Vs. Studio mission.  One reading had nearly 200 people watching from all over the globe!

While it’s still tough to make specific live theatre plans for 2022, we will continue to offer community and support through our readings and workshops.  And just like 2021–and really every year since we started–when we find the play we’re dying to do, we’ll figure out a way to produce it.  No matter what.  That’s been our ethos since day one and I think it’s served us well.
So now’s the fun part where I ask you for help…Please consider making a fully tax deductible (we’re a 501c3 non-profit) donation to Vs. Theatre Company.

To donate via PayPal, please click HERE.  (You can also donate via Venmo.  Our handle is @vstheatre.  Snail mail is great too.  Checks payable to “VS. Theatre Company”.  Address to send is 3734 Santa Carlotta Street; La Crescenta, CA  91214)

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your financial support.  Every little bit helps.  Know that it means the world to Vs. as it allows us to continue making our art as well as inspire others to do the same. 
Have a Happy New Year!  I wish you good health, abundant joy and creative fulfillment.  (And that I see you in person at the theatre!)  In the meantime, please continue to take good care of yourself and others.

With Love and Gratitude,

Johnny

Johnny Clark
Artistic Director
Vs. Theatre Company & The Vs. Studio
www.vstheatre.org
www.thevsstudio.blog
M: 323.816.2471

“We have a strategic plan — it’s called doing things.” -Herb Kelleher, founder and former CEO of Southwest Airlines

“I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion. ‘” -Muhammad Ali

Ever look back at on all the things you used to stress about when you were young–taking that test, writing that term paper, calling that girl or guy on the phone and asking them out (gulp), going on your first job interview, etc…–and thinking how easy those things seem compared to your life now? To the many challenges you’ve faced or are currently facing?

Yes, some of that’s perspective.

But I think the other part is this…much like training for anything, the more hard things you do, the more equipped you are to handle harder things. So when you reflect on your past, It’s not that those things weren’t difficult, they absolutely were. At the time. But because you’ve continued to live your life, you’ve continued to do hard things, you’ve built up your grit, capacity and skill, those things seem easier.

All this to say…don’t run from the inevitable challenges that life throws your way. Any chance you get to do something hard, especially if it’s aligned with what you want and even sometimes when it’s not, do it.

The more hard things you do, the more hard things you can do.