The Vs. Studio Blog

Some definitions of systems are as follows:

1. 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.
2. A set of things working together as parts of a mechanism or an interconnecting network.
3. A set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized framework or method.
4. A mathematical system (𝑆, ∗) consists of a set 𝑆 with elements 𝑎, 𝑏, 𝑐, 𝑑, … together with a binary operation ∗ that combines any two elements in 𝑆 to create a new element (e.g. 𝑎 ∗ 𝑏, 𝑑∗𝑐,𝑏∗𝑏,etc.). Note that the set 𝑆 can be either finite or infinite.

Notice the commonality in all these definitions. “A set of” something…rules, principles, elements, etc…All organized and working together for some specified outcome.

Systems guide everything, including our own universe.

So it might make intuitive sense to employ system thinking for anything we’re trying to accomplish. Which is just thinking holistically. Thinking of causes and effects. Seeing everything as interconnected. Breaking things down into a series of manageable steps. (Re-read my post about workplans as an example of system thinking.)

Yes, goals are important. They point us in the right direction. To paraphrase Seneca, “If you don’t know which port you’re sailing to, no wind is favorable.” But goals only go so far. Without setting up a system for how we’re going to accomplish something, it won’t get done. Especially on those days when willpower and motivation are running low. Or when life doesn’t seem to be cooperating with our desired schedule.

System thinking is about process. About continually doing something because it’s part of your identity. It’s who you are. “I’m the type of person who does this.” Not for accolades, awards or achievement. Because those things fade.

But systems last forever.

P.S. – This James Clear article does a good job of breaking down system thinking over goal thinking. And provides some excellent examples.

P.P.S. – R.I.P. Michael K. Williams. A truly great actor who you never caught “acting.” I remember my dad calling me one night about about a new show “The Wire”, that I had to watch. He singled out one actor in particular as being so incredibly real. That was Michael K. Williams as “Omar Little.” Listen to this recent podcast with Marc Maron.

“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 free enterprise. That is the indestructible bond that is between us—between all of us Americans: interdependence of interests, privileges, opportunities, responsibilities—interdependence of rights. That is what unites us—men and women of all sections, of all races, of all faiths, of all occupations, of all political beliefs….American workers, American farmers, American businessmen, American church people—all of us together—have the great responsibility and the great privilege of laboring to build a democratic world on enduring foundations. May it be said on some future Labor Day by some future President of the United States that we did our work faithfully and well.” -Excerpt from FDR’s 1941 Labor Day Radio Address

My very first blog post was a short one about the formula for artistic happiness. Here’s that formula again…

Meaningful Work + Meaningful Community = Artistic Happiness.

As we celebrate Labor Day today, let us be thankful for all those who came before us and made tremendous personal sacrifice on our behalf. For as this article shows, it was their risking, their organizing, their striking, their demanding of better working conditions, that those conditions vastly improved and that we could even have a chance at doing meaningful work. Not to mention this national holiday.

So in addition to remembering their efforts, make sure you relax, spend time with family, friends and loved ones and celebrate. Because that’s exactly what those who came before us would want us to do.

Happy Labor Day everyone!

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 been blessed with some good houses and strong reviews. Including this lovely one from an audience member…

I thoroughly enjoyed “Stand Up if You’re Here Tonight.” Jim Ortlieb brought John Kolvenbach’s script to life so completely I was dumbstruck. Part “Godot”, part meta theatre, this production had me laughing so hard I almost cried. I was also deeply touched by the questions the narrator asked the audience. This show was delightful, unusual, and surprising. They are very COVID safe at the theater, so I’d urge you to see this masterful performance and wonderful play. Immediately afterwards I started making plans to come again.

Get your tix here before it ends. Use code “vsally” and your ticket is only $10. We’d love to see and stand up with you!

“Talent renders the whole idea of rehearsal meaningless; when you find something at which you are talented, you do it (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes are ready to fall out of your head. Even when no one is listening (or reading or watching), every outing is a bravura performance, because you as the creator are happy. Perhaps even ecstatic.” -Stephen King, “On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft”

(1) One of the best books ever written about the craft of writing…You get gems like this: “The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”…Buy it. Read it. Get writing!

(2) It takes two…We all need a co-conspirator. No one does it alone. King credits his wife Tabitha for much of his success. He tells a beautiful, inspiring story about just how poor they were, his constant rejection, how much he struggled, wanted to quit, but Tabitha wouldn’t let him. She was all in and behind him no matter what. When you get to the part where they celebrate after “Carrie” is published, you will be weeping with joy.

(3) Watch King’s 2003 National Book Award speech. It’s magnificent. (You can also read the transcript here.)…A little snippet to take us out…

My point is that Tabby always knew what I was supposed to be doing and she believed that I would succeed at it. There is a time in the lives of most writers when they are vulnerable, when the vivid dreams and ambitions of childhood seem to pale in the harsh sunlight of what we call the real world. In short, there’s a time when things can go either way.

That vulnerable time for me came during 1971 to 1973. If my wife had suggested to me even with love and kindness and gentleness rather than her more common wit and good natured sarcasm that the time had come to put my dreams away and support my family, I would have done that with no complaint. I believe that on some level of thought I was expecting to have that conversation. If she had suggested that you can’t buy a loaf of bread or a tube of toothpaste with rejection slips, I would have gone out and found a part time job.

Tabby has told me since that it never crossed her mind to have such a conversation. You had a second job, she said, in the laundry room with my typewriter.

“Live every second. Live right on to the end. Live Wyatt. Live for me.” -Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone

(Hat tip to my friend Ron for recommending this excellent documentary.)

I’ve always loved Val Kilmer as an actor. His performances as Jim Morrison in The Doors and Doc Holliday in Tombstone are in my pantheon. This dying scene has to be an all-time top five. (Not to mention “Iceman” in Top Gun and “Chris Knight” in an underrated 80’s gem, Real Genius.)

Here are three reasons you should watch VAL.

(1) Incredible Footage…Kilmer shot thousands and thousands of hours of footage throughout his life and career. The directors did a remarkable job of editing that footage down to tell this story. As a result, we the viewer get a fascinating and rare “inside baseball” look at the life of an artist.

(2) For Love Of the Art…Sandwiched between his success as a movie star, the film is bookended by footage of Val as a child making home movies with his brothers and then as an older actor, doing his one man show as Mark Twain. In those bookends, you see the absolute joy and love he has for the art.

(3) Commitment To The Craft…All throughout, we see his fierce commitment. Some of my favorite clips are the short films he makes as auditions for parts in movies he didn’t get. He set his ego aside and taped himself even though he wasn’t asked! After watching this, no actor should ever complain about having to audition for a role.

It’s also heartbreaking. Kilmer is in recovery from throat cancer and as part of the treatment, he needed a tracheostomy. At one point, Val admits: “I can’t speak without plugging this hole [in his throat].”

You can watch the movie on Amazon Prime. I look forward to hearing what you think!

Here I am
On the road again
There I am
Up on the stage
Here I go
Playin’ star again
There I go
Turn the page

-Bob Seger from his song, “Turn The Page”

As an Artistic Director of a theatre company, I get asked some form of this question a lot…

“What’s the most important thing you look for in a play?”

My answer is always the same…

“Make me want to keep turning pages.”

The good news…

You have more power than you think.

The bad news (though I actually think it’s also good news or specifically, motivating news)…

It’s later than you think.

What are you waiting for?

Go make your art.

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
‘O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time. -W.H. Auden “As I Walked Out One Evening” poem

Struggling with motivation?

Add a ticking clock. It immediately gives you urgency and stakes.

Just like it does for actors and writers in a scene, it works wonders for anything you’re trying to accomplish. You gotta come through by a certain time or else.

P.S. – Check out this fantastic recording of Dylan Thomas reciting Auden’s “As I Walked Out One Evening” in its entirety.

“You have to know how to fail with happiness on your face. Just keep going. And never, never stop. Keep going.” -Winston Churchill

You’ve decided you want to produce something.

Great.

Don’t expect affirmation. In fact, some will think it’s a bad idea. They’ll question your sanity. They might even try to talk you out of it.

Don’t expect the artists you want and need to collaborate with to be excited about your idea. Even if you have close personal relationships with them and have made great art together in the past, this is something new. You have to get them to see what you see. Ala Robert DeNiro pestering Martin Scorcese relentlessly into making Raging Bull.

Don’t expect there to be a blueprint for how to make it. There are no rules. Or if there are, you might need to get creative with your “rule following.” Read this great interview with Al Ruddy, producer of The Godfather. (He once told a great story at our theatre about how he’d be in the lobby of the hotel where actors were staying. These were actors he wanted to cast in a film he was making. He’d call them up from the lobby phone and ask them if he could send them the script to read. They would agree and he’d say, “Great, I’m in the lobby now. I’ll be right up to your room with a copy of the script.”)

Don’t expect it to be easy.

Don’t expect it to be cheap.

Don’t expect it to be fast.

Don’t expect to be thanked. (Ever, ever, ever.)

Don’t expect to make any money.

Don’t expect any critics to like it.

Don’t expect any audience to show up.

Expect to fail.

You still want to produce?

Great.

You’re ready.

Go make your art.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” -John Lennon

It’s never a good time to produce a play. (Or launch any kind of passion project.) There’s always a holiday coming up or a potential trip or doctor appointment or…whatever. The calendar is never complicit. There’s always a reason not to go forward.

A pandemic is another thing entirely.

But here’s the thing…it’s so rare, especially in a collaborative medium like theatre, when excellence and love come together. Meaning a great play, great artists, all of them available, and all doing it for pure love of the art. When that happens, you gotta answer the call.

As this recent Los Angeles Times article attests, when we decided to move forward with our Vs. production of “Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight”, we thought it’d be a great time. It’d be a celebration of the return of live theatre. One big, happy party!

That certainly hasn’t been the case.

But that’s okay.

We opened. We have a great show that I’m so very proud of. People are showing up and they’re so happy when they leave the theatre.

For that and so many other reasons, it’s all been worth it.

So whatever you’re thinking about, remember…

If not now? When?

P.S. RIP Charlie.