The Vs. Studio Blog

I was far away, standing in the rain before the sleeping lion of Lucerne, a colossal, noble, stoic lion carved from the rock of a low cliff. The rain fell, obscuring tears. I knew that I would see Sam again somewhere in the landscape of dream, but at that moment I imagined I was back in Kentucky, with the rolling fields and the creek that widens into a small river. I pictured Sam’s books lining the shelves, his boots lined against the wall, beneath the window where he would watch the horses grazing by the wooden fence. I pictured myself sitting at the kitchen table, reaching for that tattooed hand.

A long time ago, Sam sent me a letter. A long one, where he told me of a dream that he had hoped would never end. “He dreams of horses,” I told the lion. “Fix it for him, will you? Have Big Red waiting for him, a true champion. He won’t need a saddle, he won’t need anything.” I headed to the French border, a crescent moon rising in the black sky. I said goodbye to my buddy, calling to him, in the dead of night. -excerpt from the essay “My Buddy” by Patti Smith in The New Yorker

You know what today is don’t you?

It’s Sam Shepard’s birthday! He would’ve been 81 today. Happy birthday to the legend and fellow Scorpio brother.

If you’re looking for a break from today’s maddening and non-stop election news cycle, then why not celebrate Sam and read one of his great plays. Or his book of short stories, poems and monologues, Hawk Moon. Or one of my personal favorites, his quasi-diary of autobiographical reveries, Motel Chronicles.

And for a few minutes of levity, check out this clip of Sam and Patti playing music together. It will make you smile.

“At one point, when [Steve] Martin and [Robin] Williams had been dominating the table, he [Nichols] abruptly said, “Let’s change parts,” and had [Bill] Irwin read Martin’s role and [F. Murray] Abraham read Williams’s. He let the scene play for some time before saying, “Okay, that’s enough.” Martin nodded and said, “I learned a lot” from reading Lucky. Nichols replied, “It’s not so easy, is it?”” -excerpt from the book, Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris

For the actor…

If you’re having trouble figuring out what you want in the scene, trying reading it from the other person’s point of view. Switch roles. Their action might become more obvious to you. With which case you can then just pick an opposing action for your actual character. Presto! Instant conflict and now it’s a fun scene to play and a compelling one to watch.

This is also a great exercise for the director in rehearsals. Mike Nichols used it throughout his career including in his production of Waiting For Godot (excerpt listed above). Just like Steve Martin found out, switching roles can engender empathy throughout the entire ensemble.

Walking in someone’s else’s shoes is never a bad thing. In rehearsals and in life.

And after all, isn’t that why we do and see theatre in the first place? To gain a deeper understanding about the entire human condition.

“There is taste in people, visual taste, taste in emotion — and there is taste in acts, taste in morality. Intelligence, as well, is really a kind of taste: taste in ideas. One of the facts to be reckoned with is that taste tends to develop very unevenly. It’s rare that the same person has good visual taste and good taste in people and taste in ideas.” -Susan Sontag

“Good taste is simply to have a well formed opinion, in accordance with the realities of the Good and the True.” -John Folley

“The way I revise is: I read my own text and imagine a little meter in my head, with “P” on one side (“Positive”) and “N” on the other (“Negative”)… This involves making thousands of what I’ve come to think of as “micro-decisions.” These are instantaneous, intuitive – I just prefer this to that… I just have a feeling and react to that feeling, in the form of a cut phrase, or an added word, or an urge to move this whole section, and so on. And then I do that over and over, for months, sometimes years, until that needle stays up in the “P” zone for the whole length of the text…With each choice, even the smallest ones, the story becomes more and more…well, it becomes more her, you could say. There’s more of her essential nature in it, more of what will distinguish her from all of those other writers out there. And gradually, the story starts to become something she couldn’t have foreseen when she started out – bigger, more complex, smarter, funnier, whatever.” -George Saunders

“When art critics get together they talk about Form and Structure and Meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine.” -Picasso

If you want to develop your talent, first develop your taste. As so much of talent is taste. Knowing what you love and why you love it. And then making what you love.

For more on this, read Brie Wolfson’s excellent essay.

It’s scary to make and then release your art to the world.

But you know what’s even scarier?

Not doing it because you’re afraid of what people might think.

Feel the fear and do it anyway.

Unleash your inner wolf.

A stunningly good poem by Kahlil Gibran that I’ll just let speak for itself…

“Fear”

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.” -Epictetus, Discourses

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing . . . to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” -Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” -Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

A consistent theme of this blog is embracing the Stoic principle that while we don’t control the events of our lives, we do control our outlook on these events. Here’s a story that reinforces this timeless wisdom (h/t to Sahil Bloom’s always excellent Curiosity Chronicle for providing)…

Two salesmen were sent by a shoe manufacturer to a rural part of India to investigate and report back on market potential.
​
The first salesman reported back, “There is no potential here. Nobody wears shoes.”
​
The second salesman reported back, “There is massive potential here. Nobody wears shoes.“

Exact same event.

Two completely different outlooks.

You get to choose.

And it is your choice that dictates everything that comes next.

So, what’s it gonna be? What choice will you make? What path will you take?

Seek trust over attention.

Play the long game.

Keep showing up. Be consistent with your actions. Give generously. Always do your best.

That way, when you have something that you’d like people to pay attention to, they will trust you to do so.

“According to former UCLA basketball players, John Wooden’s practices were considered significantly harder and more intense than the actual games, with many describing game time as a “relief” or “a walk in the park” compared to the demanding nature of his practice sessions; they felt well-prepared for games due to the rigorous drills and focus on fundamentals instilled during practice.” -excerpt from “Remembering John Wooden” article

“When I was teaching basketball, I urged my players to try their hardest to improve on that very day, to make that practice a masterpiece. Too often we get distracted by what is outside our control. You can’t do anything about yesterday. The door to the past has been shut and the key thrown away. You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So make today a masterpiece. You have control over that.” -John Wooden (winner of ten NCAA Basketball Championships including seven in a row)

“If you stay ready, you ain’t got to get ready.” -Suga Free

One way to know if you’re truly ready for the moment, is that you can’t wait to get out there. Yes you’re nervous, but more so than that, you’re bursting with enthusiasm. You can’t wait to take the stage (or play the game, take the test, give the speech, etc.)

You’ve prepared. You’ve left no stone unturned. You’ve done the work.

Now it’s time to let go, have fun and leave it all out there.

Make it your masterpiece.

P.S. – “It’s the details…”

P.P.S. – H/t to my friend Andy for the Suga Free quote and this video.

Speaking of communicating….

You can dress up like a ghost for Halloween.

But don’t be a ghost in real life.

A good rule of thumb…If you have to deliver bad news, then tell them in person or call them. Don’t do it over email or text. Or worse, ghost them.

And if you’re producing something and people aren’t getting back to you…don’t freak out, don’t get upset, don’t take it personally. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Breathe.

Then, calmly reach out to them one more time. Let them know you haven’t heard from them after several attempts, that you’re concerned, and that you do need to hear back. Even if to just let you know that they’re okay and they received your message.

At the same time, start thinking of a contingency plan. Hopefully it’s just a minor communication blip and you won’t have to engage in this plan B, but either way, you’ll feel better because you’ve taken action.

P.S. – This scene. And this music video. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost.”

So much of producing is communicating. Over-communicating in fact. In a collaborative medium like film or theatre, you will work with a lot of different people and as such, you will be delegating many responsibilities, while setting multiple deadlines. It is vital that you communicate well, early and often.

One thing that you can do right from the start is to know your own communication expectations and then you guessed it, communicate, those expectations to everyone. Do you prefer meetings, phone calls, emails, texts? How much or how little do you want to hear from people and departments? When you reach out to someone, how soon do you want to hear back? Also, ask them what are their preferred or best methods of communication and timeline expectations?

Inevitably you will learn from each other throughout, as communication is a fluid process. But, if you can get it right at the outset, the better your chances of everyone having a great and memorable experience. Which at the end of the day, is what it’s all about.