The Vs. Studio Blog

“I’m probably more personal when I’m acting than at any other time. More open, more direct. Because it allows me to be something that I can’t always feel comfortable with when I’m living my own life, you know? Because it’s make-believe.” -Phillip Seymour Hoffman

I’m not exactly sure why this is, but the more personal you make your art, the more universal it becomes.

Perhaps it’s because the audience can feel the investment of self, the authenticity of the work and the risk that was taken. The more the artist risks, the more the audience (and they do so subconsciously) opens their hearts, minds and souls to the art. That goes for the writer as well as the actor.

A friend relayed this story to me about the late, great Phillip Seymour Hoffman…

One night after a performance Mr. Hoffman was asked by some students his “secret” to acting. His response:

“Personalize! Personalize! Personalize!” And then (I’m paraphrasing this next part)…”You have to find a way to take everything personally.”

In every beat, every possible moment, make it personal. Take it personally! Act as if it’s happening to YOU now. It is. Risk! Let us in. We so badly want to go with you on the ride.

P.S. – I was inspired to write this post after a beautiful, magical Vs. Tuesday Night Reading of Paula Vogel’s “How I Learned To Drive.” Everyone from playwright to sponsor to director to cast made it personal. Bravo, Bravissimo! to all involved.

Nothing makes me happier than when someone tells me they were positively impacted by one of these posts. So you can imagine my level of joy when my good friend and active reader of this blog, Jason, aka “Sgt. Hulka”, (Can you guess the classic 80’s comedy reference?) emailed me a “guest blogger” post for me to use however I see fit. It’s a beautiful post. Here it is unedited, below. Enjoy!….

Mentorship is one of those things that can happen in any job, at any age, and at any stage of life.  But you do have to ask for it, and that might just turn out to be the heaviest weight you ever pick up.  But once you take that action, you will unlock a unique part of life that can’t be quantitatively measured.  After all, how do you put a value on someone who says “Make no mistake. I don’t care where you come from, I don’t care what color you are, I don’t care how smart you are, I don’t care how dumb you are, ’cause I’m gonna teach every last one of you how to eat, sleep, walk, talk, shoot, and shit”?  (I actually said that to some new recruits I was training for a new job).  Mentors come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes you don’t even know – a mentor could be in the room with you right now as you read this.  You may not like them at first, but if you hear them later on refer to you as their Uncle, well then you know you’ve made an impact. -Sargeant Hulka, United States Army

Thank you Sargeant for these words of wisdom. I hope we get more posts from you. And anyone else out there…if you’re so inclined and want to write a “guest post”, I would love it!

Another post inspired by George Saunders excellent book “A Swim in a Pond in the Rain”…

One reason Saunders focuses on the classic Russian writers in his class at Syracuse, besides their excellence of craft, is that they weren’t afraid to “ask the big questions.” There’s a weight and depth to their stories. They’re epic in scale and scope. You can feel them wrestling with these questions at every turn. The degree of difficulty they’re pursuing in their art is off the charts.

If you’re looking for some writing inspiration, it might be helpful to pose the following “big” questions (I cut and paste them directly from Saunders’ book) to yourself and your characters:

(1) How are we supposed to be living down here?

(2) What were we put here to accomplish?

(3) What should we value?

(4) What is truth, anyway, and how might we recognize it?

(5) How can we feel any peace when some people have everything and others have nothing?

(6) How are we supposed to live with joy in a world that seems to want us to love other people but then roughly separates use from them in the end, no matter what?

Put your characters in a room and see how they duke these questions out. This might just be the fuel for your next play or story or novel. (And perhaps for your own life’s work.)

“Years ago, on the phone with Bill Buford, then fiction editor of The New Yorker, enduring a series of painful edits, feeling a little insecure, I went fishing for a compliment: ‘But what do you like about the story?’ I whined. There was a long pause at the other end. And Bill said this: ‘Well, I read a line. And I like it…enough to read the next.” -George Saunders, book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain

As an artistic director of a theatre company, I often get asked some variation of this question: “What do you look for in a script?”

The short answer: “Make me want to keep turning pages.”

George Saunders recently published an excellent book entitled “A Swim In The Pond In The Rain” about what makes for compelling literature. Based on his class at Syracuse University, he dissects several classic Russian short stories and breaks down exactly why we want to keep reading them. I highly recommend it (h/t to my friend Ron for recommending it to me).

“Make it compelling” isn’t just for writing. It’s for all the arts. For example…

If you’re an actor, be so filled up that the audience has to keep watching.

If you’re a musician, make a song and album that’s unpredictable, that the audience has to keep listening to.

If you’re a director, craft a play or film that people are riveted to stay in their seats.

Especially now with so many distractions, so many things competing for our time and attention, whatever you’re trying to do, you must make it compelling for others. (Easier said that done, I know. But it’s still true.)

So how do you do that?

Well….Start with yourself. Be your own toughest critic. Be brutally honest. Are you compelled with your art throughout? If not, where and why? Don’t stop revising until you fully get there. (Saunders book will give lots of useful insight to help). If need be, engage a trusted friend or colleague who will also shoot you straight.

Chances are if you’re compelled, we’ll be too. (And if not, you can rest knowing that at least you compelled yourself.)

A special shout to two friends and artists, Sasha Hawkes and Amy Marcs, who’ve formed Gladiolus Media, “a female owned production company that focuses on true and personal stories.” They met in our Vs. Studio Solo Performing and Writing Workshop taught by Paul Stein. For the last year or so in these workshops, they and other artists have explored their personal stories, journeys and vulnerabilities and courageously shared them on our Tuesday Night Readings.

Desiring to go deeper and share these stories in a live setting, Sasha and Amy have produced “Iron Skirt Stories.”, three live evenings “that feature eight women sharing ten minutes of courageous, funny, brilliant and resilient true stories.” Not surprisingly all three evenings are sold out. But I have a feeling there will be more to come. Make sure to follow them on Instagram Here.

In the meantime, tonight is opening night. Woot! Woot! Let’s wish them well…

Break legs Sasha and Amy and Carole and Madelynn and Martha and Robin and Cara and Karen. We’re all super proud of you and are rooting for you big time!

“Let me tell you this, the older you do get the more rules they’re gonna try to get you to follow. You just gotta keep livin’ man, L-I-V-I-N.” -Wooderson as played by Matthew McConaghey in Richard Linklater’s film, Dazed And Confused

Speaking of mantra’s, I think the Stoics would dig Wooderson’s “just keep livin’.” Like any great mantra, it says so much without saying so much.

How about this one?…

Just Keep Lovin’. L-O-V-I-N.

I think Aquinas would dig it, don’t you?

P.S. – This scene and this scene.

“The world is violent and mercurial–it will have its way with you. We are saved only by love–love for each other and the love that we pour into the art we feel compelled to share: being a parent; being a writer; being a painter; being a friend. We live in a perpetually burning building, and what we must save from it, all the time, is love.” -Tennessee Williams

Sometimes a quote is so damn good that you should just step aside and not write anything else about it. Let it stand alone. That’s how I feel about the above one from Tenn.

What I will write is that the quote is from the book “Follies Of God”, a conversation with Tennesseee Williams and James Grissom.

And the quote was retold beautifully in the magnificent documentary “The Last Movie Stars” which is about Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward’s careers and marriage. Directed by Ethan Hawke. I highly recommend it.

P.S. – This podcast episode.

Well, we all need someone we can lean on
And if you want it, you can lean on me. -“Let It Bleed” song by The Rolling Stones

Mantras are powerful antidotes to suffering and difficult times.

Think of AA’s “One Day At A Time.”

Or…

Abraham Lincoln, who suffered numerous tragedies, struggled with depression, and led our country through its darkest period, had this one: “This Too Shall Pass.”

Or…

My dad, who’s struggling with some fairly serious health issues at the moment (and will probably be pissed at me for writing about him), has this one: “We’ll Get Through It.”

No matter the events of the day, no matter the problem, no matter how bad the news or prognosis, all his life he always says it back to me. “We’ll Get Through It.” And he’s right. We will get through it.

The key word in this phrase?

“We’ll.”

No one does it alone. We all need someone we can lean on. Whether it’s family or friends, if you’re struggling with something right now, don’t be afraid to reach out.

Just want you to know…

You’ll Get Through It.

We’ll Get Through It.

“Among the maxims on Lord Naoshige’s wall there was this one: ‘Matters of great concern should be treated lightly.’ Master Ittei commented, ‘Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.” -Excerpt from Hakagure, The Book Of The Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Translated by William Scott Wilson

“Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” —St. Francis of Assisi.

“Act without doing;
Work without effort.
Think of the small as large
And the few as many.
Confront the difficult
While it is still easy;
Accomplish a great task
By a series of small acts.

The Master never reaches for the great;
Thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn’t cling to her own comfort;
Thus problems are no problems for her.” -Verse 63 of The Teo Te Ching by Lao-Tzu, Translated by Stephen Mitchell

The greatest tool is your producer toolkit is the work plan. It reduces any production, no matter how ambitious, to a series of small, actionable steps with a set deadline. You can actually use this tool for any goal or most problems. Before fear and procrastination set in, get out a pen and paper (or spreadsheet) and start listing all the things you could and should do. Be very granular. Break tasks into micro tasks. Set realistic deadlines. And then do one, small thing.

You’ll feel great and have momentum on your side.

And then do it again.

And again.

And again.

Before you know it, you’ll be doing the “impossible.”

Oh, and if the thought of doing this is too much work, then you should ask yourself if the goal or problem is really that big or important after all.

“Character is fate.” -Heraclitus

“Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss.” -Lou Mannheim played by Hal Holbrook in the film, Wall Street

“We kept our rep, bro.” -Sue played by Alex Van Horn in the film, Swingers

Well, who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Tell me who are you? (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?)
Because I really want to know (Who are you? Who, who, who, who?) -“Who Are You?”, song by The Who

Reputation is what people say about you.

Character is who you really are.

So, who are you? Do you truly know?