I love classic American theatre. Don't you? I mean there is something unique and amazing about the words of our friends Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller and...
OK pause.
I need to get something off my chest here. I love me some Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Eugene O'Neill, but I've got a bone to pick with Clifford Odets. Waiting for Lefty was the single most frustrating work I've ever done. Why? Given circumstances.
Given circumstances are just that; the reality dictated by the playwright. They are the clues given in the text which create the world of the play. An actor's job is to discover these circumstances within the text and base their choices on the information they provide. As actors, we cannot change the givens but we can make choices that violate them, which is never pretty. You and I can both tell horror stories of that kid who came to the audition with a monologue from a play he's never read. Really? You're gonna use your angry voice for Puck's closing monologue? You sure? You do know this is in verse right? Oh a southern accent huh? Can't help that can you? I suppose that's...wait, why are you throwing your chair across the room?!
