Back to the Stage with American Conservatory Theatre
I never anticipated taking such a long break from theatre. After all, for most of my early 20s I identified primary as "a theatre person" and often jumped from one show directly into the next. It didn't matter that most days I began work at 6:30 in the morning; the thrill of a show powered me like no other through rehearsals that ended at 10 or 11 o'clock at night.
But, life takes you in strange directions, and before I knew it, what began as a brief hiatus from the stage (while I worked evenings on-air at KVIE Public Television) became an extended vacation from live performance. Late last year I turned around and discovered that it had been seven full years since I'd done a show! Ok, well that's not entirely true. I had the brief pleasure of participating in a staged reading in 2014, alongside the talented Native American actor Michael Horse. But still! How had the years flown by so fast?
With the turn of the new year I decided that this would be my year of re-entry into the theatre world. I would jump back into the fray with vigor and big, bold choices, and I would make it happen. And guess what?
I've been cast in American Conservatory Theatre's Fellowship Project! Running for one week only (April 19-22) at ACT's Costume Shop Theater, it will feature two mind-bending, dystopian one-act plays. I'm playing the character Rosemary in Brainpeople by José Rivera, which actually had its world premiere in 2008 at ACT. This role is what my old acting teacher would call "actor frickin' CANDY." See, Rosemary has dissociative identity disorder, which means that over the course of the show I will play not just her, but 11 other very distinct personalities, or "alters." WHAT?! Yes. Yes yes yes. When it rains from the theatre heavens, it POURS!
We begin rehearsals tonight! Interested in seeing the show? Here are some deets:
The 2018 Fellowship Project
Thursday, April 19th at 7pm
Friday, April 20th at 7pm
Saturday, April 21st at 2pm
Saturday, April 21st at 7pm
Sunday, April 22nd at 2pm
Where: ACT’s Costume Shop Theater - 1117 Market Street, San Francisco.
FREE OF CHARGE
About the show: The "Fellowship Project" will consist of two one-act plays - "Far Away" by Caryl Churchill and "Brainpeople" by Jose Rivera
About "Brainpeople": In almost-apocalyptic Los Angeles, an orphaned heiress invites two strangers into her penthouse apartment for an eccentric feast. What starts off as an odd evening, devolves into chaos, as the splintering minds of these three women begin to show their cracks. Surrounding the apartment, a catastrophic incomprehensible “war” rages. What kind of war? We have no idea. Who is it between? We can only guess. We get snippets of information: checkpoints on every block, torture of political dissidents, private armies owned by the wealthy and riots with people shouting “eat the rich.” Brainpeople is an engrossing descent into the inner realms of three isolated women, who although distinct, share defining traumatic moments and the desire to seek connection in a world of chaos, violence and apathy. Award-winning playwright, José Rivera, uses his distinct lyricism and fearless imagination to plunge us into a dystopian world, not too far from our own.
About "Far Away": In a world very much like our own, hat makers labor at extravagant masterpieces. An aunt tells her niece the truth. No one can be trusted—especially not the crocodiles or car salesmen or children under five. In this concise though densely packed authoritarian epic one thing is clear: no one really knows what’s going on.