Family Problems are Universal

Thoughts on Curious Frog's Production of Rope of Sands by Toni Seger

ACTOR'S PERSPECTIVE....

As an actor, auditioning can feel like a full-time job. Soon after I wake up in the morning, I read all the casting notices in my email inbox. Once that's done, I make some phone calls, search jobs at the Actors' Equity building, and then of course, prepare for auditions.

Most of the time, I see roles that are specifically marked for white actors, while other times the following message is placed as a footnote: “Performers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to attend.”Such a notice would give an actor reason to believe that the casting director is interested in assembling a diverse cast. I, along with other performers of color, respond accordingly and audition for these parts.

Months pass, however, and when these roles are finally cast, they usually go to Caucasian performers despite the call for actors of all colors. I respect the vision of the people who made these decisions – the playwright, director, producer, casting director and others – and no one should be forced to cast a show in any way other than how they see fit.

On the other hand, I applaud the theatre companies that take risks in casting. I believe the rewards for these risks include the advancement of art in showing the universality in human problems and experiences.Additionally, non-traditional casting enables underrepresented performers to show the range of their talents in works from William Shakespeare to Tennessee Williams and beyond.

I am thankful to Curious Frog Theatre Company for the opportunity I had these past couple of months to perform in the play Rope of Sands by Toni Seger. Director, Renee Rodriguez had a vision to cast this upper-class family as interracial even though the play had been performed previously with Caucasian actors.Ms. Seger enthusiastically agreed and was so supportive of the production.

My character Peter is the kind of role I have wanted to play for a while – a young professional, educated, sophisticated, but with deeper layers of alcoholism, family strife and an out-of-this-world ego.

While I take pride in the roles I've played previously (which include parts in everything from comedies to slave dramas), the diverse casting of Rope of Sands is very contemporary and necessary in this age of Obama.There are affluent African American and multiracial families dealing with the same troubles as successful white families and while this play never explicitly says that, it more importantly shows it.

The lack of mention of race brings to mind the film, Things We Lost in the Fire, which stars Benicio Del Toro and Halle Berry as husband and wife. In that film, the ethnicity of the family is never brought up. Similarly, my biracial character in Rope of Sands never says, “Hey Dad, you're black,” or “Hey cousin, you're white,” but what this play does highlight is that this family's troubles are relatable to families of all ethnic backgrounds.

I thoroughly enjoyed bringing Seger's work to life under the direction of Rodriguez as well as working with my fellow cast (Barry Phillips and Angela Sharp) and the talented crew.

I hope more theatre companies will follow the “leaps” Curious Frog has made in its mission of non-traditional casting. I believe that is the way forward.

-DeSean Stokes

"Forsake thy cage, thy rope of sands..."

PLAYWRIGHT'S PERSPECTIVE....

Thoughts on Curious Frog's production of Rope of Sands

by Toni Seger

At the time I wrote this play, I never would have imagined it being produced with a mixed race cast, but it works beautifully and adds layers for the audience to ponder. The bias I wrote about was financial. Meredith makes less money than her uncle and cousin and all of their communications with her are colored (small pun intended), by that bias. Adding the element of race, however, compounds the questions it raises. The fact that race is never mentioned in the script also works well. There’s no reason why it would, in this case, when the focus is the effect of a family suicide that is not race based.

As I got to know Renee Rodriquez, I wondered if she might want to approach the claustrophobic suburban world in which Rope of Sands exists with a mixed race cast, but I assumed Meredith would be the character with dark skin. Renee turned the tables on me by making Meredith white, with all the ironies that choice brings, and the beauty of the casting illustrates that an unconscious bias can appear in any form.

I’ve created a lot of characters, but Meredith is one that’s always stayed with me. When I write, I become the conduit for the passions of my characters and I let them speak for themselves (which makes alcohol helpful because it loosens their tongues and they start saying things they’d normally sit on). I created Meredith for all the folks who wish they’d said the thing they didn’t dare say, at the last family gathering they didn’t want to attend…

Frustration is a good dramatic driver for me and frustration is the underlying emotion that drives Rope of Sands. It’s the frustration of people who desperately want and need to connect with each other, but keep failing at it without realizing the role they play in sabotaging things.

I’m thrilled that the feedback has been so enthusiastic and I’m very proud of this production. I’m also very moved at the seriousness and commitment with which everyone involved approached it. A playwright could not hope for more than to have their work treated with respect by the talented people tasked with interpreting it.

Amantrya: A Sad Goodbye

We have quite a celebration planned this Sunday. We will be closing a tremendous show. Our Midsummer Night's Dream: The Scavengers will perform for the last time at Inwood Hill Park. Afterward we'll perform a great ritual in the world of theatre: The Cast Party.

This particular event, for this particular play, will be a difficult one. It is rare to have experienced what I believe this cast did--a collaboration of perfectly combined actors, a synergy beyond that one normally feels, even with the best of casts. Our reviewers have been incredibly zealous in their praise, and our audience have posted laudatory comments all over their and our Facebook walls. It's that good of a show. Biased or no, I'll stand behind that statement 100%.

In spite of the varied levels of experience on stage, the obvious truth is that there is so much talent up there it's humbling. At least, it always has been for me. There were times during our rehearsal period when I was thankful I had plenty of experience behind me, because this was a cast deserving of a knowledgeable leader. It was a joy to educate, guide, and be inspired further by this group of individuals.

Imagine, if you are an actor, that you've been told to come to callbacks memorized and wearing clothing you don't plan to ever wear again. And then imagine being that actor, arriving with folks you don't know, being taught how to safely beat the crap out of each other and roll all over the dirty ground, and then told, "Aaaand....Go." Over and over and over again.

Or that you are handed a script, assigned some roles, and then told you have 10 minutes to show this scene, and hey, use the park's tree leavings and such as your props. Good luck, see you in 10.

Now imagine you are the director, staring at folks who are already good enough--and pretty much ready--to open the damn show. All before it's even cast.

But that's not what's hard to say goodbye to. And the thing is, I truthfully already had to say goodbye before we opened. Three weeks of rehearsals were what I really had to let go of. Actors who for the first week, took to the words of my adapted script and the language exercises and analysis, sitting on their butts; then for two weeks, tumbling around in the dirt and grass of several parks every single humid day; then for the final week, fairies meet and remember lovers who meet and remember mechanicals--14 people newly re-introduced, but this time with a whole lotta imagination behind them, to execute and show off and bring together. Oh, and then to add in "the forgotten scenes"--those moments here and there, large and small, which needed all the actors at once and were only visited and created 2-3 days before opening.

THAT'S what I found hardest to say goodbye to. I was singing on my way to rehearsals every single day. My step was light, my laughter easy. And I had to let go of 3 hours spent every day this summer, directing pure magic.

So I think I always knew we had a great show. Better yet, I suspected and found out we had an amazing ensemble. When you know who you want to cast, but can't decide where to put them because they'd each be brilliant in 2-3 different roles.....well, that's a freakin' FABulous problem to have.

Our lovers are certified combatants; and how often I've heard from folks that it's the best "lover's scene" they've ever seen in any Midsummer shows you how dynamic these actors (Angela Sharp, Alex Gould, Brandi Bravo & Andrew Sanford) are, especially with the choreography of Rocio Mendez. I mean come on, when you have a badass fighter like her allowed free reign, you're gonna see some pretty cool stuff.

Our fairies (yes, yes, they're pretty close to naked--and in perfect shape) do their own brand of tumbling and magic...nobody can take their eyes off of this Puck because she's mesmerizing; and I swear if my Oberon adds one more back-handspring-flippy-twisty-aerial-impressive acrobatic move to the sequence we already have in there, I'm just going to have a heart attack for his safety. But, of course, it's all in regular stride and easy as pie for that guy--whose acting moments also deepen with each show.

These mechanicals have forever endeared themselves to me. A motli-er crew you've never seen, and the interrelationships are fabulous, funny, and truly inventive. I daresay I've never seen a better Quince, and our Bottom is always one of our audience members' favorites in the show, and our Flute brings out some of the audience's heartiest laughter. But I think the truth is, it's hard for me to decide if our very stout Snout is my favorite, with his sporadic glimpses of frivolity; or our wide-eyed Snug, esp once she dons the cutest Lion's mask I swear I've ever seen. And I have a particular fondness for our Starveling, who in her simplicity has created the most memorable Moonshine I believe I'll ever experience--complete with an adorable hop on her final exit.

So, this will be a bittersweet closing for me--and I suspect for all of these actors as well. Oh, sure, we all have our next projects lined up and ready to plunge straight into; but if we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that while we are always looking forward, this will have been an experience we'll always look back on and wish we could relive even just one of the many priceless, honest, unforgettable moments we created together.

And so I say "Amantrya" to this cast I love so well, bidding them farewell...if only for a short time. Because now these folks are high on the Curious Frog's list!

Assisting the Maids

Now that spring is here I find myself dining outdoors with friends quite often. Why, just the other day I found myself catching up with a friend while having brunch al fresco. I was telling him about my experience so far working on this French play called The Maids and he gave a little laugh. I asked "what’s so funny?" and he mentioned how Genet was an interesting playwright. Yes, as anyone who knows Genet’s works will attest to...but that got me thinking about how interesting this particular production actually is.

When you think of this classic French play written by Jean Genet, the team I'm working with is not the one that comes to mind. I think what makes this production of The Maids so different from some of the works we often see in the city is that it’s not about the people themselves, but rather about the characters and script. You have two actresses cast as sisters who look nothing alike, but you wouldn’t know that in rehearsals, an exquisite Madame who is in fact a man, and this drama is all coming together under the skilled direction of a woman with great comedic timing. This is a multicultural and female-dominated production, which is what makes it so exciting.

Now this is my first time working on a Curious Frog production, and the company’s mission of hiring people in roles that you wouldn’t normally hire them in is to be applauded. I myself am half Asian and you really have to go deep into the team’s bench to find someone who is a Caucasian male. Nothing against Caucasians or males, I myself am half and all male, but it’s interesting because we’re all minorities, and that’s not the relevant thing to the production. In rehearsals we’re constantly working on the minds of the characters and on the workings of the play. Yes, we’ve seen men in women's clothing and unfortunately time and again minorities as maids, but as French sister maids who dress up as their Madame in order to perform a ceremony in their attempt to overcome oppression? I think not! It adds more layers to these already interesting characters.

I will say as the assistant director of this production I’ve been put into the rare position of learning more about the female mind due to often being the lone male in the room. Now that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does make for some interesting rehearsals. Just the other evening I listened in on a discussion about the milkman which turned into which hunky male celebrity he was in their minds. Even though the team is diverse culturally it seemed clear that all the ladies could agree on the hotness of George Clooney.

So that little laugh that my friend gave about the interesting-ness of the playwright is just a smidgen of how interesting seeing the show will be. This is a unique team putting together a production of a very interesting play from a very interesting playwright making the performances of The Maids not to be missed.

- Don Etheridge, Assistant Director


Curious Frog Theatre Company's production of "The Maids" opens April 24th and runs through May 8th in a loft in Chelsea, 7:30pm curtain Wed-Sun. www.curiousfrog.org to learn more about the production. Tickets sold through Brown Paper Tickets.

A Long Way to Come a Short Way Correctly: Picking Our 2010 Season

In early September, what was last year two people deciding what plays we should do, this year became eight people plus 23 submissions. And so with our multiplied voices sitting in a large room with gluten-free brownies and brown bag lunches, we voted for our top picks quickly, then debated that short list for another three hours. One of us was in London, one of us was texting from a set of all-day auditions, and six of us were trading a microphone around as we spoke to ensure that our London member heard everything.

Our resident stage manager, Laura Gomez, shares: "We had been instructed to pick our top six favorites, which was a difficult process because we had 22 intriguing and widely differing proposals to choose from. The discussion that ensued was critical, passionate, and even heated at times….Everything from amplification in the parks to venue suggestions were hashed out. But most importantly, we had to ensure that the plays chosen for the upcoming season were in line with the Curious Frog mission statement. We had to make sure that we weren't simply throwing actors of colors into roles for the sake of using them, but that we had a well-thought-out idea of what message we would send by using these actors."

Marie Morrow, Curious Frog’s resident movement director, notes that “what's so special to me about this particular group of artists is that we are varied in our given vocations, and we all bring a very different perspective on any given choice of material. It was important for all of us to weigh in, because when we combine someone who is a thinker, and someone who moves, and someone who feels, and someone who plans, etc... that is when a season that is well-rounded and intriguing can be built.”

In June, I had put out a listing through various channels, asking for submissions for our 2010 season. We knew we wanted a spring ticketed show, a fall ticketed show, and then of course our free summer Shakespeare tour in the NYC parks. For most of us, it was the first time going through this process, and for the company, it was definitely our first go at breaking down the variety of proposals we received.

This being New York, and in spite of the fact that we encouraged traditional titles with unique concepts, we received a lot of new plays. While we were open to them, we quickly realized that none of these particularly fit our mission. We found ourselves debating that point, as well as the quality of the written proposals themselves, continuing into venues, budgets ... the whole shebang. A few times we had a play everyone wanted to do that only one person passionately stood against, and we had plenty of times where enough people were able to articulate why a title should be included that the disinterested were swung in favor.

Our long-time publicist, Patrick Doolin, shares: “I remember a few submissions that didn't excite some of us at first, but after reading the proposals and moving to the scripts with fresh eyes, we recognized new potential in each one. Likewise, there were some works that excited us initially that proved to have limited potential once we carefully considered them against our mission. Selecting the season made us put our money where our mouth is: if we want audiences to see plays with a new perspective, then we have to challenge our own perspectives.”

In the end, we knew we wanted Tracy Francis to direct with us and though we liked her submission very much, we didn't love it. We asked her to look at our short list of titles we thought she'd be interested in, and she ended up very excited about Albee, who had come up several times in the meeting as a possibility. So, we start our April 2010 with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which thrills us to no end. Multicultural casting inside of these iconic characters and a truly unconventional performance space (stay tuned to find out) ensures that the entire company is thrilled with working on this gin-soaked favorite.

I was personally surprised and delighted that my own proposal for the summer Shakespeare was well-received and enthusiastically chosen. My adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is sure to be an extremely robust, physical romp in the NYC parks' trees ... and are those faeries we see? It will also be our first show that will feature more of our company members ON the stage, instead of behind it.

But imagine how especially excited we are to have a second ticketed show this year. On October 9th, we'll open Naomi Wallace's Slaughter City. Director Jillian Johnson brought us a proposal that truly fit into the spirit of what we do. Her proposal also engendered a lengthy debate amongst the Frog members: if we already have prescribed multicultural casting, is it really upholding our mission statement to cast multiculturally in roles where it isn't normally done? Our resident properties designer, Chelsea Chorpenning, reacts: “When I read the proposal for Slaughter City I was struck by its emotional intensity, visceral design and focus on issues that echoed Curious Frog’s mission statement. It presents a challenge to the normal theatre experience and is written by a woman, which is what CFTC is all about. There are many plays that would have been great additions to our next season, but in the end, it came down to our mission to provide a stage for non-traditional performance that made us choose such a dynamic line-up for our 2010 season.” At the end of the day, after some time spent with Ms. Johnson over a cup of coffee, I will tell you this--the importance of showing the diverse faces of our country’s blue collar workers in such a raw, unconventional setting encapsulates the essence of what Curious Frog stands for. We are thrilled to bring this expanding work to our patrons, and as always, can hardly wait to hear the feedback on such an explosive work.

And, as Laura says, "[a]fter several hours of debate and collaboration, the Curious Frog Theatre Company's 2010 season was born and I am anxious to share the exciting news with my friends and all our Frog fans!" I'm with you, Laura.

- Renee Rodriguez

To learn more about our season, and to be informed of our special events and features around these exciting directors and productions, join our mailing list at www.curiousfrog.org.

“It is not what they profess but what they practice that makes them good” - A Greek Proverb

I used to hate it in elementary school when teachers assigned us to do a project on our family heritage. The Italian kids would come in with some amazing pasta dish, the Chinese kids with their kimonos, the Russian kids with those nesting dolls that fit into each other. And then there was me, about 1/4 Irish, and then 1/8 of each German, Scottish, French Canadian, Austrian, Native American, and English, with not a clue of what to bring to school. It seemed everyone had a cool culture that they were a part of with souvenirs to show, songs to sing, and food to eat. The coolest cultural thing my family did was wear green on St. Patrick's Day.

To curb this feeling of not belonging to a particular heritage, I went to Fairfield University, in Connecticut, also known as a “small, rich, Catholic school,” or “J.Crew U.,” or quite bluntly, a school for “white kids only.”

But then, I moved to NYC. All my friends were suddenly very different from me and very proud of their heritage. Again, I felt that uncoolness I experienced as a second grader. I felt average for being straight-up plain American. And now I'm miraculously included in this theatre company whose mission is to diversify casts and blend cultures. There's Larissa from Brazil, Nick from Hong Kong, Leo whose parents are straight off the boat from Greece, Lauren from St. Louis, who is pretty much my first black friend, Renee with her inherited Latino feistiness, Sergio who speaks Spanish at home with his family. And then there's me...who wears green on St. Patrick's Day.

But I've since grown out of those feelings. If an elementary school teacher asked me to do a project on my family heritage now – I'd tell her to go check out Plutus. My new family and my new home is here in New York, and my new culture is a blend of my life as a working actor in the most diverse city. Because here I’ve found that I’m not just average. I’m not just defined as a white girl. I am actually the manifestation of what our city - and our company - represents. I am a melting pot of many cultures. I am diverse.

Just as each actor and crew member brings a different culture to the table, I am bringing those seven different cultures from my ancestors, and my newfound New York City culture. In embracing that, I can really go to the extremes with cultural references in our adaptation of Plutus. It has been so much fun to make Greek references in Astoria Park. They loved it when I mispronounced “mousaka” (yes, on purpose, only because I honestly, truly, cannot pronounce the word), and told a character “Voulusette,” which means “Put a sock in it!” And the predominately Latino audience in Inwood Park roared with laughter when Sergio’s guitar-playing character breaks twice to complain in Spanish.

Curious Frog is a company that accurately represents New York City – the company is a melting pot of cultures, comprised of a cast and crew who represent ideas from all over the world traveling to all corners of the city. How fitting for a NYC theatre company to represent the dynamic of its city's population and history. We are able to take risks with our work, to expose people to cultures other than their own, and to truly embrace collaboration in its most diverse potential.

The awesome thing about our summer "traveling troupe" is that we perform in the different boroughs of the city - playing to audiences of different races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. Every park has its own unique culture, and here we are an ensemble of many different cultures, working together. I can only hope that every park recognizes this collaboration - and maybe they too will branch out into a new park as we have done.

I have been feeling so truly, uniquely American lately that I might not wear green this St. Patrick's Day...

- Jodie Pfau plays Cario in Curious Frog's summer family show, Plutus, which closes Saturday, September 19th at Queensbridge Park in Queens. www.curiousfrog.org for details.

There's Something About Plutus

I spent the bulk of the summer in rehearsals for an outdoor production of Aristophanes’ ancient Greek comedy, Plutus, and it seems that wherever our cast rehearsed, a crowd was never too far away. Over the course of the summer months I came to the realization that there was, in fact, something about Plutus that drew and continues to draw people in. Maybe it was the lure of the instruments we played or the attention-grabbing fight scenes, but nearly every rehearsal we found ourselves in performance for a crowd of interested spectators.

For me, the most important "crowd" we drew was at an early evening rehearsal in Central Park. Jodie Pfau (who plays the role of Cario) and I were working on scenes with our director, Whitney Aronson, when we attracted the attention of two young girls, one white and one black. The girls appeared to be around seven or eight years old and as Jodie and I (one of us white and one of us black) rehearsed, the two girls sat watching--captivated. The similarity of our pairings was impossible not to notice--Jodie and I even joked that the two girls could have been the two of us 15 years prior. As we continued to rehearse, I couldn't help but think of myself as I looked into the wide eyes of one of our young spectators.

When I was a child, the idea of becoming an actor was very far away for me for a number of reasons: I lived in St. Louis, MO and not New York City; I was black; I was too young; I didn't know where to start; and I rarely saw anyone who looked like me actually on a stage--and never in a classical theatrical production. Who knows whether the young black girl who sat and watched our rehearsal that day wants to be actress; it really doesn't matter. What she and her friend saw during our rehearsal is exactly what I love best about Curious Frog Theatre Company. Curious Frog gives its collaborators freedom to break the rules and make new ones. Similarly, I expect and hope that watching us rehearse for those few minutes gave those little girls the courage to do the same in whatever it is that their young minds can imagine.

For me, doing a Curious Frog production pairs the joy and challenge of performing outdoor theater with the satisfaction that comes with introducing young people to something new and exciting that may not have been part of their world before. Many of the faces in our audiences have held the same wide-eyed wonder and excitement of that 8-year-old little girl, and after the shows we are thanked for introducing someone to outdoor theater, to Greek comedy, to the classics.

Every weekend my fellow actors and I push our voices, push our bodies, endure sweat, dirt, and inclement weather to bring the fantastical world of Plutus to life. In that world, anything is possible: an economy can crumble in a matter of days, the blind can see, slaves are superheroes and gods are guitarists. By depicting that fantasy world we have in turn pulled a new reality into focus for the young people in our audiences. In between the adapted words of Aristophanes is the message that the possibilities for those young children of color are limitless. And the privilege of delivering that message is worth all of the sweat, dirt, and thunderstorms in the world.

--Lauren Ashley Smith

Lauren Ashley Smith has performed in two Curious Frog productions: "Comedy of Errors" in 2007, and now "Plutus", which can be seen the next two Saturdays at 4pm. For more info, please go to www.curiousfrog.org.