Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been tagged as “Blog”
Improv, if you let it, can function as a training simulator for living your own life. In scripted theatre, aspects of the playwright’s personality, and whatever the playwright’s been chewing on, will manifest in the script. In improv, since you’re always co-creating the piece while you’re performing it, aspects of …
I’m on the phone with a friend. “How are you?” I ask. “I’m so anxious that I can’t sleep. I am so afraid for our country. I can’t stop watching the news.” “Do some yoga, take a bath, and go to bed earlier.” I’m walking my dog, Trigger, and a …
Well, I guess I have to write another blog. If you’re like me, and I hope you’re not in many ways, but also hope you are in many other different ways, you think, “How many blogs will I have to write before I’ve wrung every last drop of wisdom out …
January 19th, nine o’clock in the morning. The weather report predicts six to eight inches of snow. I receive a text from F.A.B.’s Producing Director. (F.A.B. is a branch of The Barrow Group dedicated to writing For, About, and By Women.) “Should we cancel our F.A.B. sharing tonight?” I reply, …
This year, my twice-exceptional child became an adult – one who is happy about his prospects, doing well in his first year of college, has a few very good friends, and experiences love in his life. This future was not an expected outcome just a few years ago. It was …
I’m sitting at my dining room table reflecting back on this year, looking through my 2024 planner. In the margins I have written down the scenes that actors do in class – an extraordinary amount of work. Each class an inspiration. Each class a piece of art. Every class different. …
In this business, you may hear a hundred “No’s” for every “Yes.” Why add more? I don’t know about you, but I’m occasionally surprised by how casting people see me. I most often play the doctor or the dad, and over the years I’ve become the grandad. Nice guys. I’ve …
The Barrow Group’s production of John Yearley’s Triptych closed this week. For sixteen performances I greeted people as they entered the theater and hugged them as they left. Several times after the show’s curtain call I watched people so moved by the experience that they couldn’t get out of their …
Acting is the most intimate, the most personal, of the arts. We literally use ourselves — our bodies, our faces, our voices — and also our impulses, which is like exposing our psychology, warts and all. This brings unique challenges, not only in the work itself but in how we …
Years ago in class, something was going awry in a scene I was in and Seth said, “Don’t make it wrong.” It was a revelation to me. Instead of covering up this “mistake” or hurrying on to the next bit so I could distance myself from the flub of a …
In the fall of 2023, we gathered in Studio 2 at The Barrow Group to hear a new play by John Yearley – Triptych. Michael Giese and Tricia Alexandro read this script so beautifully that Seth and I were sobbing at the end. Michael, Trish, and Eric Paeper, who will …
Will you take a moment to experiment with me? Look at your left thumbnail (or any fingernail, but choose and be specific.) Hold it up in front of you. Examine it. The details – the shine, the condition of your cuticle, the wrinkles on your knuckle – these are in …
I came into the apartment after walking home in the rain. My husband was in London. Trigger, my dog, was with my nephew. Rachel, my daughter, was out and about. The apartment was quiet. Very quiet and clean. I haven’t been in the apartment too often experiencing this type of …
“Her TikTok video went viral!” “His first book became a New York Times bestseller!” As a culture, we love a fast-fame story. It’s a lot sexier to think about a meteoric rise than a consistent practice that, over many years, leads to a desired end result. As an actor, a …
September 8, 2024 I have just returned from the Fringe festival in Edinburgh where K. Lorrel Manning’s play, “Lost…Found,” performed. The theme of the fringe festival this year was “Stories That Unite Us”. Today is my husband’s birthday. For the last 38 years, The Barrow Group has been an ever-evolving …
Well, The Barrow Group has invited me to write another blog and this is it. Although I think I’ve said it all in the first blog, (the contents of which I’ve completely forgotten,) I will share what’s been going on with me and maybe it will resonate with you. In …
Before I had my second child, I had a pretty solid yoga practice going. My body was agile and strong. I could do a headstand for minutes, and I felt pretty good about it. After our precious baby came along, I set out to get myself back on track and …
The Barrow Group is taking K. Lorrel Manning’s “LOST… FOUND” to Edinburgh this August with…two directors. People have asked me, “Why do you have two directors?” Well, we sometimes see things that the other doesn’t. There is sharper awareness in the room when there are four eyes and ears on …
In the summer of 2021, I auditioned for a short film. I loved the story, the writer/director, and the vibe in the room, but I didn’t book the part. Cut to summer 2022, when I saw that the short I auditioned for was available to watch on Vimeo. I loved …
Your idea of a character is necessarily less interesting than you are, because it’s only a part of you. – Seth Barrish, many years ago. I’ve been an actor for a long time; I became a writer more recently. I’ve found that, for both, releasing my ideas of “how it …
