PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Community" Part 1

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: COMMUNITY PT. 1 I’ve lived in the same borough, same neighborhood, and on the same street for the past decade. Maybe it’s maturity, maybe it’s on the heels of this recent Presidential election, but I’ve been thinking a lot about community lately. I think about my mailman, who’s seen to it over the past ten years to deliver my mail. I think of the guys at the local bodega, who stay open to all hours of the night with everything I need in a pinch. I think of the local shop owners and the local dry cleaner. I see their role in my life on a regular basis. What do you, as an artist, bring to your community? What makes you essential? What makes you impervious to the federal cuts to your profession or to the vagaries of our nation’s economy? Don’t be too precious with this, but tell me—what do you have to offer? - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "The Guru Problem"

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: THE GURU PROBLEM Do we have a guru problem in our line of work? Oftentimes actors hold to their methods and training with a vice grip, unwilling to deviate. They will define themselves by the school they went to or the teacher they trained with. They’ll stay with the same acting teacher for years on end, tethering themselves to one individual. They look for guidance in the ways of Scientology and Kabbalah. Is this problematic? Are too many in our line of work in danger of losing their individuality? Let me have it. - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Naming Names"

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: NAMING NAMES In 1999, legendary film director Elia Kazan received an Honorary Academy Award for his groundbreaking work as a director. In 1952, Kazan was one of many artists who testified before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, naming names in order to save their own careers. HUAC destroyed careers, ruined lives, and pitted artist against artist, all in the name of fear. Some artists survived without naming names, others were never heard from again. I love Kazan’s films, but I often wonder about the work of which we were deprived when artists became blacklisted in Hollywood. Kazan and his award. What’s your take? - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Union Service"

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTORS’ ROUNDTABLE: UNION SERVICE If the opportunity arose, would you consider being an elected official in either actor’s union—Equity or SAG/AFTRA? My interest is this: would the work as a union rep reward you in your ability to advocate for your fellow actors’ rights, or would it take you further away from your craft, as you became more invested in the business and politics of acting, and less in the artistic pursuit? Give it a shot. - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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PERFORMANCE: The Actors' Roundtable: "Consensus"

For 12 weeks, Paden Fallis posed one question each week to a group of professional working actors from a variety of backgrounds in an effort to dig a bit deeper into their artistic working processes. In this second series of 12, an expanded group of actors explores where their art fits into the larger cultural context. ACTOR’S ROUNDTABLE: CONSENSUS I saw an interview with a world-famous comic, and he said that if he tells the same joke in four different cities and gets a good response in each city, then he knows he has a good joke. I, on the other hand, think that consensus is a mortal enemy of art. Me or the world famous comic? Your thoughts, please. - Paden Fallis, Performing Arts Contributing Editor

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