Steve Anderson

Steve Anderson is offering a weekend intensive workshop for actors - check out details on steveandersonacting.com. If you have never met or worked with Steve then you are in for a treat. He is, simply put, an awesome person, teacher, director and actor.

I first encountered and met Steve a few years back when I attended a presentation of scenes by Nathalia Stage Ensemble, a kind of public presentation meant as a fundraiser/awareness raising opportunity. Steve came out and spoke to the spectators beforehand, gave an introduction to the group. I 'bout fell out of my seat! I knew the implications of what he was subtly and not so subtly saying. Nathalia he said, was going to create an ensemble of players, based on training and common technique and general philosophy and approach to life.

Let me mention that there are "ensembles" and then there are Ensembles. The first is the bandied about term that means lots of people on stage or no one is the star of the show, we all get along or group developed single show, things like that - common, ordinary, everyday stuff in theatre. The second one is rare, extraordinary, and you are about as likely to encounter one of these in America as you are to encounter a jaguar in here in Southern Arizona. They exist, or try to, but rarely do we find them manifest fully. Steve was talking about this second kind that night - a real theatre group - as opposed to merely a producing organization.

A producing Organization is a one that keeps in place Administrative Staff and usually an Artistic Director. They choose shows on the basis of several factors but more or less as a museum would, presenting the "best works" and "best new works" that seem relevant somehow for the day and hopefully shall be entertaining. Actors, as I wrote in an earlier post, do not yet factor in this process - even though they and the spectator are the only two irremovable elements in theatre.
Actors are jobbed in for a show then sent away once the show closes.

A real theatre group is one that keeps a permanent artistic set of people - actors and directors. This group exists or is alive in this way, as a living body of artists who share common artistic technique and philosophy. They envision their work as a long term endeavor - as opposed to a single show. Shows are chosen based on the group itself, the people, and the philosophy.

Back to Nathalia's night of scenes. I watched these scenes, which had been prepared in their workshops, and lo and behold, here were actors in the very beginning stages of developing a conscious technique, individually and collectively. More so, it was to my aesthetic taste, simple, real, honest, full. Or rather I could discern that as the intent behind the effort. Let me quote from Steve's website: "I believe that an actor must have faith in who they are, and that who they are is the very thing that makes their performance engaging and undeniably rich. We do not present a 'character' to an audience - we reveal parts of ourselves through that character." Music to my ears. Now before those of you who swear that the playwright is the only creative artist allowed in the theatre, and those of you who want pure academic and intellectual pursuit of "character" get carried away, let me say...shut up. Because you always assume its an "either-or" situation. Either the character, as represented by the little graphic letters on the page, is sacrificed for the blasphemous self-indulgence of the actor, or somehow, magically and impossibly there is this pure one-hundred percent adherence and rendition of some perceived perfect effect represented by the little graphic characters on the page. If by chance you are still thinking that or some resemblance of that, its time to grow up - theatrically speaking - and recognize that is a "yes-and" situation. YES the character as written by the playwright has specific purposes and intent AND those cannot be brought alive on stage by an actor without some in-the-moment self-revelation by the actor.

I next saw Nathalia when I went to see their production of The Hot L Baltimore which Steve directed. Here now before me was the next large step taken in the life of a real Ensemble, a beautifully conceived and executed production filled with the personalities of the actors flowing through, highly interesting. What it lacked in detail and spontaneity and full force would surely be remedied over time with continued work. Already though with this production Nathalia had achieved a level coherence and ease so as to be easily distinguished from the usual fare we see on stage. There was none of the posing and ACTING and wink-wink, nod-nod, and indication and oversimplifying going on that we usually witness. Not everyone was crossing downstage center to speak when it was there turn. The production had its own unique physical life - different from the conventional and cliched ones we usually see. I was impressed!

My next work with Steve really came in the form of a scene from the play Waiting For Lefty which I was directing as part of a project at Prescott College. Steve and Harris Kendall played Joe and Edna. How do I describe what they did? It was electrifying. It was painful - as in great sex painful. Yes, that good. Painful in the sense of what the characters were experiencing with each other, but oh so good! OMG! Steve and Harris would arrive at the rehearsal room with complete focus, ready to work. No chit chatting, none of that I feel tired today, or anything like that. Michael Jordanesque - performances are easy because the rehearsals are so difficult. (For anyone not understanding that reference, Michael Jordan, the basketball player, was known for his intensity and focus during practices, more so even than during actual games. He was known to chide, push and even fight his teammates when he didn't believe they were working hard enough during practice. He was known to set up his own competitive situations within the coaches set practice in order to make things far more challenging for himself than any game ever would be). They came to work and work they did. They would usually begin before I arrived ready myself in the room. I have been in many workshops, classrooms, and rehearsals since then - about six years or more - and nothing has come close to approximating the simple and profound atmosphere that Steve and Harris established for their work on that scene consistently. In the end they were indeed brilliant.

Later I had to good chance and fortune to do readings and smaller presentations, talks and discussions with Steve. He is magnificent to work with. He is charming and funny and polite and adaptable. He is intelligent and insightful and gifted. If you have the opportunity to attend his workshop - Go!

Addendum - here is what I wrote about Steve in a previous post, the one entitled "I love Patrick"

"Now Steve Anderson shouldn't need an introduction but he is perhaps the best kept secret in all of Tucson when it comes to acting, directing, teaching, play analysis, Theatre in general, and all around great work. He is not, however, unknown to his students and family and those of us who have been lucky enough to work with him. I have had to cancel many projects because Steve was not available and no one else would do. At least its so in my fantasy and imagination."

And here he is emerging with this workshop! Its great!