Friday, June 28, 2013

The Family Business

Here is what rocks about being an actor family. ...that sentence right there. That is what rocks. That we are an actor FAMILY.

I explain.

My son is just coming up on 6 weeks old, and he has already done some work in this area. (Six weeks old, people. He can't even hold his own head up yet.) Both of us did voice-over for a Fringe Festival show this summer (I spoke words, he cried them), and yesterday, baby, hubby & I were in a promotional video for ThinkGeek.

Plus, at least two "bosses" (the acting school where hubby & I teach, and the company we create baby theatre with) are encouraging us to bring the little guy to work with us. During rehearsals for our next baby theatre project, he will be 9 months old--astonishingly, our target audience!!

Hubby & I have had an amazing time both being at home with our new son...reading to him (he really does focus on the pictures! Intensely!), caring for him, napping with him, singing truly stupid songs we make up on the spot:). But this time has taken a toll on our finances. We are freelancers, after all--no one was paying us for this maternity/paternity leave. So as we approach the end of it, we have money on the mind more and more...it is so, so lovely to realize that our career means No Maternity Leave AND Bring Your Kid To Work. No "Steady" Work AND Baby Can Be Part of This. Dark and light. The "light" in this case being family.

Instead of being discouraged, I feel like we are being encouraged to be a family. And yeah, steady income and benefits would be quite encouraging:), but that was never the path we chose. What I love and what is giving me such hope as I move forward in the new incarnation of my life is that our career seems to understand that it is not family-friendly in a financial sense, so it seeks to be so in whatever other ways it can.

Whatever my son grows up to be and do, he is part of an actor family. And not one confined by the walls of our apartment. Not at all.

(Baby bump in rehearsal...the start of the journey)


Thursday, June 20, 2013

My Buddy: My Body!

This is a post about my body. Is that awkward?

I heard that Paul Auster wrote a memoir based on his relationship to his body. I love that idea. How do you *relate* to your body?

For me, (like many of us, I'm sure) the answer to that question depends on when you ask(ed) it. Middle School Me would have a MUCH different answer than 32-year-old me (and 32-year-old me would have a slightly different answer on that 32nd birthday--before knowing she was pregnant--and now, after giving birth).

Maybe you've heard an actor refer to their body as their tool. Actors see themselves as toolboxes, you see: body, voice, memory, imagination. We use all of these things to create each distinct role. I think now that my body isn't just my tool, though...it's my whole dang workshop.

My body makes choices for me. No joke. I will think about a character without having an idea how they might hold themselves or move, and then when I'm up on my feet, stuff just HAPPENS. Motion just HAPPENS. Of course it's not always "right" right away, but the point is, it feels like I've got this partnership. My brain can do some work, my body does some work, and I feel like the "I" is with the brain, see, while the body is a trusty old pal I don't have to oversee. She just comes to the meeting with the visuals for my presentation, much to my delight. As a matter of fact, when I TRY to oversee her, or dictate to her, at least early in the rehearsal process, that's when things turn out not so great. That's the crummy work, when I didn't trust.

The most recent (and, to me, most AMAZING) feat my pal, Body, has performed was the creation, growth, sustenance & ejection of my son. Holy smokes!! I feel like "I" had just about nothing to do with that. That was allll Body. That was allll ancient blood-and-cell-deep knowin'. It was astounding to be part of.

This is all to say: I've been to some auditions for the upcoming season, but I've got no bites yet. The last few seasons, I already had a few shows on the calendar at this point, so, yeah, part of me is a bit bummed and a bit scared. So it's nice to think that this theatre stuff? Storytelling? It's in my BONES. I'm no ancient lady, but this art is. People have been making both people and stories for many, many centuries. I'm part of such a long line in both regards that I don't even have to know much about either at the end of the day, really. My body can just DO them.

And while my boy may be the only child I have, I feel (blood-and-cell-deep) many, many more stories hidden in this little body.