| Q |
Briefly describe your background/training. |
| A |
 I work as a professional actor, director, fight director, and theatre instructor. I moved to Washington, DC, for the MFA program at the Academy for Classical Acting and am now thrilled to be a part of this fantastic theatre community. Last fall I founded Faction of Fools Theatre Company to celebrate Commedia dell'Arte in DC and around the world. Commedia has been a passion of mine since 2001–2002 when I was in Italy studying and performing with Antonio Fava. Since 2004, I have taught for him every summer at his Commedia conservatory in Reggio-Emilia, Italy, and I'm excited to plant the Commedia flag in DC with Faction of Fools. |
| Q |
How old were you when you knew you wanted to be an artist? |
| A |
My third grade teacher was a professional storyteller, so all year long we were listening to stories, writing stories, telling stories. I credit her with showing me the importance of stories and the act of storytelling. Storytelling naturally grew into acting, but I never put much thought into the fact that I was "an artist." It was always just something I did, and I guess it wasn't until I started making a living doing it that I went, "Oh, I guess this is what I do for a living." |
| Q |
Who is your greatest professional inspiration and why? |
| A |
Oh, so many people. I guess I admire most the people who are able to work in several different ways. I'm really impressed by versatility. And I especially admire the teachers — the people who genuinely love to get out of the way and to inspire other people. I think that quality makes them better artists too. |
| Q |
How do you manage wearing different 'hats' as a self-producing artist? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? |
| A |
"Making" art (the creative end) is a lot more fun than "producing" art (the business end). So sometimes I deprive myself of the fun by assuming that there is more virtue in the "hard" work...which I translate to myself as "do the stuff you don't want to do." I can actually guilt myself into working too hard as a producer/administrator and not hard enough as an artist. Ultimately, that's not good for anybody because the art has to come first. A strength I really value is my ability to improvise — both on and off stage — to say "Yes, And..." to whatever life throws at me. I think that's crucial in a producer, director, or teacher. |
| Q |
As a self-producing artist, what qualities make for a good show idea in your opinion, and what is typically your first step in realizing your artistic vision? |
| A |
As a self-producing artist, you have to love your own work. There's no point in doing it otherwise, and there's no reason to imagine that someone else wants to watch it if you don't like it. And I don't mean you have to think that what you do is praiseworthy or perfect. I mean you have to find it FUN. If I find something that really interests me or amuses me, then I follow that path to see where it goes. At first, I don't have to be able to defend a project or market an idea--I just have to be intrigued by it. I try to trust my gut on that step and say, "I don't yet know what it is that I'm doing...but it amuses me, so it's worth pursuing further!" |
| Q |
How much material do you prepare for a show, and what percentage of it typically makes it into the final performance? |
| A |
I'd say I easily generate 3–4 times as much material as the show needs, and I definitely start with dozens of "dead end" ideas for every one idea that I follow through on. For example, when I was developing THE GREAT ONE-MAN COMMEDIA EPIC in Europe, the first previews were running about one hour. On closing night of the American premiere in NYC a year later, I played for over two and a half hours — with no intermission! I'm still thankful to that audience for sticking with and laughing through a night of zany improv and excessive discovery. But it's suicide to play that long — for them and for me! I've cut three characters and reworked the plot in the last five years, and the show now runs about 70 minutes with plenty of fat trimmed from the initial explorations. That's the process, and the editing is probably more crucial than the creating. It's not about success and failure; it's about deciding what's most useful, poignant, funny, provoking in this particular context — what's ESSENTIAL to this story--and letting the rest go. I have a ton of previously cast-off, "dead end" ideas still sitting in the corners of my mind waiting to become their own projects. |
| Q |
Speaking as a spectator, what do you look for in performance? |
| A |
In a performance, I want to see something spectacular. Something larger than life. I love the Italian world "spettacolo," which to them just means "show," like, "Tonight I'm going to see a show." I think it would be great if every show were a SPECTACLE! If every performance had something SPECTACULAR about it. I'm not so interested in reality. I much prefer the edges of normalcy where perception and conventions start to fray. |
| Q |
What makes your work unique? |
| A |
I think the odd combination of passions that I bring to everything. I've been to both divinity school and clown school, and I enjoy reading about philosophy or archaeology as much as drama. So I see each of those "distinct" disciplines overlapping. I believe heartily in the Renaissance notion of humanity and the importance of being "well-rounded," and I really do believe that having studied calculus helps me choreograph physical comedy...though I can't explain why... |
| Q |
What does 'success' mean to you? |
| A |
Having a new thought. Provoking a new laugh. Staying amused. When I'm bored, it's time to try a new approach. |
| Q |
Why are you doing the Capital Fringe Festival? |
| A |
We have such a great theatre community in Washington, DC, and Fringe is a HUGE part of that by creating a kind of rallying place for artists and audiences. Fringe season is almost a theatrical holiday time here, and everyone I know is involved in some way — either making work or going to support friends or just checking out what is happening. I really enjoyed performing and fight directing last year for THE FIFTH MUSKETEER, and I knew when I founded Faction of Fools that I wanted to build the Fringe into our season — to make it a part of our calendar — so that we could join the party in a meaningful way every year. Our summer Fringe Festival show TALES OF LOVE AND SAUSAGES will be low-tech, low-stress fun. Short, informal, irreverent, experimental — everything I look for in a Fringe Festival show. Faction of Fools is also incredibly honored to be a part of the inaugural Wattage series in April, an exciting new endeavor for Capital Fringe in producing longer shows in longer runs with a little more theatrical formality in terms of the production. We are excited to unveil the world premiere of THE HOUSE WITH TWO DOORS, which is a brand new, ensemble-devised comedy based on a 17th-century Commedia scenario from Naples. The support that Fringe provides through Wattage has allowed us a longer rehearsal time and the ability to experiment and play more with redevising this piece, and we're excited to see it as one part of the triptych of Wattage plays that are "illuminating tradition and survival." Big themes, new theatre--what more could you want? |
