The majority of acting that I’ve done over the past decade has been in my own original works. I have been very interested in returning to traditional modes of performance as a means of continually honing my skills and expanding my abilities as a director and playwright. As indicated in my artistic statement, I believe that all three areas of creativity fuel each other. Given my responsibilities at UVM throughout the academic year it is challenging to travel to cities like Boston and New York to audition for acting roles, so I was very eager to accept the part in You Can’t Take It With You, a classic American comedy, which was produced at a local professional theatre company where I had the pleasure of directing in the past.

 

The role was Boris Kolenkhov, a Russian ballet instructor. Preparation for the role began with reading and re-reading the script numerous times. It was clear at the outset that the style of the show was key in approaching the character. But there were some technical challenges in terms of realizing the physical and vocal expressions of the character. I began by seeking out past performances of the role as a means of inspiration. But there are few existing models. I avoided watching the film from 1937 because the interpretation of the role in the film is drastically different than my interpretation of the character. I went on to researching Russian accents on You Tube, and although it was initially useful, I remembered from my undergraduate days, the series of CDs created by David Allen Stern. I found Stern’s “Russian Accent” cd from 1979 on Amazon.com. It became my primary source for practice accent drills. For a month from July to August 2017 I listened to the CD and drilled myself about an hour daily on accent exercises in order to master the placement of the tongue and lips to express an authentic Russian accent.

 

During the month of June into July 2017, I participated in an intensive two-week Meisner workshop. The approach is a completely spontaneous and organic approach to creating character and playing actions. When I began rehearsals for You Can’t Take It With You, the transition into a very broad comedic acting style, which served the play, proved to be very challenging at the outset. It wasn’t until the end of the first week of rehearsal I was finding my way into a relaxed and expressive means of communicating the character, and I began to find a way of combining the spontaneity of the moment with the technical (vocal and physical) elements I had found for the character. The physicality of the character came somewhat more naturally. Because I have a dance background, I was able to tap into a movement mode for the character that indicated not only his physical facilities but his sense of social decorum and breeding. The play was writing in 1936. My character made references in the dialogue to the Russian Revolution as well as several Russian artistic figures. I was familiar with the references but conducted significant additional research as a means of deepening my understanding of the character, Boris Kolenkhov, as a “White Russian” (as they were called). Unlike many of the Russian Jews who immigrated to the U.S. to avoid persecution in the early part of the 20th century, my character was a non-Jewish person, who likely lost his financial stability as the Revolution led to the creation of the Soviet government. I also conducted research into the outstanding figures in the Russian and European dance world in the first quarter of the 20th century, as these individuals would likely have influenced his view of the dance arts. These included Diaghilev, Bakst, Nijinski and Pavlova.

 

The role was a great challenge and one that reminded me of the importance of supporting the production by identifying and fully committing to the style in which it is intended to be performed. I was fortunate to work with an encouraging director and a cast of actors who were as talented as they were generous.