A life in theater, how it happens:
"About seven years later. In 1970, I started working as a writer for André Gregory and his acting company. And in those days André’s troupe used to teach acting workshops every summer at NYU, so for three summers I participated and sort of informally studied acting with André and his gang. And then in 1977 or so, Wilford Leach got Joe Papp to commission me to translate The Mandrake by Machiavelli. At that time I was totally broke—more than broke. I was enormously in debt, because I basically lived by borrowing money from friends. And when I completed the translation, Wilford said, to my amazement, The other actors and I would like you to be in the play. In the play? How could I be in the play? I’m not an actor! And Wilford said, It’ll be easy for you. You’ll be the prologue. You’re the translator, so that’s very appropriate. And then you can be the servant, because he really doesn’t do much. He’s onstage for the whole play, but he doesn’t have many lines. And he said they would pay me a hundred and twenty-five dollars a week. Well, Deborah, Wilford, and I were having dinner when this all came up, and I had been considering becoming a taxi driver. And Deborah said, Do this instead. It’s much better. Because you can’t really drive."
http://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6154/the-art-of-theater-no-17-wallace-shawn
No comments:
Post a Comment