The Calling

This is actually an old post. But I have been reminded lately of these wise words as I found myself quoting them very recently.

   The conversation was about content. Working for a youth theatre, these questions come up.
Should we be editing scripts, or should we practice the real calling? I am not a fan of editing. If the content is really not appropriate for youth it simply should not be done. However, let's not discount a show or a character simply because they are rough around the edges. We hold up a mirror in theatre. We just reflect society. These imperfect people exist. Perhaps how we react to them and what we can learn from them should be the real question. The following is the post that I wrote a few years ago from which I have been reminded of this concept. I hope to be a role model like her...........






  In 1986 I was in a production of The Little Foxes at Mt San Jacinto College. I had the extreme pleasure of working with Marion Carter. Marion was a great lady and a very respected member of the local acting community. She was best known for playing the role of the Senora in the Ramona Outdoor Play for 20 some odd years. Anyway, at our last performance of Foxes, all those years ago, her husband Phil brought flowers for every single woman in the cast, and Marion handed out gifts. To me, she gave a framed picture with the following words;

"...For the fact is that an actor on the stage is no more an ordinary human being (and therefore a mere host, entertaining a group of friends in a domestic setting) than a priest is at an alter or a judge is on a bench. An actor practices a calling that, though it is now commonly held to be profane, began by being sacred; it is a calling that sets him apart from the rest of us, formally estranging him in order that, in the fashion of priests and judges, he can serve as our chosen surrogate. Historically, it has been a tradition for actors - again, like priests and judges - to assume a ceremonial disguise, which establishes their distance from us and helps to obliterate in them the usual tell-tale distinctions of age, sex, and personality. By means of costume, makeup, and devices of posture and voice, actors become other than themselves; kings and varlets, saints and sinners, heroes and villains, they are transformed for our sake and to our astonishment into whoever we are and whatever we are, at our best and worst..." Brendan Gill

Another notable thing to mention about Marion is that she encouraged me to continue my theatre studies at a time when I was questioning myself and my decisions. I will always be grateful for that.