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My honee, showered and pizza'd after his Lakeland show: emailing pix like this shows me how we'll be able to enjoy our 4 month road separation. Busy artists - going where the work is !
Breaking bread at our place, during an impromptu party May 7, 2002 with our pals, Russian artists Natalia and Slava Ntchistilina. See their remarkable artwork at artslavatch.com
My wonderful host, Gene Tate, up on the roof. When he's not landscaping, he's singing light opera and keeping me content :-)
Below, Rusty and Jazz on an at home visit - they hate us for leaving them! Notice the 'I hate you' look in their eyes!
I am a third year drama student at the university of Wales Aberystwyth. I recently took part in a production of Playing for time, and this is to be the basis of my final year dissertation. I am mainly discussing the play with reference to its docudramatic element and the responsibility that we have of representation fro an audience. I know you will be extremely busy, but i was hoping you might have time to answer a couple of questions of mine.
1. Did you think it was important to show the audience the event as truthfully as you could?
2. In a play like this do you believe the documentary element or the dramatic element to be the most important?
3. What kinds of research did you undertake for this role?
4. (If you have read fania's book) What (if any) do you see as the main differences between this and arthur millers script?
I'm sure people waste your time with stuff like this always, but i would be eternally grateful for any comments you have just around the nature of these questions. I myself found the rehearsal process grueling and had to constantly remind myself that Fania wrote her book to show the hope in human nature. My interest in this stance in the play comes from research and finding that Alma Rose's family were not happy with Fania's interpretation of events!!
Thank you so much for your time, and any type of reply would be warmly welcomed. I only have a week or two now to finish my work so any slant to confirm or not confirm my argument would be wonderful.
Thank you again
Jennifer Bath
Whilst searching on the Internet, I came across an e-mail address for a lady who had played Fania in a professional production of Playing for Time in the United States, her name is Kim Crow. I sent her an e-mail with a list of a few questions begging for any reply. Subsequently I have received a c.d. full of answers to my questions from her. I wanted to find out primarily her view on the docudramatic debate in reference to her work on Playing for Time. Her response to my questions are as follows, "The minute that a playwright takes on the subject of a real person your going to cross in and out of giving elements of true lifeÉ of actual things that happened and construct them in a dramatic way for the theatre." Kim acknowledges here that without the dramatic input, you cannot create the theatre in the first place. The playwright makes the job for himself more difficult because he is constantly aware of the constraints of the balance between the truth and the drama. It seems a balance more of responsibility to the audience to tell the tale in the most realistic way, and at the same time give the audience a good theatrical experience. "The most important thing for a play is to be a good playÉ you hope that the effect upon the audience is real." When the play is based on a real story you already have the audience half way there in believing what you are doing, but making it a good play and adding the theatrical elements of language and tension and all others, brings it centrally into the hearts of the spectator. When asked what she thought the overall role of an actor is in the theatre, she replied simply, "to tell the truth." So in this situation whoÕs truth are we telling? "This is theatrical truth, based upon Arthur Millers script." So we should tell the truth, but because this truth is in the theatre, maybe the truth we are telling should be based upon the playwrights words and information rather than anything else. Although we need to look at what Arthur Miller was trying to expose and gain by writing this account, should we then forget FaniaÕs purpose and then also the facts of the real experience? This is not what Kim is saying though because whilst doing her research she read FaniaÕs book and she also compiled some research into the holocaust. I think that what she is saying is that our ultimate aim is to be faithful to the text that we are given as an actor above all else. This does not mean that other information can not be helpful because really Miller based his play on FaniaÕs account and Fania based her book on her experience of the holocaust. There is very much a linear situation here, but if we can pick up information from the other sources it can add to the overall truth of the piece.
Other than the play as a whole, I thought that is was very important to ask Kim what she thought about the amount of truth and the representation of truth within a singular character. She told me that when she went about portraying a real character she made some kind of imaginary deal with them, where she said to them, "I will present you in the finest possible light and in return you wonÕt take advantage of me while IÕm channeling you." In a way, this suggests that she believes that she both needs to take all that she can from the character spiritually and then also present it within the dramatic format. Essentially, without letting the person take over, you want to be able to do all that to can to show them as they were. "I try to get myself out of the way as much as possible." The suggestion here is once again researching fully into the person in question to try and see why they react to things the way they do, their mannerisms and in a way embody the person. We can do that but we can not do it without some help from ourselves, to be able to put something from us into the situation. If we do not have the construct and imagination of what the situation might be like, we can never be the person that we are trying to be. Kim says, "In many ways we are all Jews, we are all victims." We have all been put in a terrible position, obviously it is not a touch on this but, if it gives you the mental stimulation to carry the role convincingly and truthfully it is what is needed.
I asked Kim what she did thought of the film version, she said, "The film had much more of a documentary feel to it, because it was able to show you a context that Miller wasnÕt able to present visually within the perameters of the play and the setting of the play, whereas the film could show you larger shots of the camp and trainsÉ the films can add many more documentary elements than the play can." In a way this is very true because the play was written for film, when it transfers to the stage it becomes very expressionistic.
Jennifer Bath