Radio drama discussion and play reading with guests

Homeboy Memories Fathers were not favorites on the farm For he could do some harm He could wreck them and have to ski For he, brothers, could dream Your mama ain't no saint Your daddy died in a shallow stream But your uncle, Dr. King Didn't have a dream, my brother And what is your real excuse? Why can't you study your lessons And stay in school? Why can't you study your lessons And stay in school? School Free love And Sex ain't nothing but a game Don't never last, try hope Take a chance on love Register to vote Money ain't everything But you can buy her a ring Little blackbird, sing Homeboy by Sunchi Ali Welcome to the Qumran Report May the peace and blessings of the life-giving Creative spirit Be upon you and upon your family My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson Community Coming at you live from Skid Row Studios And I'm in the studio with my co-host Earlene Anthony Our call in number is 1-800-893-9562 This week on the Qumran Report We will talk about the concept Of radio drama With director and dramaturg Bill White Playwright Felix Rosales Actress Shirley Jordan And Alma Collins With director and dramaturg Welcome to the Qumran Report Thank you Let's start off over here with Alma Can you tell our listening audience A little about yourself How did you become a writer, actress I got exposed to acting When I was 16 years old I was a young mother And needed to get out of the house And my social workers suggested I try a theater group Called the People Venice Theater Group And the teachers there Were James Whitmore Ricardo Montalban A lot of people from Hollywood At that time came down to Venice To teach us And I never really thought About being an actress But when I look back over my life I was always performing Even as a little girl performing Making people laugh Being on program at church And things like that So that's how I actually Got into acting Just that People Venice Workshop And being an actress Helped me work through A lot of the things That was going on in my life At the time And even to this point And I love it Okay Cheryl Yes, hi I think I got started Well, back in high school And I started doing high school plays And I was a cheerleader So that all kind of fell in together And I was a cheerleader And once I got out of high school I went to the University of Connecticut Go Huskies And the girls are doing so good Anyway, I digress Then, you know, it just Grew from there Moved to New York Did all kinds of theater Became a singer-dancer Then I ended up moving out here Because I figured You know, if you're going to do it all You have to see how both sides Of the coast do it You know, New York is more known For theater And out here is more known For film and television So I just wanted to have a chance to do that So I just wanted to have a chance to do that So I just wanted to have a chance to do that So I just wanted to have a chance to do that So I just wanted to have a more Well-rounded, you know, career And I ended up staying here Wonderful Bill Well Theater is something that I I feel most comfortable in I'm able to work out a lot of issues I'm able to Essentially Use theater as a mirror Of society And I like that I see it as a mirror To be accepted To be accepted To be accepted in a career that was very high-powered and difficult. And I found, I came back to theater. You know, I did it in high school and college and all of that. And I felt that it gave me a sense of peace that I didn't find anywhere else. That's why I'm here. Okay. Wonderful. Felix? You know, I was thinking about this, and actually, I started really young. And I think when I was in second grade, I wrote some short little plays. And I had all my classmates, you know, friends over, and I cast everybody, and I kept doing this. And I remember I wrote a radio play. I was in seventh grade, and I actually brought it into class one day, and we actually did it there. But then I kind of left theater for a while and got into music and did that as a college major. And then later in life, like in my 30s, I went back to school to do a film and TV degree at UCLA and started writing screenplays. And that was fun, but it was a little frustrating because I never really, I got some things optioned, but never sold or produced. And then a friend said, well, you know, you might try your hand at playwriting. So I did, and that was kind of very gratifying because then you could hear your words, and, you know, you got a chance to hear them pretty quickly, immediately. And then... Got involved with a couple of playwriting groups, and one of which is First Stage, where I met Bill. Okay. Now, let's start. How did you get involved with this particular play? How did that come about? I had to ask Felix and Bill that question this evening because I've been doing this particular piece for about 10 years now, and I really honestly couldn't remember how I became involved. But Bill said he saw my resume, and he called me. So I have to trust him for that. But that's how I became connected with Felix and Bill. And this play, Uncommon Threat. Yes, yes. Okay. I believe it's the same for me, through Bill. And I actually replaced an actress who had done it the original time, right? Okay. And I've been doing it since. Oh, okay. And actually, Felix asked me to direct it, First Stage. It was in a competition at the Secret Rose in North Hollywood on Magnolia. And we won. The piece came in first. And since then, I've been working with him on it. It's... Was it a finished piece when you got in your hand? It was... We've made some changes since. But at that time, it seemed to be finished. But as we began working more and more in it, we decided on certain things. I suggested something. And Felix says, no, let's do this. And, you know, it kind of worked out. And I've asked, you know, Shirley. I know Shirley for a little while from First Stage. And she's a wonderful actor. And at first, I didn't know Alma. But I liked her look. And I liked her background. And when she started reading it, I said, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. She's who I want. How important is casting for a director? Very, very important. It's... If you don't have important... Well, not important actors. But if you don't have the right actors, it doesn't work. And some actors are better at other things. It's a very rare actor who can do pretty much everything. And... But they're... And Shirley can do that. Because I've seen her in a number of productions. Okay. So, Felix, how did this come about? How did the play come about? The idea, the thought? The thought? Well, I was explaining earlier. One of the groups I was involved with was called the Playwrights Group. It's no longer around. But every year, we would produce an evening of short plays that all our members wrote. And they usually have, like, one set. So there was one year where we did the kitchen. And we did, like, sink plays. So we all did a play that took place in the kitchen. Then another year, it was a museum. So this is the play that I came up with for that. And I have to also just thank one of my playwriting teachers at the time. She's... Her name is Alice Tuan. And she's just this brilliant writer. And she explained to us, Okay, you don't think of anything as just a ten-minute play. It's a play. And you have to fill it with all the... Passion and emotion. And, you know, the theater has to now, these days, be as exciting as a theme park, as a rollercoaster ride. So she had that. She planted that image in my head that, Oh, okay, a lot's got to happen in whatever amount of time you have. It could be ten minutes. It could be 90 minutes. So I have to thank her for, you know, kind of inspiring me. Okay. Okay. Look, let's... I'm going to have Ms. Earlene Anthony read a little. History of radio drama. Radio drama, or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theater, is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD, with no visual component. Radio drama depend on dialogue, music, sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story. It is art in the physical dimension, but equally powerful as a visual force in the psychological dimension. Radio drama achieves widespread popularity within a decade of its initial development in the 1920s. By the 1940s, it was a leading international popular entertainment. With the advent of television, the radio drama was a major success. However, radio drama lost some of its popularity, and in some countries, have never regained large audience. However, recordings of OTR, old time radio, survived today in the audio archives of collectors and museums, as well as several online sites searched as Internet archive. Okay. Thank you, Ms. Earlene Anthony. Now, what are your thoughts on radio? Radio drama is an art form. I like the idea of being able to get the audience to hear and see and feel the emotion without being able to see it. That's exciting to me. And so as an actress, if I can do that for you, help you feel, because we're such a visual society. Everything's TV, Instagram, Internet, you know. If I can be the voice to be seen from the Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn story of survival and it happens to be about a zombie apocalypse and this this is how how radio drama right it's evolved you know um and uh we have over 37 million downloads it's a podcast free on itunes and um what i enjoyed so much about that was actually finally meeting the fans we had a few live actual live radio readings for them and they packed the house they drove cross-country and in a caravan and they they came to see us and it was so wonderful to to hear their thoughts about what we were doing and and how we touched them and and yes it's a zombie story but they identified with the people they identified with us our characters what we were going through a side from being chased and eaten and things um they you know we had real relationships with each other and and that's all it's really about is you know to bring somebody into your world and be able to to have them experience it and and feel it and and live it it's like watching the most wonderful movie only not seeing it just hearing it and experience it from head to toe and that's what they did and we were so i still am so grateful to these people because they they allowed me to to understand what it was i was doing on this side of the radio and how much a radio drama can affect somebody's life i mean they can really it's like i guess watching a soap opera for some people or or getting hooked on your your favorite television show and thinking that those are real people and you know and you know them you know i've been there i know this person and i was able to you know be the recipient of that which was very heartwarming very very heartwarming i loved it okay bill what do you think about radio drama as an art form i think it's it's wonderful and i think it's wonderful because of the imagination you can unleash someone's imagination because they're listening they're not seeing it and uh especially children just wonderful yes yeah uh i used to do uh when i was a child i did some some some some radio programs i was always Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn radio drama and growing up in san francisco on saturday nights i think it was um kgo radio up there would play like four hours at saturday night from like um nine to one a.m of classic radio dramas and i just got hooked and they played a lot of orson welles who was just brilliant and um in fact i i have this recording you know he did the um mercury theater he ran the mercury theater and some of those productions are like i can still hear yeah they're amazing and there's one that still haunts me it's the um john galsworthy short story called the apple tree and bernard herman wrote the music and it's just one of the most haunting beautiful uh creations that i've ever heard mercury theater yep okay that that's that's wonderful let's uh uh take a little short break for our community calendar and then we come back and get into our reading this is the community calendar for upcoming events this wednesday march the 8th 2015 at 6 00 pm there will be a special event the screening of a documentary film called ground operation battlefield to farm field this film is about military base and military base and base and base and base and base and base and base and base and base and veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan war, learning to form and raise their own organic food. The location of this event will be the Vortex 2341 East Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. This is at the corner of Olympic and Santa Fe. This is a free event. All are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served, and there will be a time for Q&A. For more information about the filming, please contact 213-479-1764. And on Friday, March 27, 2015, at 6 p.m., Drama Stage Coon Run will do a performance of a stage play entitled Nailheads. This play is about the 80,000 to 100,000 homeless people living on the streets of Los Angeles at any given time. The location is at the corner of Olympic and Santa Fe, Los Angeles, California. The location of this event will be the St. Mark's Church, 3651 Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, California. For information on this event, please contact 213-479-1764. If you have a community event that you would like announced on our show, send the information to DramaStage1 at yahoo.com. Attention early in Anthony. The call-in number for our show is 800-625-7000. 800-893-9562. Now back to our host. Hey, thank you, Ms. Earlene Anthony. At this time, I would like to turn it over to Bill White, who will lay the setting for the beginning of our reading. Uncommon Threads, a one-act play by Felix Rasselas, setting the gallery of a museum in a large southern city. Do you live your life for pleasure Do you live your life for pleasure The exhibition will take place in this gallery, currently the temporary quarters of our medieval collection. Oh, look at that beautiful statue of the baby Jesus and his mother. 15th century Burgundian. All these decades of collecting and we're still submerged in Eurocentric art. You folks have done some beautiful work here. Oh my goodness. Thank you. That statue looks like Angel Gabriel. The angel of the resurrection. I'm an angel of the Lord. An angel of God Almighty. I just love that show, even in reruns. You frightened me. What were you doing? You mean you never seen Touched by an Angel? I don't watch television and I limit the time my boys watch since they're in school. Oh. I was ushering at church one Sunday when Sister Della came to give a sermon all the way from California. I just about died right then. If we could please get back to the business at hand, Miss Johnson. You're a member of the... A member of the Southside Women's Quilting Society. Since I retired from teaching, I'm one of the founders, along with my sister Sally. Now you understand you're entering your quilt under our Community Outreach and Access program. The jury will review it for potential inclusion in our next exhibit, although there are no guarantees. But the newspaper ads say... The advertisement reprinted all of the exhibit guidelines, though I admit in small type. You'll need to fill out these ads. I'll be back in a minute. Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn Kathryn We'll need these in the event your work is selected, along with an agreement to have your work photographed for publicity and promotion, all standard. Oh, well, I'm sorry. I didn't bring my reading glasses. You can mail the bio info sheet back, but the entry and release forms you'll have to sign now, if you leave the quilt. Well, do you mind holding this quilt for me? Certainly. Goodness, there's a lot of paper. All part of our efforts to be more accessible to our constituents. Our director alerted me that I've been somewhat remiss in outreaching the senior suburban African-American socio-geodemographic cluster. So we're happy to receive your entry. I'm filling a quota? Is that it? No, not... You've missed the signature line. It's at the bottom. Hopefully there'll be less paperwork in my next position. Oh, a new job? I'm being considered for the post of the South Bay Museum Associate Curator, pending favorable reception of this exhibition. You haven't signed the release form yet. Well, don't you want to see the quilt first? Oh, yes. Of course. Patchwork quilt. Hmm. Hmm. Folk art specimen. Last quarter of the 20th century. Oh, unusual pieced work. Oh, no. If you look closely, you'll see it's appliqué. Appliqué? Mm-hmm. Oh, there's some lovely detail here, Miss Johnson. Reminiscent of the work of Faith Ringgold. Never heard of her. You both attempt similar themes, but your piece contains highly unusual compositional elements. Scraps of baby clothes. Odd metal bits. What looks like a blank panel. I imagine this is a new trend in quilt design. Oh. Oh, tell me, who is that remarkable face? Oh, um, a member of my family who's passed away. It's a fine piece of work. Oh, thank you. I made it with my sister Sally. After our husbands died, you know, we had nothing but time on our hands. Then my grandson Henry... Henry. Henry. Hmm. Oh, I told Sally. You know I don't agree with them or their lifestyle, but those gay fellas who made that AIDS quilt ought to have had a wonderful, beautiful idea. I said to Sally, why don't we make our own quilt for Henry? Even though he didn't die of AIDS, he deserves a quilt in his memory. That's why I entered into shows like here. I feel somehow, some part of him, wherever he is, is happy. I'm so sorry. You notice the baby? Clothes. They were his. I saved him all these years. Oh, Miss Johnson, I... That patch of white, that looks like the place where Henry is now. Miss Johnson, I'm very sorry. I... Those metal bits, they're from the drive-by bullet that took Henry from us. He never could confess to his grandma he was part of a gang, but I knew. He just turned 18. Oh, Miss Johnson. I had no idea what this quilt means to you. I cannot speak directly for the jury, but I will recommend that they include it in the Dialogues of the Diaspora. Oh, my, that's wonderful. Henry, you hear that? But what's a diaspora? Oh, the full title of the exhibit is African American Dialogues of the Diaspora, Omission and Occlusion, a Multidisciplinary, Examination of Five Centuries of Art and Historical Objects, Documenting the Ongoing Psychological Violence Perpetrated Upon African American Peoples. The centerpiece will be a major work by Indigo Chantier over in this area. Indigo who? A neglected African American artist from the early 60s whom I've rediscovered. We're recreating his installation of decapitated Barbie dolls dipped in black paint, linked with ankle shackles. Now, if you would please complete the paperwork, Miss Johnson, I would really... I'm not really sure if I understand this exhibit. The board is giving me this opportunity to demonstrate the value of a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary approach to education and presentation. And just by looking at your quilt, oh, I can assure you it speaks to the theme of this exhibition. To those of us who still are subject to oppression. Oppression? Miss Johnson. You? Oppress? Oh, that's a good one, girl. Miss Johnson, please. No, no, no, wait a minute. I have something to ask you. Do you recognize the address, 400 Hope Street? Miss Johnson, I... I asked you what 400 Hope Street is. That's the address to the museum cafeteria, I believe. Well, maybe today. But when I was a girl, I wasn't allowed into this building from the front entrance. You're too young to know. Miss Johnson, I am sorry if I... 400 Hope Street was the entrance for us black folk. Do you understand me? You in that designer suit? I didn't know that. I didn't know that. I didn't know that. If you knew your history, you'd know quilts out on the clothesline showed us the safe houses on the Underground Railroad. The railroad that led us to our freedom. I won't let my quilt be a symbol of oppression. And believe me, I could teach a whole college course on that subject. But it ain't in my heart to cling to that old bitterness. That tired old political mumble-jumble. And I don't understand why. Bright young people like you get all caught up in it. But, Miss Johnson, just look at your own family, at Henry. Isn't that exactly what... You don't know any of the circumstances. Now, Henry, he made some bad choices. Some fool choices. But he was old enough to know better. I don't understand why God could ever have allowed it. But I must believe he had more important work for my Henry. Miss Johnson, where are you going? What are you doing? Uh-uh-uh-uh. I'm taking my quilt. Because somehow, this doesn't feel right to me now. Sorry to have taken up your time. No, no, but you just can't go. Miss Johnson, you have to enter the show. Please. Let go. No, Miss Johnson. Let go. Miss Johnson. What has gotten into you, girl? You let go of my quilt. I am so sorry. I just don't know what got over me. If anything happens to my quilt, you'll be mighty sorry. Well, check it. Hmm. Lucky for you, it's all right. I... I just want your quilt to be in my show. And you'll get your promotion. If I enter. Is that it? Hmm. You obviously had plenty of education. But you didn't learn much. I do need unusual pieces like yours, Miss Johnson, for my show to be a success. And I need a success right now. I know you're thinking I'm well off. But I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. do some outside consulting, anything I have, because I have sworn that I will not come home one day to meet the police carrying my boys to me in body bags. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I just don't know what I'm saying. Well, here's the forms. And here's my quilt. Let me wrap it around you. Thank you, ma'am. Don't thank me. You thank my angel, Henry. Maybe he'll watch over you and your boys like he does me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That will be there There when I'm bleeding There when friends forsake me I'm not all alone Okay. Man, that was excellent. Excellent piece. Let's go around and get some comments and talk about this reading. Let's start over here with Amie. See, the thing I like about this piece, and this is... It's one of my bandwagons, is how little our children know some of the generations behind me. I'll be 65 this year. And they don't know their history. And I always say how... I'm not trying to sound political, but how do you expect the oppressor to educate you about your stuff? That's how they keep you oppressed. So what I like about this piece is in a little short 10 minutes, it gives a little history. The importance of our quilts, our artwork. It gave a little point of view from the single parent. And it kind of reminds me of what the movie Selma did, has done for some of the younger generations. Because we don't tell the stories enough. And I heard a lot of young people just say, I didn't know. I didn't know. And then other people are surprised by that. But why are you surprised? Why would you expect the oppressor? To educate you about your history? So I like this piece. It just shares a little bit about the history. And I love this because I have another character. I play Harriet Tubman. I've been on tour playing her all over the United States and some schools along the Underground Railroad. One Woman Show? Yes. And it's just... It just pulled that all together for me when I had the opportunity to do this piece here. Mm-hmm. Just knowing our history. Just knowing some things. Okay. And it's important to keep in mind that this is women's history. Right here. So this is a perfect play for that. Mm-hmm. Okay, Shirley. Sunday was International Women's Day, too, from what I understand. Mm-hmm. What I like about this piece is Felix's writing. I like the fact that he writes for women. And I like the fact that he writes strong women characters. Mm-hmm. It's very... It's few and far in between to find a piece like this for two women that says so much and that, you know, in such a short of time, like you said... In ten minutes. In ten minutes. Amazing. Exactly. Mm-hmm. There's a lot in here, and it's just wonderful to perform something like this. And you don't really have to really think about it because he's written it so well, and it imparts so much information. Mm-hmm. It's... It's just a beautiful piece, and it's very emotional for me, as you can tell. From the first time that I did this, I... Something just grabbed me. Just grabbed me. Just my gut. And said, you know, this is something that you're going to be with for a while, and, you know, here I am, still here, and I'm very grateful to that. Mm-hmm. Bill. I like the intersection between the old and the new. We never seem to connect. A lot of young people don't realize the sacrifices that older people have made. And this piece reminds me of a situation where the older character educates the younger character. But she doesn't say, uh, remain where you are. She said... She encourages her to go on, and she gives her the quilt, because she knows that with the quilt, she will achieve something different. In other words, a lot of people say, oh, you're going to stand on my shoulder. This woman is saying, don't stand on my shoulder. Go ahead. Do your thing. Know what you're about, and move on. And this is why I really like the piece. And it says all of this in 10, 11 minutes. Mm-hmm. Yes. Okay. Felix. Wow, well, I feel very blessed to have such wonderful actors and director, you know, bring this to life. And, um, I don't know, you know... Oh! Oh! I can't ask for more, really. And in a way, I'm just thinking, you know, in a way, it's kind of a little bit of a tribute, not that it was inspired by him, but, you know, my father... Growing up, my father's best friend was an African-American man who was born in the Philippines, came over with my father, and he was like my uncle, basically. And he was the son of one of the soldiers who was in the Philippines for the Spanish-American War, you know, one of those four regiments. Mm-hmm. And his grandparents were actually slaves from Alabama. So that's a whole other... That's for another show. Wow. That story, but in a way, it kind of honors his memory, too, just, you know, hearing this. And anyhow... Let me ask you this. In terms of structure, you know, most plays and scripts, they would say it's somebody's story. Somebody goes on a journey. Who would you say... Whose story? It's this. Who would you say? I would say it's... It's not only both of the women in the piece. It's a lot of people's story now. I know a lot of single parents, mostly female, but some male parents as well, who are really trying to do better. But they need to be reminded of what has allowed them... to be able to do better. What went before them. And that's what I like about Uncommon Threads. It allows that. It brings that to the forefront. Because you can have all the college and book knowledge you want, but there's some things that my grandmother knew and her grandmother knew. And some things that, now that I have grandchildren, there's some things that I know that have nothing to do with the internet, and the cell phones, and the iPhones, and all of that. I got some information and knowledge that I can share with you. So that's what I think it brings to the forefront. And that's what I really like about this. And that's what I'd like to see more of. The old heads sharing their knowledge. Sometimes you got to sit those children down and remind them or inform them or enlighten them about what went before. Okay. Okay. How about your comments? Your comments on that, Cheryl. Whose story is it? She said exactly what I was going to say. It's our story and the people that have come before us. And I'm sure it'll be the people that'll come later on as well. But everybody will just be a little bit more enlightened as we go along. Everybody will learn from each other. You know, each one teach one, that type of thing. Okay. Bill, I'm going to tell you whose story. Who goes on the journey here? Who? Who changes from how we see them at the beginning to the end? And is the quilt a character also? Is that the main character here? It's not the main character, but it is a character. And it brings them together. You know, it's the device that brings them together. But what I really like about this piece is it's a character-driven piece. The characters tell the story. By the end of the 10, 11 pages, we know these people. And of course, we don't totally know them, but we have a really good sense of who they are. And when we talk about structure, this is the kind of structure that I really like, especially for a short piece. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. What was your thoughts on that? Well... um i do think i agree with what everyone said too about the journey and i do think it's really both of them going on this journey and both discovering and we're talking a little bit earlier how felicia at one point you know she stops thinking with her head and starts listening to her heart and and then can change and open up and then for grace also you know it's you know she sees this woman a little differently too it's not exactly what she thought you know she's not exactly who she thought she was she's she can relate to her in her own way okay and i do remember too growing up uh when i did my my aunt was this really feisty filipino woman who i really admired and i i just really loved her and it turns out she was like the very first filipino woman to buy be able to buy a house in her neighborhood because of these Asian Exclusion Act here in California, all over the U.S., but in California, I think you couldn't own property as an Asian American until like 1949. I didn't realize this as a kid growing up, but I gained an awful lot of respect for what my folks and, you know, the prior generations went through, you know, to create a life for me and, you know, all of my friends and family. I mean, you know, we did come from somewhere and we owe them quite a lot. Okay. Let me ask you this because every time I had actors and writers on, I asked them, let's start with the actors, because I had the actor David McKnight, I had him on, I had Dwayne Perry from the Robey, and I had Leigh Belief Simon, from the Robey, and I asked them, what is the process for learning lines? Can we start? What is your process for learning lines? I'm real methodical and I'll read, uh, I just go by, I start at the beginning to memorize maybe the first third of the page, then I'll go back to the top and then I read down to the bottom of the page. Then I go, to the top and then I just do that top to bottom, top to bottom, because it's repetitive. But I will say that when the writer is a good writer, it's not hard to memorize the lines. It's hard to memorize lines when it's just not written well. I don't know how to explain it, but if it's not written well, it doesn't flow off your tongue and, um, it just doesn't, it doesn't flow. That's the only way I can describe it. If one is written well and you understand the scene, understand the character, understand what's happening, you combine all those things together. It's not hard to memorize. It's only hard to memorize when it doesn't flow and the language doesn't roll natural off your tongue. And that may vary from actor to actor. I don't know that, but I know for me when something is written well and I understand my character, understand what the scene is, what the scene is about. It's not hard to memorize. Yeah. Yeah. So that's how I do it. Yep. What I basically do, if it's a scene in a larger play, I will read the full play so I know where the scene falls in order and get a little more backstory for the character and who I'm talking to and what happened before and what's going to happen after. Then when I get to the scene itself, I'll just read the scene. Just read the scene. Just, you know, read it through and feel it through and see what my first impressions are and who am I, who am I talking to, do I like this person? Do you like to learn during the rehearsal process also? Oh, yes. Yes. I don't memorize immediately because sometimes I get things stuck in my head a certain way and I can't get out of it. So, I learn the lines along with blocking. I learn the lines along with exploration and improvisation and, you know, just working off of the other person until, like she said, they just feel right. They feel right. If they don't feel right, then, you know, you have to look at it again and say, okay, what doesn't feel right about this? Do I have the character wrong or am I saying the line wrong or am I interpreting this line wrong? And a lot of times it's not your interpretation. It's, I mean, a lot of times it is your interpretation and your interpretation is not necessarily what the author intended. So, and that's where you have to go back and look. But I do it by rote. I go through the lines. I'll read them and then I'll memorize them and I'll turn the page over and I'll even try to write them out. If I can write out the scene, that for me, you know, just cements it a little bit more in my bones, in my body. Well, let me ask you this. As an actress, what are your thoughts on improvising? Do you think, do you feel that you can improvise without the permission of the director? What's your thoughts on how do they come in? And then I'm going to ask Bill about how directors feel about actors improvising. Well, during Rehearsal Purpose, you improvised with the director. I don't think that you just could, you know, get on stage and just go off on your own. You know, I don't know where you'll end up. But, you know, when the director's there and he says, you know, I see something there. Let's explore this. Let's see, you know, how you really work together. You know, there's some sparks or something flying here. Let's play with that moment. Now, what would you say if she said this? And you just go from there. And you bring in your, a lot of actors do that nowadays. And, you know, you'll probably see a film where there's a scene, at least one scene that's improvised that they left in the film. Because it worked so well. Something clicked that wasn't on the page. And, you know, come on, don't get rid of that stuff. That's gold. But as far as rehearsal purposes, if I'm rehearsing a scene with my scene partner and we need to get over a little hurdle, let's improvise around this. Let's improvise around this and see what this feels like. Why can't we get over this? And it's like, oh, now I get it. And you play different roles. You say different things. You do each other's lines. Okay. Okay. From my point of view in terms of what the writer's written, I haven't written a lot of stuff, but the few things I've written, I want my words. Give me my words. Now, in terms of working up how you fill out your character, of course, improvisation is one of the exercises you do to do it. But I'm anal, so when I do a piece, I really try absolutely to give exactly the words that the writer has written. I don't feel like I have the license to toy with their words. No. And I had a part on Gilmore Girls and they were so strict with the words. If you didn't say the, it, exactly like they had written, they stop, go back. They wanted their words exactly. And for me, I don't toy with a writer's words. Unless there's something there, we're stuck for some reason and you're working with the writer to maybe change it or whatever. But I memorize exactly, exactly the words as best I can. Exactly the words. Bill, as a director, what do you want an actor when they? Generally, I want the words, but improvisation is great when you're trying to bring the character out. For instance, some actors just don't like their character and improvisation really helps them to develop because there's never a bad character. What we're trying to do is to show the audience how they came to this point. So improvisation sometimes really helped by having, let's see an actor paraphrase what he's saying and then saying it, I. So, I think that's a good way to personalize it so that he begins to, when we talk about ourselves, we begin to try and see something different. Another thing is to, I sometimes may tell an actor to do something different. So as a scene is going on, the actor does something different and kind of throws the other actor, so she have to react. And it's very important that you listen. If you're, a lot of actors don't listen and you have to listen to your partner, your scene partner. You have to react to what they're saying, not from what the script says. Of course you have to say the same words, but you have to respond in that way by listening and responding. A lot of times actors say things, they're not listening. They're saying things and it doesn't sound right and that's because they're not listening. So I use that a lot when I'm directing. Okay. Yeah. And what are your thoughts, feelings as a writer? As a writer, yeah, because I'm not really an actor. I've done a little acting, but I think for me, I have great respect for the actors. And you know, for me, it's like a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very collaborative kind of process. And so in developing a new work, when I bring it into like my group for readings, sometimes the actors will say, okay, well, why am I saying this? And then I have to have a good answer for this, you know, like, and if I don't, well then it makes me think, okay, well, you know, why? So I like that process. It also, you know, I was thinking too earlier that there's certain writers, like they're saying shakes, Shakespeare may have really just been thinking of a couple of the actors in his company for some of his great characters, like Richard Burbage, I guess, was like the model for Lear and some of the other great, you know, so, and I remember hearing like Isaac Asimov, his method of creating, he would visualize his characters on his typewriter and he would kind of let his fantasy take over and watch them interact with each other. So for me, it's kind of part of this, you know, this process of creating and finding the story, finding the characters and really knowing your characters inside and out. Okay, thank you. We're winding down. Let's take, I think, a little less than a minute in peace for your closing comments. And also I forgot to ask you what actors influence you. Can you make that part of your closing comments and contact information? We'll roll around real quick. Well, I have to think about that. I mean, modern day, modern day, current, right now I'm really enjoying Viola Davis, her vulnerability, her transparency, you know, I really admire that. But I'd have to think about that question. I know when I was a little girl, I saw Dorothy Dandridge and I was like, wow, you know, of course I love Ruby Dee. But modern day, I would say Viola Davis, she, her vulnerability and her transparency in her characters. Okay. I admire that. Okay. Do you want to give me any contact information for those who- If you need to reach Alma Collins, you can reach me at peacebestill3 at yahoo.com. Okay. That's how you can find me peacebestill3. Okay. okay i took the words right out of my mouth viola davis is top on my list right now i love her strength at her and i also love her vulnerability and she can portray both of them at the same time which just blows me away yeah angela bassett is also up there and alfre woodard for me as well and if you would like to read shirley jordan you can find me at shirley j the number one at mac.com okay uh bill quickly close and come and we got about about 20 seconds riches and and uh larry riches from yale larry right yeah it's larry richards he worked with uh august was august willard wilson yeah he also brought riches also brought uh i can't remember a name right now to the stage the first black drama on on the stage i don't have any current ones that i i really like a lot of them but i don't have any okay specific ones yeah and for me maybe in terms of playwrights um contemporary or just anyone george bernard shaw just because he's able to take all of these crazy brilliant plays and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and brilliant ideas and theatricalize them all through real live characters and if i can put a plug in for first stage l.a we meet every monday nights at 7 30 at the avery schreiber playhouse and that's at 49 34 lancashire boulevard in northern northern northern northern northern now i would like to uh a special uh thanks to to my guest bill white uh shirley jordan alvin collins Felix Rosales. Please listen to past shows of the Qumran Report by Googling in Qumran Report. Thank you for tuning in to the Qumran Report. From your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson, and my co-host, Earlene Anthony, may the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. I leave you with Homeboy by Sunji Ali. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Brothers, there's only one blood. Cuz there ain't no sense in us trampling on the stones. It's us down, down to the bone. Blood is thick. Waters were known well. Cousins were kept apart. Mothers were often memories. Fathers were not favorites on the farm. For he could do some harm. He could wreck the master's scheme. For he, brothers, could dream. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Homeboy. Your mama ain't no saint. Your daddy died on a shallow stream. But your uncle, Dr. King, did have a dream, my brother. And what is your real excuse? Why can't you study your lessons and stay in school? Why can't you study your lessons and stay in school? School. School. Homeboy. Free love and sex ain't nothing but a game. Don't never forget. Don't never last. Try hope. Take a chance on love.