A year and a half ago I weighed 300lbs and could hardly walk due to a bad knee. Acting requires a great deal of stamina. It is a very physical activity. Especially at the Rose. Well, thanks to a new knee installed by Dr. Williams and the fine team at Chelsea Orthopedic Specialists, and daily workouts at the Chelsea Wellness Center, I am 60lbs lighter and can move pretty well. I’m healthier than I have been in many years. So I once again find myself treading the boards and more or less holding my own with two amazing teammates: Charlyn Swarthout and Matt David.

Getting through it physically was the main goal. In the show I’m literally trading punches with a skilled boxer about half my age. What I didn’t know was that that would actually be the easy part. Learning the lines for A Stone Carver was difficult. I’m usually pretty good at that, but in this case we all say the same thing several times in slightly different ways. Say the wrong thing at the wrong time, and well, it gets tricky. After hours of repetition, I got it. The emotional demands are the hardest and ultimately most rewarding part. I had forgotten how alive a person is during a play. All my senses are heightened. All of them. And it’s exhilarating to a degree unknown to most. I’m a director by trade and I’ve always considered acting as a bonus in my career. I hope it won’t be five years until the next time.

- Guy Sanville
PRTC Artistic Director and “Agostino Malatesta” in A Stone Carver, now showing through March 10, 2012

Photos by Sean Carter Photography

Relive your favorite moments or catch a sneak preview of what’s in store when you visit the Purple Rose this winter.

Photos by Sean Carter Photography.

The Purple Rose Theatre Company is a nonprofit organization, and we understand the value of helping community organizations. We are happy to consider requests to donate tickets for use in fundraisers and silent auctions.

Please note that we have a limited number of tickets to donate and we receive many requests each year. It is not possible for us to donate to every organization that requests tickets, and some requests will be denied. We will donate to a specific organization only once per year.

To request a donation for your charitable event, please complete the form provided at BiddingForGood.com, our online charity auction platform.

Due to the volume of requests we receive daily, we cannot confirm that individual requests have been received. You will receive an e-mail regarding the status of your request within two weeks of submission.

There wasn’t enough room in the theatre itself for all thirty-two of us in Actor/Director Lab to stretch within eyesight of Michelle, one of the instructors, so we were running, down the block and to the corner and back the same way. After a few moments, I hardly notice the brisk air, and instead hear our footsteps hard on the pavement, and feel my heart echoing their thudding. When I pass the halfway point, I suddenly realize how long this simple stretch of road actually seems. Then, a faster class member runs by and high-fives each of us, and through that and the smile we share, I have a burst of energy to keep going. I run.

I sit at the table onstage, completely focused on building a house of cards. My first few tries kept falling over, but I learned to reinforce the tents with additional cards, and now slowly but steadily am working my way along the second story. My mother sits and tries to help me, and I speak a few lines, while grabbing a card from her hand to use instead of mine, and inching my chair away to have some space between her and my aunt’s arguing. Real life and real people, but lived on a stage speaking words of a play, and finally the scene ends and we step back into our selves as Guy and the class discuss our work.

Eyes calmly closed, we stand in a circle, breathing in and out, focusing both on our own breath and the breath of the others around us. Even if I weren’t holding hands with those beside me, I would be able to sense their presences; feeling their hands in mine only strengthens that bond. I take a moment to relish in the commitment, trust, and unity, all of which remains as we drop hands. When Michelle places a blindfold around my eyes and sends me into the center, I feel the breath of my classmates and sense their presences. I walk slowly with my arms relaxed at my sides in what I think is a circle. For a moment, I suddenly worry that I am alone, the only one, and everyone else has gone – and then I sense another person blindly wandering and wholly trusting alongside me. I breathe in relief, and accept support and love. My classmates will not let me fall, nor will they let me come to harm.

Simple exercises: running, a shared activity, breathing, standing. And yet within these seemingly simple things, I continually discover more about myself and the people and world around me. I learn not only how to be a better actor, but how to love and breathe life into those I encounter, and how to accept the trust they will provide. I see into other people – and let them see into me. Both can be exceedingly difficult, but through this class, I learn to take those steps into and out of myself, and find the freedom to do so.

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This week we are working on scenes that are more abstract than our last. I am really excited about my particular scene, but something that I am struggling with is being flexible about what the final product will be. After reading the scene, I have a very specific image in my head about what I want it to look and sound like. I know that in rehearsal my actors are going to bring their unique perspectives, and I hope that I can guide them through some exercises that will create the tone and style of the scene that I think best suits it and still be open to what they may inspire in the work.

My actors this week are great, and they have already contributed even before rehearsals began. Because the scene is so different from modern realism, and we are able to make cuts and changes to the script, I have asked each of them to pick out which line they think is most meaningful – sums up the story, or is important to the character, whatever “meaningful” means to them. It was really interesting to see what stuck out to them, and it made a big impact on what the script looks like now.

Fortunately we are able to work on this scene for three weeks with our groups, so I hope that in rehearsal this week I will be able to get a sense of their interpretation and maybe (probably) find something even more amazing in the scene with them. I imagine that they will be looking for guidance and I hope to be able to provide them with enough that they feel confident in the work, but that they have the freedom and support to express themselves. I can’t wait to get to work!

How many times a day do you look into someone’s eyes? Not at their eyes, but into their eyes. Do you cut past the color of their iris, through their pupil, seeing directly into who they are right now, in the second that they’re looking back at you? This week in our Actor/Director Lab we did a mirroring exercise. Face to face we stood, each other’s hands in hand, we gazed into each other. Then placing our hands on each other’s heart, we breathed for each other, surrendering to our partner. We changed partners a few times, experiencing a new sense of life with each new person.

I have done this exercise many times before, it’s a staple for actor training, so what is it about seeing someone that breaks you down into laughter and tears time after time? There’s something sacred about our humanity, and we rarely take the time to truly acknowledge it. We rush through our days, glazed over with the fear, anxiety and stress that our obligations cause, but when we take the time to stop, breathe, and turn our attention away from ourselves and focus it on the person staring back at us, we tap into something far more real than the bills that are piling up on our kitchen table. Our purpose becomes clear. It is this clarity that comes like an earthquake, shaking our reality to crack open our collected tears and suppressed laughter.

This is the version of ourselves that we as artists must live in, and it takes time and repetition to cultivate it. This is why we do mirroring exercises, this is why we fire the judge that lives in the left lobe of our brain. We become better people when we see into each other.

This class teaches humans how to fly.

1. When does the Groupon expire?
You must redeem the voucher by making your ticket reservation by February 12, 2012.

2. How do I redeem my Groupon?
Once you receive your Groupon voucher in your email, you can call us to schedule your ticket reservation. Call 734-433-7673 to make a reservation and be sure to have your Groupon Number handy (located in the top right corner of your Groupon voucher). Our friendly Box Office staff will reserve your tickets, send you an email confirmation, and then we’ll see you at the show! Please bring your printed voucher to the box office on the day of the show.

3. What plays can I see with the Groupon voucher?
You can use your Groupon voucher for Escanaba in da Moonlight or A Stone Carver, as long as you make your reservation by February 12, 2012!

4. What else do I need to know?
Your Groupon voucher does not guarantee seats. Our seating is extremely limited, so it is crucial to make a reservation.

If you have any other questions, please email us at tickets@purplerosetheatre.org or call 734-433-7673 and we’ll be happy to answer them! Thanks so much for supporting the Purple Rose Theatre Company!

Danna Segrest
Properties Designer
with the Purple Rose Theatre Company since February 1991.