PATP: The Virgin and the Veteran

This weekend's cast features two recent PATP, UW graduates - Scott Ward Abernethy (virgin actor) and Marianna de Fazio (veteran actor).

We saw Scott as Francis - a patient recovering from serious war time trauma, mumbling "Lights Out", in Zoe Fitzgerald's Good Night. Tonight, he's cast opposite Danielle Daggerty in the evening's only two hander - Courtney Meaker's Shorty Says Goodbye. 

Marianna played the half "feeble", half scheming sister in Erin Stewart's Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove on Friday, surprising and awing the audience with her subtle but crisp transformation from the 'feeble' to the 'scheming'. Tonight, she features in No Apologies by Jennifer Jasper, who had one of the most poignant plays of Friday night.


Over lunch, yours truly caught up with these two.

AK: Even as a virgin actor, you must have come in with an impression of what 14/48 will be like. How accurate was it? How prepared (or not) did you feel?

Marianna and Scott right after lunch
Photo: Agastya Kohli

Scott: Actually, I organized a speed theatre festival in undergrad, and so I was very familiar with the basic structure.

AK: And as a veteran, was there something that still surprised you Marianna?

Marianna: My last 14/48 was outdoors... so the venue makes a huge difference. Indoors is quite different - easier and more focused. Other than that, this 14/48 has move along similar lines as the last one.

Scott: The biggest surprise really, is the realization of how random things can be. Yesterday, I was a part of a serious piece - not funny or rambunctious at at all.  And I had just three lines. Today, I'm in a two-hander, with sword fights, and eight different dialects, and all kinds of physical acting. The other big surprise was how many people in the theatre community I don't really know. I've been working in Seattle right after I graduated from PATP, but I walked into the room and at best, maybe I knew a quarter of the people.

Marianna: And what a great gift it is to the community that 14/48 provides. Allowing people from different 'circles' within the theatre community to overlap and interact with one another, building connections and fostering relationships.

AK: Would you be interested in returning as a part of any of the other 14/48 disciplines?

Scott: Yes! I would be very interested in writing and directing. And I'm very interested in Musical 14/48 too!

AK: Has the process on Saturday been different from what it was like on Friday?

Scott: Well, the play I'm in today is very different. Yesterday, I had three lines to learn, so I had a lot of free time to work on making my character as fun and interesting as I could make it. Today is a very different day just in terms of the size of the role and what is required.

Marianna: Working with a different director changes the process a little. Yesterday we worked on the piece with relatively small breaks. Today we're pacing ourselves a lot better. Taking time off to learn lines, and regathering periodically to work on the piece together. Today feels a lot more relaxed than yesterday, with the comfort of experience under our belts.

AK: What's next for you two?

Scott: I'll be doing King Lear with Seattle Shakes.

Marianna: And I'm doing Diana of Dobson’s at Taproot Theatre.

AK: Break a leg!


Disclaimer - These conversations were not recorded. The interviews above are paraphrased. But I hope I've captured the essence of what these artists wanted to share with all of you.

Early Impressions from Show #5 and #6

Jennifer Jasper has a beautiful, sweet touching piece in Etymology last night. Today she has written a play called No Apologies, being directed by Hana Lass, featuring Marianna de Fazio, Marty Mukhalian and Cody Smith. In my three minutes of eavesdropping, it sounded like a play about a couple (played by Cody and Marty) struggling to raise their daughter (Marianna) with a value system they believe in. Given the theme of 'over indulgence', something tells me the value system might be a little... unorthodox.

Hana, Marianna and Cody during first (or second) read through.
Photo: Agastya Kohli

Down in the Lower Falls Lobby, Scott Abernethy and Danielle Daggerty are working on their two-hander, written by Courtney Meaker, directed by Stan Shields. There are pirates, and there are zombies. Stan requested the band to start the show with "jaunty pirate music". Lighting designers are looking for some ship rigging gobos. They were not optimistic on having any zombie gobos, unfortunately. More about this show during tech, I am sure!

Scott and Danielle, during 'table work'
Photo: Agastya Kohli

Erin Stewart - Friday v. Saturday

I sat down with the lovely Erin Stewart to talk about her 14/48 experience, and our conversation drifted towards how Friday compared with Saturday.

She was able to go to bed by 5am Friday morning, and stayed up till 6am on Saturday. In the grand scheme of things, I'd say that's about the same.

"It was tough both nights", she said. "I thought both these themes were pretty broad, and I didn't have an idea right away for either night. On both nights I had two plays going. Switching back and forth between the two plays, not sure which one I was going to go with."

Erin Stewart, either before or after writing the play.
Photo: Agastya Kohli

"How different were they?"

"The ones on Friday were similar. They were both heightened, and stylized. But the other play on Saturday was actually quite different from what I went with. I was trying 'over indulgence' in a different way. I kept going back and forth. But every time I went to it, I was like... naah..."

"How did you know which play was going to win out, and when did you know?"

"Well, I had more pages for this one."

"So, the longer play won? Both nights?"

"Basically, yes! But I'm happy with it." Erin exclaimed.

I asked her if she had any thoughts about Keni Cohen picking her script both days, and what it was like to work with Keni.

"Yeah, isn't that weird? That happened to me three or so years  back at OTB as well! I'd never worked with Keni before. Yesterday, I wanted to make sure I was able to communicate my brand of comedy. I wanted that to come through. I was confident he'd get the play, but I wanted to give him as much information as I could, before I walked away from the process completely. Today, I feel much better about it. The cast just read the play, and they're laughing, and enjoying the script already. So I feel good!"

Well Ms. Stewart, you succeeded in delivering a creepy, but funny crowd-pleaser on Friday. Marianna de Fazio, Sydney Tucker and Joe Ivy gave great performances under Keni Cohen's direction. We can't wait to see what 'Over Indulgence' Saturday will bring.

Disclaimer - I didn't record the conversation with Erin... so the above is all paraphrased. But I hope I've captured the essence of what Erin wanted to share with all of you.

The 14/48 Gods May be Strong with this One

Before the Thursday night meeting started, people were mingling, saying hello to old and new friends. Marianna de Fazio (veteran actor) bumped into Keni Cohen (virgin director). After exchanging their names, Marianna said to Keni, "You look familiar. I wonder where I've seen you before."

Joe Ivy reads his lines as Marianna de Fazio looks on.
Photo: Agastya Kohli

"You look familiar too." Keni responded with the second half of a conversation that so many theatre people have had before, and will repeat in the future. He then continued, "Where did you go to high school?" with a chuckle at the statistical impossibility of them being at the same high school at the same time.

"Are you a writer?"

"No", he replied, "I'll be directing."

"Oh, you might direct me then", she said, "I'll be acting!"

"I very likely might! Perhaps that's why you look so familiar. Perhaps we've already worked together."

Marianna had a confused look on her face. She would have remembered Keni, if they had worked together in the past.

"In the sense that the future has already been determined!", Keni explained, picking up on the visual cue of confusion.

How very new age and in sync with the universe! Almost poetic.

Skip forward to this morning as Marianna and I were making our way through the Convention Center parking garage, pulling her actor suitcase along.

"Are you going to the theatre?" A voice called at us from behind.

"Yes we are!" we both replied in near unison.

"May I follow you? I don't really know where I'm going", the gentleman requested.

"Please! Come with us - we're almost there", I replied and slowed down for him to catch up, as we walked through the doors into the Convention Center.

"Hi, I'm Marianna", she said, "I'm an actor. And you?"

"I'm Joe. Also actor."

"That's Agastya. He'll be blogging" She completed the introductions on my behalf.

Keni Cohen directs Sydney Tucker
Photo: Agastya Kohli

Skip forward again to the Actors draw, and sure enough Keni pulls Marianna's name out of the jar containing women's names, and then pull out Joe Ivy's name from the jar with men's name. These three recently acquainted artists will spend their day along with Sydney Tucker, working on Erin Stewart's play Mr. and Mrs. Hargrove.

Yes, it could just be a coincidence. But so many of us know - there are very few coincidences at 14/48. And a lot is determined by the 14/48 Gods, who seem to be smiling on this group today. Indeed Mr. Cohen. The future had already been determined, and you seemed to have glimpsed it last night.

TPS Hearts 14/48

This weekend's artist roster includes former TPS staff members Sam Read (Actor) and Courtney Meaker (Writer), as well as current TPS staff members Andy Jensen (Director) and Marianna de Fazio (Actor). Andy is directing show #1, Courtney wrote show #4, and Marianna and Sam are acting in show #s 6 and 7 respectively.

"Crouching Sam and Hidden Talent"
Former and current TPS staff members at 14/48
Photo: Agastya Kohli

And, the word on the street is that Karen Lane will be in the house to watch the show tonight!

No worries Shane Regan - we know you can hold the fort for a day or two or ten.