I started out wanting to be an actor, went to school for it, performed in quite a few plays before moving on to means of expression more suitable to my talents. Play acting, though, has always been for me a kind of ur-creativity, the first creative effort of children, that’s the act of make-believe. “Pretend you’re the Daddy!” “Let’s pretend I’m the princess!” “Let’s pretend I’m Batman!” “Let’s put on a circus!” Nobody teaches children to act; they just do it. Read the rest of this entry »

When I was a child in kindergarten I worried about entering the first grade. In particular, I was worried about meeting the gym teacher, a lady named “Miss Tarbell.” My brother told me that she was a terror, and that her name was due to the fact that she was covered in sticky tar with bells hanging from it so that she clanged when she walked like a fire alarm. I can remember the peculiar state of my five year old mind in which I both doubted this could be true and yet thought it might be.

A child’s state of mind. Innocence? I guess. A genuine belief that anything is possible. For an artist, the absolute confidence that I can make it so, whatever “it” is. How can an actor, for example, play Gandalf the Wizard? Read the rest of this entry »

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