OTHER UPCOMING HOOKS TRAVELS
I'll be in VANCOUVER, CANADA June 22-23, teaching Acting to Animators. The workshops are sponsored by the Emily Carr Institute. If you know any animators in the vicinity, they can find out about enrollment by contacting Elizabeth Edward (604) 844-3804 or via e-mail: eedward@eciad.bc.ca

On June 29th, I'll be in DALLAS, TEXAS for a one-day class for animators. For info about that, contact Vince Sidwell at vsidwell@flash.net. It is possible that I will have some time during that trip for private coaching with actors. Let me know if you're interested in that.

CHICAGO CLASS SCHEDULE
SCENE STUDY -- on-going, start any time. Free audit. Monday or Wednesday nights, 7-10:30pm. $135 per month, 16-week commitment.
FILM DEMO WORKSHOP -- Tuesday nights, starting June 18th, 7-10:30. Nine week class, $600. ($400 if you are enrolled in scene study)
COMMERCIALS WORKSHOP -- July 20-21, Saturday 9-4 and Sunday 10-5. $250 ($175 if you are enrolled in scene study)
PRIVATE COACHING -- $75 per hour. Monologue work, cold-reading, career strategies.

HOOKS ACTORS WORKING
SONJA SORIANO (s.stdy & f/tv '01) booked the lead in an independent film that shoots in Nigeria! Entitled "Muffet" this one calls for location in Nigeria for sixty days. Good going, Sonja! DEENA DI MARCO (comml '01) shot an indie short entitled "Paranoia". SANDY ADELL (comml -'02) has been cast in a production of "La Cage Aux Folles". NICOLE DOHERTY (comml - '00) shot a Discovery Channel Docudrama, "Trailside Killer". She also has been cast as the lead in an indie film entitled "Still Memories", shooting this summer. RAY RENATI (s.stdy '98) appears in "Cabaret" at the Bus Barn Stage Company through June 22nd. For into, go to http://www.busbarn.org/. ALAN QUISMORIO (s.stdy '01) is in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in Pacifica and will next appear as Patroclus in "Troilus and Cressida" with the Shotgun Players of Berkeley. JOE TALLY (f/tv - '01) has been cast in a student film entitled "Narcissus' Pond". He will also appear in "Troilus and Cressida" which runs Sat. & Sun. July 27 through Sept. 1 in John Hinkle Park in the Berkeley hills. Congrats to ROCKY LAROCHELLE (f/tv -'00) who is a new SAG member after appearing in "Reductio ad Absurdum". DAVID WALLACE (s.stdy -'94) landed a lead role in a Cable In Demand Pay per view movie entitled "The Homeboy".

CRAFT NOTES
"Avoiding conflict"

In acting, you want to make choices that get you into the most trouble because that makes the acting experience richer. This actually runs counter to the impulses most of us have in life, however. We generally want to make nice, to compromise and to get along. In my classes, I joke at times, "Audiences don't go to the theatre to see people get along; they go to see people get it on!"

I am not suggesting that scenes should turn into fistfights, only that you be better off if you find the conflict. The word "conflict" in acting is not necessarily a negative thing. You can be in conflict about whether to eat the apple pie or the blueberry pie, whether to wear the blue dress or the tan pants suit. You can be in conflict about whether to take that vacation in Paris or in Mexico. Actually, "conflict" in theatrical terms is a synonym for "obstacle", and both of those words are inherent in "negotiation." The presence of conflict is a major distinction between theatrical reality and regular on-the-street reality.

Actors learn that conflict is their good friend. In life, we take classes in "conflict resolution". Psychiatrists will teach us how to be non-confrontational in our dealings with one another, how to just be happy people. Actors, by contrast, are always looking for the cutting edge in a scene.

Example: I was watching a scene from "The Norman Conquests" in class involving two women. Actress #1 discovered that Actress #2 was having an affair with her sister's husband, Norman. I asked Actress #1 how she felt about Norman having this affair. She responded that she wasn't surprised. He was the kind that would fool around. Since I knew there was nothing in the play to suggest that this man was a runaround type, I suggested to Actress #1 that she revise her acting choice. "How about if Norman is the last man on earth you would ever expect to engage in such behavior?" How would that effect your reaction when you find out what he did? She saw immediately that it would give her more of an "edge" in that moment. This was solely a matter of the kind of acting choice the actress made. She could make a choice that would cause her to be shocked at Norman's behavior, or she could make one that would not surprise her at all. The first choice is meatier and stronger.

Another example: An actress is playing Juliet, doing the scene (Act IV, scene 3) where she drinks the drug. If she accepts Friar Laurence's assurances about the liquid, then she has one kind of scene. If she questions his assurances, then she has another! The drug is advertised to make her appear to be dead while she is in fact just asleep. If she buys into that, then she'll have no problem drinking it. Right? If , on the other hand, she worries that maybe the drug will actually kill her, then a risk is involved in drinking it. How much will she risk for the love of Romeo? If she chooses that Friar Laurence is correct about the liquid, she could be making a perfectly valid acting choice, but it would not get her into trouble and would make for a less interesting scene. It is going to be more fruitful for her as an acting choice to doubt Friar Laurence.

Remember, there are only three possible kinds of conflict: (1) conflict with yourself, (2) conflict between characters and (3) conflict with the situation. At least one of them needs to be there all the time, and you can have more than one. Again, let me stress that conflict in theatrical terms is not necessarily negative. It is not necessarily a painful thing. It is better to think of conflict as a kind of cutting edge, something to work against. In life, we seek ways to relax and not to have conflict. In acting, we learn that conflict is our ally.

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