Chris Fields Acting Studio

Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and The Art of Acting. link in bio

Zen and Acting. Meditation and the moment.

Meditation and mindfulness are perfect models for acting. Zen and acting are uncannily similar.

Dean Irby has passed away. He was a true lion. A wonderful teacher and man of the theater. Kind, patient, sweet, dear, intuitive, smart, generous, honorable- I could go on. A mensch. Across the country I suspect thousands, thousands of his ex-students are in tears. A loss but Dean isn't really gone. His dedication and artistry, his passion and humanity are living on in all of us who had the privilege to know and work with him. May flights of angels sing him to his rest...we shall not look on his like again.

I'm thrilled to announce that my book, Leave Yourself Alone; Zen and The Art of Acting has been published!

It's about the uncanny similarities between Zen Buddhism and acting; how ultimately acting, or for that matter, any artistic pursuit is a spiritual journey.

http://www.chrisfieldsactingstudio.com/book.html

Chris fields acting studio ​Leave Yourself Alone: Zen and the Art of Acting is an examination of acting that focuses on the spiritual aspects of the actor's journey. Chris Fields combines his extensive experience as...

Maureen Stapleton was not one for flowery language, and compliments embarrassed her. After I related to her some praise from friends and colleagues about her "angelic kindness," her "patience of a saint," and her "emotional superiority," she had had it with me.
"I think this is such bu****it," she said. "I don't mean that I don't love those people. I do. But I have no idea what they're talking about. I don't know what I'm doing or what I'm going to do. I don't have principles or a code, and if I had a philosophy it would be simple: Show up. Stay. Return.
"I grew up in a time when you stood by people," she continued. "I was almost always around stand-up people who wanted to help and who got it that the world was better--not the just the fu***ng play or the movie--if you lifted everyone up. How is this complicated? Is the world falling apart so fast that I haven't noticed a new shipment of s**ts that have come in? There have always been s**ts in the world, and another job I have is to be someone you can come sit with when the s**ts get to be too much.
"I'm no angel though," she concluded. "I'm basic human, and I think that most people are basically pretty decent. Show up, stick around, and don't be a s**t."
--Maureen Stapleton/Interview with James Grissom/Lenox, Massachusetts, 1991.

This is not a polite profession, a pastime, a little something to do until the kids get home or the spouse is ready to show you some attention: This is the study of--the excavation of-- the human condition. There are, I assure you, easier ways to make money and get famous than being a truthful actor. I am here to understand the whole line of humanity, which can only be done in the study of history, of literature, of art, and we place ourselves, fearlessly and with little initial hope of worth, in that timeline. We become what Tennessee [Williams] called a witness to those before us. If we are blessed with talent and courage, we may become good witnesses. It will not be an easy task. It's a task that can tear you up.

-Kim Stanley

Satisfaction? What cost?
Jessica Goldberg's latest play "Babe" is deeply unsatisfying...but that's part of its power.
Stick with me and I'll explain.
"Babe" is, in some ways, a play.
It begins in a job interview for an A&R gig at a big shot music label in New York. Gus is the legend in the room. He's made some serious records. He's discovered a bunch of stars from tiny hole in the wall dives.
Kaitlin is the young, entitled newbie who would love to work for someone like Gus. After all she's been into music her whole life and as an undergrad she put together free sound baths for the unhoused, so you know she cares.
Then there's the third person in the room, Abby.
Abby is silent most of the meeting except when she hops in to steer Gus away from trouble. Even though he's been to all the trainings, it seems like Gus still needs someone to baby sit him so he doesn't trigger a lawsuit. It's clear though that Gus and Abby have been doing this a long time: partners, almost.
It's only at the very end of the meeting that we get a glimpse of Abby's importance. On the way out, Kaitlin says she had a picture of Abby and the 90's rock star Cat Wonder (think Liz Phair or PJ Harvey) on her wall growing up. It's clear Abby is the real deal. She's lived it.
Now if I give you that much of a setup - old guy with a lot of power, new, young, female employee who wants to break into the biz and tell you it's a play, I bet you can conjure up a plot line.
You'd be right but you'd also be deliciously wrong. "Babe" is more complicated than that. It isn't the story of Gus the harasser from another time or Kaitlin the young, entitled idealist who's going to call things out. Instead, it's Abby's play.
It's a play about the woman who broke into the industry a generation ago and had to put up with the old boy's network crap and insinuations that she slept her way to the top while not getting proper credit. She could never be who she truly is. It's a story of two generations of women who should be allies but instead find themselves as uncomfortable adversaries.
What's unsatisfying about the play has nothing to do with the writing or the production - which is solid top to bottom: wonderful cast, inspired minimal design, beautifully directed.
What's unsatisfying, ironically, about the play is that it doesn't fall into any of the easy traps. It's not a play where we can cathartically hate Gus or dismiss Kaitlin as naive and ungrateful. You can, but the play won't let you indulge in that too long.
The dissatisfaction is Abby's.
It's the dissatisfaction of a woman who's made it...but not with the rewards she would have gotten as man.
If you've got a daughter, or you're a daughter with a working mom, go see this play. If the notion of going back to catch one more show at CBGB's excites you, go see this play. Just go see this play.
"Babe" plays at the Echo Theatre Company in Atwater Village through October 24th.

This is Anthony Byrnes Opening the Curtain on LA Theater for KCRW.