Month: March 2013

“Finding The Cue

Edwin Peabody here. You all may know me as an actor/director and company member for Butterfield 8. I’m here to give some insight into what it means for me to be a member of this company.

It’s a true gift to find a company to continue work for as an actor. Actors live the vagabond’s life, constantly switching from one company to the next in the hopes of finding work. In 20+ years and 90+ shows, I can say I finally found the people and the place I feel most comfortable  – with Butterfield 8.

Five years ago I was invited to be a part of “Merchant of Venice” and I’ve pretty much been a staple since. And as I have watched my role grow within this company, and seen this company grow as well, I wanted to share with you all what it means for me to be a part of this:

*It means that I have a responsibility to the future. To the future shows, future members, future patrons and supporters.

*It means that I must take “the long view” of this company, and be patient with the people and faithful to our mission. I sometimes make mistakes, but I always learn from them.

*It means that I must be honest with myself about why I do this. I gave my life to the theatre long ago, so I’m not a hobbyist or a part-timer. For me, it’s all or nothing. Like it or not, this is my life.

*It means this company is my home and I must ensure that my part, however it changes from what it is now, gets accomplished to the best of my abilities. I am more than just an actor with this company, but I’m also in it for the long run. This company means the world to me.

As a performer, from moment one of rehearsal on, I always give 100% of myself. I go at it full bore, as they say. So I approach everything else I’ve been asked, or volunteered, to do for this company with the same 100%. I might make mistakes, since I’m only human, but I will give everything I have to this.

To be honest, it’s frightening that after so many years of vagabonding, I found this place to call my home. I was so used to the idea that I was searching for it endlessly, and would likely never find it.

I now look forward to all the little triumphs and tribulations, all the obstacles we will continue to overcome, and all the satisfaction of the truly hard work we do that pays off. I have faith in the whole shebang. And I’ll always be honored and grateful for finding the Cue.”

When you work for a well oiled machine like Cal Shakes or Berkeley Rep, they have
heaps of cash and a structure that is in place to keep everything running. When it’s your
own show, a small budget, and a structure that holds together but not a lot of resources,
things get interesting.

In our latest production, we have had some casting… “issues,” let’s call them. It has
made it clear to me that too few actors realize what really goes into building the work.
It’s not that they don’t understand it, they never really take it into consideration. Or
worse, they think they don’t have a responsibility to the company, especially if it is small.
Well that isn’t exactly true; the theatre world is small, I get calls or e-mails often asking
me what so and so was like to work with, or have I ever had dealings with this actor.

It’s frustrating of course when you are putting work together and things fall apart or don’t
get done. Small companies don’t always have a safety net, so as the producer/director
it’s up to you to fix it.

We are in transition, if you can call it that. We have company members really stepping
up to the plate and taking things on.

So sometimes it’s hard to let go.

When you have had people tell you again and again that they will do something and it
never happens, you get a little gun shy. So my issue is letting people take things on.

Yes – I’m working on it.

Growing pains can be difficult but necessary to build a better structure. We all fall into
patterns of work; “we’ve always done it this way” or “I’ll just take care of it.” All of this I
need to break from and allow other people to do it. And be okay if they fall down a little
when they do. Cutting each other slack doesn’t always happen in this field, but it should;
it can make us all a little better.

Provided we get the fact that we fell down in the first place, and that we learn from it.