The Children.

I was able to complete a single week of Lucy Kirkwood’s Tony-nominated play The Children before the pandemic forced the shift of the production to a streaming format. The cast had literally a single day in which to film the piece before a full government shutdown went into effect. 

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The focus of my acting classes at UNT has, for the most part, dealt with realistic, truthful portrayal, and this production demanded nothing short of totally honest, genuine work. “Invisible acting,” as I like to call it, because you simply cannot see any trace of it. The role also required a specific British dialect, which, as always, adds a technical challenge that must be approached with research and a drive for authenticity and accuracy.

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In this apocalyptic story (yes, it was quite ironic to all of us to be doing this play as a pandemic arose), Robin, a retired worker at a nuclear plant, is a man faced with his own mortality (due to radiation exposure after an event) and considering if, before dying, he might be able to do something for the greater good (returning to the plant to make necessary repairs). True, it may make the little time he has left even shorter, but is that a small price for what he could help accomplish?

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Every performance of the show was quite draining, both emotionally and physically, as Robin’s body begins to show the effects of the exposure, including a seizure in which the character begins to expectorate blood. I have undertaken roles demanding this before and was reminded of the care the actor has to take when doing them. The emotional journey, as well, was quite disturbing. Much like productions of The Normal Heart, The Goat, and Hir that I had done years before, this one stayed with me the entire time I was playing it. I talk to the actors I teach about self-care when working on these extremely physical and emotional shows. The lesson was reinforced here, and I shared the experience with my students.

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Every now and then, actors will encounter productions where they are cast and the director pretty much leaves them on their own from there. It does not happen all that often, but it does occur every now and then. The director of this show, Kara-Lynn Vaeni, pretty much did this during this rehearsal process, I assume because she simply liked what I was doing. I actually don’t have preferences about this, but it does require the actor to be very proactive, make bold choices, take initiative, and not wait for feedback. I believed Ms. Vaeni liked this about working with me, as she has tried to hire me for several other projects (none of which, unfortunately, I have been available for because of my Dallas Theater Center commitments).

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One benefit of the transition to the national streaming—the show did reach a much bigger audience, as the pandemic resulted in viewers looking to see good live theatre at a time when they could not go to the theatre.