Each summer in NYC, I hear actors talking about how "things are soooo slooooowww." There is certainly some truth to this. I do notice a drop in the amount of commercial and voiceover auditions I attend this time of year. Surprisingly, though, I find that I welcome this slowing down.
The past few summers have sprung me from my urban habitat and landed me in some seriously idyllic settings. This summer is shaping up to do the same. Don't get me wrong, I straight-up adore New York City living. There's no place I'd rather be. But when you live here it's easy to believe you're a human doing instead of a human being, and it's very easy to get nature deprived. (Confession: Most mornings in Brooklyn you'll find me sitting on a slab of concrete by the East River, chilling with the seagulls and chatting with the stray cats. I take my nature where I can get it.)
Working out of town and creating mental space always strengthens my approach to my work.
Last month I had the immense pleasure of landing in Omaha, Neb., and performing at the Great Plains Theatre Conference. For nine glorious days I forewent subways and skyscrapers in favor of fresh air and fields and was 100 percent immersed in theater. I played a string of really diverse roles, including a Jeffrey Dahmer-obsessed Ph.D. student, a 19-year-old Seminole alligator wrestler, and an Emily Post-loving Antigone. Plus, I got to perform "Mickey & Sage" outdoors for the first time. It was such a treat taking this backyard-set play out of a physical theater and putting some real grass under its feet.
This month the cast of "Untitled Play About Brecht & His Girlfriends & Boyfriend & Wife" is also slowing things down and getting out of town. We're rehearsing at a truly magical retreat house in Mystic, Conn. For three days we'll work in an egg-shaped building made almost completely out of glass, with wooden swings hanging from the rafters (if you really wanna smile, watch grown actors push each other on swings and squeal "Wheee!"). Oh, and there is a barn there filled to the brim with puppets. You heard me. A barn devoted to puppets.
I'll wind up the summer with inViolet Rep, when we whisk our 20-plus members away to the woods for our annual retreat, where we will workshop an obscene amount of plays.
Life. Is. Good. Check out my website at www.erinmallon.net.
