Guest Actors Teach Monologue Workshop Series
September 24, 2019
For the past three Monday's this September, guest actors John Adrian and Robin DeMarco taught a monologue workshop series for Wesleyan students that were interested in learning more about the craft of acting. Adrian and DeMarco have a range of experience from onscreen productions such as ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Scandal’, and the 2019 film ‘Unplanned’. We asked them a few questions about the program and their background.
For the past three Monday's this September, guest actors John Adrian and Robin DeMarco taught a monologue workshop series for Wesleyan students that were interested in learning more about the craft of acting. Adrian and DeMarco have a range of experience from onscreen productions such as ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Scandal’, and the 2019 film ‘Unplanned’. We asked them a few questions about the program and their background.
What is the program you are putting on for the students? What do you hope they get out of it?
The program is a 3-week series of monologue studies, and I let the students pick what they want to work on. I’m always interested to see what type of story an actor chooses. It tells me quite a bit about how an actor sees themselves. I’m just hoping to show them that there is no “right” way to do a scene or monologue. I teach them to ask “what if” and I want them to “dare to be remembered.” I use these little sayings because they are easy to remember. Acting is simple. It’s in the quiet moments and the research that we find the truth we are looking for. I tell the students that learning to act is simply “the relentless pursuit of brilliance.” What I’m hoping the students get out of this is the desire to relentlessly pursue brilliance in acting and in life.
What are some methods you use to get into character on stage?
I work inside out and outside in, but it really depends. I spend my days observing human nature. I watch people and behaviors. I study history, culture, and art. I think of myself as more of a sociologist than an actor. There is a brilliant quote by Arthur Miller that describes this best, “There is a certain immortality involved in theatre, not created by monuments and books, but through the knowledge an actor keeps to his dying day that on a certain afternoon, in an empty and dusty theater, he cast a shadow of a being that was not himself, but the distillation of all he had ever observed; all the unsingable heart song that the ordinary man may feel but never utter, he gave voice to. And by that he somehow joins the ages.”
What do you enjoy about teaching others how to act?
I guess I enjoy watching the light go on. I think young actors feel there is a right and wrong way to approach written material. I enjoy the moment a young actor realizes there are no rules. I enjoy watching the creative spark ignite the story within. I enjoy the moment anyone takes an idea and makes it their own. That, to me, is brilliance. I enjoy watching brilliance take flight in those who didn’t know they had wings.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Well, I have really enjoyed working with these kids. They really are terrific. I have seen so much growth in the couple short weeks and I know that they are going to carry this enthusiasm for the craft forward. I’m amazed at the raw talent in the room. We have seen some brilliance already. I hope they are having as much fun as I do each week. I want to thank you for letting me work your students!
