When most of us see a play, we are there to be entertained, to turn off our lives for a moment, to become lost in fantasy, comedy, drama. What we might not realize is that, for the actors, our entertainment is their work, their job. The thing we’re seeing for the first time, those thrills and joys – boredom, perhaps – that we’re experiencing might be the fifth time for the actors performing, or the 30th time, or the 84th time (not to mention the weeks of rehearsals!). And the things that affect many of us in our jobs – personal lives, second jobs, co-workers, time off – are no different for actors.
The Herald sat down with actors Caitlin Cannon and Jason Lythgoe, who, along with Geoff Johnson, recently completed a 14½-week, 84-show run of Sarah Syverson’s Durango-centric summer play, “Guitar Strings, a Cowboy and a Lost Peacock,” at the Henry Strater Theatre.
On how they kept the show fresh
Caitlin Cannon: Really it should be a new experience every night. If you’re really listening [to the other actors], then it is new. [Durango theater director] Mona Wood-Patterson came and saw the show one night and she was like, “Caitlin, I can tell when you’re on autopilot…and you’re better than that,” and I was, like, “OK, she’s right.” I kind of felt some shame, like I’m being a bad actor….but the next night I really did actually listen to what Jason was saying and react to what I actually heard him say, as opposed to knowing what my next line was going to be and that made a really big difference. It’s like meditation. When you know something by rote like that, when it’s in your bones and you can do it on autopilot, it’s like meditation because you’ve got to bring yourself back to the listening.
Jason Lythgoe: It’s a different mindset going in knowing you have to do it so many times. You have to find ways to keep it new, keep it fresh and don’t get bored with it. Because the first audience deserves the same show as the 84th audience.
Every night I just looked forward to taking it like it was brand new and listening to the dialogue between Caitlin and I or Geoff and I, with all the different characters that he played, and really listening and saying, “Wow, I’ve never heard that before.” Even though I’d heard it 82 times, it was a matter of finding that listening part. Everything I’ve done before is gone. This is new every night. Listen. React. You can’t get bored and phone it in every night because the audience will know.
On how the show evolved over the run
CC: In order to do the same thing every night and keep it interesting, for the first 50 shows it was awesome…and that’s really saying something. For a play that was only born in six months, it was wonderful to have that stamina with it. It’s really hard to develop a script. There’s so much in terms of deepening story and answering questions. So you kind of compensate for that in your acting, so you fill in these holes. At first my character was more endeared to Jason’s character, but over time, I just found more and more things to be annoyed with him by in his character…which really helped me clarify who my character was in a sense.
JL: Over the course of the run for this show, we added little bits and little things without changing dialogue. We added the genie adding a third hand that comes out and moves his glasses randomly. Or the little stuffed chicken that comes out at the beginning of the second act, and just for fun, the chicken laid an egg. And that was the last three weeks of performances....
On personal challenges that impacted their performances
CC: I took on two other really challenging projects at the same time during the 84-show run. For instance, I basically hired a marketing consultant to teach me how to do everything a record label would essentially do for me to learn how to release my record, which was harder than any college course I’ve ever taken. And I also decided to become licensed in cosmetology. So I’m learning my mother’s trade and my mother has a beautiful mind but she sees everything in terms of lines and geometry and chemistry. So this math and science, these are parts of my brain I’ve never used or never wanted to use. So I was in three really intense endeavors.
JL: Personally, I had to move out of my place in Colorado Springs from 350 miles away, so I had to make some late-night drives after the Sunday show and get back Monday for the show Tuesday to pack and box and do whatever I could. (My) personal schedule really got in the way when I didn’t expect it to. I was expecting to come here and do the show and be done. And then it was “do the show and start new job and move and make trips to Colorado Springs back and forth.” That got a little hectic.
On how they’d approach the situation differently
CC: If I could do it over again, I’d try to do a better job with the songs. We all just kind of ran out of time, with the script and everything. And then all your energy is going into show maintenance. I think the songs I wrote for the show were appropriate for the show. I would have worked a little harder at deepening the lyrics so that it could have been something my character could have connected to in a deeper way.
JL: I went in knowing it was a long run and knowing it was going to be a long summer, a lot of shows. Now I know audience-wise really varied throughout the summer. We’d get these big, full houses that are laughing and cackling and huge and we’d have standing ovations. And we’d get these nights that are smaller, and they’re listening but they’re not laughing out loud, so the pace of the show changes with that audience.
On aspects of the show that made the experience unique
JL: It was a fun show so it’s not like it was emotionally taxing or draining at the end where I’m like, “Oh, I’m so tired because I’ve been working so hard and so emotional.” It was very light; it was very fun. You weren’t delving deep into your emotional stuff.
Sometimes the moods and attitudes of a three-person cast is always tough. If one person comes in having a bad day, that’s going to affect everybody because it’s such a small, little group back there. We kind of learned to give space to each other and talk and listen and let it go and know that everyone was there for each other…But that’s a part of theater. If someone’s having a crappy day, that happens, that’s life. But we’re here to know that you’ve got friends…we’ve got your back. Do what you need to do and then do your job, because that’s what we’re here for. That was a little challenge sometimes but it wasn’t something different. I’ve dealt with that in a four-week run before.
On some of the highlights of the experience
JL: I came into town as the hired actor and was going to leave town as soon as the show was over. And then all the sudden the job at the (Durango Arts Center) came up and I’m their new director of their youth theater program. A summer gig turned into a new job and a new opportunity in town.
CC: The high point for me was on Monday, because it was our day off. You want to know how I spent those days off? The first Monday, I went to the hot springs. On the second Monday, I went to Mesa Verde. On the third Monday, I went to the casino. On the fourth Monday, I went to the lake. On the fifth Monday, I binge-watched the first two seasons of “Homeland” and ordered a pizza. And on the sixth Monday…do you want me to keep going?
David Holub
