Waiting Room: A Staged Reading

This January, allow The Unconscious Collective to take you inside The Waiting Room, as lives intersect to show a broad array of humanity as it faces the unimaginable. This reading will serve as a platform to develop this show and take it to the next level. We encourage writers and other theater artists to come out and give us feedback to help us to create the best theater experience possible.

The staged reading will take place at The Kraine Theater at 85 East 4th Street at 7 PM, and we will be requesting donations only to take the piece to the next phase of the process. Join us!

Casting will be announced shortly, so check back!

Q&A with Author Steven Pressfield

Our Managing Director Penni Tinsley gave me a book one day almost a year ago called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, she thought it might help me with something that was standing in the way of my success as a professional actor, she characterized it as a tendency to overidentify with myself as an actor. In the copy she gave me, she highlighted this passage

" A pro stands at one remove from her instrument - meaning her person, her body, her voice, her talent; the physical, mental, emotional, and psychological being she uses in her work. She does not identify with this instrument. It is simply what God gave her, what she has to work with. She assesses it cooly, impersonally, objectively. The professional identifies with her consciousness and her will, not with the matter that her consciousness and will manipulate to serve her art. Does Madonna walk around the house in cone bras and come-fuck-me bustiers? She's too busy planning D-Day. Madonna does not identify with "Madonna." Madonna employs "Madonna."

A light bulb went off, this was a new concept for me, and it changed the way I think about myself and my art. There is a section in Steven Pressfield's book that speaks to each of us in relation to our work, our craft, the intersection of our art and our commerce, and the interconnectedness of our spirituality and our creativity. It was for this reason we purchased a copy for the cast of our debut production SHEPARD.

Steven's Pressfield's The War of Art is an important book for theater artists because of the incorporeal nature of imaginative creation working with one's body, voice, and mind. For those of us sitting in our rooms analyzing a script, or in the rehearsal studio crafting a new monologue we might have an idea of what it feels like to procrastinate or rationalize our way out of doing our work. Pressfield defines the enemy to our creative success as "Resistance," a force of self sabotage from within, and encourages a warrior like mentality to overcome it and "turn pro." He offers continuing insight on this philosophy through his Writing Wednesday blog. In this Q&A Steven discusses Resistance in the group setting, Resistance from outside forces, and dreams. In addition I'll post a follow up to Steven's question for me on "Group Resistance."

Q&A with Steven Pressfield


Resistance In A Group

Being a theater company, we face resistance not only on a personal level in our work, but also at the group level as we move forward with new projects. What are the different ways resistance can manifest in the group dynamic and how do you see resistance influencing the group, both as a whole and on an individual basis?

SP: Nick, I confess I have never even considered this subject. Group Resistance. (Being a solitary writer, I've only deal with it on a solitary basis.) Maybe I should be asking YOU about this. But since you've asked, let me tell you what I have observed about Resistance in a dynamic larger than the individual.

In The War of Art, there's a chapter on collective sabotage, where entire groups of people make an unconscious compact that none of them will rise higher than their current state, artistically or otherwise. If one crab dares to make the leap for the rim of the bucket, the others will clamp him with their pincers and bring him back down. That's probably not the Group Resistance you've experienced.

I've also observed in couples or parent-child combos or other dyads that, if one member starts overcoming his or her Resistance, the other will not only attempt to sabotage him or her ("You've changed, you're not the same person, what's wrong with you?") but will, by some perverse and uncanny mechanism, mirror and play back the striving person's own internal Resistance exactly. In other words, if an aspiring writer finally starts to write but secretly has fears of, say, surpassing his parents' achievements or of being disloyal to former friends who are still mired in Resistance, the writer's partner/wife/parent/whatever will play that very stuff back to him, verbally, out loud. But maybe this is not what you're asking about either, Nick. Both of these are competitive individually. One individual feels threatened by another's achievement and so tries to sabotage that individual, consciously or unconsciously.

But you're talking about a group dynamic, aren't you? Where an entire group acts as one to sabotage the group collectively. Write me back, will you, and let me know if that's it. I'd like to hear your thoughts. You can no doubt answer this question a lot better than I can.

Follow up:

NJ: Here are a two quick example of how resistance might affect our group.

We have three producing partners, myself and two women named Penni Tinsley and Joanna Bowzer. After our first production we were eager to start work on another one, so eager that we had the agreement drawn up to rent space, we alerted our actors to another production on the horizon, and we began to assemble a rehearsal schedule, marketing plan, and business model that could be put into effect immediately to create the planning and infrastructure for a second show. All three of us were behind this heavy push to get show #2 off the ground. We were sure NYC needed to "know" about our group, and fast. With so many start up theater groups in NYC, we wanted the community to know we were here to stay, not a "one and done" operation.


You might know where this is going. It was at this time I was re-reading your book to give some thought to questions for this Q&A, specifically the passage A Professional Is Patient. I called my producing partners to remind them of this lesson from your book, and it was a big group "aha" moment - because our time table for completion was unrealistic and overambitious. We've since pushed the date back a month, which has allowed us to put a more deliberate and thoughtful plan together and actually allowed for the muse to really speak through each of us in regard to the piece.

So, "group resistance" in this example acted in a fashion similar to solitary resistance, we just experienced it on the group level.

A second example. The three of us have taken it upon ourselves to become more adept at networking. We have been filling our schedules with more theater performances than ever, meetings with producers and founders of theater companies with similar aims, and generally doing everything we can to increase our visibility in the theater community. A while back Joanna said to me "Might some of this be resistance?" I hadn't given it any thought in that regard. Her point was simply that here we were filling our schedules with opportunities to see the work of others while our new project sat on our desks at home, collecting dust. "But, but, but" said Rationalization. It IS important that we network, see the fruit of others creative labor, arm ourselves with knowledge about the landscape of the "scene" and what others were creating across the city. I think you get the point.

There is a synergy to group resistance. It wasn't just my rationalizing, it was the unique rationalizations of all three of us that made the combined effect all the more powerful and more of a blind spot to us. If Joanna and Penni also thought seeing shows and meeting people was the way to spend our evenings, well then it must be so. Little did we all know that it was Resistance, using our combined manifestations as a steam roller against us.

So, there's a few thoughts on this idea of "group resistance", and we will continue to give it more thought as we move forward. If we reach any more conclusions on it, I will be sure to get in touch.



Resistance in those you love and in your peers & colleagues

As we move forward as artists and as a company, we have found that some of our closer artistic peers and advisers seem to be embodying resistance. Do you have any suggestions on how to move beyond that and what was your personal experience with that as you become more successful?


SP: Ah, I didn't read this question till just now. I've addressed it partially in the answer to #1. Yes, very definitely Resistance comes up in close artistic peers, as you say. Did you ever see the movie, Withnail and I? (Withnail is a person's name.) About two starving actors in London, one of whom gets a Big Break while the other doesn't. It's exactly on this subject. I highly recommend it.

Here's what I think happens when artistic peers exhibit Resistance, or, more exactly, when they embody Resistance and beam it towards us. If one member of the group, or the group as a whole, begin to progress and get better, any member or advisor or colleague who himself is NOT advancing, will feel threatened by this and will start to "act out" negatively toward the people who ARE progressing. It's not that he or she is "bad." It's that he or she is dealing with their own unconscious Resistance--and you or your group's progress is perceived as a reproach to them (usually unconsciously.) If you can succeed, why can't your peer/advisor/whoever?

This is a tough one to deal with, because if often requires direct confrontation--and we know how most people respond to that: with anger and denial. You lose friends that way. I have found in my own life that I have had to leave certain friends behind. It's tough and it's sad. But, if you're in prison and you've made the decision to break out, you can't keep hanging around with friends who want to stay in. They'll rat you out to the guards. You have to make new friends, who are willing to make a break too.



Dreams as part of creative process

We feel that many of the best creative ideas come from the unconscious mind through dreams, day dreams, fantasies, etc. In the war of art you talk about dreams and the profound effect they can have on an artist. Can you talk more about the way your dream life relates to your creative process?


Great question, Nick. I am a big believer in dreams, but I must say I've almost never had a dream that helped me with a creative problem. I've never solved Act Two, based on some vision that came to me at three in the morning. Where dreams have been a huge help to me is in the struggle against Resistance. Dreams have fortified my resolve. They've bucked me up when doubts were overwhelming me. You read the "Largo" dream in The War of Art. That's one.

For me for some reason, water is a symbol of creativity, of flow. I've had this same dream many times in different forms, where I'll be walking on my property and I'll notice springs bursting out of the hillsides or little rivers flowing down from the hills above. I take those dreams as good omens, telling me, "Don't worry, Steve, good juju is flowing and more is on the way."

But, as I said, Nick, I've almost never had a dream that was a "great idea." If you guys have, I envy you!

We're honored Steven took the time to answer our questions, a special thanks goes out to his publicist Callie R. Oettinger for putting us in touch and facilitating the Q&A.

by Nick Job

Join us for a Winter Kaleidoscope of Music

The Unconscious Collective invites you to join us for our next exciting benefit for the UC at The Duplex on December 7th at 9:00 pm. Expect a fun night of cabaret with the UC crew and some fabulous Broadway names including the star of the new 'Ragtime!' Quentin Earl Darrington. And the best part: a portion of the proceeds will go to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Make your reservation today!

Cover: $15 (the bar also has a 2 drink minimum)

Address: 61 Christopher Street

Other Info: There will be a raffle/auction with exciting prizes!

The UC Open Source Workshop Series Continues

The Unconscious Collective is pleased to continue its Open Source Workshop series on 11/16 with Monologue Mondays.

Monologue Mondays is a weekly opportunity for you to bring your monologue, scene, song, writing or another exercise related to an upcoming performance and expect to get good-quality feedback from your peers. Working space for each evening is limited to 10, but you can always come and audit the evening as well. Our aim is to create a safe, collaborative atmosphere where we can all continue to grow as artists.

For more information or to register, click here.

These Are Our Friends, See How They Glisten

Greetings from the amazing world of theater friends and colleagues. The Unconscious Collective has been hard at work not just curating material and assembling our creative team for the next "meditation" CHURCHILL, but taking in a wide array of theater across the varied landscape of NYC. We are incredibly blessed with a large community of talented theater artist friends, and we've taken this time off to see their work, pick their brains, and learn more about what makes our friends successful theater projects tick.


Just last night we took in the hit mainstage play at The Flea, The Oldsmobiles starring Richard Masur and Alice Playten. A cute little comedy (yes, comedy) about a middle aged couple who've decided to take their own lives by hopping off the Manhattan Bridge in order to "go out on top." Our creative director, Nicholas, used to be a "Bat" in The Flea's resident acting company and he still has a lot of friends in those downstairs offices - notably their lovel producing director Carol Ostrow - so we felt right at home.
















The previous two Fridays the producing team took in Sticky, a night of 10-minute plays that are set at the bar of The Bowery Poetry Club. Sticky presents the work of some of NYC's hottest young playwrights (last season boasted a play from Adam Rapp), actors, and directors - and the whole evening has a real "family" atmostphere of supportive and diverse talent.

Sticky has been in residence at BPC for over 5 years and is the brainchild of David Marcus and his wife Libby Emmons - founders of Blue Box Productions. We spent some time after the show with David and Libby to discuss one of their favorite topics, the pros/cons of Subsidized vs. Unsubsidized theater. A fascinating topic that we may be blogging about again in the near future.


























We also recently made it out to the landmark event The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later which we were incredibly fortunate to attend. Nicholas assisted the production team on the show for the day at Lincoln Center's Alice Tulley Hall (hat tip to Tectonic's incomparable Tiffany Redmon) and he snuck the rest of the production team in the side door prior to curtain(shhhhh!) It was truly an "event" that touched the entire audience, and Moises Kaufman and co., on top of being visionary theater artists, are some of the nicest people in the business.





















In addition the team took in a play reading, a fundraiser, and a hilarious comedy musical still in development: A Stephen King Hip-Hoperetta aptly titled "School of Castle Rock." Conceived by our friend, the zanily brilliant Jamie King

SHEPARD Post-Mortem

It's been almost two weeks since our debut show, and it finally feels right to add a few last relics from SHEPARD to the blog. We're humbled by the overwhelming support and enthusiasm from our friends and for all the constructive feedback from fellow artists and advisers.

The picture above is of Under St. Marks on the night of the Monday, Sept. 28, the second of two sold out shows.

And the following is a note from the program, framing the evening for the audience.

A Word From The Creative Director

Just a few thoughts as you prepare to engage in what we hope will be a "meditation" on the playwright Sam Shepard and his body of work. For most every play, and specifically every great play there is a question; an issue that pushes at the playwright on a personal level or reverberates on a global spectrum so loudly that he/she decides to write a play about it. In many cases, and with many of the playwrights who have shaped the current state of narrative theater these "questions" are being asked again and again, in new and unique ways throughout the course of their career.

With Sam Shepard the father's journey at first towards towards the family and the American Dream and then eventually away from it, with lightning speed, leaving broken hearts in his wake, sentencing himself to a life of exile, loneliness, pain and regret seems be the catalyst for the large questions at the heart of his work. Looking at it even further this theme seems to be exploring on a deeper level "the gulf that separates men from their true selves."

In addition, our meditation looks at a series of sub-themes that run along the tracks of Shepard's plays:

- The burying of a terrible family secret: How the secret "hitting the air" frees all of the players in the plays from their psychological prisons.

Sam Shepard "It's an amazing discovery when you realize you are living your life as a somnambulist, when that occurs there is kind of amazing thing that takes place: one is despair and the other is sudden awakening"

-The running that all of us do to escape becoming who our fathers or family truly are, to be something completely new, and how no matter how far we run or drive we can never escape this.

Vince in Buried Child "We'd never make it. We'd drive and we'd drive and we'd drive and we'd never make it. We'd think we were getting farther and farther away. That's what we'd think."

-The role of the women in the family structures after the father's absence. How they are left to pick up the pieces of the family and what they do to each other to compete for what's left of the patriarch's love.

Lorraine in A Lie of The Mind "You know a man your whole life. You grow up with him. You're almost raised together. You go to school on the same bus together. You go through tornadoes together in the same basement. You go through a world war together. You have babies together. And then one day he just up and disappears into this air. Did I ever wonder? Yeah. You bet yer sweet life I wondered. But you know where all that wondering got me? Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. Because here I am. Here I am. Alone. Just the same as though he'd never even existed"

With our piece this evening we seek to deepen these questions, pay tribute to the playwright, and facilitate in you (our audience) a deep introspection upon what these themes mean to them.

Nicholas Job
September 2009

Postcard Artwork Finalized for SHEPARD

Many, many thanks to the super talented Diana Dalsass http://www.dianadalsass.com/ for getting this completed in less than 48 hours for the UC. Art Design by Nicholas Job, Graphic Design and Enhancement by Diana Dalsass

Cast set for SHEPARD

The Unconscious Collective is pleased to announce the cast for SHEPARD, a meditation on the man, his work, and the role of the father in the American family. Join us for an inspiring exploration of scenes from these four works by Pulitzer prize winning playwright Sam Shepard.

The Late Henry Moss (Directed by Christopher Burris)
Ray Nicholas Job
Earl Lee Marvin Sebastiany

Buried Child (Directed by Jorge Acosta)
Vince Eric Glawe
Shelly Vanessa Lane
Dodge Michael K. Douglass
Tilden Nicholas Job

Fool For Love (Directed by Christopher Burris)
Eddie Gregory Siff
May Jessica DiGiovanni
Martin Jerry Stilianessis
Old Man Michael K. Douglass

A Lie of the Mind (Directed by Jorge Acosta)
Sally Joanna Bowzer
Lorraine Penni Danielle Tinsley

With Lauren Kelston as The Narrator