etween the grand piano and the coat rack. Working tirelessly in my own little corner from ten am until six pm, I see more than I ever expected of theater life. People wander in and out, the phone rings off the hook for ticket sales, and office activity waxes and wanes. But the most exciting part for this attentive observer is seeing the actors off-stage.
Actor. What
a word. It carries with it a sense of awe and admiration. Just calling someone an actor makes him kind of awesome. It also makes him a little intimidating to talk to.
As an intern, however, I know it is time to overcome my star-struck shyness. If I am going to sit in a theatre all
day with actors and actresses walking in out, I am going to make the most of my situation. I am going to talk to them. So today, instead of saying a quiet "Good Morning" and ducking back to my computer screen, I approached the ACTOR sitting a few seats away from me in the lobby. Robert DaPonte, one of the three stars of This is Our Youth, was sitting in a chair just like mine and checking his email with his computer tilted upward for convenience. I asked if he had time for an interview, and, receiving an affirmative response, I returned to my laptop, hastily typed up a few questions, and began my queries.
Robert was great right from the start. He is really easy to talk to, and just a genuinely friendly guy. After asking some background questions, I learned that Robert has been an actor for twelve years, and began his career at Bradford College in Haverville, MA. In high school, he had been into writing (especially screenplays), but it wasn't until he got to Bradford and took his first acting class that he realized that the theater world was definitely the place for him. After college, he worked at the National Theater Institute in Waterford, CT and the Secret Theater in New London. Now he lives in Philadelphia.
I also spoke to Robert a little bit about the role he's playing now (Warren Straub) and past roles he's played. When I asked how Robert, as an actor, tried to connect to Warren's character, he responded that the better a script is, the easier the actor's job is. Not to say that connecting to Warren was a piece of cake, but Lonergan's characters are clear and realistic, and Robert could look at Warren and say "I kinda get that guy." Warren has a lot going for him: he's frustrated, angry, has trouble communicating with his parents and peers, and he's socially awkward. There's got to be something in there that an actor can relate to.
When I asked Robert what his favorite past role had been, he kind of wowed me with his response. He said he always wants his favorite role to be the one he's working on. He also said that he did really enjoy playing Estragon in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, a role he got to play twice in two different theaters.
Curious about his perceptions of This is Our Youth, I asked him how he thought opening night had gone. He replied that he thought it went "really well" and was glad there were a lot of college students in the crowd. He also felt, however, that by the end of show most of the audience, regardless of age, was involved and invested in the characters. And I'm pretty sure that's a great feeling to have.
As for Robert's favorite moment in the show? He loves the moments "in between the lines:" those times when he connects with another actor on stage without saying anything. Sometimes body language and the drapes of silence can express much more than any line of dialogue.
And what does he think of West Hartford? Well, he says we're "pretty cool."
