The Actor’s Life

Behind the scenes at Staunton’s American Shakespeare Center.  Just under a year ago, 24-year-old thespian and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, native Allie Babich landed a gig that would change her life. Recently graduated from the University of Minnesota Guthrie Theater BFA Actor Training Program, which is known for its rigorous tract in Shakespearean drama, she auditioned in Chicago for then artistic director of Staunton’s American Shakespeare Center, Jim Warren. “This was probably the best thing I could’ve had happen to me,” she says. “I’d been working at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and, while you may not expect it, for an actor looking to do Shakespeare and do it right, Staunton’s ASC is basically the Holy Grail.” Founded in 1988 by Warren and Mary Baldwin University literature professor Ralph Cohen, the ASC features the world’s only recreation of Shakespeare’s indoor theater, the Blackfriars Playhouse. By focusing on presenting the Bard’s work in the manner it was originally intended—for instance, leaving the lights on and addressing audience members directly—offering educational programs, and featuring an 11-member touring troupe that, over nearly 30 years, has played in 47 states, five foreign countries, and a number of U.S. territories, the center has become one of the leading Shakespeare companies in the world. Having landed a coveted slot among ASC’s resident troupe of 12 actors, Babich packed her car and headed to Virginia. One of just two new members, she arrived in the Queen City on a blustery evening in April and rehearsals began the next day. “I checked into actor housing, which is basically two big old homes near the theater—one being for guys, the other for girls—introduced myself to my two roommates, passed out, then got up and went straight to work,” she says. “You’re thrown right into it. It’s incredibly fast-paced and utterly consuming.”

Four months into a seven-month contract, Babich says the pace has yet to let up. According to associate artistic director Jay McClure, actors’ schedules are intense: “They’re rehearsing from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. leading up to the opener, then, once the shows start, they rehearse from noon to 4, and get called back in at 6:15 for the 7:30 p.m. shows.”  And it’s not unusual for actors to get together on their own time at home or in a café to work one-on-one or in small groups. “Sometimes we’ll be up late into the night working on a play on one of our porches and people heading home from the bars or whatever will stop and listen in for a few minutes,” says Babich. “It’ll be 1 a.m. and we’re up there working on a love scene or something like that, oblivious to the time, just going at it.” Other times, actors can be found reading early versions of scripts at Lewis Creek Market, or talking shop in Cranberry’s, a café and organic foods store. “We’re just a few blocks from the theater, so they’re in here all the time,” says the latter’s kitchen manager, Jen Dominic, 26. “They’re always so passionate about what they’re doing and that really adds flavor to the Staunton scene.” With roles in each of the center’s four summer/fall season plays, Babich says she’s eating, breathing, sleeping and, yes, even dreaming Shakespeare. But for her and her ASC compatriots, that’s exactly the point. “Working here gives you the opportunity to completely immerse yourself in these plays,” says Chris Johnston, 34, who joined the company 10 years ago and has since settled in Staunton and performed in all but two of Shakespeare’s 39 plays. “Productions that focus on dazzling effects and tons of set-changes don’t emphasize the primacy of the actor the way we do. This is a theater of the imagination—essentially, it’s just the actors, costumes and a stage. We work so closely together for such a long period of time; we learn one another inside out. That intimacy is impossible to replicate; it’s the magic that brings these works to life.” Babich says her fellow actors have quickly become like family. “There’s something special about how the ASC builds relationships with and between the actors,” she says. “Most of the time it’s a very mobile lifestyle—you go wherever the next gig is. But there are actors that have been working here for 15 years, own real estate, are married and have children. Working together over time like that makes you so much better. They’re challenging one another all the time, and that challenges those of us who are newcomers to be better too. “You sacrifice a lot to pursue this life,” she says. “Right now, I have the opportunity to work with actors and staff that have dedicated their lives to these texts, and I’m soaking up as much as I can.” AmericanShakespeareCenter.com