I had been holding my breath for a while now, hoping for the next acting job. And by acting job I mean Theatre. In this town—Seattle—you just can’t get paid for film/TV. The opportunities are far and few and even the corporate/commercial work that occasionally comes to town is either non-union or non-paying, “something for your reel!”

So, the work I count on is tried and true: Theatre.
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During my tenure at the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program, which is a bit like Special Forces Training but for actors, we wrote, produced and acted in our own one-person shows. Mainly, the idea was to promote self-producing as not many acting jobs are ever given away, so instead of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, we were encouraged to create our own work. “Work begets work” the saying goes… Continue reading →

Ah. The joys of live theatre. Anything can happen and many times it does. Usually it’s on stage, backstage or stage related. Not tonight; it was in the audience.

As you may know, I am doing The Pillowman at ACT in Seattle. Some would say a gruesome tale of violence and morbidity. Others contend that it’s a pertinent and thought provoking piece of geo-political, socially apt theater.

Whatever your stance, tonight something interesting happened. During the scene in Michal’s cell, specifically the beat where I (Michal) began to talk about the box, it’s contents and the Christmas tree pot—those of you who have seen the show know what I’m talking about, for everyone else, I’m trying not to ruin it—well, during this moment, I can hear from the audience a woman in her plain speaking voice—not a whisper—say, “This is too much. Oh this is too much.” I continued with my speech, as did she, “I can’t take this. This is too much for me. This is too much.” By now, a handful of other audience members shush her to which she responds, “I can’t take this. This is too much for me.” At this point another woman in the audience semi-shouted in a faux stage whisper “Then leave!”

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Well, the reviews are in… and they aren’t saying much.

The Seattle PI wrote “If there is truly any risk that stories can turn real, then Martin McDonagh is a social menace. His deliciously grim drama of a writer accused of serial killings in an unnamed totalitarian state feeds on the revolting twists of cruelty that fiction’s dark gods demand. In McDonagh’s world, the most fearsome four words are “once upon a time.”

Read the full article at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Misha Berson of the Seattle Times had this to say “In a nearby room, also in custody, awaits Katurian’s mentally disturbed brother Michal (Shawn Telford). He also knows these stories well. And what effects have they had on his stunted mind? Are they simply harmless imaginings? Or blueprints for torture and murder?”

She went on to add “As the damaged Michal, Telford is restrained in his craziness, and has a scrappy rapport with Miller in their long, revelatory scene together.”

Read the full article on-line at the Seattle Times.

…..psst! Leave a comment!

I made a deal with myself: if I get cast in ACT’s production of the Pillowman, I’ll let my For-Hire license expire, rather than renew it. That means no more driving cabs, even as a fall back… The hope was that this symbolic gesture would force myself to believe in myself and show myself my commitment to this craft. In other words, it’s time to work without the net…

Well, I got the part!

Rehearsals begin late February just days before my birthday. The show opens in March and runs through April.

I can’t tell you how exciting this is. Continue reading →

Misha Berson had this to say, “And several utility players (including Shawn Telford, Bradford Farwell and Josephine Howell) dispatch multiple roles well.

Read the full article at the Seattle Times.