For the last month, I’ve had the privilege of working at Seattle’s ACT Theater, an experience that, in all honesty, is like coming home. It’s my third play at this wonderful theater and my first with writer/director Steven Dietz, yes, that Steven Dietz, who, in addition to being a terrific and articulate playwright, also happens to be an extraordinary human being.

The play is “Yankee Tavern,” a four-hander that also includes Jenn Taylor, Charles Leggett and Bob Wright. ACT describes the play best:

From the acclaimed playwright who brought us the world-premiere of Becky’s New Car in 2008 comes this political thriller brimming with edge-of-your-seat intrigue. In a New York dive bar five years after 9/11, a young couple find themselves face-to-face with a mysterious stranger who turns what seem like harmless conspiracy theories into a continuous stream of surprising and dangerous revelations in this eye-opening look at the events that forever changed our country.

Previews begin July 30th and the play will have its official opening on Thursday August 5th. It runs through August 29th ONLY. Tickets can be purchased on-line . Half-priced tickets are available for all my friends and family and can be arranged via the theater website, use the discount code “yankeecast” when prompted during checkout.

It’s always a pleasure to get to do a play, in particular this play, which asks very important questions about a very important event. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll grip the edge of your seat.

Until I see you again, yours,
Shawn

“In this darkly compelling recent Broadway hit, four Irish friends gather for a card game with devilishly high stakes.”

Still not hooked? Perhaps, the longer version:

“In a forgotten corner of Northern Dublin, four old friends gather to face the holidays the only way they know how—with a bottle of whiskey and a deck of cards. But when a mysterious stranger arrives and wants a piece of the action, the men find themselves playing a game with devilishly high stakes. Steeped in Irish myth, this recent Broadway hit dubbed “Best New Play of the Year” (Wall Street Journal) is darkly funny and surprisingly uplifting.

Under the direction of Tony-Award-nominee Wilson Milam (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), the Seattle Rep production features local favorites Hans Altwies, Frank Corrado, Sean G. Griffin, Russell Hodgkinson and Shawn Telford.”

The show begins previewing Thursday February 26 and continues previewing that week Friday, Saturday, as well as Monday and Tuesday the following week.

TO BE CLEAR: THE SHOW OPENS WEDNESDAY MARCH 4th AND WILL RUN REGULARLY TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY UNTIL MARCH 28TH.

All shows are 7:30PM

The show closes March 28th

Rush tickets purchased one hour before curtain are $20. Under 25? $10 (Cheaper than a movie, twice as many laughs and someone gets naked, I won’t say who.)

So, the work I count on is tried and true: Theatre.

In the spring of 2005, I did a weeklong workshop at Seattle Children’s Theatre for a play called Jason and the Golden Fleece, a coming of age tale based on the Greek classic wherein I played Hercules, the strongest man in the world… I know what you’re thinking. Well, they threw in a line, “So, Hercules, you don’t really look like the strongest man in the world.”

And that was that. Problem solved.

Anyway. The show was intended for the 2006 season and when I auditioned for it this summer, I was somewhat surprised that they turned me down. After all, I did have the advantage of the workshop. Still, I had my sights set on Intiman’s adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son, hopefully playing the part of Jan, the young Communist and boyfriend to the girl Bigger murders. The script was way late in coming, tied up in rewrites and Intiman only recently held auditions for the role, which I did not get.

Things were looking pretty bleak. I couldn’t even get a part in ACT’s Christmas Carol.

But then I got a call, apparently, the person originally cast as Hercules at SCT, was also cast as Jan at Intiman. He opted for the Intiman role and SCT went to their #2: ME. Naturally, I accepted.

So, beginning October 13th and running through November 26th, I will be the strongest man in the world, which is nice.

Seeing is believing, so come see the show!

Amore, Shawn

Or crash to the ground, where we would surely die. Luckily, no one died. Many suffered, but no one died.

That I know of.

Anyway. Here are my two shows:

This is from my second year, which would be my first of the solo shows. It’s called “Where Do You Go?” and it’s about a boy in a room with a chest of really cool stuff:

Click here for “Where Do You Go?” on Youtube .

(Then answer this question: what does it mean to you? And where do you go?)

The second is from my third year; it’s called “Menu” . This is a much more portable show and I performed it both in Seattle and New York off, off Broadway at the Where Eagles Dare Theatre. It’s about dating. And I would like to thank the hooker, who before I knew she was a hooker, asked me in my cab one night “You wanna date? I’ll date you right now. Ten dollars.” This piqued my curiosity as to what a ‘date’ means and what does it mean to ‘date someone’. Thereafter, the word always rings funny in my ears. So I wrote a show about it.

(I didn’t “date” her by the way.)

Click here for “Menu” (filmed before a live studio audience) .

Please enjoy and let me know if you watch them.

Cheers
Shawn

Thanks to Don Pham, that theatre geek and technological god that make this possbible.

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!”

This part of my speech, by the way, is delivered in the general direction of this hoo-hah, which is also the direction in which I am walking. So, I made an impromptu decision to stop, turn the other way and play the remainder of the beat in this new direction, as if that other way was a dead end and in many ways it was. Alas, despite my turning away, I could still hear her gather up her things, and trample out of what sounded like the middle of her row, past several people who had to gather up their things so that she could pass… If that wasn’t enough, once she got out, she got lost and couldn’t find the door.

Following the show, Mathew and I were congratulated by the audience members who came to the talk-back. They were impressed by our undeterred concentration and our ability to continue the scene as if uninterrupted. Little did they know, I was a bit thrown. From there on out, there was a thick silence that dampened the theatre. No laughs. No breaths. Just a pervading sense of unease. I was pretty sure that the whole house hated me, my acting and they were glad to see that by the end of the scene, I got what I deserved. I was happy to know that this insecurity didn’t play.

There’s a lesson in all of this… I’m still sussing it out myself. But more importantly, I have the feeling that at the least, we’re talking about something that makes people uncomfortable and we’re doing it in such a way that people are unafraid to announce their discomfort to 350 strangers. Perhaps that woman learned something about herself or someone seated nearby learned something. It’s live theatre, it’s magic, illusion, smoke and mirrors, whatever it is, it still makes people see something in that mirror.

Pillowman is a complicated play. Thematically it has many layers, many complicated and twisted layers. I’ve been working on it for close to two months and I’m still finding new lessons in it.

If you haven’t already seen The Pillowman at ACT , please come… And if this story I’ve just told you won’t get you to the theatre, nothing will.

psst…leave a comment (I’ve got to know if this web thing works for actors)

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!

The Pillowman is a disturbing and darkly funny new comedy-drama from Martin McDonagh (A Skull in Connemara, The Beauty Queen of Leenane) about a storyteller/writer in a totalitarian state whose macabre fairy tales may be inspiring a series of grisly crimes. A brilliantly bone-chilling exploration of the role of artists and artistic responsibility in contemporary culture.

Winner of the prestigious 2004 Olivier Award in London and nominated for Broadway’s Tony Award for Best New Play in 2005.

Pillowman begins previewing at ACT Theatre in downtown Seattle on Friday March 17th. The show will run only until April 16th with no hope of extension. The final week is expected to sell out, so mark your calendar and get your tickets now!

There are 2 “Pay-What-You-Can” Performances:

($1 minimum)
Sunday March 19th 7.30PM
Thursday March 30th 2PM

For all other performances, you can mention my name to get the “Friends of Shawn” discount, which is half-off any performance except Saturdays. This applies to purchases made in person (Kreielsheimer Place 700 Union St. near the Convention Center) and over the phone (206.292.7676) but not via the Internet.

People 25 & under pay only $10!
Full-time students of any age pay only $10!

So go get a student ID!

This is my favorite contemporary play and I can promise you that you will never see another show like this in your life. Our set is amazing—I’ve never seen anything like it—the story is fantastic, Denis Arndt and Bob Wright are F-ing hilarious. And me.. I’m just happy to be here.

I hope you can make it!

Click here for a link to ACT’s website .

(psst… leave a comment!)

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.

Pillowman is my favorite contemporary play. Last Spring, I saw the Broadway production with Jeff Goldblum and Billy Crudup. For a dark comedy, it had some spectacularly colorful moments and of course, the story was relentless, inquisitive, complicated but tirelessly simple. Martin McDonaugh is the kind of writer I’d like to grow up to be (even though I’m pretty sure he’s younger than I am.)

If you know the story, I’ll be playing the brother Michal. Yes, the retarded one—don’t even say it! I’ve heard that typecasting joke plenty of times already. Michal could be described as “Rainman meets Silence of the Lambs.”

Prior to the audition, I was scared as hell of this part, it seemed greater than me, one of those frightening roles that necessitates the actor go way out on the thinnest of limbs, risk all credibility and personal need for success—very strong in me—by taking a giant and possibly unrewarding risk. This character requires I take that risk and do so fearlessly and without awareness of aforementioned peril.

Yet, in preparing the initial audition, I found solace in simplicity. I found Michal’s voice within me and it wasn’t so terrifying or as complicated as I had imagined. Luckily, I got the part and will be able to continue this exploration, which will be beneficial both to my process and myself.

This casting is all the more surprising since I’ve been operating for nearly two weeks without my voice. Yes, I’ve lost my voice. Its slowly on it’s way back but nonetheless, my callback was delivered sotto voce, sounding like a longtime smoker. Still, director Kurt Beattie saw something he liked…

I hope you get a chance to see the fruits of this labor. You can find out more through this site, I’ll post show times, discount days and such as it gets nearer.

Thanks for stopping by.

This recently deceased year—2005, two plays I worked on Red Badge of Courage and Vincent in Brixton, were distinguished as “Most Thoughtful Children’s Show” and “Best Mainstage Production” respectively.

“Shawn Telford and Anne Allgood gave praiseworthy performances as lovers in ACT’s “Vincent in Brixton”

As for myself, Misha cited me as one of the “Excellent, busy young actors we don’t get tired of: Shawn Telford, [along with] Gabriel Baron, Darragh Kennan, Alexandra Tavares, Lathrop Walker.”

If you don’t believe me, read the full article at the Seattle Times.

Read the full article at the Seattle Times.