Hopkins theatre scene grows under Astin

This weekend, the Johns Hopkins University Theatre opens a two-weekend production of Brandon Thomas's Charley's Aunt, starring six undergraduates: Anthony Blaha, Tania Hamod, Elspeth Kursh, Michael Levy, Praem J. Phulwani, and Elissa Weissman. The play is directed by John Astin, the head of the Hopkins theatre program, and a star of dozens of Hollywood productions and theatre productions all over the world. The News-Letter got a chance to sit down at Silk Road Caf??? with Astin and former student Loren Dunn, who now teaches two levels of acting workshops, to talk about the upcoming play, about the future of theatre at Hopkins, and about acting instruction and methodology. Both Astin and Dunn will appear onstage in Charley's Aunt.

News-Letter: Charley's Aunt is a comedy, right? What is it about?

John Astin: It's a classic comedy. It's been performed thousands of times worldwide. It is about students -- male students -- trying to be alone with their ... uh ... with their girlfriends, so they can ... how would you say it? -- "pitch woo."

Loren Dunn: With the conventions of the times, they weren't allowed to be alone with girls, and essentially, they want to propose to them.

N-L: Why is this play still relevant? Why is it funny to modern audiences?

JA: Because of its rich, genuine humor based on human relationships. It's really a masterpiece of comedic writing.

LD: All the relationships that underlie it, the basic feelings and urges, are still the same now as they were then, even though the conventions may have changed ...This may not be the perfect comparison, but the dynamics between [characters] Charlie and Jack are not unlike that movie Dude, Where's My Car? or Harold and Kumar.

N-L: What sorts of advantages are there to having college students play the part of college students in this production?

JA: They bring the current flair of college life with them. I think if there were a Broadway show today of Charley's Aunt, they would cast young people. We're trying to train actors here who can develop an air of credibility on stage which will make them competitive in the long run for professional productions ...I've been around for literally thousands of productions ...performed on and off-Broadway, all over the world, and I've seen lots of people get up in front of other people and through the years, I've learned that there is a certain level of credibility that people can bring to the stage in both comedy and drama ... In every student production, I feel these student-actors achieve something, that they develop in some way.

N-L: How do you, as a director, approach college actors differently than you would professional actors?

JA: I don't. The main difference between these kids and professionals is that the professionals aren't studying a lot of other stuff...You have to work within the parameters of college life -- you can't expect a student to blow off two papers that are due the next day because she has to come to rehearsal. But at the same time, I want to make serious acting training available.

LD: I've found, for better or for worse, that I bring more of the teaching into the shows than a professional director should or would.

N-L: You mean you're teaching acting craft while at the same time working on the specifics of a particular production?

LD: Yes. That's something that a profession wouldn't do because the actors should bring that. It's not the director's prerogative to bring craft skills to the production.

N-L: The cast of Charley's Aunt includes a good number of your students who have appeared in your plays before. Are you two building a theatre community here at Hopkins? Are you establishing a company, even?

JA: The goal is to build an acting company that will be a stand-out company. We want to produce entertainment for everyone on campus -- not just the Writing Seminars people or the artsy people.

LD: Yeah -- stuff that will appeal to the engineers. We are trying to add our own unique aspect to a community that's been around...I think in developing theatre, we can contribute to the community as a whole.

JA: I'm a loyal Hopkins alumnus, and I feel that the Humanities here could really use the help. I feel that the better the Humanities are, the better the experience for the students, no matter what they study. I'll make no secret of the fact that I've turned down positions at other places that offered me more money, were better-funded, and where I would have done a lot less work. It might sound corny, but I care about Hopkins. I had a great learning experience here...Everyone has richer lives if they have more exposure to the Humanities. As food is to the body, art is to the soul. I believe it's an essential to daily life. If you establish something that is high quality, that has excellence, it will help attract students in pursuit of excellence. That's what we're trying to do with the classes, and with the acting company.

N-L: Do you think there will be an acting major in the near future?

JA: Oh yeah. I'm confident we can bring that about. There are a few students who I can offer up as good products of the program. Loren is one of them.

LD: I was recently at the auditions for the Northeastern Theatre Conference, and from what I saw, kids from other schools where there are bigger programs and acting majors, they don't have anything on the students here...I came out of my education with maybe the closest thing to an acting major you can get at JHU, and it was first-class.

N-L: Who are the professionals in Charley's Aunt and why are they in the show?

JA: They are Debra Whitfield, who is from New York and who Loren met this past summer at the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont, and there is Jonas Gray, who is local. He appeared in Waiting For Lefty and Bluff as well. We try to include professionals and local amateurs in a lot of our shows. I want the actors to have the experience of working with people besides me...I'm sort of "old hat" to them. They know me pretty well -- I'm part of the neighborhood by now.

N-L: So you're trying to vary their exposure to different teachers?

JA: Yes.

LD: It's good for all of the actors, even the professionals, to work in a setting and a structure that we have defined and that we control...The approach that Professor Astin has is really unique, and the degree of success that I've had can be attributed to it.

JA: Most modern English-language acting technique emanated from the "Group Theatre" approach in New York in the 1930s, which was taught by people like Harold Clurman and Lee Strasberg. Lots of people, Francis Farmer, John Garfield, and later even Marlon Brando come from this school and this method. And these are the people that I studied with for years. I learned from their methods.

LD: A lot of the Group Theatre's approach has been changed and misinterpreted over the years...I think there are certain basic truths behind [this method], but in a lot of cases, they get lost. By virtue of his experience, Professor Astin has really retained a lot of it. What I've learned from him, a lot of students at other schools really haven't got that. I sense that this type of teaching and this type of method is really important here and not so important elsewhere.

JA: There are really many approaches to acting and if you study long enough, you'll learn about all of them...When I was first asked to teach, I had to develop a way of teaching that I thought was appropriate...The students have really taught me a lot. I thought acting was a gift, that you couldn't learn it, you could just develop it with classes. They have taught me that acting can be learned.

LD: I feel like I'm on a good path. By no means is my career as an actor over.

JA: Nor is mine.

Charley's Aunt will be performed at the Swirnow Theatre in the Mattin Center on Friday, Feb. 25, 8 p.m.; Saturday, Feb. 26, 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Friday, March 4, 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 5, 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 6, 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 general admission, $7 for students and faculty.