Notes From The City: An Abundant Life

From a very early age, as long as I can remember, I wanted to be an actress. I'm not sure exactly when I got the idea, but there was a family friend whose glamour and poise and presence along with a certain sense of mystery and romance about her who gave me a glimpse of what I wanted to have in my own life. She was an actress, a normal every day working actress - she did summer stock and community theater and appeared in the occasional local tv ad or late night movie, and because up until the time I met her it had not occurred to me that an actor could be an actor without being famous, the very fact of her glamorous life was so attractive to my little girl's mind that I decided that's what I wanted to be. In recent years I've started to understand that part of the reason I wanted to be an actress was because I loved theater - a few years ago I discovered an old journal in the house I grew up in and realized that even longer than I've been an actress I've been a writer, and I began to remember and look back on those long ago years and understand that it was the writing of plays that in part led to my wanting to produce them, and in wanting to produce them I wanted to be in them because it was a wonderful thing to do. These days I don't act as much as I used to - when someone needs a hand with something I'll gladly do readings and parts in plays and in films - but the writing is the thing that has stuck firm with me all of these years, and it's through the writing that I often find myself judging performances I see. A great actor can make a not-so-great play tolerable, but even a not-so-great actor can't ruin a great play. And if you're lucky enough to find great writing and great acting together, you're in for a treat of a lifetime.

I had that experience recently when I went to see a reading of a new play by the actor and writer Daniel Damiano. I had been invited by the actress Judith Barcroft, whose amazing work I wrote a bit about in this blog earlier this year when I wrote about the playwright Jennifer Fell Hayes and her beautiful play "Rosemary and Time." As I wrote in that post, the play, the Director and Actors, and every part of the staging was astonishingly excellent. The Director for Daniel's play was Kathy Gail MacGowan who had directed "Rosemary and Time" so beautifully, and I knew it would be a wonderful evening because as I've written before, if Judith Barcroft is involved it's always something amazing and memorable, but as with "Rosemary and Time" I was not prepared for the profound experience I had that night. Daniel Damiano's play was deeply moving, thought provoking and funny - the type of piece that makes you think, surprises you by laughter, and stops you in your tracks with the emotional life that brings you to tears. His work touched something very deep in me, and after the reading I asked if we could meet again so I could write about him. He was in the process of preparing for a performance of a one man show he had also written, and he and Judy Alvarez, an actress who is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of their company fandango 4 Art House, invited me to see it.

"American Tranquility" is a play that you don't want to miss. It was in a short run when I attended, and at the end of the evening Daniel told the audience that the play will be extended for a few more weekends through the month of November. Go see this play. There is so much that is so excellent and inspiring - it is not just the fact that his acting is first rate and his writing top notch - the content touches at the heart and soul of so many important topics that are a resonant part of our lives today, and he gives life to the four characters he portrays with deep understanding, humor, pathos and love. Each character is so diverse and so richly imagined and embodied that we begin to feel as if we know these people. In his writing and his performance there are so many nuances of emotion and understanding and empathy, things that are sometimes lacking in characterizations of people from backgrounds and philosophies that we may not share. To be able to express their inner life with such grace and to bring humor and compassion to their stories helps us all to consider ourselves and the others around us in a deeper and more meaningful way that can lead to a better understanding of the world we live in and the things that affect us all in a myriad of ways. Something very powerful can happen when we experience theater like this. We can find ourselves learning something new and opening our minds and hearts to the experiences of others which in turn can help us to learn how to navigate our shared experiences and open up a space for dialogue and healing.

There is a mantra that Daniel read when I went to see the reading of his play, and he read it again after his performance in his one man show. He had written it after the election of 2016 and had read it as part of an evening he had produced at that time, and he has continued to include it in his performances ever since. I'm including it here because it is such a beautiful piece to share, and it will give you a glimpse into the mind of this intensely talented and inspiring artist.

NOW MORE THAN EVER

A Mantra by Daniel Damiano

Now more than ever, we need this –

to be in a room, together.

To share something, together.

Well beyond the acerbic tweets,

the cyber jabs,

the bumbling bumper sticker catch-phrases.

We are individuals, after all.

We have our own lives,

our own loves,

and our strength lies with each other

in a room, together.

Sharing something, together.

Not a lonely forest, where no one can hear a fallen tree,

but a room with all of us alive to hear and see everything.

This is how mountains are moved,

voices are heard.

How the earth’s rotation can be changed for the better,

as long as we don’t succumb to sadness.

For, in the end,

our life is not reduced to the victory of certain individuals;

we are bigger than this,

and the fact that you are here speaks volumes.

It echoes off the skyscrapers like a canyon.

It is our victory.

And while I can further ado to the cows come home,

until the sun comes up,

for as long as the buffalo may roam,

I’ll instead conclude, simply,

and say that we are so glad that you are here –

with us,

in a room, together.

Sharing something, together.

Now…more than ever.

********************************

I couldn't agree more. If it's a play by Daniel Damiano, and if he's in it, we need to be in that room.

Daniel Damiano

In His Play

"American Tranquility"
Directed By Kathy Gail MacGowan
Photographs And Images Courtesy Of Daniel Damiano
Photo Credit Gerry Goodstein
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