Sara Pavlak has been working in Chicago for a few years now. Her 2011 performance in Agnes of God (Hubris productions) earned her a Jeff Award, and most recently she won praise in Aston Rep’s production of Water’s Edge.
Q: How did you start your Unrehearsed journey?
SARA: I started with unrehearsed in the fall of 2006 in my first year of grad school under the direction of Bill Kincaid. His passion for the Bard and for the Unrehearsed technique was infectious and I couldn’t resist getting sucked into it.
Q: What do you like most about Unrehearsed?
SARA: I love the exhilaration of being on stage during the productions; of discovering the whos, whats, wheres, whens, etc in the moment. I love being in complete control of how well you tell the story to the audience, and I love seeing and feeling their reactions. There is nothing like it. And I also love being somewhat connected to actors and performers from centuries ago. It brings about a unique sort of kinship; knowing that we are continuing their craft and their methods and picking up where they left off.
Q: What are the biggest challenges you face when performing Unrehearsed?
SARA: The biggest challenge I face is getting out of my own way and letting the technique do the work. As a contemporary actor, we want to know and do so much beforehand that I tend to get too caught up in my actor’s head, when really I should just force my modern-day actor self to step aside and allow the technique to be in the forefront and run with it.
Q: You’ve been doing Unrehearsed for many years: how has your technique changed over time? Have you found anything new in your prep for MacBeth?
SARA: My unrehearsed technique hasn’t changed much. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to participate in the productions as of recently, so coming back to Macbeth, I am definitely going back to the basics of the technique and working up from there. But I will say that my Shakespeare technique outside of Unrehearsed has definitely changed for the better because of little things that I take from the Unrehearsed technique. Finding little clues in the lines and text are so much fun. I feel like the entire technique is one very valuable tool in my toolbox, and whenever I am confused or stuck on a NON-unrehearsed Shakespeare scene or play, I approach it from an unrehearsed perspective and it opens up tons of possibilities!
Q: You’ve lived and worked in Chicago for a while now. How do you feel about Chicago theater?
SARA: The Chicago Theatre community is one of a kind. As an actor I can’t imagine any place beating Chicago Theatre. There is so much acting work to have here. And not only is there tons of it, it is good acting work, too. It is a “lets get our hands dirty and delve deep into these characters and stories” kind of a community. They don’t shy away from telling the really important stories, and the Chicago Theatre Community strives to tell those stories in the most excellent way possible. We aren’t LA or NYC, so the chances of being famous are pretty slim. And that’s ok, because being famous doesn’t necessarily make you better; and I think the Chicago Theatre community holds true to that. You will be hard pressed to find better acting talent. That is my firm belief. We strive to be good actors, to be good story tellers, and to bring in good, thoughtful audiences. And to paraphrase Amy Morton; in Chicago you probably aren’t going to be rich and famous… so you might as well be good!
See Sara in MacBeth!
November 12 and 19
Justin’s
3358 N Southport Ave
7:30 pm
Suggested Donation of $5
