Glen has been performing Unrehearsed Shakespeare since its Illinois inception at Western Illinois University.
Q: You’ve played some enormous roles (Richard III, Coriolanus) as well as supporting (Pistol, Borachio). Does your approach differ depending on the size of the role? What about the role’s notoriety?
GLEN: To answer the last question first, no. Big, small, famous, infamous, or second spear carrier from the left, I treat all my roles similarly and give them much the same approach. That said, with the larger roles I do more work determining what the most important words, concepts, and thoughts are and then give those items more attention and detail because if everything a larger role says has equal value then they tend to get bogged down and slow the process of the play which is probably the biggest sin of unrehearsed (that and not crossing to whom you are speaking), the show must go on despite Richard’s two-page monologue. And I often find the smaller roles more fun, Shakespeare gave some of his best one-liners and action moments to his small roles and I find that their specificity of text gives me more time to focus on the detail of their gestural and vocal life.
Q: You’ve performed Unrehearsed out in the open (Bard in the Barn), in larger theaters (Wauwatosa’s Sunset Studio), and the intimate spaces of Chicago bars. Do you have a preference? Does your technique change depending on venue?
GLEN: My only preference is that the venue have a bar, and honestly not just for my sake. I like that we encourage our audience to behave as an Elizabethan audience would and I find that the liquid courage of a couple adult beverages helps our audiences to shake off their modern day “good audience member” habits and really get into the spirit of the performance. Otherwise I have little preference and enjoy the challenges and opportunities that both types of venue present. Outdoors I can generally “act” bigger and use the full expanse of the space to create some very dynamic action and indoors things become much more intimate and I find myself trying to create a much more detailed and nuanced performance. Basically I attempt to fit the scale of my performance to the scale of the venue.
Q: You’ve been doing Unrehearsed for many years. How has your technique changed over the years?
GLEN: Generally speaking the basics of the technique have become so deeply ingrained that I can devote more time to picking out the details of the text. I spend less time fussing over the you/thee and here/there and more time looking at how the vocabulary, verse structure and punctuation in a character’s text can be used to determine their objectives, tactics and state of being. I also find myself looking for every opportunity to speak directly to the audience or to encourage them to become involved in the action of the story as I feel that audience participation and interaction is one of the key components of our unique approach to Shakespeare.
Q: This is your second time performing Unrehearsed Romeo & Juliet. Do you anticipate many differences between this show and the first (2007)?
GLEN: Absolutely. Every show, even within a run, is different from the last, that’s another of the unique and exciting aspects of what we do. Every time I perform a role I get to reinvent (within the context of the technique) what I do and I’m often working with a different set of actors, frequently in a new space. So there’s no question that there will be differences between this run and the last, and that’s a large part of why I keep coming back to do Unrehearsed, even when it’s a show I’ve done before.
Q: Do you have a favorite Unrehearsed role to date?
GLEN: So many favorites, but off the top of my head I have to say playing Olivia in Twelfth Night at ACTF in Milwaukee a few years ago was a highlight, the jokes that Shakespeare wrote for his contemporaries surrounding the gender bending that was required during his time are so much more fun and apparent when it’s a guy playing that particularly lusty and lady-like role. Other favorites of mine include Tybalt from the Bard in the Barn production of R&J (Sixteen lines, 3 fights and a death scene, yes please!), Macduff from our recent production of Macbeth (again, few lines, lots of fights) and Borrachio from Much Ado (c’mon, his name literally means “Drunk” how can that not be fun?).
Who’s Glen gonna play this time? Come find out!
UNREHEARSED ROMEO & JULIET
Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark Street
May 13 @ 7:30 (doors open at 7:00)
May 17 @ 6:00 (doors open at 5:30)
May 20 @ 7:30 (doors open at 7:00)
General seating; Suggested Donation of $5 at the door
