Inside A.C.T.

By Annie Sears As the curtain falls on the 2018–19 season, our Fellows (including the author of this blog) are packing up their desks and preparing for their next adventure. Some will stay here at A.C.T., and others are starting jobs at other Bay Area nonprofits. Some are moving across the country to begin freelance careers, and others aren’t sure what’s next. We may be dispersing moving forward, but for the last ten months, we’ve been united in an unforgettable experience. The goodbyes are hard, and I’m caught up in the nostalgia of it all. As I reflect on all I’ve learned through my Fellowship, I’ve distilled nine tidbits of advice I’d have offered pre-Fellowship Annie, nine tidbits of advice for the person who will sit in my seat next season: 1. Get to know the other fellows. You’re sure to have a lot in common—they’re theater people, after all! Having a support system of like-passioned people who truly understand the in-and-outs of your job will prove invaluable. Also, you’re...

By Annie Sears As the title would suggest, Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros —playing through June 23 at The Geary—features some lumbering pachyderms. The play isn’t really about rhinos, but they’re a constant onstage presence. Characters are always talking about rhinos, gawking at rhinos, or in some cases, transforming into rhinos. Our marketing department visited the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens to learn some fast facts about these mysterious creatures. 1. A group of rhinos is called a crash . Does that make the Rhinoceros cast a crash? A crashing cast? A casting crash? 2. Their horns are made of keratin —the same protein that makes up human fingernails! Boone, the black rhinoceros at the San Francisco Zoo, shows off his two horns. Photo by Elspeth Sweatman. 3. Some rhinos have one horn. Others have two . Gene and Berenger have a disagreement about this in Rhinoceros , so let’s break it down: There are five different species of rhinos. Two of those species, the black rhino...

By Annie Sears Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros , playing at The Geary through June 23, presents a series of challenges to theater-makers. How do you fill a stage with stampeding rhinos, wreaking havoc on a French provincial town? And how does one portray a rhino convincingly? Actor Matt DeCaro has figured out how to take the audience on “an imaginary ride,” says DeCaro. “I want it to be fun to watch.” Actor David Breithbarth and Matt DeCaro in Asolo Repertory Theatre's 2018 production of Rhinoceros . Photo by Cliff Roles. For many actors, the first consideration when stepping into a physical role is where the character’s energy emanates from and which part of the body initiates motion. To discover a rhino’s primary impetus, DeCaro took a trip to the zoo. “I looked at rhinoceroses for a while to try and see how they move,” says DeCaro. “Well, they didn’t move much, but I noticed a lot of it is from the shoulders.” So DeCaro leads with his shoulders, sometimes moving unilaterall...