YOU THERE!

In one show, actors were playing characters. Everyone understood that model. “I am James Porter, and I am playing the role of Charles Harris,” a man said, unnecessarily. In another show, actors were playing characters who were actors playing characters. That required a bit of explanation. “I am Pauline Untermeyer,” a woman said, “and I am playing Janice Gerson. Janice is the lead actress in a TV show, Anita, where she stars as Anita Wilson.” That explanation was usually followed by a  short disquisition on the confusion of responding to multiple names on set, accompanied by an exaggerated eye roll. In a third show, actors were playing characters who were actors who were playing characters with the same name as the actors. “Here’s how it goes,” said Dani Li. “I got cast in this show as Nadia Zhang, who is an aspiring actress in Los Angeles, and in the show she auditions for a part in a show and gets it, and the part is that she’s playing an aspiring actress named Dani Li.” The director, Matt Stefano, interrupted. “A lesser performer might simply assume a different personality for Nadia and then return to her own personality for Nadia-as-Dani, but Dani really gave the whole situation deep thought, and let Nadia, the character she had created, in turn create a character for Dani, the Dani in the show I mean, who is similar to her in some respects but could not be more different in others. It is possible that for the second season, the Dani in the show will be asked to play a character named Nadia Zhang. The goal is to challenge this brilliant woman to challenge us.” Stefano added that he and Dani became close over the course of the first season and are now engaged.

©2021 Ben Greenman/Stupid Ideas