Your Travalanche Daily Digest for October 26, 2026
11 hours ago
Sunday, October 24, 2010
some thoughts on The Social Network
Why do I say that? Consider the final scene (SPOILER ALERT). The Zuckerberg character is apparently preoccupied, deeply troubled even, about the question of whether or not he is, in fact, an asshole. He asserts to the concerned junior lawyer who hangs around to cluck over him that he is not an asshole, and her rejoinder (more on that below) is an apparent answer to that question. Trouble is, by this point, I had long since ceased to care about the condition of Mark Zuckerberg's soul. The story had been absorbing, engrossing even, but I found myself totally apathetic to the question of whether deep down, Mark Zuckerberg was a good guy or not.
Perhaps the fault for this does not lie with Eisenberg alone, but I think if he as an actor had found a way to care about the people he was eventually to betray, his remorse upon betraying them would have been more real, and, as a result, more palpable. As it was, he seemed troubled, but anguished? Not remotely. Jesse Eisenberg will have to try to hit that mark another time.
If I had to guess, I would speculate that Eisenberg made a judgment, consciously or not, about Zuckerberg that he was "uncaring", so it was hard for him to see that these relationships really meant something to him.
As for the movie itself? It was watchable enough. It did stay with me for a day or two. But I don't think it really showed us anything new. We know about the dangers of ambition and of failing to keep it real when you succeed. And we know people do ass things in their early twenties. (oh how we know...)
And about that ending: Zuckerberg says something to the lawyer like "I'm not an asshole!" and she says something like: "I know you're not. You're just working really hard to be one."
This reminded me more than a little of the last lines of Howard Korder's 1988 play Boys' Life:
Carla: You're not the worst man in the world.
Jack: I'm not, huh?
Carla: No you're not. I'm afraid you're just not. (Pause) But you'd like to be...
Just sayin'.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
more congratulations!
In her own words:
I wanted to let you know that I went on an audition recently for a new play. Right before the audition I kept thinking about what you had said, about staying fully extended, at all times, in the moment, even while the other person is talking. Well, it must have helped me, because I got the part. :)
Congratulations Tyne! Can't wait to see the show!
Friday, October 22, 2010
Uranium Madhouse gets its first Advisory Board Member: meet David Chambers
David Chambers, an
South Coast Rep Associate Artist, is a director,
teacher, writer and producer whose
work has been seen On and Off-Broadway
and at major theatres throughout
the United States. He directed Broadway
premieres of Christopher Durang’s
A History of the American Film and
Howard Korder’s Search and Destroy,
a play which originated at South Coast Rep and for
which Mr. Chambers received a New
York Drama Desk nomination for best
director. Mr. Chambers has served as
director at such theatres as The New
York Shakespeare Festival, Washington’s
Arena Stage (Producer 1979-81
seasons), the Yale Repertory Theatre
and the Guthrie, among others. He is
currently a professor of acting and directing
at the Yale School of Drama
where among other duties he produced
The Meyerhold Project, a collaboration
with the Saint Petersburg Academy of
Theatre Arts in Russia which has performed
in Europe and the U.S. He also
directed South Coast Rep’s Bosoms and Neglect,
The Hollow Lands, Tartuffe, Private
Lives, Old Times, A Mess of Plays by
Chris Durang, The Misanthrope,
Hedda Gabler, The Miser, Going for
Gold, Kiss of the Spider Woman and
Twelfth Night, productions which have
won numerous Drama-Logue and L.A.
Drama Critics Circle Awards. He lives
in Portland and Vinalhaven, Maine
with his wife Christine Vincent and son
Dima. His daughter Jessica lives and
works in the Bay Area.
Southpark does Inception
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Angela Hahn books a role in an indie feature
The film is a low budget, feature length film by local film maker Dante Oliviero called Ozu. He describes it as a "horror/thriller" but without a lot of blood and guts. It's about a girl who thinks she's being followed by a ghost and turns to a ghost hunter for help. It's written in "the spirit of Rashomon", from 4 different characters' perspectives..and it's up to the audience to decipher the "real story". In any event, I wanted to audition for the role of one of the detectives...but he had everyone use the same scene for the audition, which was a scene between Catherine, the girl who thinks she's being followed, and the ghost hunter. He thought this scene would give him an idea of everyone's acting ability.
Initially, I was a little disappointed that I couldn't read "as the detective" and was worried that I wouldn't be able to play "the scared girl" who thinks she's being followed. Even though I had very little information about the character and the story, I approached it in the way that I have learned in your class...to the best of my ability, I developed a "Who Am I?" for my character, what were the given circumstances, what had happened immediately before the scene, where do I live, where does the scene take place, what time is it, etc, and I really tried to personalize what it felt like to think I'm being followed/stalked. I also worked on developing the relationship with the other character in the scene, what was my objective, what do I need from the other character. During the audition, I reminded myself to "throw the ball" and try to receive what was coming at me. After the audition, the director commented that he could really tell that I had "done my homework and created a backstory for the character and the scene." About a week later, the director called to let me know I got the role as the detective.
Congratulations Angela! Sounds like a FABULOUS project!
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