Interviewed by Jennifer Moreno

Syzygy is a unique company with a unique name. What is the mission of Syzygy?

We didn’t make this word up. The word “syzygy” is actually an astronomical term: it means the alignment of three heavenly bodies – as in an eclipse. In our case, Syzygy’s “syzygy” is audience, playwright, and producing artist. Our mission is “to create enriching and thought-provoking professional art in which the rewards and responsibilities are shared through an alignment of the audience, the playwright, and the producing artists.” We believe that theatre is impossible without all three – audience, playwright, and producing artist, and we’ve found that frequently theatre companies forget the extreme importance of the audience. What’s the point of writing and producing a play that no one ever sees?


You not only have a mission statement, but a goal statement, vision statement, position statement and a list of objectives, how does defining Syzygy in such detail help the actors?

In the not-for-profit world, mission statements are traditionally written primarily for the benefit of grantmakers and government agencies. The mission statement is not necessarily helpful to audiences and artists in understanding who we are. We wrote these other statements and a list of our objectives to clarify for audiences and artists more precisely who we are and what we’re trying to do. We’ve spent a lot of time working on being clear, not just for others, but for the organization, about what we’re doing, where we plan to go, and how we’re going to get there.


What are the qualities of an ideal company member? What type of actor are you looking for?

A lot of factors actually go into the decision to invite someone to join our company. Obviously talent it a paramount factor in the decision to invite anyone – an actor, designer, Board Member – to join the Ensemble, but the foundation of the Syzygy’s Ensemble is a fundamental philosophy that family and friendship are just as important. We often say that if we don’t want to sit down and have dinner with you, we probably don’t want you to be part of our company. That may seem short-sighted and maybe a little too touchy-feely, but we’ve found that someone can be phenomenally talented but bring a negative energy to a room that just isn’t worth it in the end. We are looking for exceptionally talented artists without ego or attitude who support each other in whatever way possible. We’ve labeled Syzygy’s company members as “The Ensemble” for a very conscious reason – an “ensemble” is a group producing a single effect. We are fortunate to have some Ensemble Members with some pretty impressive credentials, but we emphasize that Syzygy has no “stars” because we believe that everyone involved in the process of making art has equal status. After we consider talent and compatibility, then we also look at whether that person can bring something to the group that we don’t already have. Diversity (be it age, race, gender, training, business experience, etc.) is something that we are always looking to increase because that will increase the scope of what is possible.


What is the audition process for Syzygy?

We don’t directly audition actors to join the company. We do, however, hold open auditions for most productions and regularly work with individuals from outside the company. And, except in rare instances, we only extend invitations to people with whom we have already worked with so we can decide if you have all of the qualities beyond talent we want.

Audition announcements are published in BackStage West and at the Actors’ Equity Association’s website (the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States). If you’re a member of Equity you can come to the Equity auditions and you’ll be seen on a first-come-first-serve basis within the time allowed. If you’re not a member of Equity then there are two ways you might audition for us. You can show up at the Equity auditions and you’ll be seen if time allows and there aren’t any Equity member actors waiting to be seen (Equity actors will always get priority). Showing up for the Equity auditions might mean you’re might be there all day and never get seen, but showing up and waiting demonstrates your level of commitment, and frequently we are able to see you.

The other way you might get an audition with us is to submit your headshot and resume to Syzygy via mail, and if we feel there is a compelling reason to see you we will call you and schedule an audition. We strongly discourage actors from calling or emailing us to request an audition. This is a waste of your time and ours since our decision to schedule an audition for you will be based on your headshot and resume. Phoning or emailing us directly will more than likely actually hurt your chances of getting an opportunity to audition for us.

When you first audition for Syzygy we usually want to see two contrasting monologues. In this first audition we’re looking for type, how well trained you are, what your ability is, and what your range is like. If you’re called back for a second audition then usually you will be given sides from the script for which we’re auditioning you and you may read with other actors who are also auditioning. You’ll more than likely get these sides a day or so before the audition. You’ll be reading from the page, but you’ll have had time to look at the material in advance so you’re not reading entirely cold. For our Ensemble Members and actors whose work with which we’re already familiar, we usually just bring them in for the call-back auditions. We’ve made it very clear to our Ensemble Members that if someone who is not an Ensemble Member is better for a role than an Ensemble Member, then that person is going to get the role. Being a Syzygy Ensemble Member does not guarantee casting. However, if an Ensemble Member and a non-Ensemble Member audition for the same role equally well, then the Ensemble Member is going to be cast. But casting the best person will only elevate the organization as a whole, and we don’t want to lessen the quality of our work by limiting casting to the relatively small pool of our Member actors. We also don’t want to limit the types of scripts we choose because of the limitations of our Ensemble Members. And our Ensemble Members have shared with us that they actually enjoy the additional challenge of competing for roles with actors from the community at large.

As we’ve said, we don’t audition actors to join the Syzygy Ensemble. Membership is by invitation only and is extended on a case-by-case basis, to artists with whom we have worked. Getting cast in one of our shows does not guarantee an invitation to join the company though. A decision to offer membership to an individual is also based on the needs of the current Syzygy Ensemble membership. We’ve worked with a number of artists who we did not ask to join the company for a variety of reasons. And most of them are people we’d happily work with again and who at some point in the future we might ask to join the company. We tell people that if you are interested in membership, make efforts to get involved through auditions and participation in other events; get to know us, and give us the opportunity to know you. And be patient with us.

What are the requirements for an ensemble member? Does being in the company guarantee involvement in every show?

We actually don’t have any requirements. We don’t require our Ensemble Members to pay dues (a number of theatres around LA require their members to pay monthly dues to help support the organizations activities), and we have no official required commitment of time and resources. We, however, trust that our Ensemble Members will participate in the activities of the organization in a true ensemble fashion – in a spirit of camaraderie and family. We expect our Ensemble Members to assist when and how they can and to act in a fashion that is supportive of their fellow Ensemble Members and the organization as a whole. We try to respect the fact that people have lives – “day” jobs, families, and other responsibilities and obligations – that from time to time will make them more or less able to actively participate. We believe that having hard and fast requirements only sets people up to either over-extend themselves and/or fail and feel guilty. And in any organization, there are always going to be those people who do more than others. Our experience has been that having requirements won’t fix that problem. Our hope is that we create an environment in which people want to help out. And, of course, our ultimate goal is to grow the organization to the point where the only help we need from our actors is onstage – as actors. But outside of their primary responsibility to be the best actors they can be, our Ensemble Members are always helping us out with mailings, fundraising, building and striking sets, networking with the community, etc.

And being an Ensemble Member absolutely does not guarantee involvement in every show. First of all, as we’ve explained, we might cast someone from outside the Ensemble if that person is better suited for a role than an Ensemble Member. And, given that there are currently approximately 25 actors who are Syzygy Ensemble Members, offering acting work for every actor in every show is just not possible. Especially since, because we are paying our actors on Actors’ Equity contracts, the size of the cast for a given show typically does not exceed six or seven actors due to budget constraints.

You have a great story about an actress who auditioned for you but wasn't right for that particular show. Can you share what you told her, and what has transpired since?

Yeah. This is the perfect example of what we’re talking about when we say, “get to know us, and give us the opportunity to know you.” We had a young woman who came to the Equity auditions for our last show. She had just graduated from college and was not a member of Equity. But she put her name on the list and waited patiently for a few hours to be seen when, and if, we had a hole in the day’s schedule. She gave a fantastic audition, but she was just way too young for any of the roles in the show. But we were so impressed with not only her talent, but, also her pleasant, professional attitude, that we called her after the auditions and explained that we could not consider casting her because she was just too young to play any of the roles offered. But, we told her that we’d definitely be keeping her in mind for casting in future shows and that we wanted her to stay in touch with us. And she did. A month or so after the auditions Syzygy was having its annual Casino Night benefit and she came and volunteered at the event. And then, when we were looking for backstage running crew for the very show for which she had auditioned, she happily, graciously volunteered. She’s now someone who’s at the top of our list when a role comes along for which she’s “right.” And she’s already proven herself to be someone who exemplifies the professionalism, as well as the spirit of friendship and family, that Syzygy promotes.


What is the lesson for actors who are lucky enough to get feedback?

We’re amazed at the number of actors who think if they get direction or notes in an audition that this means their audition has gone badly. This is crazy! More than likely, this is actually a good sign. It means the director has seen something he or she likes and wants to explore your abilities further. That’s not to say that if a director simply excuses you after your audition piece that it’s gone badly either. In that case, the director may have simply seen what he or she wants and doesn’t need to see anything more at that point. But if you are lucky enough to get direction in an audition you should embrace it as an opportunity to learn and challenge yourself. One of the things most young actors hear from a coach will be to treat auditions as a chance to do what you love: act. The exploration that takes place during a rehearsal process is one of theatre’s greatest joys. If you are given direction during an audition enjoy yourself! Even if you don’t ultimately get the role, it’s an opportunity for you to try something new with an audition piece you may have already done a hundred times. And maybe, armed with what you learned in that audition, you’ll get that next role.

Our Ensemble Members are encouraged to contact us after the auditions are over to get feedback on what they might have done wrong (and right) in an audition. And they very frequently take us up on this offer because it’s actually rare opportunity to hear why you didn’t get cast. If no one ever tells you what you’re doing wrong, you’re more than likely just going to keep repeating the same mistake. No matter your talent or years of training there’s always room for growth and new insight. Criticism does not have to be a bad thing.


Martin, you are a graduate of the famed American Conservatory Theatre's Advanced Training Program, tell us about that experience.

Even now I look back on my years at A.C.T. as one of the greatest periods of my life. My passion for theatre was reaching new heights and the program was designed in such a way that almost every waking hour, at least five days a week, was filled with theatre in some way or another. At the time I was accepted into the program I had very little formal training as an actor (just two classes as an undergraduate) and was pretty much running on instinct and way too much angst. A.C.T. really helped to focus me and approach my work as a craft and not just an accident I hoped might happen in performance. It was great to dedicate myself to the importance all of the aspects of the art of acting (in addition to the obvious emotional components): voice training, audition technique, combat, dance, movement, formal text analysis, phonetics and ear-training, stage costuming, period style, make-up, Alexander technique…you name it. We even had to make our own beards! At one point I was involved in five different productions at once, and couldn’t have been happier. In the end I left A.C.T. with a lot more confidence and comfort when performing. I also had the skills to help guide my instincts in a much more predictable manner. Good auditions and performances became repeatable and more in my control, rather than just the happy accidents of emotion, type, and being “right for the role”.

Being at A.C.T. was also the first experience that got me thinking about the importance of ensemble. The experience of a first rehearsal with actors I had worked with for two years was instantly richer than what I had ever experienced with a group of talented strangers.


What advice do you have for actors who are considering the many different types of training?

Well, given that I chose the conservatory experience for myself, I obviously have a bias towards that kind of training. And, as the artistic director of a theatre company, it’s also a given that I have a bias towards theatrical training as an underpinning for all other kinds of acting work. I think any good accredited training program, grad, undergrad, or otherwise will serve an actor who knows what he or she wants from the program and dedicates themselves to it. And I think theatrical programs will serve you whether you wish to be on stage, on camera, or both. All of that being said, I hope I am smart enough to realize that was the kind of training I needed to become the kind of actor I wanted to be.

I think the first thing to consider is what your goals as an artist are. I know people who want nothing other than to be in commercials and do

“bite-and-smile.” If that’s who you are than I definitely think learning how to make your own beard might be a waste of time.

No matter what the answer to the question of what type of actor you want to be is, I am pretty dogmatic about a serious approach to training. I believe it was Olivier who said that it “takes ten years to make an actor, and twenty years to make a master”. Taking two classes and then unleashing yourself on the world as an “actor” is a disservice to those for whom you will be auditioning, but more importantly, I think it is a disservice to yourself. Take the time to know what you want and then do a little research into where you can gain the skills to do it.

I feel like I wouldn’t be true to myself if I didn’t take the opportunity to say that, in general, all of the actors I most admire all started their training on stage. Don’t forget about the theatre!

You've also worked with other well-known theatre groups, especially in Chicago and Los Angeles. What were some of the important things you learned about working within a company?

Wow…so many things learned, both good and bad. First and foremost these companies really helped forge my opinion that you can’t audition an ensemble. True ensemble is born out of shared ideals, shared goals and the simple desire to want to work together. Talent alone doesn’t seal the deal. I have had experiences both as an actor and as a director where one very talented actor’s personal energy has killed a production. And I have seen the spirit and support of a true ensemble elevate a “lesser” actor’s performance to amazing heights.

I’ve also learned that sometimes focusing on what’s best for the company as a whole is actually what’s best for the individual ensemble members; and other times you need to focus on serving the individuals in order to best serve the company as a whole. The trick is knowing when to do which…I’ll let you know when I figure that one out. But, what I do know is that you always need to focus on serving your audience. It’s like acting 101: “do not focus on your self, focus on who you’re in the scene with.” I think that holds true in a company’s relationship to its audience.

Unlike many other theatre groups, you choose not to do countless shows every year, why is that?

Well, there are mainly two reasons for this: one is that we’re trying to maintain a consistently high-level of the quality of the art; and the other is simply related to the financial constraints of offering Equity contracts to our actors.

Syzygy’s Vision Statement is “to align Los Angeles’ theatre-going public with the top-notch production quality of the city’s large theatres and the passion, intimacy, and risk-taking of the city’s small theatres.” We feel that just because we’re small doesn’t mean that the audience shouldn’t experience a clean, complete, professional production. The word “professional” is very consciously chosen and emphasized in Syzygy’s Mission Statement. The theatrical experience is not just about the script and the actors. The technical and administrative elements finish and compliment what the playwrights, actors, and directors do. Every element of a production – the condition of the lobby, the way the programs are put together, the temperature in the space, the way a set is built, the way an actor’s costume fits, the levels set for various sound cues, the cleanliness of the bathrooms, an actor’s ability to be heard, and on and on and on – all these things come together as one experience that an audience has of a given performance and none of these elements should be ignored or treated as more or less important than another. Since Syzygy is a small, young company, our resources are limited, so we need to be realistic and patient about what it takes to accomplish a high level of quality in all aspects of a production, and that sometimes means scaling back and doing only two shows in a season very well, rather than six “only average” shows in a season. We actually didn’t produce at all in 2004 because, for a variety of reasons, we didn’t feel we had the resources to maintain the high-level of quality we’d set for ourselves previously. So we waited, and our next show, the 2005 West-Coast premiere of Jamie Pachino’s play, Waving Goodbye, garnered Syzygy our first Ovation Award nomination.

In addition to our commitment to quality, Syzygy has also made a commitment to compensating our artists. We are paying our actors on Equity contracts and this adds anywhere from $6,000-$20,000 (depending on the size of the cast and complexity of the script) to our production budgets. It costs Syzygy about $2,000 to pay one actor for one production. This is $6,000-$20,000 more than what nearly all other small Los Angeles theatres’ production budgets include. All we’ve done is order our priorities differently than other small Los Angeles theatre companies. We’ve opted to do fewer shows in a season, so that we are able to compensate our artists for the work they do for us. Of course, our hope is that, over time, funding will increase and we will be able to gradually grow our season to offer five shows annually. But that will take some time, planning, and patience to accomplish.

How do you decide what shows to produce? What is an ideal Syzygy production?

Obsession. And reading. Lots and lots of obsession. And lots and lots of reading.

Actually it’s a lot more complex than we would have thought before forming the company. In some cases we simply read a script and know immediately that we want to produce it. Waving Goodbye and Tender come to mind as examples of this. Then we have to match that desire to timing, resources and the ability to secure the rights. Those are the easy choices.

At other times we have to look at the expectation of our audience, serving the artists in the ensemble, our physical and financial resources and what is the next “right” step for the company as a whole. Again, with only two shows a year you can’t really afford to pick an “okay” show that would work alright in a season of knockouts. Each show has to have at least the potential to be amazing. Sometimes when we add up everything in this equation a show we already know will jump to mind. In other cases that’s when the reading starts. Lots and lots of reading. We also appeal to our ensemble members, as well as directors with whom we’d like to work and ask them to submit projects that they are interested in doing.

My general rule of thumbs in choosing scripts is that I have to feel like the playwright felt compelled to write it. Things like style are only important to me inasmuch as it serves the playwright’s intent, and that the intent speaks to something important to the human condition. A comedy can do this as well as a drama, or a classic as well as a musical. I am not interested, for example, in doing something “experimental” just to say we are experimental. But if the experiment speaks to my heart, I’ll be all over it.


It's a major focus of Syzygy to facilitate new works, how does this benefit everybody?

Since Syzygy’s formal inception as a not-for-profit corporation in 2003, two of our objectives have been the establishment of an annual new play search or new play festival for the promotion of emerging writers and the establishment of a playwright-in-residence program. In a movement toward those objectives Syzygy formed the New Alignments reading series in 2004. New Alignments is a free play reading series whose purpose is to provide playwrights with the opportunity to receive feedback on works-in-progress, provide the community with an opportunity to participate in and observe the creative process, and provide actors with an opportunity to hone their craft. As a next step, in June of 2006 Syzygy invited The Los Angeles Writers Center to become its playwrights-in-residence and to spearhead the New Alignments reading series, and these readings now happen monthly. The Los Angeles Writers Center’s mission is to germinate and foster new works by involving not only the writer, but also a team of artists: directors, dramaturges, and actors. It follows that Syzygy and The LA Writers Center are an ideal partnership.

Scripts are selected from submissions by members of The Los Angeles Writers Center as well as playwrights from the Los Angeles community at large. In order for a script to get chosen for a New Alignments reading, is must be considered unfinished. New Alignments is not meant to be an opportunity for a playwright to “pitch” a script for full production (although Syzygy hopes to be doing some workshop productions of some of the scripts we’ve read in the New Alignments series in the near future). Our actors read these scripts for an audience comprised of anyone in the community who wants to attend, and immediately following readings, there is an audience discussion of the play with the playwright. The discussions are facilitated by us and The Los Angeles Writers Center’s Producing Artistic Director, Che’Rae Adams.

The primary purpose is to give the playwrights an audience that will help them see how to get where their scripts aren’t working. Hearing the script read out loud by actors adds another dimension for the playwrights to explore and an audience frequently sees things that the playwright is unable to see. And this reading series provides audience members with the rare opportunity to actively contribute to a script’s development.

Another interesting aspect of Syzygy is the innovative "Adopt an Actor" program, tell us about this awesome program.  If other companies want to set this up, what's the best way to get it started?

As we’ve explained, because we’re paying our actors with Equity contracts, it costs Syzygy about $2,000 to pay one actor for one production. We’re really proud of our contract with Equity, but the fact is that these salaries add thousands of dollars to a production’s budget. But we’ve found that potential donors are much more willing to give larger amounts of money if they understand specifically what their money is being used for. We were thrilled when three of the seven actors in our last production got adopted. This was a significant offset in our expenses for that show. Six thousand dollars of that show’s budget came from only three donors! And if we’d simply asked these donors to “send us some money to help pay for our next show” they probably would have donated anyway, but might have only sent us a few hundred dollars because it wasn’t clear what we needed and why we needed it.

The way it works is that by “adopting” the actor (or stage manager), a donor is simply agreeing to donate $2000 – the approximate cost of one actor’s salary for rehearsals and the run of the show. Then the donor can pick his or her “adoptee” (after casting) or allow Syzygy to choose which cast member will benefit from their generosity. In return the donor also receives a tax deduction, the opportunity of seeing exactly how that tax-deductible contribution was spent, they get program credit for making their “son” or “daughter’s” performance possible, invitations to special rehearsals and a dinner with the cast, and an open invitation to attend any performance with a guest. They also hopefully receive the joy of knowing that they helped a dedicated artist bring a role in a beautiful new play to life.

If other companies are interested in and Adopt-An-Actor initiative for their own organization, our advice would be to start by determining how much they will be paying their actors (whether on contract with Equity or not), and the rest is just a matter of getting the word out to their patrons and making it clear how it works and making it easy for them to donate. And our door is always open to other companies who want to discuss what we’re doing with Equity.

Most stage actors strive to become part of the Actors Equity Association. You actually created a new, specific contract with AEA... can you describe the agreement and how it came about?

What a lot of people don’t realize is that, in Los Angeles, most professional actors and stage managers working in venues with 99-seats or less (small theatres) are essentially not paid for their hard work, dedication, and passion. Over the course of two to three months of rehearsals and performances an actor working on a small Los Angeles stage will not be paid at all for rehearsals and might make only a few dollars for each performance. No matter their years of training, their level of talent, or their varied experience, these professionals are working pro bono. At Syzygy, we believe that theatre (and all the arts) is vital. That being the case, we also strongly believe that theatre artists should be recognized for their contribution to our culture. Simply put, they should be paid. At Syzygy’s inception, our Board of Directors voted to take a most unusual step, virtually unprecedented for a small Los Angeles theatre company: we decided to pay our artists on contracts with Equity.

Instead of opting for a “99-seat plan” from Equity – which, as a small theatre, is the path we could have chosen – Syzygy negotiated a special “letter of agreement” contract with Equity in which we promised to pay the actors and stage managers for both rehearsals and performances and to make contributions to their pension fund. We’ve honored that agreement with all of our productions to date, and we’re committed to continue this practice. We hope to increase funding in the next several years to a level that will allow us to also pay for health insurance, but at the moment, it is prohibitively expensive for us. But it’s definitely one of our goals for the future.

In putting the agreement together we realized something that is contrary to what many people in the theatre world believe: AEA was actually very easy to work with and absolutely eager to provide a new opportunity for their members. We simply called and explained our goals to them. They asked us to make a formal proposal, and then a very short negotiation period followed before we reached our final agreement.

In a society with myriad entertainment options, why is live theater important?

All art is, always has been, and always will be vitally important to civilization. It is a reflection of our humanity and the voice of new ideas. If you examine the fall of all the great empires of history you will see a pattern. Just prior to the fall, there was a decline in, even a suppression of, art in that culture. Great art creates a dialogue within a community/culture that gives way to discovery, invention, and evolution. When art is absent from a culture that culture begins to breakdown because it becomes stagnant. It stops evolving.

And we now live in a culture that is increasingly disconnected. We drive alone in our cars and text each other on our cell phones and subscribe to NetFlix. What we lack is physical contact with each other. We’ve actually become infinitely more comfortable watching graphic, real-life violence on television than sitting ten feet away from an actor on stage who’s crying. Live theatre (and all the performing arts) provides us with an opportunity to re-connect with each other in a very intimate way and provides an opportunity for active participation in our culture.

Ironically, if you ask most people whether they would like to sit in a room and listen to a CD alone or with a few friends or whether they’d rather experience the band live with a crowd of people - most would opt for a live experience. People seem to have forgotten that live performance of all types provides that kind of immediacy, spontaneity, and feedback. When you watch a piece of theatre you are one of the performers…in fact you’re the most important one. And your involvement in the experience effects the experience. That is both an awesome gift and an awesome responsibility.