Iris Bahr Born and raised in the Bronx, Iris moved to Israel at the age of twelve, where she remained until completing her military service. Upon her release, she embarked on an extensive solo journey through Asia, which is humorously chronicled in her new memoir DORK WHORE (published through Bloomsbury in the US and translated into German, Portuguese and Italian as well).
Upon returning from Asia, Iris proceeded to study neuropsychology and religious studies at Brown University, graduating magna cum laude. She has since found much success on stage and screen, starring in numerous TV shows and films, including a recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm (as Rachel Heinemann in the highly memorable ski-lift and Korean Bookie episodes), The Drew Carey Show, Friends, The King of Queens, Commander in Chief, E-Ring, Strong Medicine, Star Trek Voyager, and The Big Bang Theory, among others.
Her directorial debut, The Unchosen Ones, was featured at the Cannes Short Film Corner, Durango, and Boulder film festivals. As a stand-up, Iris has performed at the world-renowned Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and co-starred alongside Larry the Cable Guy in the nationwide release Health Inspector. Her critically acclaimed first solo show Planet America was nominated for Best Solo Performance Award by LA Weekly and is currently being developed with Meryl Poster into a feature film. Many thanks to Will Pomerantz for his hard work and Allan Buchman for first launching DAI at the Culture Project and to Jon Pollard, Bernie Kukoff and Jon Cutler for their indispensable continual contribution. Visit www.irisbahr.org for more information.
Interviewed by Joanna Parson
When did you first start writing DAI? Talk about the germination of the idea.
I started writing DAI a couple of years ago. I had wanted to write about the experience of living in Israel for a long time, the tension, the passion, the connection to a place so loved and hated by the world, and also wanted to explore my identity crisis resulting from having grown up in both Israel and the US.
The desire to share my experiences and feelings on Israel and its current state and conflict intensified the last couple of years when, after growing discussions with my peers both here and in Europe, it really hit me to what extent Israelis were misunderstood.
People have no idea how conflicted and diverse Israeli culture was, and most people don’t really understand the complexity of the conflict nor the resulting tension and tragic/triumphant mindset that results from living in a place where suicide bombings are a reality, whether it be Israel, Iraq or anywhere where such warfare is standard.
You’ve had a history of success with one-person shows, with your previous shows winning you acclaim, awards, and even a book deal. Why did you first choose to work in the genre? Are there specific rewards as an artist?
I love creating characters that challenge me as a writer and performer– that are as different from me as possible but that also channel my many conflicted opinions, emotions and life experiences.
Your characters in DAI are incredibly well-drawn; they’re all fully conceived characters. Did you ever consider writing DAI as a traditional multi-character play?
No, I always wanted it to be a one person show; to have me as one person manifest all these different aspects of one society.
Directors who understand the special needs of one-person plays are sometimes hard to come by. How did you hook up with Will Pomerantz?
Will Pomerantz was working at the Culture Project as the director in residence, and once they (The Culture Project) invited me to perform the show for four nights at the impact festival, Will called me and asked if he could assist in staging the play for the Festival.
He was extremely easy to work with, as our rehearsal time was extremely limited before the festival. It helped that I had come with the characters fully formed and had already designed the sound with an amazing sound designer in LA, and had a clear idea of what I wanted. Will was great, in that he served as a support system and as an outside eye to confirm what worked in terms of staging and lighting and such.
Talk about the physicality of your characters. How do you consider each character’s particular relationship to their bodies and space when you’re trying to convey different pictures age, race, and class?
That’s hard to answer, as I don’t analyze the physicality intellectually. I just try to see what resonates as true. I guess I could say I first visualize them as fully formed in my mind, and in terms of my body I decide where their core is– what body part leads them, where they hold tension, what their physical habits are, where their voice is placed, what they are trying to hide, and how good they are at hiding it.
One of the problems anyone working on multi-character solo shows faces is how to indicate transitions between characters. How did you land on the minimal costume pieces, movement and music you use to morph characters in DAI? Each character’s monologue is punctuated by the sound of the suicide bombing, while you change costumes and take the place of the next character.
I wanted the transitions to be quick and fluid. The moment of death is very short, and I wanted the main power of the death to come from the audio cue in juxtaposition with the simplicity on stage. I designed the music to take us from the moment of death very quickly into a new life of the next character and the world that character inhabits.
You use a myriad of dialects in the show. How did you work on each character’s dialect and speech patterns?
The character’s core and habits really dictated the vocal quality. It was not a conscious process. It came naturally, once I inhabited the character. In terms of dialects, I worked on the German one with a friend and the others just came naturally. Some were inspired by real people– Arik Sharon, Christiane Amanpour, Hanan Ashrawi.
You studied at the Actors Center in New York, a well-respected professional conservatory that, unfortunately, recently closed its doors. Why did you choose a private conservatory program like the Actors Center? And why did you choose to ultimately leave the program and move to Los Angeles?
The Actors Center offered the best teachers in the city and so that was an easy choice to make– Earle Gister, Christopher Bayes. I left the program upon booking a lead in an Off Broadway show, and found that I preferred learning from being on stage than in a classroom environment.
While I find classical training (Shakespeare Lab was a fantastic experience) and physical theatre training like my time with Theatre De Complicite indispensable and amazing, in terms of straight acting classes I still prefer learning from performing in live shows than being in a classroom.
What were your first steps when you arrived in Los Angeles? Was there one particular choice that you made or audition you landed that helped get the ball rolling for your television and film career?
I can’t pinpoint a particular choice. I was a person obsessed when I arrived in Los Angeles, running around all day auditioning for everything no matter how near or far or ridiculous it was. I did a lot of theatre, and casting workshops (and got my first sitcom gig on King of Queens through that). I also started writing and doing stand-up, which helped me get noticed in the comedy world. And I mounted my first one woman show, Planet America, which ran on and off for over a year.
How did you land the audition for “Curb Your Enthusiasm?”
My commercial agent called me and said, “There’s this role on Curb you have to go in on.” Having wanted to audition for Curb forever, I immediately called my theatrical people. They set it up, and the next day I found myself improvising in the room with Larry and I booked it.
DAI is often described as political theatre, though you’re clear to express the fact that it’s not a political statement. What has it meant to you to write and perform a show that provokes such strong emotional and politically-charged reactions?
For me, there is nothing more gratifying than creating and performing a piece that entertains, moves, angers, satisfies people and stimulates post-show thought and dialogue.
At Actorslife.com, we hear from actors all the time who also believe they have the voice and ideas to write their own material and tell their own stories, but need help figuring out the writing process. How do you personally find the time and discipline to write? Do you, like your characters, spend a lot of writing time in bustling cafes?
Yes. I have a few cafes I frequent in both NY and LA. I go through phases. When writing DAI I just set myself a date to perform a reading of the script, invited a bunch of people and then had no choice but to finish it by the deadline. Once that was in place I got sucked in and ended up writing 7-10 hours a day.
What advice would you have for young people interested in acting and performing careers?
Be passionate and work your butt off. There is no excuse for waiting for the phone to ring. If you enjoy acting classes, find a teacher who inspires you and makes you feel good about yourself even in their criticism, and never compare yourself to your peers, since everyone has their own journey and you will end up just getting frustrated.
After all, you can always find people whose success comes easier, harder, faster, slower or not at all!
