Who are you?
My name is Christopher Cromwell. I am a native Californian and a current Yankee. I'm also a British Citizen, though I've never lived there. I've recently been an innkeeper and now I am making theater again. Theater still doesn't pay.
Why are you important?
I strive towards honesty with those I love and I write well.
What is your history with the theater?
Arrived at my high school 6 weeks late and happened into a class that emphasized writing for performance. Studied at NYU (Playwright's Horizon's and then the Experimental Theater Wing). Ran a theater for teenagers. Self-produced performances. Ran out of money. Became an innkeeper. Stopped innkeeping. Returned to the theater through a college connection.
What training that you have physically undertaken do you value most?
The core curricula at ETW: character creation and performance, 6 viewpoints (Overlie), Hart voice, Wangh's improv, choreography. Deb Margolin's performance and playwriting classes have been equally fundamental to my work. Also, Elevator Repair Service's sense of collaborative playbuilding, though that is as much mental training as it is physical.
What training that you haven't undertaken do you value most (or is this impossible)?
Of course it's possible, but that value might be misplaced. I'd like to know first hand about Thomas Richard's and Mario Biagini's work in Pontedera. To a lesser extent, I'd like the same from Bogart's company. I'd like to train more with Mary Overlie.
What are three things you've always loved and think you always will love about the theater?
Revelation, the opportunity for expanded and new languages (language of the body, of character, of rhythm and music, language of all these in combination…) and the joy of shared experience. Also, voyeurism… let's call that a half-a-thing.
Where do you live?
I live in Maine. For the summer of 2008, I live in San Francisco.
Where would you like to live?
A place that looks and feels like CA, close to a city like NY, priced like Buffalo, NY, where all of my beloved diaspora lives.
What sound(s) do you love?
The twitters and calls of eagles, osprey and hawks; people talking in languages I don’t know, loud noises far off, music practice falling out of windows, voices of my friends and family.
Which sound(s) do you hate?
Myself screaming, mindless foot-tapping, pen clicking, nail-biting, etc., jet-skis, purposefully loud motorcycles, gas-powered yard care machines.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Law or Finance.
What profession would you not like to?
Computer Engineering.
What is your current profession(s)?
Heading toward entrepreneurship.
What is the last bit of truly great theater you've seen?
BigDanceTheater's Production of Mac Wellman's Antigone. Margolin's O Yes I will.
How much was the ticket?
Don't recall.
What do you long for in the theater?
Revelation. Newness.
What have you never seen onstage, but always wanted to?
Grotowski's work from the 60's. Or any of his work for that matter. His ideas have been so goddamned important in my relationship to the theater and, yet, I will never, ever see his work first-hand.
Where is the nexus of the theater world and why is it there?
In this country, NYC, but I don't think that is economically sustainable. Over my life, I think we'll see a broadening of the nexus of the theater world, through small, non-equity production companies in cities like Pittsburgh, Austin, Kansas City, the two Portlands, Ithaca, etc.
What is one of your favorite words?
Categorical.
Where did you grow up?
Sacramento, CA. Oahu, HI.
How do you work on sincerity, on opening yourself to those you love?
Some sort of daily practice helps. Sometimes that's theater work, sometimes Aikido. Yoga hasn't been sufficient on its own.
Does this work get easier with time? Harder?
So far it remains as hard as ever. It's a fight against something innate, I think and it works like an arms race. Each time I figure out a trick I use for avoidance, a particular style of lying, my mind, my body just figures out a new and different style. So, I think this work is perpetually difficult and there is no achieving perfection here.
What is one thing you can see, as you write this, that enthralls, perplexes or uplifts you?
A hummingbird came to the creeping vine outside my window and not finding what it wanted peered into my room and at me, came closer to the glass, tapped it with its beak, looked at me again and flew off.
How old are you?
31 at the end of this month (June, 2008)
