tag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:/blogs/latest-news?p=2Latest News2020-06-01T16:00:27-07:00JENNIFER LANIERfalsetag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/63386532020-06-01T16:00:27-07:002024-03-08T04:15:58-08:00An Actor of Color Speaks<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/221371/bc2bb2eb8e71d26450f13c2f2a1f0d6979dc6e05/original/785f1b68-cc75-4ad2-8dd6-e7705e361d00.jpeg/!!/b:W10=.jpg" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>
<p>My name is Jennifer Lanier, Co Artistic Director of Original Practice Shakespeare Festival. A couple of days ago, I found myself remotely in front of a granting organization to talk to them briefly about what OPS Fest is doing to further equity, diversity, and inclusiveness and how I thought this organization could support us in that work. I talked about our online shows: our experimenting with remote performing, what worked, what didn’t, how we engaged our audience directly, and what we wanted to try next. I made them laugh frequently and answered questions and the call ended and I could not stop crying. I cried because all my theatre’s equity work did not stop those four cops in Minneapolis from killing George Floyd. I cried because all my theatre’s focus on inclusiveness did not help three white men in Georgia see Ahmaud Arbery as a person jogging instead of as a threat to be extinguished. I cried because all my theatre’s work on diversity did not stop the police from assuming that any black person is a guilty black person and raiding the wrong apartment, killing Breonna Taylor. I cried because in order to guarantee that this big brown butch lesbian made it safely to my upcoming doctor’s appointment and back, I felt the need to ask my blonde, blue-eyed son to drive me. </p>
<p>I am expected to write a well-reasoned, clear response to everything that’s happening in the country right now. I’m expected to exhibit calm and thoughtfulness, maybe even a little wisdom and hope. The problem is I am so angry. As a black woman, as a person of color, as a queer woman who is frequently mistaken for a man, I know that every time I walk outside, I am in danger from police. Every time I get behind the wheel of a car, I am in danger from police. Every time I play an intense character in the park, I am in danger from police. Every time I stand up for myself and my rights in public, I am in danger from police. So it’s hard for me to remain calm, cool, and collected in the face of this particular national upheaval. As artistic director of a theater, I’m supposed to talk about how we are standing by George Floyd’s family and standing by the beautiful people who are so upset about this heinous act that they are braving a pandemic to exercise their First Amendment rights. And I do. And my theater does. But the fact of the matter is I’m pissed as hell. And you should be too. “The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” is democracy in action. It’s Civics 101. </p>
<p>Barack Obama wrote in the Medium today, speaking of this tragedy and the nationwide response, “the waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States… [and] yes, we should be fighting to make sure that we have a president, a Congress, a U.S. Justice Department, and a federal judiciary that actually recognize the ongoing, corrosive role that racism plays in our society and want to do something about it. But the elected officials who matter most in reforming police departments and the criminal justice system work at the state and local levels.” Many people used the phrase often credited to former Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill, “all politics is local.” Friends, there is an election coming up in November. Pay attention to the local and state races. They are the ones with the power to appoint the change-makers in police reform. They are the ones who decide whether more money goes to riot gear or arts in public schools; to tear gas or support for houseless folx; to checking federal government boxes on “substantial compliance” or giving the Portland Committee on Community-Engaged Policing real power to fulfill the spirit of their mission. </p>
<p>I write this today as the voice of my theatre company. OPS Fest stands with our neighbors, our colleagues, our friends as concerned citizens, as queer people, as people of color, as straight allies, as white allies. We are tired. We are heart-broken. We are angry. We say, loudly and clearly, BLACK LIVES MATTER. BLACK LIVES MATTER. BLACK LIVES MATTER. </p>
<p>With you all in the struggle, <br>Jennifer Lanier, Co Artistic Director <br>Original Practice Shakespeare Festival </p>JENNIFER LANIERtag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/62646602020-03-27T23:26:13-07:002023-12-10T09:28:07-08:00Buy Me a Coffee<p><span style="color:#8e44ad;">Sometimes I don’t have anything particularly inspiring to say. Just that I hope y’all are okay. My family is doing what it can right now. We are trying to keep our heads above water but I am the only financial support and my work all dried up. We are hoping that one job will come back but I will believe it when I see it. Until then, my mother-in-law is keeping us fed and in toilet paper. I did find a cool way to get a little extra. It’s called “Buy Me a Coffee”. Here’s the link: </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#8e44ad;">https://www.buymeacoffee.com/JenLanier </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#8e44ad;">You click it and you can do what you would do if we were together right now instead of in quarantine: you would buy me a coffee. If you want to do that, cool. If you want to share this site with other artist friends, please do! I hope many folks can utilize this to help them out in this wacky time. </span></p>
<p><span style="color:#8e44ad;">Until next time, stay safe, stay home. Read something funny. </span></p>JENNIFER LANIERtag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/62592242020-03-23T10:50:44-07:002024-03-08T04:15:58-08:00Working from home: an adventure<p>My friend, Chris Murphy, shared some thoughts about working from home. I added a few of my own. Hope these are useful to y’all.</p>
<p>1) Create a schedule and try to stick to it as much as possible. That sounds pretty basic, but it is vital. Creating a daily triage always makes me more productive and feel accomplished at the end of the day. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>However, family dance parties are legit schedule breakers!</strong></span></p>
<p>2) Do not work in the same space that you sleep. If you live in a small studio apartment, that can be difficult… but do what you can to separate your work space(s) from your sleep space. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>Note that pets rarely follow this rule as everywhere in the house is a sleep-&-work space.</strong></span></p>
<p>3) Work at keeping your home clean. A messy and cluttered room slowly saps my energy and fills me with a slight sense of tension that can have severe ramifications part way through the day. So do your best to do a 15-30 minute power clean first thing in the morning when you wake up (or before you go to bed if that’s your thing.) I will literally set a timer on the microwave each morning and clean stuff as fast as I can. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>This will keep you from considering homocide when the kids “forgot” to clean the kitchen the night before.</strong></span></p>
<p>4) Open windows and get in some natural light and fresh air. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>Take the dog outside yourself this time!</strong></span></p>
<p>5) Take a shower in the morning and get dressed like you would be going out. This is so so so important. I know everyone jokes about working from home in your pajamas and not showering all day. HAHAHA… so funny, it’s the best… yeah, I get it. BUT, that wears off REALLY REALLY quickly. You work from home now, take it serious. Showering and getting dressed does this weird mental shift in your brain which tells your mind and body it is ready for work. You will be more productive, and more importantly you will feel better. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>When the cat sniffs you and does that weird-smell-cat-face, you know it’s been too long.</strong></span></p>
<p>6) Get your emotions in check. If you’re like me and you need to be around people… working from home can get really lonely and leave you feeling weird. Feel the feelings, that is fine… but, don’t let your feelings make decisions for you. Drink water. Stretch your legs. Put on music. Go for a walk. Depression hits at random times when you are extroverted and work from home. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>Remember they are your spouse/partner/child/UberEats driver and NOT the enemy.</strong></span></p>
<p>7) Sit at a table more often then you sit on your couch or a comfy chair… your body will thank you for it, plus… the moments you decide to reward yourself by sitting on the couch with your laptop for an hour or so, will feel so much better. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>The dog will disagree. Do not listen. The dog is compelling. DO NOT LIS...and we’re on the couch.</strong></span></p>
<p>8) Mute conversations on Facebook messenger. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>SLACK however can save your life! Check it out</strong></span></p>
<p>9) Stop checking your email all day (unless you have to). If possible set times for when you deal with your emails. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>You don’t OWN me!</strong></span></p>
<p>10) Instrumental music is your friend. YouTube has some great coffee house music mixes which is really awesome for background noise. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>All Classical 89.9 is my jam!</strong></span></p>
<p>11) If you are hopping on Zoom meetings, give yourself 5 minute buffers to join the room. With so many people working from home, Zoom and other conferencing tools are being a lot slower than normal. Expect it to happen. <span style="color:#8e44ad;"><strong>Remember: they aren’t trying to mess up your day. Their dog HAD to go out NOW!</strong></span><br> </p>
<p><span style="color:null;">Remember: stay home, stay safe, love each other!</span></p>JENNIFER LANIERtag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/62586482020-03-22T19:40:05-07:002022-07-30T03:22:57-07:00This is NOT us<p>I was heading into a grocery store and I saw a young woman come running out with a small bunch of groceries in her arms. The clerk was running after her and a passerby grabbed her and stopped her, hollering, “get a job!” </p>
<p>The young woman let go of the groceries, grabbed her bike to takeoff. She said “I’m just hungry y’all.” I turned to the clerk as he was walking back in the store with the groceries and asked “can I just buy those please and give them to her? I’ll pay for it don’t worry about it.” He said , “It’s too late for that. She steals. It’s not worth your time.” </p>
<p>I went over to the young woman and said “I’m sorry I don’t have any cash on me. Do you have any where I can shoot some money to you?” She said “no it’s OK I’m just hungry.” I said “Cool. I’ll buy you some stuff and bring it to you.” She looked at me and said “I’m OK.” And she got on the bike and took off. </p>
<p>What are we becoming? “Get a job!” Really?! I have three jobs and no work. I don’t see myself stealing. Yet. But really, what kind of people are we becoming?</p>JENNIFER LANIERtag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/62539342020-03-18T13:05:05-07:002023-12-10T09:32:17-08:00Love in the Time of Corona<p>There are approximately 160,000 actors in the United States. At any given time, roughly 1% are working. That is less than 2000 actors working. I am usually part of that 1%. In 2019, I worked in conventional union theatre and film in Portland Oregon for 20 weeks. I am also Co-Artistic Director of Original Practice Shakespeare Festival which performs Shakespeare in parks around Portland Oregon in the summer so add 12 weeks to that. And I work as a Standardized Patient (an actor who augments the training for medical, nursing, and other students in case simulations) at a major medical university. Those gigs are generally a day or so long. Added up, probably 10 weeks. I also teach workshops in acting, Shakespeare, auditioning, improvisation, and gender illusion. Call that 2 weeks. Out of 52 weeks last year, I worked as an actor for roughly 44 weeks. I earned about $40,000 for that work. I support my family of four (and Miles the dog & Ginny Weasley the cat) and receive few benefits: sick pay (when I call in on days I am working), free parking and lunch at the Standardized Patient job, comp tickets to shows. No medical, no 401k, no vacation pay. I’m not complaining; I know what I signed up for when I chose to be an actor. When so many of my colleagues don’t work as much as I do, I consider myself lucky. As the song says, who could ask for anything more? </p>
<p>Then COVID-19 hit the world. And in a matter of days, I watched as all my work for the next two months (and likely more) was cancelled. Suddenly, thousands of dollars in income was cancelled. It’s terrifying. Some people have understanding landlords who are cutting their rent in half for the next few months. My landlord is not. I am contacting the utility companies to ask for some leniency so fingers crossed. I have already used our savings for my wife’s unexpected medical costs. It is hard to ask, friends, but I need some financial help. </p>
<p>Whatever you can do, thank you. Your generosity is always greatly appreciated. And there are some premiums available! See, it’s just like a public radio fundraiser except my premiums are personalized! I am a talented writer & actor and I am happy to create a lovely, funny personalized special song for a birthday, anniversary, congratulations, etc. A video will be sent of me performing their special song to the person you are celebrating, continuing the social distancing we are all learning to live with. Happy to literally sing for my supper! If a song is not your speed, I can write a fun personalized poem for them (wacky rhyming is my specialty!) and perform that on a video for them. You don’t even have to know right now. You can hit me up for that video when you are ready; I am flexible. <br>My email to reply is jenlanier25@gmail.com </p>
<p> </p>
<p>My email for PayPal is jenanddustina@gmail.com </p>
<p>My Venmo is </p>
<p>https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2175113726263296958</p>
<p>Y’all have always been so wonderful to me and other theatre artists and I know many folks are asking. Please keep me in mind as you make your giving decisions during this bizarre period. I thank you. My dog Miles thanks you. And Ginny Wesley the cat thanks you. </p>JENNIFER LANIERtag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/59421292019-10-28T22:22:02-07:002022-06-01T18:37:58-07:00Slavery on My Mind<p>Every day, Facebook asks the same question: “what’s on your mind?” </p>
<p>Cat videos. </p>
<p>I share them. Not afraid to admit it. </p>
<p>Union struggles. </p>
<p>I share them. Not afraid to say it. </p>
<p>My friend’s shows. </p>
<p>I share them. Obviously. </p>
<p>I read through the posts about folx being slaves to their budgets, slaves to their diets, slaves to their schedules. They call themselves slaves. </p>
<p>Slavery. </p>
<p>Slavery is on my mind. </p>
<p>It’s been exactly 400 years since the first slaves were brought to North America. </p>
<p>August 1619 </p>
<p>Since the beginning of justifying our inferiority </p>
<p>With quack science and skewed Bible verses. </p>
<p>“The more you know.” </p>
<p>Slavery is on my mind. </p>
<p>The institution that shaped the economy of this country, </p>
<p>shaped the social stratification of this country, </p>
<p>shaped how we treat workers. Corporations, take note. </p>
<p>Slavery is on my mind. </p>
<p>When I started rehearing the play, REDWOOD, I read the script over and over, and it made me think about my ancestors and wonder who was that first woman who was kidnapped and brought here and had children? I don’t know her name. How did she deal with that and which of her children were sold and was she ever happy? </p>
<p>Slavery is on my mind. </p>
<p>For those of you keeping score at home </p>
<p>Another entry to the list of “white privilege”is the privilege to forget about slavery. </p>
<p>The privilege to ignore slavery </p>
<p>“That’s way in the past, that doesn’t affect me. Or you.” </p>
<p>My father was born in 1922. My grandfather in 1880. My great grandfather 1845, about. </p>
<p>My great grandparents were slaves. Let that drop in, friends. </p>
<p>My father—his parents, my grandparents—their parents were slaves in North Carolina. </p>
<p>Actual slaves. </p>
<p>I have walked on the ground of the tobacco farm where they lived. </p>
<p>Where they were owned. </p>
<p>Where they worked without pay </p>
<p>Without choice. </p>
<p>Slavery is on my mind. </p>
<p>I wonder if my great grandmother was raped by the men who owned her. </p>
<p>By the men who had complete control over her body. </p>
<p>I wonder if her mother was. </p>
<p>Some of you are uncomfortable right now. </p>
<p>Some of you have already mentally checked out and are wondering who is next. </p>
<p>Some of you are forming arguments in your head against everything I am saying. </p>
<p>Some of you are thinking, “that’s kinda sick, fixating on the rapes of her ancestors.” </p>
<p>Fight or flight has taken over. </p>
<p>I don’t fixate. I have mirrors. And whenever I look in a mirror, I can’t </p>
<p>NOT SEE IT. </p>
<p>You and you and you can decide not to think about slavery. My light brown skin eviscerates that privilege. </p>
<p>You and you and you can decide to ignore how slavery made the US a serious economic power. </p>
<p>My light brown skin is a testament to the horrors experienced by my grandmothers that made this economic super power possible. Can’t take flight from that. </p>
<p>You and you and you can silently sit in your privilege and think “they get all the scholarships, they get all the preference in hiring, they get all the diversity casting calls.” </p>
<p>I am the living breathing proof of those everyday crimes that built your family’s wealth and kept mine from building any. </p>
<p>Slavery is my DNA. </p>
<p>Since I can’t take flight, I fight. By writing. By acting. By being. By answering Facebook’s nagging question. </p>
<p>“What’s on your mind?” </p>
<p>My white allies: what would change if slavery was on your mind?</p>JENNIFER LANIERtag:jenniferlanieracts.com,2005:Post/55658192018-12-22T11:24:26-08:002023-12-10T08:53:10-08:00Othello & Me<p>Friends, we interrupt this scroll-a-thon to talk about racism. If you are white and fragile, read this knowing you may recognize yourself. It’s about 3 minutes long. Get a cup of tea. Deep breath. Ready? Okay. </p>
<p>I played Othello this past summer. For those not familiar with the play, Shakespeare wrote about a black man in a white world who becomes a general because of his outstanding abilities. Then he promotes a white friend, Cassio, and marries a much younger white woman, Desdemona. This angers his white sargeant, Iago, because Iago wanted the promotion & the white woman and he decides to destroy Othello. Turns out that this is really easy: all Iago has to do is make Othello question himself & his worth and the tragedy all falls into place. </p>
<p>Now, I have been playing Othello as a woman so lesbian Othello has one more barrier to break down for our sophisticated audiences in Portland. But playing Othello, standing before the very white senate (the audience), having to prove to them how Desdemona could possibly be in love with the likes of me without some sort of witchcraft or drugs, saying those words each performance, hurts my actual heart. The stakes are high in the play and Shakespeare has Othello tell an extraordinary life story that ends with:</p>
<p>She lov’d me for the dangers I had past, <br>And I lov’d her, that she did pitty them. <br>This onely is the witch-craft I have us'd. </p>
<p>Each performance, listening to the wonderful actors playing Iago as they convince me that my brand new wife is cheating on me (because, of course she is!) with the younger white man in front of her (because of course she is!), rips my heart out in context and also after the curtain as I think about how often in the past, my own friends have done the same thing and sometimes it was true. </p>
<p>In the text of the play, after Othello has honor-killed Desdemona only to discover that these tales of her infidelity were all lies, I speak Shakespeare’s words of horror & grief & beg: </p>
<p>When you shall these unluckie deeds relate, <br>Speake of me, as I am. Nothing extenuate, <br> Nor set downe ought in malice. <br> Then must you speake, <br>Of one that lov’d not wisely, but too well </p>
<p>Then, as is done in Shakespeare, I stab myself. I, the actor, cry & die inside, lying on the ground, feeling the pain of the realization that I just made the white people’s fears all come true. </p>
<p>The story is a tragedy and it moves audiences as tragedies do. Then they go home. My personal tragedy is I live Othello’s struggle everyday as a butch woman of color. I mean, I’m not gonna stab myself over this, y’all. But there are white people in this town who think I was hired as an Artistic Director of the Shakespeare company I work with because that company wants better optics so they put a black lesbian up there as window dressing. Those people don’t pay attention to my undergraduate degree, my conservatory degree, my 40+ years as a professional actor and my 25+ years as a writer and acting teacher. They just see a lesbian of color jumping ahead of them in line. When I passionately disagree with a white woman colleague’s opinion on a black actor’s work in a specifically black role, she doesn’t see a fellow professional speaking to her in artistic disagreement. She sees a big black dyke attacking her. When I demand wheelchair accessibility with a theatre organization and a white woman calls me a bully and a white man explains elementary ADA rules to me, they don’t see a knowledgeable person using her able-bodied voice to fight for social justice. They see my brown skin and immediately assume I can’t possibly know as much as they do. These are not evil people. These are not cross-burning people. These are everyday white people whose racism, heterosexism, and sexism is showing in their words and actions. </p>
<p>If I did any of the aforementioned things as a white man, I wouldn’t be telling this story because there would be no story to tell. Those white people would just assume my knowledge, my skills & my qualifications and go on with their day. But my big black lesbian self does these things and they become acts of a loud-mouthed, disrespectful, uppity bitch and that is all. The argument and its soundness falls away; only the feared image remains. </p>
<p>Y’all, Jackie Robinson’s action was not to courageously break the color bar: he just played outstanding baseball while black. “Breaking the color bar” was placed upon his action of playing outstanding baseball by the racism of the time. Playing Othello has been an artistic reminder that no matter how talented, how skilled, how knowledgeable or how qualified I am in any given situation, white people will always see my blackness, my queerness, my womanness (in that order) before and often exclusive to any other aspect of my being. They will always first assume my inferiority in whatever the subject of the moment is unless they consciously open their vision. This is reality. The daily questioning of me and my worth is de rigueur in 2018 in Portland Oregon. </p>
<p>Ally friends, your job is to notice when that happens (first in yourselves, then in others) and call it out for us. Especially when we are not in the room. This is a very helpful “do” in answer to “what can I do.” One day, it will not be necessary, even in the whitest city in America. But for now, it is. This has been a public service announcement. We now return to cute kitty pics and holiday fun.</p>JENNIFER LANIER