Action!

Inside the Method of Acting

Josh Lucia

by Emily Wilkerson photo courtesy of Smokestack Theatre Co

on his feet and out of the script as soon as possible so he can begin the physical work and start interacting with his fellow actors.

While many would consider their acting role models to be famous thespians like Robin Williams or Patti LuPone, Lucia prefers to find his inspiration locally. “A lot of my colleagues at Smokestack are my role models. I did not go to school for theater, so I always say, I brought school to me. I have tried to surround myself with people who I consider being more knowledgeable of the craft and full of talent. James Anderson, Kris Dodds Williams, Rachel Timm, Olivia Richardson, Matt Doss. These are all trained well-versed theater performers, and I am thankful that I can soak up their knowledge.”

Lucia’s advice for anyone looking to get into acting is to simply “be a child.”

“Watch younger children play sometime. They get so lost in their imaginations. They don’t care what’s happening around them. They are in whatever world they have in their mind. When you step on that stage, you are gone and replaced with your character. Become that character and leave yourself in the dressing room.”

There are many events coming up at Smokestack where Lucia can be found. He will take on the role of Professor Plum in Clue He is directing the summer youth production called Channeling Grimm and will also be directing and performing in Smokestack’s 21+ Improv Shows. Lucia shares, “I just hope I can keep up! The next few months are going to be full of a lot of laughter…the reason I got into performing to begin with.” cene: Linda returns home after being gone for a week. Plant anxiously awaits her arrival.

Plant: …Where have you been?? You were gone. I felt abandoned.

Linda (dropping her suitcases at the door): I’ve missed you, but I’ve been where I needed to be.

P (querulously): You didn’t even say goodbye.

L (hanging up her coat, shaking out her hair, pulling out a comb): But I left you with the nice kitchen plants so that everybody could be watered at once.

P (sniffing): The kitchen was not congenial. I removed myself.

L (halting the comb in midsweep): How? You don’t have legs.

P (leaves fluttering as if preening): I wilted.

L (throwing herself into a chair, frowning, facing Plant): What?

P (leaves perfectly arranged): I restricted my water intake.

L (staring): You can do that?

P: Like humans, I self-regulate. Humans change demeanors to encourage other responses.

L (bewilderedly): …How?

P: You seem unusually slow today.

L (sarcastically): Forgive me. I’ve forgotten what these conversations with you are like.

P (matter-of-factly): Forgiven. Analogy: I have noticed humans cry, then people surround them with caring like you do with me.

L: Human emotional expression often isn’t usually under human control. This relates to you how?

P: I wilted. Plant lady scowled, saying, “You’re not dying on my watch.” Muttering about excess sunlight, she moved me to this room. So, where have you been?

L (sighing): I’ll deconstruct this conversation later. Been up north at a wedding. Long-time friends with bride’s mother.

P: Wedding ritual: Two humans commit to each other, theoretically for life.

L: Yes.

P: Plants do not formalize relationships.

L: But you have other needs.

P: I need to know. About your being away.

L: Drove 12 hours in torrential rain to get there. A low.

P: I fear drowning in my pot.

L: Valid fear. Wedding next day inside. Glassed-in, beachside, venue, raining outside. Walked to the venue wearing FroggToggs rain pants, dress stuffed down inside, raincoat on top. Low. Beautiful ceremony. Gorgeous bride. Lovely meal. High.

P: Why frog rain pants? And do I sense a pattern?

L: Brand, not amphibian. And yes, down-up pattern like a sine curve.

P: Low, high,…

L: Returned to our friends’ home the next day and found that my friend’s mother, 100-year-old Edna, the bride’s grandmother, was dying. Low.

P: Definite low…

L: Our friend’s four children and partners were called back. Bride wore her back-up wedding dress so Grandma could see it. After the last child arrived, Grandma died. She timed it right…to be gone.

P: Grandma paced her death? The family encircled her when she passed?

L: Yes. Crying, they dove into funeral planning. Rabbi came the next morning to discuss the service.

P: A low…

L: Well, not exactly. Second daughter’s birthday party in a park was shortly after the rabbi left. Sandwiches, singing, birthday cake, walk around the lake.

P: A high…

L: Yes, but faster intervals…

P: …between emotional troughs and peaks…then what?

L: Back to the house: cleaning for them, writing for me.

P: Cleaning? Writing?

L: Cleaning: shiva, that night, at the house. Shiva: Seven-day mourning period from day of death in some Jewish cultures. Writing: They asked me to speak the next morning at the funeral.

P: You? Why you?

L: I’ve known both my friend, and her mother Edna who’d just died, for 55 years. Knew them well. Needed to honor Edna’s memory.

P: Low, high? Big honor.

L: Yes. I did the things one does when someone dies. Cleaning, shiva, funeral, honoring deceased and family.

P: Then what?

L: Ninety-minute car-ride to bury Grandma in another state. Late diner lunch sharing positive stories about Edna. Next day, cleaning