Quote of the Week- Constantin Stanislavski

We wrap up a month-long series of quotes from famous Russians with a quip from the father of method acting Constantin Stanislavski (1863-1938); the stage director and actor was a contemporary of the playwright Anton Chekhov, a playwright whose name we always to spell incorrectly! Stanislavski directed the original stage version of the famous Chekhov play "The Seagull" in 1901.

The great stage persona also came up with what was later called 'The Stanislavski system' in which an actor actually becomes the character that he or she is portraying.

Actors who have been known to use this method include Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn, each of whom has won Academy Awards.

The Stanislavski system is also associated with the Actor's Studio in New York.

Here is the quote from Stanislavski:

"Love the art yourself, not yourself in the art."

SIDEBAR: We have an occasional segment on this blog dedicated to people with long, difficult names. As it turns out, The Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, is now performing the American debut of the German play "The Golden Dragon" starting on Nov. 2. The production, directed by Serge Seiden, is from the play which is written by a man with a very, long difficult name_ Richard Schimmelpfennig; we're glad no one called while we were trying to post this!

DC Diary- I Want to Go to the Holocaust Museum

We conclude our diary of the family trip to Washington, DC, with some tips on how to get your voice heard when traveling to any part of the United States, the world or The Milky Way, with members of your family or even your friends.

When traveling with groups, one of the main disadvantages is getting your voice heard, especially if you make considerably less money than anyone in your party. (I would not advise taking a trip with the Kardashians, and I'm not saying that because I'm Turkish and they're Armenian!).

Reverse psychology is one possibly effective method which could work though I did not try it myself.

A few trips back, I actually went to The Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, to see an exhibit about the infamous 1936 Berlin Olympics, which turned into a propaganda outlet for Adolf Hitler (this was before the museum guard was tragically murdered at the museum some two years ago). The museum itself is very fascinating, but of course, it is quite depressing. As much sympathy as I have for the Jewish people and what they went through, I realized I could never go back to the museum again.

So, of course, it is a place that I would say I wanted to go to if in a group of more than four people. You will inevitably have one person say: "I want to go to the Smithsonian," or The Textile Museum or The National Zoo, so if you tell the Kim Kardashian of the group that you must, absolutely, positively must go to The Holocaust Museum.

Then, everyone will say: "Hmmm...that's too depressing, can we go somewhere else?" That's when you say The National Building Museum or the Folger's Shakespeare Library (yeah, I may be the only person in a group of 20 who would choose those places). And, amazingly enough, you might just get your way.

Since, Washington, DC, has quite a lot going on, there were indeed several places, we didn't get to visit and a few places that I hope to visit some time in the near future.

They include the 9:30 Club where a band called The Virginia Coalition performs on Jan. 15 (yes, I think it sounds like a lobbying group that should be on K-Street too), the Politics and Prose bookstore where "Washington Post" music critic Anne Midgette talks tomorrow night, the Studio Theatre which is getting set to perform "Marcus, or The Secret of Sweet" and two Turkish restaurants: Cafe Divan and Meze.

I must profess that I was very intrigued when I glanced over at Meze's web site (mezedc.com) and saw that they offer Saturday and Sunday brunches with beef sausage. I can imagine this might be confusing to some Anatolian villagers from a place like Yozgat, Turkey, who would seemingly paranoid that all sausage products must come from Porky Pig!

PS_ The image above is from the acclaimed 1985 documentary "Shoah" about the Holocaust. It lasts nine hours long, but it is said to be one of the best films about the subject ever made.

Quote of the Week- Harold Pinter

In conjunction with my quote from David Mamet on "The Daily Vampire," I am posting a quip from another controversial playwright, the recently deceased Harold Pinter.

Unlike Mamet, Pinter was no conservative and he was very vocal to the Iraq War which he saw as an act of imperialism.

Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, just finsihed a run of Pinter's play "Moonlight" (pictured here), but the stage company will open with "The Solid Gold Cadillac" on Dec. 2.

'Cadillac,'a comedy play was first staged in 1953 and it was written by George S. Kaufman and Howard Teichman. The Studio Theatre production will be directed by Paul Mullins.

Triad Stage in Greensboro, NC, is currently running a production of Mamet's controversial play "Oleanna" through Nov. 8.

Here is a quip from Pinter's play "Moonlight:"

"I would never use obscene language in the office. Certainly not. I kept my obscene language for the home, the one place where it belongs."