10 Questions
Take Ten - GWEN GRASTORF
Actor and performer GWEN GRASTORF has performed with DC-area companies including Taffety Punk, Constellation Theatre Company, and Faction of Fools, but she's best-known as a long-time member of the whimsical ensemble Happenstance Theater. Before the company heads off on their summer tour of the Northeast, you can catch them on stage at Joe's Movement Emporium (through July 1) with their new show, Pantheon. The production melds Greek mythology with a 1940s aesthetic, live music score, and the physically and visually fascinating stagecraft their audiences expect. In this week's Take Ten, two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee Grastorf tells us about the hours she spent watching PBS's "Great Performances" as a child, how she came to prefer ensemble work, the job she had as a human guinea pig, and shares an insightful Stephen Fry quote that everyone should take on board.
1) What was the first show you ever saw, and what impact did it have?
My mother always took us to plays and concerts, and she used to tape Great Performances off of PBS –my sister and I watched those VHS tapes over and over. The Flying Karamazov Brothers’ hilariously irreverent production of The Comedy of Errors was a HUGE influence on me. I also remember a Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream with William Hurt and Christine Baranski (both of which are available on YouTube!)
2) What was your first involvement in a theatrical production?
I performed in a lot of storybook ballets and chorus concerts growing up. My preference for ensemble shows was set pretty early - being in large choral groups taught me the value of discipline, unison, kinesthetic awareness, collective breath, and the freedom that comes with use of physical technique.
3) What’s your favorite play or musical, and why do you like it so much?
I love big ridiculous plays with a lot of spectacle. It’s impossible to choose a favorite, because the thing I love most about theatre is the kaleidoscopic variety. I want to see an experimental one-person show, then psychological realism, then a classic musical, and then an immersive dance piece. I love to be in the audience for any kind of live performance – I attend at least 60 shows a year.
4) What’s the worst day job you ever took?
I’ve had a delightfully weird variety of day jobs. For a while I was doing psych studies at NIH for money, being a guinea pig. I actually love repetitive office tasks – I’m happy as a clam doing data entry or folding letters and sealing envelopes. I’ve worked in the Box Office at Imagination Stage for 10 years.
5) What is your most embarrassing moment in the theatre?
Oh Lordy, I’ve had plenty… I slipped and fell hard once in Temptation at Constellation and almost passed out from the adrenaline. I’ve had many a costume malfunction in our Happenstance ensemble shows, including one memorable performance of Impossible where I had left my pants on the opposite side of the stage and there was no cross-over… I’m also notoriously bad at keeping a straight face and crack up on stage quite frequently.
6) What are you enjoying most about working on Pantheon at Happenstance Theater?
Working in a permanent ensemble is a real gift. We have been performing together since 2012, and because of that we have a shared vocabulary and deep understanding that threads through all our work. Pantheon is a fun show because it explores Greek mythology through a stylized lens – also there are some great jazzy tunes that we get to sing.
7) Other than your significant other, who’s your dream date (living or dead) and why?
Hmm… No idea.
8) What is your dream role/job?
I’m not gonna lie, I miss doing Shakespeare – there’s so many classic roles that I’d love to get a shot at. Sometimes I miss doing realism shows where I get to play just one person who wears jeans and curses in a living room set. But really, the role I want next is the opposite of what I’ve just done – my goal is to be a transformative chameleon with a limitless skill set.
9) If you could travel back in time, what famous production or performance would you choose to see?
This is going to sound really dorky, but I’d love to go back to the first performance of Ravel’s 'Bolero.' I would love to be there to experience the audience response, to feel the disbelief as the performance went on and on.
10) What advice would you give to an 8-year-old smitten by theatre / for a graduating MFA student?
You have to figure out what works for YOU - everybody is different. It took me years to figure out my path, but every single side-route and oddball experience has shaped who I am. There is no one way to be a performer or to make a life in the arts. In the wise words of Stephen Fry, “We are not nouns, we are verbs. I am not a thing – an actor, a writer – I am a person who does things – I write, I act – and I never know what I am going to do next. I think you can be imprisoned if you think of yourself as a noun.”
GWEN GRASTORF is a performer and non-Equity actor in the DC metro area. She has been an ensemble company member since 2012 with Happenstance Theater and creates devised work with them throughout the year. Gwen is also as an Associate Artist with Constellation Theatre Company, and has worked around town with Taffety Punk, We Happy Few, Rorschach Theatre, The Hub Theatre, Forum Theatre, Faction of Fools, The Tarot Reading, and Washington Revels, among others. Raised in Frederick, MD, Gwen has a strong background in dance and music and is happiest when working on physical, ensemble-based shows. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Maryland, College Park. You can watch videos of her work at www.gwengrastorf.com
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