Milwaukee Playwright Richard Gustin in Chicago

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Photo courtesy Richard Gustin

Richard Gustin with 'Being Seen' poster

Richard Gustin

Local actor/director/playwright Richard Gustin has worked extensively in and around Milwaukee. Some time ago his two-person drama Being Seen made its world premiere with International Fringe NYC. This month, a production of the show opens in Chicago. Gustin took some time out to answer a few questions. 

What do you feel Being Seen is about? Could you introduce the story?

Being Seen is a story about pursuing dreams. This captivating, fast-paced comedy looks at launching a “fresh start.” An actor answers the audition notice of a highly acclaimed director and finds herself navigating his outlandish creative process. This tour de force comedy asks the question: “What would you do for a dream?” 

Theater loves gazing longingly at itself in the mirror. Being Seen is a comedy about an audition, but it’s not A Chorus Line. It’s two-person show about two theater people talking about theater, but it’s not A Life in the Theatre. It’s two people in two different situations at two different points in their careers, but it’s not Bravo Caruso! And so on ... what distinguishes Being Seen from other theater shows about the theater? 

Being Seen is an intimate look at a relationship between two people in a common search for meaning and the power dynamic at play. Power inequality is common in most workplace situations—you have a boss you have to please, they have a boss they have to please and that boss has yet another boss to please, and so on.

In Being Seen the actor thinks she has to “please” the director, but the path to achieve that is obscured and beset with mine fields. It’s a rite of passage—a rite of passage that we all face in one shape or another.

College students are hazed on campuses in the pursuit of acceptance, an acceptance so desperately sought. Female employees particularly are hazed by the patriarchal system inherent in most businesses and workplaces. Elementary, high school and college students are hazed by a system of rules and regulations that are often unattainable. The hoops people have to jump through in order to attain job security or to keep the job they have are often unknown, or at best, if known, extremely difficult to navigate.

In the world of theater it takes years to discover what the rules are and what behavior is acceptable and what is not. More maddening is that there are different rules for each theatre company. Often one has to guess at what the rules are, and one hopes they guess correctly. One misstep can cost you dearly. A misstep that may take years to recover from professionally.

Why set the comedy in an audition room? What is it that’s specific about the atmosphere of the audition that makes it the right place for framing a comedy between actor and director?

The audition room is the first stage for every actor. Just getting in the room is an accomplishment. It’s where you want to be, where you want to be seen, where you want to impress, where you want to be brilliant, and also where you might fail. It’s a place where the people behind the table hold all the cards—they’re in control. You do what you’re told. you have two minutes to make an impression, sometimes four or five. Those are precious seconds you can’t afford to waste. It’s a pressure cooker situation and the question is: How can I use my time to make the absolute best impression? I may not get another opportunity.

What as the writing process like prior to the comedy’s debut? Had you had a chance to work with the group doing the show for International Fringe NYC?

I was at every rehearsal in NYC, sitting in the corner trying not to be obtrusive. I kept my mouth shut. If I was asked a question about the script I tried to keep my answers brief and to the point. The actors were on equity time, union time, so every minute was a delicate commodity. I let the director Mindy Cooper do her job with actors William Youmans and Allison Minick. I hope that I helped the NYC company of actors by being supportive and good humored, making changes where necessary and being a cheerleader. Because in the end summation that’s mainly what good actors need—to be supported.

How closely have you been invited into the creative process for the current production? 

I’ve been involved in every aspect of the Chicago production. I wear three hats in Chicago—producer, director and playwright.

It’s always so weird hearing the words you’d written performed by strangers. In the process of bringing the show to the stage, had you gotten any insight into the script based on the voices of others?

It’s not weird for me to hear actors speak the words of the text. It’s almost as if someone else might have written the script. It’s an out of the body experience, a bit surreal. Like a dream. as if I’m half asleep and a group of wonderful actors are playing in the dreamscape. I hear the play, but it floats in front of me, sometimes like a swallow, darting about and other times like a gadfly provoking a response. Do you know what I mean? Certain words and images get under your skin as a writer and the hope is that those words and images get under the skin of the actors as well. and if that happens then the audience is in for a treat.

It’s been at least a couple of years since you would have first started writing the show. How are you and the script getting along years after the two of you first met? 

I enjoy the play. I wouldn’t be producing it in Chicago if I didn’t. The show received high praise in New York which buoyed my spirits and pushed me to pursue other productions of the play. I’ve made some edits to the Fringe NYC script. I hope for the better. There is an entirely new section at the end of the play that has never been performed. We’re going to try it out in Chicago. I received some critiques in NY that I respect, and I’ve made adjustments to improve the play. Theater is a living, malleable organism. The text, actors and audience are in a dance. It’s a co-creative process. without the audience theatre is meaningless. it’s all about them, the audience. It must be our absolute best.

We have two brilliant actors in the Chicago production at the Den Theatre—16-time Midwest Emmy winner Will Clinger and Jeff Award winner Kelly Anne Clark, both well-known and highly regarded artists. For Kelly the role is a true tour de force—a career defining role. Trust me when I say that if you miss the production, you will be disappointed. and I don’t say that lightly. Kelly and Will are going to be very special.

Richard Gustin’s Being Seen runs June 14-July 2 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. For more information, visit The Den Theatre online