Over a year ago I wrote about my friend Justin. He killed himself on January 31, 2006. I knew Justin very well during my 4 years at Westfield State. He was in nearly every play starting with Grapes of Wrath and ending with a few in 2001. The listing for Plays in Ten is from a Directing II class we were in together. Raised in Captivity was the play we were in together, directed by my best friend Dan Derby. It was during this play that Justin and I would spend hours and hours in the theatre with Dan. It was my first acting gig and Justin was a veteran by now. I trusted him completely. It was a very dark comedy and Justin was the lead. He had a monologue of epic length and every performance he had the audience in the palm of his hand.
He had timing. Justin had that dry wit that made every line snap. He took his stage work dead serious. Even if the scene called for him to drop trou and run around stage wearing nothing but boxer shorts, he did it as though his character's very life depended on it. Justin never let circumstance get in the way of his objective. He played every character totally straight and let the situation and the audience find the humor. I honestly don't know how he did it.
I'm planning a return to the theatre. I'll be directing All My Sons by Arthur Miller beginning this fall. I'm terrified, I'm excited, I'm filled with trepidation and optimism. I can't help but think of Justin in the roll of George. He would have been so perfect. I can't help but think of him as I crack open old directing notes and books. In fact there are notes in my margins about "Justin- SL" and "Justin- CS". I remember in a directing class I had used All My sons for a scene study and cast him as Joe Keller. My old AMS notes bring me back to those early days and Justin coming to me with ideas and suggestions about the character I had yet to discover.
Justin would tell me to knock it off and "Just do it". When it came to theatre that is exactly how he was. He just did it. And he made it look easy. On stage, it was easy for him. The demons that were shadowing him started to show themselves as we got closer to graduation. I don't think Justin ever felt "easy" off stage. Graduation meant an end to what Justin loved most. The little family we had in that black box theatre was splitting up.
I miss him. I miss him a lot.
He had timing. Justin had that dry wit that made every line snap. He took his stage work dead serious. Even if the scene called for him to drop trou and run around stage wearing nothing but boxer shorts, he did it as though his character's very life depended on it. Justin never let circumstance get in the way of his objective. He played every character totally straight and let the situation and the audience find the humor. I honestly don't know how he did it.
I'm planning a return to the theatre. I'll be directing All My Sons by Arthur Miller beginning this fall. I'm terrified, I'm excited, I'm filled with trepidation and optimism. I can't help but think of Justin in the roll of George. He would have been so perfect. I can't help but think of him as I crack open old directing notes and books. In fact there are notes in my margins about "Justin- SL" and "Justin- CS". I remember in a directing class I had used All My sons for a scene study and cast him as Joe Keller. My old AMS notes bring me back to those early days and Justin coming to me with ideas and suggestions about the character I had yet to discover.
Justin would tell me to knock it off and "Just do it". When it came to theatre that is exactly how he was. He just did it. And he made it look easy. On stage, it was easy for him. The demons that were shadowing him started to show themselves as we got closer to graduation. I don't think Justin ever felt "easy" off stage. Graduation meant an end to what Justin loved most. The little family we had in that black box theatre was splitting up.
I miss him. I miss him a lot.
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