Matthew MacFarlane
Let’s be honest bio’s are fairly similar, a list of titles and styles. (150 word limit) But we already shortened the word to four letters. Why should we limit the rare opportunity to define ourselves?
I like to write letters to friends on Van Gogh stationary that I bought in New Orleans. When I say goodbye I’d rather tell the story of our magic together rather than just say thank you and I’d rather we say farewell over a $14 bottle of Lambrusco rather than a $50 bottle of champagne. Finally, I am inspired (the pouring of high octane gasoline motivation onto a persons passion) by Kobe Bryant, Alex Cooper, Christian Bale, Christen Press, and Aloha(2015), is all for the same reason.
I act, I direct, I make, I write because I want to, my nature and nurture demand I do my best. I feel that art, specifically theatre, is the way I will change the world. My most recent work, The Dream/ a dream, an autobiographical participatory performance is born from that artistic ambition. It is a ritual. A ritual to help with that stuck feeling that comes from politics.
My mother would say that the super-objective of The Dream/ a dream is not new for me. Since I first stood on a stage, in montessori school, singing the beach boys, being on stage, has always been a place for me to connect with the audience. I don’t want the faux-connection sold to us by technocrats. I want that good shit. That one of a kind, shared blue ball of energy between us, type shit. When Voldemort and Harry’s wands meet in their final battle(except without the death curse). Just like… that… we may have different wands but our magic comes from the same phoenix. That’s the globalism I’m interested in, the global experience of being one of a kind.
My craft is manifesting multiple one-of- a-kind lives within me and sharing them with you, so you can connect to me, or Richard III, or Billy Flynn. We can empathize with a black square, but the stage will connect us. So I guess I write, I make, I direct, I act, because I have to. I do my best…for you.
Jane MacFarlane
Is a talented actress, born in 1940 Montreal, Canada who has performed in over 50 productions, started her own womens fitness club in her 40’s, raised 4 children and 13 grandchildren. With her family she is know for teaching her Grandchildren how to swear, which you can only do if you use it to make her laugh. She is a matriarch in the purest sense, infamous for teaching her dyslexic child, Lisa (Matthew’s Mum) how to read by learning lines with her or giving her son Jonathan and his best friend Sean a canoe, a creek, and a 30 rack the day before Seans confirmation. When Matthew was eight years old she brought him to an audition for a mouse in Cinderella at Stagecrafters in Royal Oak, Michigan. Since then she has given Matthew notes at every opening night and brought him to see his first show at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Theatre in Ontario.
Jane and her grandson Matthew don’t just share the stage, but their favorite desert as well–Lemon Pudding.
