A Quiet Place to Read Scripts
Marnie Crossen created a no-fuss space for practicing her lines
Not all of us are actresses but most of us are at least partly enthralled by the whole notion of acting. Underneath the mystique of it is a lot of hard work. It’s intense and filled with the possibility of rejection. For the landed roles you need a quiet area to rehearse and memorize — to “connect with your character’s motivation.”
Marnie Crossen, a busy character actress, decided to find her quiet rehearsal space in her backyard. Crossen has many theatrical and TV roles to her credit, as well as commercials. She, her son Danny Oberbeck, and her husband Gary Bell starred in a remarkable musical production of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” that I was fortunate enough to see a few years back.
I worked with her and A Place to Grow to design a simple cottage shed using reclaimed materials. The big find was a chunk of basketball flooring from a 1950s gym teardown. Crossen had her own set of art glass windows that were incorporated into the back wall. The whole room is flooded with light.
Personal and Practical
The furnishings are secondhand, eclectic and well-worn. An armless sofa, French wrought-iron coffee table, formica-topped card table, padded “early 2000s” chairs, and a figural lamp fill out the 10 x 10 room without overcrowding.
The portrait on the left of the back wall is Crossen’s sister, who died young but still hangs out with her in the cottage.
Hours of uninterrupted time are precious for actors and all humans. The trick is to carve out space, whether inside or outside the house, that is dedicated to you. A little cottage is just one of the ways to do this. Carving out space means arranging a zone with comfortable seating, work area, and lighting. It has “soft” barriers, either visible or invisible, that tell others you are at work or deep into your reading and not to be disturbed.
Crossen waited patiently for her space and set things aside to use in it. When it finally came to fruition, she was ready.
Are you ready for yours? Hopefully here at the Chaise you will pick up ideas and resources along the way as I explore what it means (and what it looks like) to have a place of your own.