The Working Actor's Journey

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Dakin Matthews is an actor, teacher, and scholar. In this bonus episode you'll hear the mini-Shakespeare master class he gives in episode #12 on one of the speeches from Romeo and Juliet. You'll learn the logic that Juliet uses and how it unravels, where you need to be at the end of the speech if you're performing it, how both male and female actors tend to shy away from emotion, and more. Plus: what do you think of these "classes"? Tell us on Twitter @working_actors or on workingactorsjourney.com.

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Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Act IV, Scene 3

Farewell! God knows when we shall meet again. I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins, That almost freezes up the heat of life. I'll call them back again to comfort me. Nurse!—What should she do here? My dismal scene I needs must act alone. Come, vial. What if this mixture do not work at all? Shall I be married then tomorrow morning? No, no, this shall forbid it. Lie thou there.

Laying down her dagger.

What if it be a poison which the friar Subtly hath minist'red to have me dead, Lest in this marriage he should be dishonor'd Because he married me before to Romeo? I fear it is, and yet methinks it should not, For he hath still been tried a holy man. How if, when I am laid into the tomb, I wake before the time that Romeo Come to redeem me? There's a fearful point! Shall I not then be stifled in the vault, To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes in, And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes? Or if I live, is it not very like The horrible conceit of death and night, Together with the terror of the place— As in a vault, an ancient receptacle, Where for this many hundred years the bones Of all my buried ancestors are pack'd, Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth, Lies fest'ring in his shroud, where, as they say, At some hours in the night spirits resort— Alack, alack, is it not like that I, So early waking—what with loathsome smells, And shrikes like mandrakes' torn out of the earth, That living mortals, hearing them, run mad— O, if I wake, shall I not be distraught, Environed with all these hideous fears, And madly play with my forefathers' joints, And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud, And in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone, As with a club, dash out my desp'rate brains? O, look! Methinks I see my cousin's ghost Seeking out Romeo, that did spit his body Upon a rapier's point. Stay, Tybalt, stay! Romeo, Romeo, Romeo! Here's drink—I drink to thee.

Dakin Matthews is an actor, playwright, dramaturg, director, teacher, and scholar. He has 150+ credits on IMDb, has taught Shakespeare around the world, worked on Broadway and won awards, and was artistic director of several theatres—and he started out to be a priest! We talk about feeling confident and intimidated, why the classics are important, what being a professional means, and more. This episode is sponsored by Audible: get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial at workingactorsjourney.com/audible

IMDb | Wikipedia | IBDb | Actors Access | His former Andak theatre company

• Dakin's father as an indentured servant
• How acting in a Shakespeare play gave him a more intimate knowledge of it
• The situations when he feels in awe of people
• How he approaches working with or teaching younger actors
• The production of Shakespeare he saw that really changed his view of what theatre could be
• How he ended up teaching at Juilliard and eventually performing in The Acting Company
• Why he feels acting is his primary skill, above being a teacher or scholar
• Why there aren't great Shakespeare acting classes online
• How he approaches playing real people, and the roles that he couldn't quite figure out
• The out-of-left-field offer to get involved with Rocky the Musical
• How Dakin has had time to be involved in so much
• Working on the "Come vial" speech from Romeo and Juliet
• Why many actors either shy away from or miss the mark with emotional moments
• Why it's so important to find a group of like-minded creative people
• Quotes that matter to him

• Antaeus Theatre
• Portuguese immigration to Hawaii
• ACT, San Francisco
• The Juilliard School
• USD San Diego MFA (Old Globe Program)
• Cal State East Bay, Hayward, CA
• David Ogden Stiers, actor
• Kurtwood Smith, actor
• Liz Huddle, actress
• PCPA Theatre
• John Houseman, actor, director, and teacher
• Stephen McKinley Henderson, actor
• Group 1 at Julliard: Patti Lupone, Kevin Kline, David Ogden Stiers, Mary Jo Negro, Mary Lou Risotti, Sam Tsoutsouvas, David Schramm, Tony Azito, Jim Moody, Gerald Gutierrez, Norman Snow, Benjamin Hendrickson
• US bombing of Cambodia
• Jack O'Brien, director
• Sherlock's Last Case (play)
• Remington Steele, TV show
• Henderson Hogan Agency
• The History Boys (play)
• Frank Langella as Nixon
• Rocky the Musical
• Waitress musical

For complete bio and other links, check out the full show notes!

@benwhitehair is an unusual guest here, but you'll soon discover why he's a great addition! He already has 50+ credits on IMDb, is the co-founder of LA Actors Tweetup, is on the LA Local Board of SAG-AFTRA, and is the chair of its NextGen Performers committee. We talk about being a homeschooled cowboy and hating sheep, "grad school for the working actor", leveraging social media, and much more. This episode is sponsored by Audible: get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial at workingactorsjourney.com/audible

Gigi Bermingham gets honest and vulnerable about the journey—it's a special episode! She's an actress and singer with 30+ credits on IMDb, two LA Ovation Awards, and an LADCC Award for her solo comedy show Non-Vital Organs. We talk about her rural Northern California upbringing, her French mother, exhaustion and a food addiction, her career in real estate, playing Maria Callas, and much more! This episode is sponsored by Audible: get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial at workingactorsjourney.com/audible

In Part 2 of our chat, veteran actor Clyde Kusatsu (@judgeito1948) shares how he approaches playing different Asian ethnicities, what he's learned from casting directors, his challenge with alcohol and being sober for nearly 24 years, and why he got involved with SAG-AFTRA politics, where he currently serves as the National Vice President for Los Angeles. Check out Ep #8 for Part 1! This episode is sponsored by Audible: get a free audiobook and a 30-day trial at workingactorsjourney.com/audible