#sparkchamber 110419 — Billie Andersson
Though the calendar turns to a new page, passion and beauty continue to shine in the #sparkchamber, where today we turn the spotlight on Billie Andersson. An actress and co-founder of Shakespeare Downtown, Billie has worked in the theatre as both a producer and a leading actress in plays by writers from Tennessee Williams to Chekhov to Shakespeare. She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, though her parents were originally from upstate NY — they were in Alabama because her father played college football there. From a troubled background, she always wanted to come to New York City. She moved there to attend Barnard College … and here’s the rest of the story in her own words:
“I had no thought of becoming an actress because of my extreme reserve and shyness. My friend wanted to try acting school — I went to Strasberg because I had read about Lee Strasberg and his interest in psychological realism, and because Marilyn studied with him. I had never seen a play. From the first moment of acting class, I felt called — in spite of my intense stage fright. My first teacher, Geoffrey Horne, is a great Method acting teacher. We got involved three months later [he became my husband].
I completely devoted myself to learning how to act. I am an alcoholic, I gave up drinking. I changed my life completely to study acting. We started doing plays at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute — this helped me to overcome my extremely debilitating stage fright — and filled my life with meaning.
I wanted to have a theatre company. This was an extremely difficult endeavor, and it was my wish alone. I would go for walks late at night to think. On one of my walks [we live in Lower Manhattan], I walked along the East River Esplanade down to Battery Park. I saw in Battery Park a fortress I had never seen before. The fortress, known as Castle Clinton, is an open-air fort that is used only during the day for tickets to the Statue of Liberty. I thought it would be the perfect place for a Shakespeare theatre company. [We had done Romeo & Juliet once, and I was not very good. One of my obsessions was to do the play again. I worked on Juliet nearly every day for seven years.]
I worked for three years every day, all day, to get permission from the National Park Service and to raise the money. I founded Shakespeare Downtown, a new Shakespeare theatre for Lower Manhattan that gives free performances of Shakespeare’s plays every June. My husband is the director. This past June we did Hamlet — it was our fourth season, serving 2,000 people.”
Billie is inspired by artists, who, often through their own personal sufferings, have given the world the gift of great artistic achievements — Maria Callas, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Tennessee Williams, Billie Holiday, Vincent van Gogh. The two men she most admires — “for changing everything for everyone” — and that she wishes she had met are Lee Strasberg and Joe Papp.
She describes her work as an actress and as the co-founder of Shakespeare Downtown as “both an obsession and a spiritual calling.” Season 5 of Shakespeare Downtown will kick off this coming June at Castle Clinton. The play is not yet announced, but fear not! #sparkchamber will keep you up to date. In the meantime, follow along on Facebook and Instagram.
1.] Where do ideas come from?
First find what moves you — then ideas come from extremely hard, dedicated, focused work — and an openness to the divine [through prayer, meditation, long walks alone, listening to classical music and opera].
2.] What is the itch you are scratching?
Great artists inspire me — they allow me to forget myself and to experience a connection with something higher. As an actress and with Shakespeare Downtown, I want people to experience the ecstasy I have felt watching other performers.
3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?
The program the Artist’s Way is very helpful — writing three pages longhand every day, going on an outing by myself once a week, and walks. I work every single day. I do procrastinate because as an actress, there are many things I have to do to run a theatre company that I would rather not do. I make a short list every day of a few things I need to accomplish — that day. If I procrastinate all day, I make sure I’ve done them before I go to bed. If I really hate facing something I have to do, I will occasionally put it off for a day or two, but then I face it by taking one small action towards it — and then leaving it at that for that day. It is isolating, but the work is more important than the daily sacrifices I have to make. If I have much writing to do, I like to work alone, late at night. The more you work, the more clear each next step becomes. You get it out into the world by just facing the hard things that come up every day that show you the path.
4.] How do you know when you are done?
When you have given everything you have — so much so that your obsession is finally quiet.