As a working actor, Ryan Czerwonko’s credits include The Endgame, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Cherry, Paint, and Watchmen, to name a few. He’s also the artistic director of Adult Film, an exciting Brooklyn theater and film group where he acts, directs, and teaches. His latest project is a year-long exploration of Chekhov’s Sea Gull that will culminate in a limited engagement in Manhattan in May and a documentary on the whole process. On this episode, he explains why Chekhov is so important to him and what he set out to do with this ambitious endeavor. He gives us a deep dive into his very specific preparation process and takes us through the various techniques and approaches he has collected and adapted for his own use and combined into a curriculum for his students. He uses his recent time on the set of a movie as an example of being in the present moment and using your current thoughts and feelings as the driving force of your work, which is a major tenet of his approach. He explains why Stella Adler and Nikos Psacharopoulos are so influential to him, why tension is good, “acting” is bad, how he learned to stop worrying and focus on the work, and much much more.

For more information on Sea Gull and to buy tickets, visit the website.

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