KPLU Local News
(2010-02-20)
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Full interview
STEIN: "Seattle Actor John Aylward known to millions for his performances in film, on stage and in TV, perhaps best known for his reoccurring roll on ER as Doctor Anspaugh and on West Wing and on Law and Order and many others. He is currently appearing in the Seattle Rep's production of Glengarry Glen Ross directed by Wilson Milam. John thanks so much for coming in."
AYLWARD: "My Pleasure"
STEIN: "You've played what must be the two most iconic salesmen in American theater, or any kind of theater for that matter, Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and now Shelly 'The Machine' Levene in the Rep's production of Glengarry. Do you notice any similarities in these rolls?
AYLWARD: "Well, they're both salesmen and failing at it. This is my second time around with Shelly The Machine' Levene. I did it about 25 years ago at the Act here in Seattle. And what I found interesting the last time I did the play we didn't focus on the Chicago accent and there is a definite rhythm in the Midwest, and Chicago in particular, that I found to be more informative this time around. Mamet's ear was geared in to that Chicago scene and the play actually makes more sense, and the rhythm keeps pace. It pays homage to the Chicago area. I was leery of it because it was something that I was not familiar with, I'm always shy of trying to do it but once you add that flat A and you do that, 'you park your car', it makes it more resonant."
STEIN: "Do you have a different approach to it now in your old age?"
AYLWARD: "Yeah, actually, I think it really made a difference to be twenty-five years older and to be in that more desperate situation. It felt a little closer to home, I suppose. I mean, let's face it, in America we're all sales men. You think an actor isn't a salesman? You're only as good as your last performance and essentially you're selling yourself."
STEIN: "And you have to sell yourself in an audition and to the audience."
AYLWARD: "I think every time out of the gate, that's what you're doing. You're hoping people like what you do and they'll come back to see it again or tell your friends about it. That's the one thing that really appeals to me about doing live theater."
STEIN: "The dialogue in, I should just call it G4, in Glengarry Glen Ross, has a sound of realism to it but in fact it is really quite stylized."
AYLWARD: "It really is and that's what really attracted me to Mamet in the first place. His use of profanity and just his use of punctuation created just a kind of urban poetry unlike anything else. He'll write things like 'pause', more dialogue, 'long pause'. There's a difference in a lot of the dot dot dots, the commas, all that stuff that, if you pay attention to the punctuation, it really is like reading a music score. The first three scenes it's like a feud. The first scene is like shot from guns, the second is a little more lyrical but it is more of a conversation between two people, and then third scene is that wonderful monologue that my friend Bobby Wright has and delivers it brilliantly. It really does start to feel like you're at a concert."
STEIN: "Did you work on the rhythm of that in practice?"
AYLWARD: "Well yes you do but it comes naturally. You don't think of it as say, 'Okay, here's a piece of music that we have to do'. What you do is, you play the situation and because of Mamet's brilliance as a writer he gets in to the depths of these guys and the rhythm comes out of Shelley's desperation. I mean, he is on his last legs financially, that's what drives the piece. That's what makes it exciting to do it again, is the play resonates in an economic way. When I first did it, the language was more of a shocker because we've all become inured to the F-word but the economic reality was really striking home because the scams that were going on in 1980 that tumbled down and people, they relate to that. Getting a job is first and keeping a job is foremost for most people and a lot of people have had terrible jobs."
STEIN: "They're selling fraudulent land in Florida that turns out to be swamp land. They're con artists really, just terrible people, even Shelley, and yet somehow we, or at least I do, feel sympathetic for Shelley because of his desperation even though he's not a good person. How is it that we can feel for him?"
AYLWARD: "I don't know. I guess because he's such a myopic buffoon, in a way, that when he gets caught out, maybe everybody sees a little bit of that potential in themselves, why you would feel sympathy or empathy with a character like that."
STEIN: "Maybe in our heart of hearts none of us can say, 'If I were desperate enough I wouldn't do that.'"
AYLWARD: "Exactly."
STEIN: "John Aylward, appearing as Shelley The Machine' Levene in the Rep's production of Glengarry Glen Ross, along with a stellar cast. The show runs only through the 28th at the Rep. Thank you John."
AYLWARD: "Thank you Dick." © Copyright 2012, KPLU
