The Artist's Way

anxiety. We prefer the low-grade pain and occasional heart-
stopping panic attack to the drudgery of small and simple
daily steps in the right direction.
Filling the form means that we must work with what we
have rather than languish in complaints over what we have
not. As a director, I have noticed that the actors who get
work are the actors who work—whether they are working or
not. I am thinking specifically about Marge Kottlisky, a fine
stage and film actress who has always made herself
available to work and to workshop writers’ materials. She
worked with the young playwright David Mamet in the St.
Nicholas Theater Group in Chicago and now works with the
somewhat older and more accomplished David Mamet
wherever he is working. Rather than rest on any creative
laurels, she engages in a very healthy sort of creative
restlessness. When she is not engaged in the run of a show,
she often takes a class to keep her hand in, and she always
is available for read-throughs of new plays. Like all actors,
she suffers from the “I’ll never work again” syndrome, but
unlike many less-committed actors, she never allows herself
to make her work something she does only for others or
only when she is paid. Yes, she wants to be paid, and I am
not arguing here that actors should work for free. What I am
saying is that work begets work. Small actions lead us to the
larger movements in our creative lives.
Many actors allow themselves the dubious luxury of
handing their careers over to their agents instead of keeping
their art in the custody of their souls. When an agent is in