Ojai ACT

While the Ojai Art Center Theater (OACT) remains dark Gai Jones wanted to keep the thespian spirit alive. She took her popular “Sage to Stage” workshop online and offered it for free. Inexperienced and experienced actors, age 55 and older, clamored to get in the class that started mid-February. Sage actors share their wit and wisdom in a culminating showcase on Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m..

Performers Zoomed in from Ojai, Ventura, Santa Barbara, North Hollywood, and as far away as Seattle, Austin, and Houston. Pamela Munro and Robin Streichler live in the Los Angeles area so, besides social distancing needs, they find Zoom convenient and more environmentally efficient than using a gasoline engine. “Half the travail of living in Los Angeles is getting from A to B,” Munro said. “You’re exhausted before you even show up.”

Acting over Zoom presents challenges, including dealing with technical issues, lighting, and limited screen space. If one performer hands a pencil to another in a different frame, in a separate location miles away, the action needs to appear seamless. With her knowledge of the special skill set Zoom acting requires, coupled with her extensive theater background, Jones created a safe space where participants experimented with different techniques.

After one improv exercise Streichler realized how much she missed the fun of performing with others, especially since the pandemic lockdown began. “I always feel balanced and happier when I’m acting,” Streichler said. “So this short workshop really lifted my spirits. The people are warm and funny.” She came to LA thirty years ago to study acting and now works on screenplays.

Not all the Sage actors came with theater proficiency. Joie Stark arrived with little stage experience. The scene she wrote for the showcase depicts her parents deciding to not let her go back to ballet class because she got stage fright and threw up before the first recital. “I absolutely loved it and wanted to do it again, even with the vomiting,” Stark said. “But no one asked the five-year-old me. I didn’t act or do anything creative until I retired in 2015.”

Participants in the “Sage to Stage” workshop also learned to direct and write scenes. For this Jones encouraged them to explore their childhoods. Some used old family photos and wrote about things like their first date, anything with a conflict and resolution. Fred Chapman, who recently moved to Ojai from New Mexico, took the class to meet new people. He created a scene about a boy who steals a model airplane and needs to make it right.

Munro used a sensory memory to craft a scene that turned out whimsical, which she didn’t expect. In her piece she stands in the backyard as a three-year-old child, she knows she’s not supposed to eat anything in the garden, but she does. To find out what Munro ate tune into the “Sage to Stage” showcase on Wednesday, March 31 at 7 p.m..