David Strathairn



	What’s up Docs: Actor David Strathairn.

by David Anthony Fox

Actor David Strathairn has achieved national prominence, particularly in six films made with director John Sayles, and more recently in L.A. Confidential. He is in Philadelphia to appear in the Wilma Theater’s Cherry Docs, a U.S. premiere by Canadian playwright David Gow.

What’s it like working with Sayles?

Now people call him the father of independent film. It was different then — you made a movie for $60,000 and carried it around under your arm. We started with Return of the Secaucus Seven. You always know a John Sayles film because of the strength of the narrative, the way he situates a topic within a larger tapestry. There’s an anthropologist’s point of view — more information comes from the dialogue than from the visual, which is different from other films.

How about L.A. Confidential?

It came at the last minute. Director Curtis Hanson had sent me the script. I said, "I can’t do this, I’ve never done this kind of thing." He said "I think you can — I see you in it. You’ll wear nice clothes, we’ll give you a golf lesson, you should see these cars." It only took a couple of days — I’m sure it took longer to make the clothes. It was a beautifully appointed production — a throwback to an older style, but wedded to a modern sensibility.

Tell us about Cherry Docs.

A gutsy play. It’s a delicate fabric — what makes up a belief system. There’s a visceral, emotionally charged situation. Our task is to engage the audience so that, while there are certainties within the script, they’re not always sure. We must keep up the theatricality — the pulse, the danger. They mustn’t sit back and say, "Oh — we’re in a thoughtful play."

And director Jiri Zizka?

Jiri’s very incisive. He has an instinct for this material, the ability to understand coded language. The scale is tricky — it should be confusing and it should be clear. We’re lucky to have this play in his hands.

You frequently return to the stage — including regional theaters, like our local People’s Light. Why?

I choose my projects — plays, films — based on their content. Cherry Docs is an important play, and the fact that it hasn’t yet been done in the United States is daunting but exciting — there’s a lot of responsibility in that.

I recently did a reading at the Actor’s Studio. Their whole aesthetic is about the actor — it’s a think-tank, a lab. What comes out is this composting of many elements. That to me is what ensemble work is. But it takes a lot of time for that aesthetic to grow. In film it’s rare to have that time.

What more would you like to do on stage?

Sam Shepard. I think he’s one of our true historians. I’ve always wanted to be involved with Pinter while he’s still writing — I think he’s a master. Beckett. Chekhov — if there’s enough time to create the world.

But there are so many new playwrights that I don’t know about. Are they getting swept up into television and film? That’s why I try to do a lot of new play readings — to give them a voice. Writing for the theater is very difficult now. You need a lot of fortitude to resist the format that you’ve been brought up on: television rhythms and style. The theatrical language is atrophying. It’s hard to find people who write in that language. John Patrick Shanley can do both. He has that sense of theatricality, that tone.

And your take on theater in Philadelphia?

It encourages me to look at Philadelphia — that there’s so much vitality. That Jiri and Blanka have this great space. I had the feeling that Philadelphia is a good place to explore this play — a place where it can grow. I feel confident that the play will be heard here.

Cherry Docs runs May 3-June 4 at the Wilma Theater, Broad and Spruce Sts., 215-546-7824.