Seattleplays.com profile
				Michael Place talented young actor and co-founder of  Washington Ensemble Theater (WET), an energetic, fast-rising group of UW theater grads making an impact on the Seattle theater scene. Place shines in the holiday show Wonderful Life
-Where are you from, and how did you get started in theater? I’m the son of two Frenchies but was raised in North Seattle (Wedgwood, holla!). I joined an improv team at Blanchet High School when I was 14 and have been hooked ever since. After that, I went on to the UW where I majored in theatre. -What were you doing just before WET started? I was still a wee undergrad when all this craziness began. I was in my last quarter and was very fortunate to have something to work on right out of school. -What was the most important thing (or things) you learned at the UW? Wow, tough question. There is a lot to be learned there, the faculty is pretty remarkable. I’d say the work that made the biggest impact on me were Suzuki and Ohta Tecnhiques that I studied with Robyn Hunt and Steve Pearson. This highly physical approach helps the actor to become powerfully grounded and centered on the stage removing the burden over acting with your face to communicate meaning. Most importantly, having a strong physical awareness helps me to not over-intellectualize the challenges of performance, (ideally) freeing me to behave spontaneously and in the moment, etc. Blah Blah Blah. -What did you pick up from being directed and/or instructed by Jon Jory? Jon is the king of what is practical on stage. He has directed hundreds of plays and produced something like a thousand more in his professional career so he really knows what works and what doesn’t. His classes  usually consisted of working scenes from Jane Martin or rehearsing a play equally as rich in characters, relationships and circumstances. He really emphasized the value of relentlessly pursuing the “action” and focusing that energy on your scene partner rather than on you.
-In five years, what would you like to see WET doing? I would love to see WET as a prominent, rooted theatre entity in Seattle, with a huge following, creating work so massive, unexpected and unique that the whole city would turn its head. I would love to see a WET show travel to another city (or country). I would love for WET to offer classes (acting, design, ensemble collaboration, writing, directing, pottery, etc) during the afternoons. I would love to have the resources to be able to spend a whole year rehearsing a play. And to be completely honest, I would love to see WET able to pay something close to a livable wage to its artists so as to remove the burden of the day-joby, allowing more of the ensemble’s energy to focus on this work. There, I said it. Who’s got a rich uncle?
		Do you see WET's collaborative environment as a model for other Seattle groups, or do you think this is a unique situation? I don’t think Seattle is a total stranger to the ensemble style of collaboration but I do believe that WET is a unique situation for two major reasons. 1) The WET ensemble includes 5 designers. This gives WET a strong visual (and aural) aesthetic that creates a consistency of production quality for each of our shows. 2) We have 15 members, all willing to work for free, each wearing several hats outside of their artistic field making this company run. Over the past twenty months we’ve become development directors, finance officers, event planners, business strategists, and toilet cleaners. And we sometimes make plays too. Working so intimately for the past twenty months has turned us into a family which is creating an open and safe place to take big risks and play.