An Interview with Torrey Wigfield by Jordan Rosin
Tonight I got to interview the one-and-only Torrey Wigfield who plays Orestes in our upcoming production of Butoh Electra at The Irondale Center. He's the bomb... and by "he's the bomb" I mean that his combat skills rival the destructive power of an atomic bomb. Did I mention he just spent three weeks in Shanghai teaching stage combat? Legit... right? This is what he had to say... (scroll down to see a transcript of the interview)...
What is your name and what role do you play?
Sure. My name is Torrey Wigfield and I play Orestes.
What has been the biggest challenge for you so far during the rehearsal process?
I don't know so much about the rehearsal process as the audition... [the audition] was just like boot camp 101. It was really difficult and I actually ended up bleeding all over the audition room floor and I left thinking, "There's no way they're gonna let the bleeding kid become a part of this cast. Sure enough, I got the call. It's been hell ever since. - I'm just kidding. The hardest part? The abs. The core. The burn... but that's a good thing as I've been told today.
That's great. What are you most excited for?
I think I'm most excited to see how the actor's shape the... performance itself. I think the production staff can do certain things to nudge a show in the right direction, but I'm really interested to see what this talented, creative cast has to come up with to keep this show a little bit different every night, not crazy-different, but... interesting... fresh.
All right. What attracted you to the project in the first place?
Oh, I mean... I've always been an actor who likes different layers and who likes to balance not only just the acting, but - then - with music and (now) with combat and also with dialect work, which is gonna be a part of this show as well... but then to throw aikido and butoh on top of this thing? I just think... how could you not be attracted to something like this? I think to really be a contender anymore, it's not just about being a triple-threat. You gotta be a quadruple threat and you gotta got beyond that. So the more you can offer and the more you can bring to a production... the more value that you become and fortunately you've assembled quite a fantastic group here.
Cool. And... last question... what is butoh?
Hard work and dedication.
###
So... for those of you who may be wondering why Torrey was bleeding all over the audition room... ask him. I know he didn't get stabbed with a sword or anything like that, but the true origin of his injury is still unknown to me. If I find out, I'll let you know. In the meantime, feel free to post your own theories in the comments.
-Jordan Rosin
Sure. My name is Torrey Wigfield and I play Orestes.
What has been the biggest challenge for you so far during the rehearsal process?
I don't know so much about the rehearsal process as the audition... [the audition] was just like boot camp 101. It was really difficult and I actually ended up bleeding all over the audition room floor and I left thinking, "There's no way they're gonna let the bleeding kid become a part of this cast. Sure enough, I got the call. It's been hell ever since. - I'm just kidding. The hardest part? The abs. The core. The burn... but that's a good thing as I've been told today.
That's great. What are you most excited for?
I think I'm most excited to see how the actor's shape the... performance itself. I think the production staff can do certain things to nudge a show in the right direction, but I'm really interested to see what this talented, creative cast has to come up with to keep this show a little bit different every night, not crazy-different, but... interesting... fresh.
All right. What attracted you to the project in the first place?
Oh, I mean... I've always been an actor who likes different layers and who likes to balance not only just the acting, but - then - with music and (now) with combat and also with dialect work, which is gonna be a part of this show as well... but then to throw aikido and butoh on top of this thing? I just think... how could you not be attracted to something like this? I think to really be a contender anymore, it's not just about being a triple-threat. You gotta be a quadruple threat and you gotta got beyond that. So the more you can offer and the more you can bring to a production... the more value that you become and fortunately you've assembled quite a fantastic group here.
Cool. And... last question... what is butoh?
Hard work and dedication.
###
So... for those of you who may be wondering why Torrey was bleeding all over the audition room... ask him. I know he didn't get stabbed with a sword or anything like that, but the true origin of his injury is still unknown to me. If I find out, I'll let you know. In the meantime, feel free to post your own theories in the comments.
-Jordan Rosin
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