BWW Interviews: Tom Plunkett

Full Disclosure: Tom Plunkett is one of my favorite human beings. We met three decades ago when we were young and impossibly arrogant and full of ourselves. Through the years we have worked together a few times and are gearing up to do so again next year. I'm directing a Burner film sendup of Shakespeare's Scottish Play (I'm one of those suspicious theatre types who cannot say the play's name aloud) and Tom is cast as the noble character, Rosse. I cast him for the gravitas he carries with him as a man. As an actor, he can elevate the quality with his commanding voice and formidable presence.

JMS: What was your very first experience with theatre?

TP: I saw an ad looking for actors for the now defunct Space Theatre for the play "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" 1982 maybe? So, on a lark I auditioned and got cast as Scanlon, the one with an imaginary bomb. Quite an eye opener, I learned a lot from that cast. I had taken a drama class in high school, but didn't get hooked then. Bottom line is, I'm better at it than I am anything else. A secondary benefit was meeting girls. But now I get paid to play music, do movies, commercials, print... all kinds of stuff. Also girls.

You're currently playing the Old Man in Bruka Theatre's Fool for Love. You and I met 30 years ago when we were both working on a production of True West.

Shepard is my favorite playwright, an American icon and treasure. I've acted in some (True West, Buried Child), directed some (Seduced, Buried Child, The God of Hell). I've seen two other productions of Fool for Love, and love the script. Along with that, some of Reno's strongest actors round out the cast - Sandy Neece, Scott Dundas, and Dave Richards. Lew Zaumeyer has a similar directing style as I, wherein you cast great actors and stay out of their way. I've cut the number of plays I do each year to basically one, after having throat cancer 3 years ago. The Old Man is not very physically challenging as he's in a rocking chair for the majority of the show. What I've tried to do with him is play him 25 years older than I am now, with a bad case of Parkinson's Disease. I had a little shorter rehearsal schedule than I probably should have so was up it against line wise, but that worked out as it always does. The adage about it being harder to learn lines as you age seems true. Another aspect may be some left over "Chemo Brain" from my cancer treatment which can also addle one. I approach acting from a strange attitude of terror and confidence. I find it more difficult to learn lines without being in the rehearsal process. I chose to give him Parkinson's Disease, both to give him a sense of advanced age and to keep me in the moment. I also am free to break the fourth wall and make eye contact with the audience. I almost yelled at a couple for getting up and leaving during the show last night, but common sense prevailed.

When I saw the show, on opening night, I almost yelled at people getting up and going to the toilet in the middle of the show. It's just not that kind of a venue. Grrrr! So distracting. Anyway - what's next for you?

Not sure what I'm up to next. Still in treatment for cancer, so I tend to focus on the present. I'll be playing music, hopefully some more film and commercials. Did a few satisfying film projects in the past 3 years. Tending my garden. Frankly, I'm lucky to even be here.

I can't imagine Reno, or the world, without you in it, Tom. I hope we get to work together a lot more before either of us shuffle off this mortal coil. Let's talk about next year's Burner send up of the Scottish Play. You're playing Rosse, a close family friend of the McDuff's. I know you have quite a bit of personal experience with Burning Man - you've been a dozen times or so, haven't you? How do you feel about the idea of immersing Mackers in that aesthetic?

I am still involved with Fool for Love and I tend to be very linear when doing a show. Its all I live and breathe for the moment. I try not to clog my limited mind with new info until I'm done, hence my cutting back to one play a year. The Burning Man dynamic of course appeals to me, having been a dozen times. With the risk of sounding like a complainer, Burning Man has changed. For me the joy was going out early, spending a little time contributing to Black Rock City and then busting my ass all day building an awesome project to burn. Of course partying was part of the deal, just not the reason to go. I haven't begun to even think about Rosse yet really. I close FfL this week, then go on vacation for a few days, come back and play a benefit show. I'll be free from my day job for two weeks and the Mac work begins then. It will probably be all I work on until next year except for music.

I'm reminded of our production of The Tempest (was it 1994?) when we used all the music from Hair. You were great as Stephano. I had such fun directing you.

When we did The Tempest I was still very green and overly cocky. Working with you and Roderick (Dexter) and being partnered with my best friend Dave Beck helped a great deal. Acting is a life long school. You should never stop discovering new things about the craft and yourself. I'll never forget your exercise in which we were to "say your lines backwards". Not backwards word-wise but line by line. Think I made three or four lines. Even more was learned regarding sense-memory, focus, and content. I was working with people who were more experienced. I think this was the first time I ever thought of imagining "what does it smell like here? Does Caliban have a stench? Can I smell the ocean? Coconuts?.... How hot is the sun? Is there a breeze? Is there an sound of waves?" All of this informs me now.

You did Richard III a few years ago. I missed the show, but I know you had to be great in it. From the pictures, it looks like a Gangster setting. How'd it go?

One of Bill's greatest roles In my opinion. The heaviest line load too I believe, although director (and great friend, we're going on vacation together next week) Dave Anderson did some serious cutting. Yes the theme was gangsters. (One line change was "A Ford, a Ford, my kingdom for a Ford") I kind of fashioned him using Steven Van Sandt from The Soprano's. Very New York Italian. Every night when I'd open with "This is the winter of our discontent" speech in that accent and delivery there would be a few giggles. But five or six lines in you could feel how it worked. It just did. Lew Zaumeyer played another gangster (who's name escapes me) but was not a "local" went totally New Orleans. That worked too. Richard is so evil, he's a blast to play. My favorite since Goldberg in The Birthday Party. Richard wallows in his evil. He revels in it. I remember a scene with my ex-wife (and still great friend) Jamie Woodham as Lady Anne where I woo her over the casket of her murdered by me father-in-law. I'd lurch around the casket gently trailing my finger along it, putting ear to it to see if I could hear him. Then there is the murder of my nieces and nephews who were played by Dave's fantastic three kids. Another favorite moment was crouching down and giving an evil smile and finger wave to Dave's youngest Marley, who was maybe seven. Her laser death stare I will never forget. I think I was diagnosed with cancer right after it closed. No correlation there though.

I hope not! Great talking with you, my friend.