Interview: Delving into the Mind of Actor Delvyn Brown

Last spring I sat with a rapt audience seeing Levi Frazier, Junior's new play FOR OUR FREEDOM AND YOURS, a one-man show is based on the life of Ira Frederick Aldridge, a 19th Century African American actor who, against all odds, achieved a distinguished stage career during the era of slavery. The drama takes place on the evening of August 7, 1867 in Lodz, Poland.

To my delight, the show was reprised this fall due to popular demand, which gave me a chance to interview Delvyn Brown, the Memphis actor who dazzled us in that role.

CS: Are you a Memphis native?

DB: No. My family moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi from Detroit when he I was in the middle of my sophomore year of high school. General Motors bought the street where we lived, my maternal grandmother lived in Clarksdale, and she was sick.

CS: Did you experience culture shock?

DB: It was a big change. No city busses not even any sidewalks where we lived, and I was different because I had light skin, red hair and freckles, so the other kids made fun of me. But when I got into the school band and played the trumpet, all harassment stopped because I could play.

CS: Is that when you got into theatre?

DB: No. I didn't act until many years later, but being in the band was preparation for acting career in terms of precision, practice and purpose. I wasn't afraid to be seen.

I won a full music scholarship to Mississippi Valley Sate University where I majored in Criminal Justice because it had the least math possible. I wanted to be a police officer. . . . or act like one on TV. I ended up quitting college just shy of graduation to become a Memphis police officer.

CS: How did Delvyn Brown the Police Officer become Delvyn Brown the actor?

DB: I thought acting was something I wanted. I got tired. I wanted a change. I was young. I felt I could always go back. I felt I could always go back. I wasn't let go. I didn't have any bad history. I was able to walk away and come back.

I didn't tell my colleagues on the force why I was leaving. That was a personal thing. I thought people might make fun of me. I wasn't looking for an opinion. I figured a lot of people would criticize me. I mean, why would anyone leave a job with a salary, benefits, security, and retirement to pursue this dream?

CS: What was your first step?

DB: My first step was to take classes at Playhouse on the Square. I wanted to make sure. I didn't want to go to LA or New York and figure I had made a bad choice 2 or 3 thousand miles away. I figured a little community theater, some acting classes here where I am. If I can do it here, I can do it anywhere. That was my take on it.

CS: Did you tell anyone what you were doing?

DB: No. I was keeping it a secret. I was going to my classes, but I didn't tell anybody I was doing it because I wasn't sure just yet. I didn't even tell my four kids I was studying acting.

CS: At what point did you "come out?"

DB: (Laughs.) When I was ready. I took months of classes and private lessons before I went out there.

CS: And were the people around you surprised?

DB: Amazed. "I didn't now you could do that Delvyn!" "When did you start? " It was like an interview on the spot. I wanted it to be surprise that I was able to achieve it and it wasn't easy.

CS: Did your police background influence the acting skills you developed later?

DB: Absolutely. To apprehend a suspect who has committed a criminal act doesn't mean it's an officer's job to administer justice. I think this is where a lot of that police brutality has come from, because the police have already made a judgment based on the situation that they're involved in. When I take the script and I read the character, I go into the his background - who he is - where he comes from - his status in life - his feelings about himself - what he has done - what he wants - and then I try to understand from his point of view. I try to understand that from what the character is going through and I make those adjustments, whether it be body language, whether it be that I change my look, you know, the tone of my voice, his movement.

CS: I imagine you get cast as a tough guy a lot due to physical type. How do you feel about that?

DB: I don't mind because it's fun. What I try to do is go for work that puts me in a different light. I do a lot of different work - even children's theatre where I play The Hairy Man or the Alligator - I do a little bit of children's theater as well because it kind of balances me out.

CS: How have you grown as an actor by expanding to Children's Theatre?

DB: A children's audience is much harder for three reasons. #1. You want to make sure you keep their attention. #2 You want to make sure they understand what you are doing. #3 That they are entertained as well as an adult audience. That gap in age makes it difficult. I have to pay more attention to detail and in making sure I am totally comfortable with the lines and the character so the children can really be pulled into that world - and not see Delvyn the actor - or this grown man - they see the alligator. I am open to any physical change that I can bring to the character to make it as authentic as possible. I don't believe in "good acting" or "bad acting." I just believe in "Believe it or not."

CS: How did you approach apply your portrayal of Ira Aldridge?

DB: Ira Aldridge was an educated black man at a time when blacks had to more than measure up. In that era it meant that his elocution skills, had to be at an extremely high level to be taken seriously. He had to be elegant and regal. I felt that in the words and allowed the words to move me. There is no, viable footage of Aldridge, just other renditions that other actors have done, and I avoid watching those so I can develop an original feel.

CS: Is playing a true-to-life character different from playing fictitious ones?

DB: Yes. No one knows the fictitious characters, and so when you introduce those characters to the public, everyone is interpreting your rendition at the same time. When you are interpreting a person who has lived before, the history of this individual is on record, and there is an anxiety to getting it right.

CS: How were you cast in that role?

DB: Mr. Levi Frazier wrote the play with me in mind before I even knew about it. He saw me in a show at Theatreworks, and the name of that show was "A Sad State of Affairs," which was his piece. That was in 2013.

He later saw me in "A Member of the Wedding" at Theatre Memphis and after that particular show he came up to me and said, "Hey. I played that same character you played 20 years ago. Keep the good work. I'll be getting in touch with you." In January 2015 - he called me - he had the script for "For Our Freedom and Yours."

We met at Starbucks. He pulled the script out, and gave me a little history about the man and I looked at it, and I was impressed. I had no idea there was a world-renowned black actor at a time where, if you were black, you were probably a slave.

CS: It's an amazing show. What are the goals for it?

DB: Our goals are to take it everywhere, but right the plan is getting it out to the schools and universities. Part of our plan is to take the show to Howard University where the theater is named after Aldridge.

CS: That was the most demanding one-man show I have ever seen. How do you prepare for each performance?

DB: I get to the theater 2-3 hours before curtain. I turn off my phone. Anybody who knows me knows I can't be reached around show time. I like to be alone and walk the stage to get a feel for it before every performance. When I am on the stage, I need to know where I am without looking for - or appearing to be looking for -- a mark. I sort of pre-set my marks in my mind. During that process, I get a feel for that energy and run a few lines. Then I go outside to relax and meditate.

CS: Do you collapse after every performance?

DB: (Laughs.) No. This is a very physical role but if there is any exhaustion, it's more mental exhaustion, than physical. I know how to pace myself.

CS: What are your long-term plans?

DB: I feel that my career will ultimately take me out of Memphis, but I tend to get busy here. A lot of times before I am done with a show I am already busy with another show.

I left here in 2010 and spent 2 years in Atlanta. I worked a lot there. I got cast in my first audition. I was on "The Game." I was in a touring stage play. But at a certain point I wanted to come back to show everyone what I learned and what I could do.

CS: Do you ever turn down roles?

DB: I have turned offers due to the script. I can't accept a role if the message is not clear. If I have to many questions after the table read, or if the production isn't well organized, I have to walk away. I won't work with people who think they can put a script together overnight and perform at the end of the week. I refuse to push a performance. If it's not ready, it's not ready. My name is out there.

CS: What are your artistic goals?

DB: I just want to do good work. I want to do truthful work. I want to do work that is to the world today. I want to do work that dealing with important issues. For example, if they did a show dealing with police brutality or racism that would be a show I'd be interested in due

CS: Are there any roles you are hoping to get?

DB: (Laughs.) I would love to play an army movie, put on a soldier's outfit, run around, shoot some guns. I guess I'm waiting for that.

CS: Any last thoughts?

DB: Being on the stage or in a film is a lot like life in that anything can happen. Readiness is strength. Acting or not, we all put on different hats for different roles.

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