In Pursuit of Divine Truth with Tyler Polumsky (Part I)

We have a wonderful guest for you today: my previous teacher, translator and actor of The Ilkhom Theatre (among many other theatres) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Tyler Polumsky! Our conversation went way longer than expected so we have two parts to this episode!

 

Tyler Polumsky has worked professionally as an actor, director, producer, musician,  scenic designer, and teacher. He found his true creative voice and artistic aesthetic studying acting and directing with the late Mark Weil at the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During his nearly 10 years in Tashkent, he became the first and only American to work in Ilkhom’s Main Ensemble, performing in the standing repertoire and touring with the group to Russia, France, Poland, Japan, and elsewhere. As a Master Teacher in the Ilkhom Theatre School of Drama, he taught acting (M. Chekhov, Stanislavski, Vakhtangov, Grotowski), plasticas (Physical Improvisation and Biomechanics), and elocution (English and Russian). As Assistant Master, he taught Lecoq Methods (masks, clown, buffoonery),  fencing and acrobatics, voice, and theatre history. 

 

Since returning to Seattle in 2012, Tyler has worked with The Seagull Project, appearing in The Seagull, The Three Sisters, and The Cherry Orchard. He has taught with Freehold, presented workshops and master classes at the University of Washington, and taught and directed at Cornish College of the Arts. He joined Akropolis Performance Lab as an Artistic Associate in 2015, created the role of the Bad Angel for APL’s production of Ecce Faustus (2016) and is Raskolnikov in Crime + Punishment (2017-18). Tyler prefers the long form, ensemble-driven approach to the craft such as is practiced by APL, which better reflects his roots in the Russian theatre tradition.

 

The concept of истина / istina / divine or cosmic truth, arose early on in our chat. Istina is the essence of the Ilkhom Theatre's training, its performances, its school and lives in its artists.

 

We take a deep dive into:

• the difference between Eastern & Western training systems
• the importance of energetic exchanges onstage and off
• the rigorous technical training and experience that is required to access moments of naked, universal truth onstage
• the late creator of the Ilkhom Theatre, Mark Weil, and his lifelong pursuit of the merging of East & West (and how these worlds danced and collided onstage)
• seeking out spaces of resonance and how that can be the bridge across cultures 
• the integral part of the Russian system that’s skipped over in the West 
• the necessity of tuning into the partner

 

And SO much more!

 

“It’s great to tell a story. It’s better to tell a story and somebody walks out of there and it’s part of their DNA.”

 

Take a screenshot of this episode and tag @tolyatolyantolik and @serabanda in your Instagram stories to let us know what you thought of this episode!

 

Top off your #speechforthestage:

a e i o u

T

D

tay-tee-tai-toh-too

day-dee-dai-doh-doo

 

Be sure to put a pin in this conversation and catch us for Part II next week!

 

Create your dream #actorslife with my FREE energy exercise!

 

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