Red Tape Valentine: Lona and Philip Livingston

Lona was first seen in Red Tape’s Enemy of the People in 2009. Since joining the ensemble she has performed in The Love of the Nightingale and Obscura: A Voyeuristic Love Story. Even with everything Lona does for Red Tape, we are equally happy to have Philip around! A talented and accomplished artist in his own right, Philip can always be counted on to help out with front of house, open his lovely home to Red Tape events from photo shoots to parties, and we couldn’t live without him and his skills during strike. We might still be looking at the Obscura set if it wasn’t for Philip!

“Lona and Philip having a November Valentine's Day in France.” –Lona

Lona and Philip Livingston, at 22 years- well, we were mere children

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

My Life with a Dialect Coach

Dialect coaches speak a different language. It's all about phonetics, plosives, fricatives and that sly schwa sound. And they expect that you know what they mean!

I first met Obscura's dialect coach, Jason Miller, in a coffee shop. The Obscura script states Ms. Craw is 'foreign' so it was up to us to figure the rest out. We narrowed the character down to eastern European-mostly because the language and syntax made it seem the right choice. Serbian? German? Polish? Russian? It didn't matter; Jason was prepared to show me how proper use of pitch, rhythm, consonant and vowel placement (that ubiquitous schwa, again) can make any accent fluent and authentic.

Jason turned the coffee shop into a performance piece; he stood there breathing and intoning, gesturing and projecting while folks refilled their cups and ordered doughnuts all around him. It was thrilling - all 2 and 1/2 hours, for me certainly and I think for the coffee drinkers too. Working with a dialect coach is a bit like seeing a therapist: they make you honest; they give you homework, and you always leave feeling better.

Come see Obscura and decide for yourself where Ms. Craw comes from. Thanks, Jason.

Lona Livingston
Ensemble Member

Obscura runs Sep 23-Oct 23.
Tickets are available through our website!

The Story of Niobe: Meet Lona Livingston

What do you do when you're not performing?
Recently I've been reading scripts for Red Tape's next production. I'm a very proud Red Tape ensemble member.

What was a standout moment from rehearsal?
The 'aha!' moment in a scene. For an actor, when purpose and comprehension unite - whether it's for character development or simply a line reading - it's very exciting. It can be a long process at times.

What is your favorite part of The Love of the Nightingale?
Entering the theatre before performances and seeing some very young actors prepare for the production. Their focus and commitment, even if they have very small speaking roles, is obvious.

The Love of the Nightingale is Jeff Recommended and runs through May 29.
Get your tickets through our website.