SALVATION ROAD
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Grace Eda Baker: Faith vs. Religion

7/19/2015

 
In Salvation Road, Grace Eda Baker plays Rebecca, a wide-eyed acolyte of a charismatic preacher with a strange resume. It is a challenging role, because the audiences sees Rebecca only  in snapshots and always through the point of view of another character. Yet she is a pivotal figure in the play. In this interview, the actress reflects on the motivations that drive the character and on the dividing line between faith and religion.
PictureGrace Eda Baker as Rebecca, Chris Daileader as Cliff in Salvation Road. Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.
What do you think drives a character like Rebecca? Is she a true believer -- or is something else going on? 

Rebecca is an enigmatic character. She's so friendly, so kind, which I do believe comes from an honest place, but she's also a turncoat if she needs to be. What is her major concern? If she was in this group to only serve God, I don't think she would care so much about her standing. My belief is that while Rebecca does want to serve God, her main concern is to belong. I like to imagine that Rebecca never felt that she belonged anywhere until she met Elijah and the True Disciples. And now that she has, she had no intention of going anywhere. 


It's a bit understandable. Belonging to a group, feeling safe within her "fences" is almost like an extended childhood. She doesn't have to deal with the real world! She doesn't have to make decisions! She can sit back and pray while life churns around her. She is safe because she *belongs. 


If she could speak for herself, what do you think she'd say?

I think if Rebecca had a chance to explain her feelings, she would first say she loves God, of course, but she would also wax soothing words about how she loves being part of the group. She is a puzzle piece, not her own image. Rebecca is not one to strike out on her own. She thrives off of rules, to her, those rules add up to her Salvation. 

If I recall your religious background is closer to Sister Jean's -- and you made a wonderful case for the autonomy of the good sisters during one of our rehearsals. Have you ever been attracted to the religious life?

No. Never. I grew up in Catholic schools, and while my family at home was quite liberal, I met a lot of people who were not. Like the mother of seven who almost took her kids out of school because the library had a book on display called "Herstory" with a forward written by Gloria Steinem. Or the priest who called at bunch of 8th graders to be "Christ's soldiers". Or my all-girls high school where a majority of girls where taught that feminism is an ugly word. 

I grew up under three popes, and saw the scrambled power shifts during each change. I saw nuns live in building where the walls did not connect to the ceilings, while priests had private cooks and bishops had robes that cost 15 grand. God was not a part of any of this. All of this was under that one word, Religion. In my opinion, religion and faith are two different entities. (Please excuse my terse words, I could go on for hours, so in trying to truncate, I may sound blunt.) I don't like religion. Religion is a body of humans, and like humans, is filled with prejudice and fear. Fear of not living with purpose, fear of dying...religion creates rules to appease the uncomfortable. To give them fences. 

Faith, on the other hand, liberates. It is the unshakable belief that God is there. It doesn't matter who you are, God created you, and thus, loves you. You don't have to bend to others' ideas to appease God-God is appeased that you live with love. Those nuns I mentioned with the broken ceiling? I saw them pray and worship to celebrate God. They care for others, not to "follow the rules" but to care for God's creations. Because they loved God. Sadly, I don't have faith, I wasn't born with it, I lean toward a more questioning outlook, but I envy those that do. In every religion, there are people who have true faith. It's stunningly beautiful, and unbreakable. Faith has no rules, it's just love and trust. 

The big question of the play is where you draw the line between a church and a cult. Where do you think that line is?

Continuing in this same vein, I think that difference between a church and a cult is a lack of Faith. Cults seem to live by fear, endless fear that if they don't follow the rules, they will be kicked out of the group and Salvation. It's...ugly. It's terror. Rebecca, for example, our lovely puzzle piece, believes that any wrongdoing doomed by her group could lead straight to hell. How clinical and cold is that? Human nature is to err, that's why faith is all inclusive and forgiving. Cults are fear-mongering. They are meant to control, not nurture. 

Parting thoughts: If you had any advice for Rebecca, what would it be?

My advice to Rebecca would be this: Babygirl, you can stand alone. I know it's scary, I know that it's confusing, but it's worth it. Have faith. Have faith that God loves you always, even when you make a mistake. Have faith that those mistakes can help you grow. Have faith in the innate goodness of people, in the forgiveness of people. And Rebecca, have faith in yourself. Most importantly, have faith in yourself. Be your own rock. Be your own salvation. I know you can do it. 


Kaylynn Creighton: 'One Person Has The Power to Enact Change.'

7/18/2015

 
In Salvation Road, Kaylynn Creighton plays a talented young musician with a passion for social justice. The Washington City Paper praised her "superb" and "nuanced" performance as someone whose life is transformed when she falls under the influence of a charismatic preacher. In this interview she reflects on where she draws the lines between church and cult, and between her character and herself. 
PicturePhoto by Ryan Maxwell Photography.
In Salvation Road, you play a young woman who is hell bent on reforming the world before she gets to college. Do you see much of yourself in Denise?

Denise and I are actually VERY different. She feels everything in an extreme way and acts on impulse (ex- "Earthquake in Guatamala? I CAN FIX THAT!"). I, on the other hand, am very cerebral and tend to think when Denise would just...do. Her impulsiveness, when wielded correctly, is one of her greatest assets. On the other hand, that impulse is exactly what ultimately gets her in trouble.

The character you play is quite musical -- and so are you. Tell us more about these secret talents -- you don't brag about it on your bio.

Oh, jeez. Well...I was one of those children (one of MANY, I'm sure) who was obsessed with opera. I started singing opera very young (8 or 9 ish, maybe?) and eventually discovered musical theatre. General rule: if I appear deep in thought, I probably just have a 20 second excerpt of a song looping continuously in my mind.


What other similarities do you see between yourself and Denise?

Denise and I, while extremely different, have one very big thing in common: the fundamental belief that one person has the power (and responsibility) to enact change. That ideology manifests itself very differently for both of us, though. Denise wants to BE the change whereas I want to INSPIRE the change.


Salvation Road wrestles with the question of where to draw the line between church and cult. Where do you draw that line?

I believe that "Rockin' Nun" Sister Jean has the right idea: everything comes down to consent. If a person has all of the information and knows exactly what he or she is involved with, what right does anybody else have to label or judge? Also, I don't know a single person who doesn't have something he or she is a little "cultish" about...some people are involved in religious groups, others own every Neil Diamond album ever released. Either way, rock on.


If you had any advice to offer Denise, what might it be?

Oh, Denise. There are many things I'd love to tell her. She would listen very intently and genuinely want me to believe that my opinions are valid, but there's a very solid possibility that she would write me off as a crazy person. For example, I think Denise would benefit from some simple breathing exercises.

The play ends on an ambiguous note -- which some people find annoying and others say is rather exciting. How about you? If the play went for one more scene, what do you think might happen?

I love the ending. After watching these people for 90 minutes and learning the stories and the personalities, the audience (possibly for the first time) starts to really understand the uncertainty of the situation. Even if the story were to continue, there would still be a "cliffhanger" ending (intentional use of the word "Cliffhanger" because Cliff...that's a character...heh). Anyways, even if Denise were to wake up and decide that she was going to leave the Desciples and go home, that still wouldn't be the end of the story. Certain events may end, but those memories are going to influence her, her family, her decisions, etc. for the rest of her life. Sounds a whole lot like life, doesn't it?


Chris Daileader: From Carnegie Hall to the Capital Fringe

7/1/2015

 
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In Salvation Road, Chris Daileader plays a teenage agnostic who is forced to reconsider his relationship with the Divine when his sister becomes involved in a religious cult. In this interview with the playwright, he reflects on the challenges of the role and what he does—and doesn’t—have in common with the character he portrays.






According to your bio on the website, you are a man of many talents—photographer, actor, writer, director, and I know for a fact you do a fair Sean Connery imitation. Do you have any talents you are afraid to mention?

 Afraid to mention? No, not really.  There are some other things I didn't mention in the bio though... I've always liked the term "Renaissance Man" and I've always striven to be one.  

I remember this "Eureka" moment in a Philosophy of Art class back in college -- my teacher read aloud some of his own poetry and referred to himself as a poet.  And I realized the extent to which I'd always placed artists on a pedestal.  I had this flawed understanding that it was like Sainthood or something; you couldn't be an artist until you were dead and somebody else called you one.  

There was this moment of realization that these artists were all just people who put in the work.  They put in work to improve and improve until they created their magnum opus.  Now that's what I strive for.  I refuse to be intimidated by a new creative medium.  And I work hard, always trying to get good at everything I do.

Rumor has it you have a sketch comedy series coming to the web. Tell me about that—how did it come to be?
 
Yes! Highbro Comedy.  It still has a lot of work to be done, but I am very proud of the project.  I've always relied on humor as, well, my only social tool because I'm such a naturally shy and anxious person when I meet new people.  I'd been compiling and compiling these standup comedy ideas in my journal, and time and time again I would look back and wonder "how the hell do you deliver that without visualizing the joke?"

So one day I decided I needed a new project: something collaborative and funny and smart.  I wanted jokes that appealed to a mass audience but also went deep into some of today's social and philosophical and economic quandries.  So I contacted this network of artists I've accumulated in my friend group -- designers, writers, actors, directors, comedians, editors... And I pitched it to them.  People ate it up.  We all began compiling every funny idea that came to our mind into a group chat.  I refused to put up any fences.  Anything is game...though it may not get produced.  

Highbro Comedy (a play off of highbrow; this isn't stoner comedy) isn't just sketch comedy.  We compile skits around a unifying criterion and build out full episodes -- we emulate TV structure so that we can pitch it to executives when we're ready.  For example, my favorite episode script so far is called "Idioms, Idiot!" and every skit gives the origin story for different English Idioms -- Open and Shut Case, Cool as a Cucumber, etc.  Without sounding too cocky, what we've got right now is brilliant.  We want to write our whole first season before we actually shoot anything, but holy hell do we have some good scripts.  I can't wait to enter production.  I really think this thing is going to be big.  Social Commentary+Comedy=Satire and there just isn't enough quality stuff out there these days.

About that gig at Carnegie Hall? What was it? And who did you bribe to get there?

Well, that's just a nice thing to have on my resume but it's not like I did a one man show of Carmen or anything!  I was just a section leader for my school's chorus, which qualified to be a part of the National Youth Chorus.  Still, it was pretty surreal to be out on that stage.  I remember I walked out early just to blast out a few baritone notes before everything got assembled...Those acoustics!  And such a beautiful place.  

I minimize the importance of that experience, sometimes, but I really shouldn't.  It cemented in me that I wanted to be a performer.  Getting up there and hearing the things I could do with the proper acoustics -- I knew I had to go back.  I was born to be onstage and those were some of the grandest boards I've ever gotten to walk.  It's hard to describe looking out at an audience that big and feeling far less out of place than you do anywhere else in life -- but that's me.  That's what I live for.

In Salvation Road you play an agnostic teenager who is forced to confront the question of why anyone needs religion. Have you ever wrestled with that question yourself—and if so, what did you come up with?

Ohhhh yes.  Haha in many ways Cliff is my high school self.  I was raised Catholic, but I...well, I never believed in God.  Even as a little kid I remember looking around in church like "...Really?"  I went through the Catholic school system, I'm very interested in religion and very well educated on numerous religions.  But it isn't for me.  I think a lot about how if a universe is constantly expanding, if it is truly infinite, then where is the room for omnipotence?  Omnipresence? Is free will even possible -- do brains actually choose between different outcomes or do they chemically (and subconsciously) calculate based on the given stimulii and prior conditioning?

I understand that some truly believe and truly love their relationship with their deity, but I just see so much in this universe that is so mysterious -- how can anyone find the time to spend that inquisitive energy on something metaphysical? Unproveable? And from a purely physics standpoint -- impossible?  So yeah, I have the same questions Cliff has.  How can you even consider spending time on religion when there is so much to do and learn and know and become in this life?

 Do you see anything of yourself in Cliff?

So much.  So, so much.  It's eerie, really.  At times I feel like D.W. observed my middle school and high school self because this character reminds me so much of my younger self in certain ways.  His awkwardness, his stubbornness, his snarkiness, his prioritization of reason and systems over emotion and faith... Even the tactics he uses attempting to hide his neuroses and fears!  We have some major differences, but I feel like I really know Cliff after just a few short weeks with this script.  I've never done this before with any character, but my first two weeks of textwork were focused on finding what about Cliff was not like me.

It's kind of refreshing to play something close to yourself...especially as an actor who, before this role, has played ONLY villains, murderers, and rapists for the last 6 years.  And that isn't an exaggeration.  And I'm a nice guy, too!  You can't imagine the shock I had learning that I wasn't cast as the cult leader...

 If you had any advice to offer the kid—what might it be?

Cliff needs to learn the single most important lesson that every young actor learns very early...or flames out in a burst of self-loathing:

Do NOT fret about what you cannot control.  Worry can be such a draining exercise; anxiety can be a crushing force.  Hell, I know a lot of NON-actors who need to learn this lesson.  Some things are out of your control -- learn to embrace that!  Enjoy riding the wave of life instead of trying to manipulate the ocean.  If things don't work out...well, your fretting couldn't have prevented it anyway.  Learn to expend energy only on the things which you can influence or your anxiety will eat you alive from the inside out.  Maximizing how you expend your energy and efforts is the best way to reach your potential.  Think about the opportunity cost when you spend your energy on feckless neuroses -- look to what you CAN change and live with the fallout of what you can't.




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Chris Daileader and Kaylynn Creighton in Salvation Road. Photo by Ryan Maxwell Photography.

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