May 16, 2011  |  lillian

Get to know the cast and crew of UNVILLE BRAZIL!

First up, appropriately enough: Brian Hashimoto, Director

How long have you worked with FullStop?
Well, I suppose I was officially inducted into FullStop in 2008 at a wedding in Oregon (a long story that involves foam swords, a 3,000 mile road trip, and possibly the world’s shortest bachelor party… ever) and have been working with them since I moved to New York in the Fall of 2008.

What has been your favorite part of the rehearsal process so far?
I would have to say finding moments between characters that aren’t specifically scripted like reactions, silent physical beats, and anything to do with the seagull chicklettes. Discovering ways to deepen the story and also make us fall out of our seats laughing is truly a joy. This rehearsal process has been rich with these discoveries, I think mostly because this particular cast is just stellar about keeping a great balance of focus and sense of play in the room. Or maybe it’s just the fact that our rehearsal space has a nitrous oxide leak…

What are you doing when you are not acting/directing/designing?
I’m doing all three of those things?! No wonder I’m so tired all the time….. I don’t remember what I’m performing in or why anyone would trust me with a drawing instrument, but when I’m not directing I can be found wandering around Lincoln Center Theater, pretending I know how to fix xerox machines and breaking staplers so I can have an excuse to order more of them. Oh, and I’m a photographer as well, so half of the time you might mistake me for a Japanese tourist out on the streets. (It’s ok, I’m Japanese, I can make that joke)

Why did you get into theater?
Honest to (higher omnipotent being of choice) truth, I had to take a filler class for a semester in high school before I took driver’s ed. Photography was full, so the counselor said, “you’re an animated kid, why don’t you take drama?”. I shrugged and checked the box. Next thing I knew, people were trusting me to be emotional in front of an audience (which is really funny if you know me – cuz I’m generally not). After a couple of years of that, I dropped everything else and declared “I will make no money for the rest of my life!” Somehow my parents still like me…… I think……

Though I suppose that’s more of a “how” I got into theater as opposed to “why”. I chose theater as a career path, because I believe in its power to connect with and affect people on a level far deeper than recorded media can. There is a magic that happens during a live performance that you will never get by seeing a recording. That, and, you know, the promise of fame and fortune beyond my wildest dreams.

What?

You mean…. that’s not guaranteed?

Not even if I make a really clever youtube video?

….. crap.

What is your vision of utopia?
A place by the ocean (but not far from the mountains) where people can fly, eat whatever they want without feeling full, sick, or getting fat, and we exist in sustainable harmony with nature. And nobody is stupid. And if they try to be… well I can fly and bears are my friends. So they won’t be trying for very long.

If you were king/queen of the world, how would you solve our global warming crisis?
Blast all nuclear weapons into space and ban them forever. (Did you know there have been over 2,000 nuclear detonations since the 1940’s? Something tells me those didn’t help any) Then I would ban the use of fossil fuels, switch everything over to wind, solar, and hydroelectric energy, and then eventually invent cold fusion energy. (If I’m the king of the world, crazier things had to have happened than cold fusion).

Along those lines, what else would you do as king/queen of the world?
I don’t know what else specifically along those lines, really. Cold fusion and renewable energy pretty much put an end on that one. A full…. stop…., if you will….. *yuk, yuk, yuk*…. *sigh*…..

I suppose I’d deserve some R&R after saving the world, so I’d settle for the world’s best cheeseburger, a big mojito, and a few games of human chess out back of the palace. Straight up Royal, son.

Ever been to Brazil? How about Jacksonville?
Neither, actually. Brazil is high up on the list though. Once I become King of the World, however, the world will be my oyster. You know, to shuck and serve on crushed ice with a wedge of lemon….

Romance

Brian Hashimoto is a founding member and Co-Managing Director of FullStop Collective.