"Dr. Maria Bakalis: Last Acting Hero"

The Waubonsee theatre department has, semester after semester, put out large, well-done ensemble plays that have ranged from comedy to drama. The very active department has a lot to be proud of, but, as is true with any group, owes much to leadership. Dr. Maria Bakalis is that leader, a full-time professor and head of the theatre department. Recently, Insight sat down with Dr. Bakalis, who is both opinionated and polite, passionate and articulate, to discuss not just her teaching, but her views on theatre and acting in general.

Insight Chief Copy Editor Sam Smyth: What is it that drew you to theatre in the first place?

Dr. Maria Bakalis: That’s a very difficult question when you’re dealing with somebody in the arts. It’s usually something within that reflects itself in a passion. So, I would say it’s the desire to connect with people. I don’t look at an audience as a mob. An audience has individuals in there, and I always realize that something in this play, some line in this play may affect someone in that audience. There’s always that moment that I believe someone has connected.

Insight: Have you found that there was anything when you were young that connected with or inspired you?

Bakalis: I always loved Arthur Miller plays. I always thought he looked at what we need as human beings, what’s our common denominator as people. So I would say probably he is one of the ones that really triggered me as far as saying that theatre does more than put on a play. Theatre is not just about me as an actor getting up there and expressing my own personal opinion. I never look at it that way.

I think it has more to do with how I’m going to affect other people in their lives, than just in my life. I don’t think the arts should be looked at as self-expression. Because if you look at it as only self-expression, it’s a very egotistical perspective on the arts, [and] the arts are not about ego. The arts are about universalities. So I always felt that the playwrights like Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams and August Wilson always dealt with that common denominator that we all have as human beings. So, it transcends. It has nothing to do with me.

Insight: Do you think that egotism is a big stumbling-block for a lot of artists?

Bakalis: It’s a huge stumbling-block and I don’t care which of the arts it is. At some point in time, it’s going to shut down the wall between you and the audience. You may be able to do it for a while, because of the energy and the talent that you have, but at some point in time the audience senses this [sentiment of], “You’re not connecting with me. You’re looking in a mirror.”

Insight: You do hear a lot of artists, be they musicians or whatever else, describe what they do as self-expression.

Bakalis: See, I don’t. I mean, it’s part of the reasons why … yes, you do, you like it. Like, for me, you can create all these different characters, but the only reasons you want to create the different characters is so that all of these different characters finally find their voice. You’re only a vehicle for that character’s voice. And so, what I try to do with the students is get them out of that thinking that, “This is all about me and the spotlight is on me.” The spotlight is on what is being said, not who is delivering it. So, that’s tricky. That’s real tricky.

Insight: You’re a big Charlie Chaplin fan. In theatres or movies, what other actors are you a fan of?

Bakalis: I like people who are very versatile. Robert Duvall, I find, is one of the greatest versatile actors. From The Apostle to Tender Mercies and The Godfather, he’s very disciplined. I love the British actors. I find them phenomenal. Helen Mirren is phenomenal. Judi Dench is phenomenal. And this is the difference I find, since I studied in England and went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts—it’s not about looks. It’s about the character and developing the character. No one says “I’m an actor” unless they’ve studied it. The problem [with acting here] is anybody says it. Without training, they can say it. They don’t see that it’s a training. Al Pacino is good. He took it as a study. Robert DeNiro took it as a study. Marlon Brando took it as a study. All of them, even though they may be rebels in their own study, they still understood it’s a study. It’s a technique. You need to constantly be working at it.

Insight: What do you look for when you pick the school plays each semester?

Bakalis: I look for ensemble pieces, meaning no one’s the star. I look for big casts, so I can get as many people involved [as I can], because I feel that, at this community-college level, you just want people to try things. And if you shut it down to a play that only has six people, well, you already have shut it down. So I want something where people say, you know, I’d love to be onstage.

Insight: What have you found to be the biggest challenge in teaching theatre?

Bakalis: Getting rid of the star idea, and getting rid of cliques. I think it’s just part of the nature of it … it starts to become a clique, and it’s not necessarily because people set out to become a clique, but once you’ve experienced something together, you tend to [bond]. But that’s not good, because once it’s perceived as a clique, you’ve already, again, shut the door to the student who says, “I don’t think I got a chance, because they all hang out together.” It’s unfortunate, because I’ve had students who are very good who were never even in high-school theatre, because they felt it was a clique.

Insight: We already covered some of this, but is there anything else you want to say on your philosophy on teaching and on acting?

Bakalis: I think it is to approach it with a passion. To approach it with a discipline. And to approach rehearsal as performance. That is, to me, very important, because when you approach it as a performance, you are experimenting.

You’re trying things out that you think an audience would like. I approach every rehearsal with the energy of a performance. I think passion, discipline, rehearsal as performance and … promoting ensemble.

(Originally published in the Waubonsee Community College Insight, May 2007.)