Statements by Emmanuel Deleage, company manager, LAPD

Notes gathered, edited and organized by Ferdinand Lewis.

[Interviewer’s note: Deleage joined the ensemble directly out of college, and his aesthetic and ethic, which are comprehensive, were shaped by his time in LAPD. –F.L.]

Role in the ensemble

I've been sometimes a full-time or part-time employee, depending on where the company is financially. I started as a volunteer in 1996 and I've been acting with the group since, and I was hired in February of '98. I had participated in the plays before. John was teaching in the World Arts and Cultures Department at UCLA [Emmanuel's alma mater], which is what my degree is in.

His personal mission realized through the ensemble

I enjoy theater that has a purpose, I feel that the theater that is most inspiring is one that has a powerful message, rather than just for entertainment's sake. If you can mix entertainment with a message, it's worth doing.

The process is different for each show: One of John's [Malpede] main objectives is the intellectual and emotional development of the participants. His way of working is to give just enough instruction to allow people to take the art to their own level. In other theater, I've never had so much freedom to explore emotion, and character as I have in this company.

The first thing I learned [from working with LAPD] was to value every human being, intellectually, their experiences, 'cause when I first came down from UCLA, I thought these people [Skid Row residents] weren't intelligent, they had deficiencies, but they [turned out to be] a lot smarter than I was.

I experienced that theater can be a truly transformative experience. I'm going to stay involved in the art and theater and use theater. I want to branch out into different communities. Why not bring the meaning that I have in LAPD to the superficial theater in Hollywood? The people who need theater more are not necessarily those on Skid Row. People who go through a recovery program on Skid Row have a sense of self, but people who are wealthier don't necessarily have that. I'm interested in bringing that to these people.

Description of ensemble's approach

[Re: the LAPD show called "Transitions Wrapped Up And Buried"] I led drama workshops in drug recovery facilities. Part of recovery is often being able to make an effective transition. Symbolically, what baggage do you have to let go of to make the next step? Out of this theme we workshopped, doing improv skits and we just kind of rehearsed and rehearsed until some kind of structure was created.

[Re: the LAPD show called "Still At War"] It examined the Vietnam Veteran experience on Skid Row. An astounding number of homeless people are veterans of war, and so what we did, several of the cast members were vets and had lived on the street, and we drew on their experience, and we did a lot of workshops in the community. We did a scene where a Vet is trying to get help at the V.A. [Veterans’ Administration Hospital], and we had somebody who'd experienced all the red tape play the bureaucrat, and then anybody who had a similar experience we invited them to play that out, and we would draw material from that.

Each of those shows had a "breakdown" that we memorized, but the particular words changed from night to night.

Two or three months is the average length of time for a development process.

The context of the ensemble's mission

I think the problems of Skid Row are almost beyond comprehension. I've been there five years, and there's just so many different emotional forces, racial forces, social forces, and a slew of different things happening that create the problems. There's a homeless activist name Ted Hayes and his mission is to come up with a national plan to end homelessness: I think it would take nothing short of that.

LAPD is financially strapped, and our effect is limited because of that. Nonetheless, I feel that I've learned a lot about how to begin to unearth the problem, and a key to that is collaboration with a wide variety of organizations, which is important for all groups. We survive out of the generosity of our partners, that's why we've been able to survive, in-kind donations, and people in the social services who want our programs who help us, and they see us as improving the neighborhood. They give financial contributions and space and advertisement, too.

It would seem to me that one would have to know that collaboration is key. If you're gonna work in an area with social problems, any positive thing that people bring in is welcomed. That's how you attract the partners.

LAPD is going to be dormant for a little while, we're in a financially neutralized position, I'm beginning work on other artistic projects. I'm going to look for the participation of people from Skid Row.

I've learned so much. I think collaboration is really important. The more you branch out and get people involved, you never know who's an ally, it's good to have as many allies as possible.

Ferdinand Lewis is a founding member of The Ghost Road Company, an educator, writer and theater artist. He is currently at work on two books: "Ensemble Theater: An Anthology" and "Ensemble Theater: Traditions, Approaches, Strategies." He lives in Los Angeles.

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