Who doesn’t love actors? They’re charming, they’re pretty, and if they’re in Pint-Sized you can see them for free! We took a moment to catch up with a few of them and ask some get-to-know you questions so that everyone heading out to see the Pint-Sized Plays this month would have a jumping off point should they find themselves suddenly next to an actor before, during, or after the show. Enjoy!
What do you love best about theater pub?
Matt Gunnison: The casual, fun atmosphere and an audience that’s there to have a good time.
Sunil Patel: I love that Theater Pub is a casual, free theatre experience that is still very high quality and is produced by very talented people. I love it the most when it makes use of the space in interesting ways, seating actors at tables or having their voices boom down from the balcony above.
Sarah Moser: I love getting to hang out with some of the most talented and most gorgeous human beings in the history of the universe. And also beer+theater=world peace.
What’s your favorite moment in this year’s Pint-Sized?
Matt Gunnison: Scripted? Nicole Hammersla: “Awkward silence!” Unscripted? Ray Hobbs and Duncan Wold’s dueling baseball caps.
Sunil Patel: I don’t want to spoil it, but there is a line in Endgame II that is one of the greatest things that has ever been said in the English language. I also love all of Nicole Hammersla’s expressions during English for the Romantically Challenged.
Sarah Moser: My favorite rehearsal moment was our first rehearsal for Drinking Alone. Megan Cohen was kind enough to let us rehearse at her family’s temporary pad in North Beach. We drank beers, rehearsed in a living room, played with a pet bunny, stood on the porch and talked about Dumbledore, and generally wallowed in our chemistry. My favorite performance moment is watching Megan Briggs’s amazing face in Listen.
What attracts you to a character as an actor?
Matt Gunnison: Dynamism. Seeing that character change and grow, becoming someone different as a result of their circumstances and choices. Getting to play those moments of the character stepping onto new ground.
Sarah Moser: I like visceral language that kicks you in the gut. Also, I like characters who are loners, who aren’t quite coloring inside the lines.
Sunil Patel: I am never attracted to my character as an actor. That seems like it would make for a very awkward time in the bedroom, so I think we should just be friends.
What’s a role you’ve always wanted to play?
Sarah Moser: Oh man. Right now, I would really, really love to Kayleen in Gruesome Playground Injuries by Rajiv Joseph or Cassy in Clementine in the Lower 9 by Dan Dietz.
Matt Gunnison: I was always more interested in trying out different types (the hero, the villain, the comic relief, etc.) and the many different versions of each. A character descending into madness would be a thrill.
Sunil Patel: I feel a strong connection to Guildenstern in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Or is it Rosencrantz? I can never remember.
Who is your favorite actor?
Matt Gunnison: There are too many good actors to narrow it down, but I’m really fond of Kevin Spacey and Gary Sinise for drama, and John Lithgow and Christopher Lloyd for comedy.
Sarah Moser: My favorite actors are Ben Whishaw and my aunt Barbara. I also love watching local actor Omoze Idehenre.
Sunil Patel: Any actor who can make me forget that I’m watching an actor.
What show are you doing next, or what Bay Area show do you most look forward to this season?
Matt Gunnison: A staged reading of Roy Conboy’s My Tia Loca’s Life of Crime at SFSU’s Studio Theatre on September 17, the SF Olympians Festival at The Exit in October, and–of course–more Theater Pub!
Sarah Moser: I’m excited to be part of the adventure that is turning Megan Cohen’s one act, A Three Little Dumplings Adventure, into a FULL LENGTH PLAY and life experience.
Sunil Patel: I will be playing a thieving heroin addict in Megan Cohen’s Orion as part of the San Francisco Olympians Festival. I am looking forward to Megan Cohen’s full-length play, How to Love, as I presume it is some of sort of theatrical instruction manual. I just love Megan Cohen. Isn’t she great?
What’s your favorite thing to order at a bar?
Matt Gunnison: A new beer that I wind up liking. Or a vodka tonic if I feel like I have to look classy.
Sarah Moser: It changes all the time. But I do love me some Jack Daniels, neat.
Sunil Patel: Rum and Coke, hold the rum.
San Francisco Theater Pub 