Laura Cole
Laura in her back garden.
-Theatre-
I was thrilled Laura wanted to talk to me. She is an icon at the Shakespeare Tavern and getting to talk to her one on one was something I had never had the opportunity to do. She always seemed so bad-ass and in charge as I saw her on stage and around town. She is a bad-ass but as I got to talking to her I learned about her ailing mother and got to see her tenderly-loved back garden. She is woman of many talents and collecting her story was an honor.
Interviewed 6.25.20
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Casey: First and foremost, how are you doing?
Laura: Oh, well, yesterday I got to visit my mom. She spent all our inheritance, as we tease her, on getting into a really comfortable place. And she's been there like 15 years because of her memory failing. She's had a really, really hard time being isolated. And they had me come up last month to see her when they weren't supposed to because they were worried about her.
And she kept saying, "They think I'm depressed," and I'm like, "That runs in our family, Mom." But they've started having weekly visits. My husband and I went yesterday and she put out her arms, I'm like, "Mom, we can't." and the nurse said, "We'll let y'all hug." And I just burst into tears. I just started crying because I've been so worried about her. And she fussed at me. I said, "Mom, I needed the hug. I know you're good." We were the very last ones of the day so we got a little extra time with her. When I think about it, I just get really emotional because I'm her primary contact with the outside world. And so many people have so many terrible things happen, but I've just been real worried about her.
The first couple of weeks/months were great because I needed a break anyway. And we're doing digital camps for Atlanta Shakespeare. And my team, I just cheer and say, "Yay!" and "Yes, of course." and "Oh, yes." or "Maybe think about this." And then they do all the hard work. I started digital teaching almost immediately because me and the box office were like, "Wow, what if we close?” and we'd already had schools start canceling field trips and stuff and so my first couple of months were a lot of work coordinating what teachers are saying. And we've reached two thousand students with our digital stuff that we filmed real fast. And we're looking at doing it again in the fall. I don't have any idea when we'll go back to work. Most everybody's on unemployment. Our board's been very supportive. And then when Memorial Day happened and everything went even worse, emotionally, it's been crappy.
I can't right any wrongs right now. I don't have the power of a paycheck. I don't have the power of a theatre right now. So I've been trying to better myself and do some learning and just let everyone else talk because the young ones especially already know what should happen and how they feel about it. And I really admire that. It's hard for me because I'm used to diving in and fixing it. And without even the system of a theater company from which to say something or to amplify… It's just weird. I'm not used to feeling without some of the power I thought I had. I don't even know how to talk about it. I just have to listen. So I've been trying to do that.
My garden is living its best life. That's my hobby. And I had to give it up 12 years ago. I started having real bad joint arthritis. I'm immunosuppressed too, because of the treatments, not because of the illness. So I had to be extra [careful]. But now the treatments have finally gotten rid of all the things that kept me from gardening. So my garden out back is gorgeous. I've been spending a lot of time out there just looking at the green. My husband's in charge of the front. I'm in charge of the back.
Casey: What else have you been doing besides gardening? What do you fill your days with?
Laura: I call my mom every day. I keep in touch with my sister. My niece just graduated from high school. She's going to Georgia in the fall and she's so excited and she's so ready for college. And I was planning on this summer being us together a lot. And so I'm sorry it's all about me, but it's still... she's so brilliant. I did get to go to her socially distanced live graduation, which was wonderful. And tell mom about it because mom really wouldn't have wanted to sit through it anyway. My mom's 90. She just turned 90 or 91 this year. I don't remember.
Some of the best news. I was asked to teach at the Metro Atlanta Re-entry Facility. There is a lot of Shakespeare in prisons. Kentucky Shakespeare led the way. But the Metro Atlanta Re-entry Facility has an online college degree program that gentleman in that facility can take college courses through Emory but get their degree through Bard College. And there's a couple of Shakespeare [classes]. It's all literature so the professor that is running all of it was very familiar with the Tavern and said, "Hey, Laura, could you come and talk to the guys about your perspective as an actress?"
We were doing King Lear, and I got him up and there were some questions like, "Why is this here?" …Well, because it's funny… And they're like, "What?" And I'm like, "No, watch." And so they would get up and speak the language, which they were very comfortable with. They had been doing that. But the professor was like, "I'm not a theater person." And so I did a couple of classes with them. And that was awesome because I had something to offer. And they have a lot to offer. And it was really interesting. So the program got funding to get theater more involved with some performance and stuff. And then, you know, pandemic. But we have a Zoom meeting about how we can move forward with all the programming digitally this fall.
And I am so excited because, in our teaching on Zoom, I've also been helping direct an international production of The Tempest that performs like the 10th or 11th of July. We put it on hold because of the turmoil in the world. It just didn't seem appropriate because all of a sudden it wasn't just the pandemic. There's a lot of pressing issues that, not that they weren't there before, but, you know…
So we're cranking that back up. And part of me loves it because I get to do it and work with these talented artists. And part of me is like, "What? No." because it's not a movie. It's not video. It's live. But it's not. I can't get my head around it. So I've learned an awful lot within my profession. I always enjoy learning, it's why I do what I do. But I'm kind of glad I'm not an actor right this minute because I don't know enough to be impactful. I'm enjoying being a witness and a director and an extra eye.
I don't know what the theater will be like when it comes back in Atlanta. I know a lot of my younger colleagues are looking at how they can dive in as soon as possible. And I admire that. I'm kind of like, "Oh, god." 20 years ago I tried to revolutionize things and. And that's exhausting. Like running your own theater company. I did that, too. I don't want to ever do that again. So I'm going to let the young ones inspire me and teach me and then dive in when… I was gonna say when they need me. I tell my staff all the time, y'all don't need me. I cheer you on.
Casey: Although it seems like it's a lot right now, it seems like you're still finding things that inspire you.
Laura: My artist-educator brain does not stop. Does not stop.
Casey: That's good because I think that a lot of people right now are looking for guidance on that.
Laura: Maybe. Yeah. My favorite thing though is, "Oh, the arts aren't important?"... Did you watch Netflix last night? Watching the evolution of late-night show comedy going from “live” to “live but no audience” to the first Saturday Night Live after the Zoom was like, "Oh, god, that is so painful" to the last one, which I thought was brilliant. Watching the evolution of comedy and how it is and is not like sitcom TV has been really interesting.
Casey: It's clear to me what you miss, you make it very obvious what you choose to talk about. But I wonder if there's anything that you miss that you were surprised you missed? Any little thing that you used to be able to do all the time before and that you're unable to do now?
Laura: Being with the artistic and the education staff and talking live in person about important issues. Having hard conversations is hard and having hard conversations not together is daunting. My little kid brain doesn't want to do it. Still has to happen. Still will keep happening, especially in theater. But I miss the confidence with which I could dive into a hard conversation when everyone is in the same room, when my abilities to hold the room and be a witness or voice or whatever I needed to be is second nature after 20 years of training. And not having that or judging that it's different on Zoom or over the phone has...
I'm an introvert when it comes right down to it. The first couple months I was like, "Hey, this is great." But not being in a room with other people to witness or hold or whatever it is I need to do… I didn't think that wouldn't translate. I didn't think it would be that weird.
I don't think there was one single actor or director I know that didn't lose a project. So there's a lot of solidarity around that. But losing the ability to make projects to support community, I didn't even realize that was a thing that could be lost, not being able to make decisions or just say yes to something, with being able to train and hire and facilitate teaching artist work when not a lot of people can.
Live indoor theater, I always think is a strength and the indoor part is the liability. But even the outdoor theaters are struggling because of the audience. I would never have thought one of our main strengths, which is selling tickets to the indoor evening performance of Shakespeare, would be something that when we lost it, would be so profound. Right after 9/11, the idea that there might be a couple of weeks without matinees because we're in downtown Atlanta, and New York was so seriously impacted. And the artistic director said, "Wow. Can you imagine if we couldn't do matinees?" I'm like, "No, no! It will always..." And now, oh, my god. I don't even know. So just being a socially interactive actor person and knowing that I can't have it makes it all that much more dear.
“Well, if the schools close, we'll be back in the fall.” “We'll do summer camp because by June...” And nothing I thought would happen has happened. I got real tired of people sending me little articles about how “Well Shakespeare, there was the plague and it shut down. But he wrote, you know, whatever he wrote.” I'm like, “Good. Shakespeare was a genius. I'm not a genius. I'm just one of his actors that did what he said.”
Casey: Meant to be encouraging but mostly just frustrating.
Laura: Yeah, well, it is because they didn't know about this, you know, the little bugs that get out. And we can't leave London to escape this plague. This particular plague. Nope. It's not in the flees, in the rats. Going to the country is not going to help. It's just going to get worse there later.
Casey: That's an excellent point.
Laura: I can't escape it. We know too much. We know way too much.
Casey: We talked a little bit about your gardening. Are there any other things that you started doing during quarantine that are helping you stay positive?
Laura: When there was a mask deficit, Mom happened to mention, "Hey, we need masks." So I made 30 masks, well, I made about 50, 60 because I did it in two batches and then the costume designer made some masks. And another person in the company gave me masks that she had made that they didn't need. So my hands didn't hurt. And I'm like, "Oh, my God!" So I took some material that I bought before I quit sewing and made a long skirt, almost wore it. And I thought, “Well, that would be overdoing it cause it's full length.” I just got out some linen material to make more masks for the long haul, like really cute linen ones.
My grandmother tatted which is a kind of little delicate string embroidery. I have all the stuff that she didn't use when she died and I'm going to do little appliques on masks for everybody. So picking back up sewing has been really awesome.
Reading; I go through periods where I don't have time to read and I don't hold books. I stopped holding books. So I've got digital copies of all my favorite books that I have in paperback or hardback. So I've been really just giving myself time in the morning, in the evening to read. It's not a good habit but I've been thinking too much about some stuff that's kind of negative. It's better to be able to do more.
I have been going into the office. We're doing camp boxes of all the crafts. I'm not assuming anyone has all the little materials to do whatever craft or the crowns or whatever. So I did all of those because we have a lot of crafts for our in-person camps in the summer. So I did that and I'm probably going to start going back into the office to clean because we're not done with the renovation. And there's some stuff that would be low on the list, but that I can do. And that's nice just to be in the building. No one else is around because a lot of us don't have anything we can do at work. So I'll start doing that pretty soon.
Casey: What do you think will be the overarching thing that you take away from this? What do you think this year will mean to you?
Laura: Science is so important. My parents are both scientists, my dad was a microbiologist. He's been dead 20 years. But all the time, I think, "What would he think about all this?" And I don't care who or what you are, science is important. And I'm not usually very confrontational about things like that, but I get into it over science. I get into washing your hands, wearing a mask.
I hope I keep remembering that I'm sure when I get down to the nitty-gritty of the next school year and what's the next show I'm going to be in or direct, I may need to hold myself to account better. Just doing the art in a way that continues to be sustainable.
One of the reasons I started the Education Department was I knew I only wanted to be an actor, but I wasn't ever gonna get cast enough to make it as only an actor. And I wanted to give back more. I had more skills. So I started to administrate, thinking about education, getting the right training, building a program, because, back in the late 80s, early 90s, a lot of actors would leave Atlanta and never come back. Now, a lot of actors come to Atlanta, which I think is awesome. And building and keeping careful watch over an infrastructure that has the power to help careers and fully develop artists; I don't want to lose sight of that in the day-to-day. And it kind of throws it into sharp relief that the rising tide needs to have everybody rise with it, not just people who happen to be lucky enough to own a boat because not all of us have boats. And if a boat is a theater, I don't want to lose sight of how useful that tool is, and how not everyone gets access to it in the same ways.
And I'm sure I'm going to use the, "Well when Shakespeare wrote..." Oh, I'm still going to use that in a grant somehow. Or in a conversation with people who aren't in the nonprofit arts world. Somehow I'm going to be like, "You remember Netflix, you like Netflix, right? That's art. You saw Atlanta actors onstage and in Netflix.”
Casey: Do you have anything else you want to share or remember? That you think other people would connect with or want to know?
Laura: Being an artist is worth it. Being a creative artist in Atlanta is a good thing. I grew up in Athens, went away to school, got my theater degree. But I wanted to come back. Right when I went to college, the missing and murdered children's in Atlanta case was becoming known and I had no idea how I would connect theater to that tragedy unfolding so slowly, but it really made an impact on me that there were children in the world who weren't safe. It had nothing to do with me and my privilege or being able to go where I went. But I wanted to come home. So seeing that unfold from school and thinking, “I really don’t want to go to New York. I don't want to stay in Chicago. I really want to go back to Georgia and see what it is to be an artist there.” And any young artist that commits to someplace that may not be as easy or as welcoming or is just easy to start doing the thing. The more artists that go there and do the thing, I think the better the world will be. And students speaking Shakespeare makes... Every time a little a four-year-old says, "Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou Romeo?" It's a better world.
And I hope I get into the classroom with those four to six-year-olds sooner rather than later.
