It Takes a Lunatic
Aside from the members of our biological and chosen family, the people who shape us the most are our teachers.
One of the most highly respected, yet overlooked and abused professions in the United States, teachers are one of the pillars of society. Everyone in the world has had a teacher--perhaps a professional, perhaps merely a mentor--who has affected them in some significant way. We don't give the credit they're due, and we certainly, again in this country, don't compensate them properly for all they do.
| The best teachers are those who can pass on to their students the same enthusiasm for their subject that they possess. Anytime a teacher does get the recognition for what they do, we should celebrate. One of the best homages I've seen so far is the Netflix Original Documentary, It Takes a Lunatic. |
The subject of the documentary is man named Wynn Handman. Like some of you reading this, I hadn't a clue who this man was until I watched this documentary, but like all good teachers, he's had a quiet yet profound influence on the world.
Handman, as the documentary puts it, is really two people.
On the one hand, he was one of the founders of a sadly now defunct institution called The American Place Theater. The APT was notable for being one of the first major American Theaters to showcase new American plays from a diverse number of perspectives. Rather than focusing on either classical or long established American theater, such as O'Neil, Williams, or Wilder, Handman and his theater sought to bring out new voices--African-America, Asian-American, Women, Experimental, and many others--to the stage.
Two of the playwrights who debuted their works in the APT were Frank Chin, with The Chickencoop Chinaman (the actual name of the play), who helped to pioneer Chinese-American theater, and George Tabori, one of the first playwrights to tackle the subject of the Holocaust on stage with his play The Cannibals.
By having the space function as a subscription-based, non-profit organization, Handman was able to take chances to bring these new voices and give them a space to both find themselves and make their debuts.
As significant an accomplishment as The American Place Theater was though, Wynn's other legacy is the long-list of actors he helped coach. Among his students are Alec Baldwin, Laura Graham, James Caan, Richard Gere, Mia Farrow, Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, John Leguizamo, and Michael Douglas. All of them learned a significant portion of their craft from Handman.
The documentary, however, doesn't only focus on Handman's work-life though. A good portion of it goes into his early life. He grew up in Inwood, New York and had an idyllic childhood. He served in World War II as a member of the U.S. Coast Guard (the hardest of the armed forces to gain entry into, even during draft times). His experiences, as a person of Jewish decent, with dealing with Nazis. And of course, his time training as an actor and acting teacher under the famed Sandford Misner, creator of the Meisner technique, which now serves as one of the foundational styles of modern acting.
His skill as a gentle, but astute and constructively critical teacher made him one of the most quietly influential figures in 20th and 21st century American theater and acting. And no one, outside of the theater world, knows who he is. That is until now.
Great leaders and influencers don't need to be bombastic hams, demanding of the spotlight. Sometimes, they can be some of the most unassuming of people, quietly working away, doing what they love. If you want to see a portrait of such a person, take a look at this documentary.
