A Leading Man in South Pasadena

Bruce Turk is no stranger to playing a leading man. Actually, he’s no stranger to playing anyone.

The 48-year-old South Pasadena’s resident’s versatility will be on display during A Noise Within’s production of Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors, one of the writer's earlier plays and most recognizable comedies.  The Glendale-based theater company added an extra dimension, telling it through the eyes of a 1920s burlesque company tasked to perform Shakespeare’s original work. The show's run started on March 5 and doesn't end until May 14.

Turk plays the actor taking on the roles of Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse, twin brothers who serve as the comedic cogs of the play. Turk functions as a tempered parody of the “typical” leading man, complete with a pseudo-dashing mustache.

“I like to be a clown in disguise,” he said. “I think that’s what helped me along the way, being able to be cast in different roles.”

It’s a talent he discovered growing up in Austin, Texas, when drama teacher Ron Dodson (“Mr. D”) challenged him to hone his gifts for acting. Turk listened, eventually getting “hooked” in high school, taking part in plays as well as competing in speech tournaments. He eventually took his talents to Northwestern University in Chicago, which he said is “still pretty cutting edge” when it comes to its theater department.

After graduating from college, he immediately delved into professional work, joining up with companies in New York, Seattle, Denver and even Japan. While he has a few television credits to his name, it’s on a theater stage where Turk feels most at home.

“There aren’t a lot of people making a living doing this,” he said. “Me and my wife, we made our living in the theater. We had different mindsets … this is what we were going to do, and we would accept no substitutes. I painted houses, did odd jobs to get by, but when you look at the big picture, the work has come around.”

And that work has led him to split time with the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego with his work in the Los Angeles area. It’s led him to a variety of roles, so many that he said he doesn’t prefer any kind of character over another.

“There’s not a great deal of difference in playing tragic or clown. From my perspective, what’s happening to these people is not funny,” he said. “I like to play characters and amp them up with a lot of energy. My wife said I find joy in the oddest corners.”

One of those corners ended up being in Japan, when he trained and performed with Tadashi Suzuki's Acting Company for four years. Not bad for something Turk said was only supposed to last a few months. He ended up coming away with a lot of lessons on his own acting.

"The reason I went there ... I was drawn to [Suzuki's] work, but also the energy of his actors," he said. "I was drawn to the power and control of his work. His actors have this deep concentration of energy in the body, and they are able to marshal it out. I wanted to capture some of that. I felt I needed power, and I wanted to see how I would cultivate that in myself. It begins in your feet, moves up to the center of your body, and vocally I became much stronger, more conscientious on how I used my energy."

That sense of energy awareness comes in handy, especially with a work of Shakespeare, which Turk said provides "a lot of opportunity for that energy to dissipate, so you have to seek clarity in every performance."

Turk also became more aware on how the profession of acting is perceived in Japan, as opposed to those used to it on U.S. soil. He said there's a "universal respect" for the art, which comes from a culture steeped in deep tradition and mastery of craft. The recent tsunami tragedy in Japan has also been on Turk's mind, but he was relieved to find out that his friends are OK, aside from "having to hide under desks."

Turk has been able to share of of his knowledge in South Pasadena, teaching a class for the South Pasadena Theatre Workshop at 1507 El Centro St. He emphasizes that he himself is still learning things, and admits that you need to be "a little crazy" to pursue acting as your life's work.

"Every performance, to me, is an exploration. If it wasn’t interesting from night to night, I don’t know why I’d keep doing it," he said. "The cliché of constant rejection does not reflect the true obstacle ... it's like a wind blowing in your face."

For more information on the show, call (818) 240-0910, ext. 1 or visit A Noise Within's website at www.ANoiseWithin.org.