Did we not learn our lesson about how we aren’t supposed to lie on our resume? And that taking the old adage of “fake it ‘til you make it” a step too far can result in disastrous consequences? In case you’re still out there learning that lesson (the hard way) and need a crash-course reminder in why this is a bad idea, Truest Ethos Theatre Company has a play for you! And it’s not even an ocean-front play in Arizona— wait, wait, scam artists were their last feature. Nevermind! For their sophomore show— second ever— Truest Ethos presents No Experience Necessary by Marshall Logan Gibbs. Directed by Francesco Leandri, this full-length play explores the consequences of ones actions as well as other relevant themes like imposter syndrome and what roles things like ‘fame’ and ‘success’ play in our lives when it comes to these subjects.
I had the honor of sitting in on the first half of their tech-in the other night; the script definitely has legs under it! It’s a meaty journey that really showcases the internalized struggle of dreams versus reality and what happens when those two worlds collide. Marshall Logan Gibbs excels at character-driven work, really fleshing out these three featured characters (and a string of other individuals all played by Max Wolf) to create depth and conflict in a short spans of time. It’s a intriguing play because of the way it examines how far we as people are willing to go with what stories we assume into our own narrative.
The basic premise (and Gibbs mentions in the interview I had with them before viewing the show) is that an unknown, friendless, family-less person rolls out to Hollywood hoping to do something to make money that’s less physically strenuous than the steel mill job he’s had in east-penciltuckey-nowhere. And BAM in the blink of a Hollywood eye, his request is granted. As long as he’s okay pretending to be somebody and something he’s not. And that’s all well and fine right up until it’s not. The overall plot progression of the narrative is intriguing and Gibbs has a sturdy handle on how to build tension, balanced with humor, into his script. The performers- Benjamin Mccardell, Ashley Mayfield, Kieran Newell, and Maxwell Wolf- have found delightfully humorous ways to work with this script and it looks like it’s going to be a fun adventure to invest in over this weekend (March 22nd – 24th 2024.)
That said, if you want more of an in-depth experience, you can read the transcript here below of the pre-show chit-chat I had (in person!!) with playwright Marshall Logan Gibbs and Producer/Performer Max Wolf. We talk about the show as well as Truest Ethos as a whole.
Thanks, you two, for letting me have a chat with you all about No Experience Necessary— it hardly seems like it’s been over 18 months since you got Truest Ethos up and running. And of course we’re much further along in the world because the last time I spoke with the two of you about the company getting started, it was a Zoom-interview, and now here we are in person! So tell me all about this No Experience Necessary. What’s it all about?
Marshall Logan Gibbs: Aloof, amateur actor who moves out to Hollywood, trying to find a job that won’t give him a hernia but will still pay well. He gets hired to appear on TV, pretending to be this world-renowned author. Instant fame overnight, it’s everything his wildest dreams could hope for. But then the lie goes a little too far, people he cares about get hurt, and he has to ask what’s really more important to him— fame and riches? Or genuine connection.
Why did Truest Ethos decide to pick up and produce No Experience Necessary as opposed to something else that might have been coming down the pipeline?
Marshall: From my prospective, and of course Max can speak as the producer here though we do talk through what the company will do as we’re the co-founders, but I had this full-length play. This is a four-person cast, and it’s not one singular location the way Scam Artist was but this show is still in the realm of feasibility.
Max Wolf: With this play, it’s presented us an opportunity to definitely step up the scale but at the same time it’s totally still within our ballpark. Its character driven, which is big for us. In our sophomore production, we were looking for something that we could really dive into and this was an extra-special project because Marshall was trying to be more separate from their work— by not directing it this time around. And we really fell into a great team for this production, especially with Francesco (Director Francesco Leandri) who read it and they loved the piece.
And has Francesco directed around the area before?
Max: Academically, at Towson. This is their first time directing outside of the academic space.
That’s fantastic. Who else is involved with your production team?
Max: I’m producing—
Marshall: I wrote the play, I’m also producing and did the sound design.
Max: Christina, Marshall’s partner, is stage managing. (Chrstina Panousos)
Marshall: We also have Dan Goodrich, who is the venue coordinator here at Chesapeake Arts Center, he is our lighting designer.
This is the second production for Truest Ethos. How do we think the company has grown since its inaugural performance of Scam Artist, a Marshall Logan Gibbs one-act, back in 2022?
Marshall: We have stepped up the scale on all fronts, I think. Definitely with the script and run-time. The technical needs of the show and also creatively too. I think that this story is more personal for me as well. It draws from my own experience of moving from farm country to LA direct, and I didn’t get famous all of the sudden the way the character does, but it’s still the same emotion. So it has a deeper personal connection for me. I was never scammed personally like the characters from Scam Artist.
Max: It’s bigger. More sweeping.
Marshall: And I’m not directing!
Max: As someone who is very familiar with Marshall’s work I think this is one of the best things I’ve ever seen them write. I think it’s a stronger piece of theatre; I think we’re building well by making this our second production.
Marshall: And falling in line with part of Truest Ethos’ mission, the script is evolving dramatically in rehearsals. I attended maybe the first half of the rehearsals and then I stepped away for a bit. In that first half, I tried to keep my mouth shut as much as I could and just listen to what was happening.
Max: These actors are great. We were wise-cracking all throughout the process and a lot of that stuff has found its way into the script and that has been very fun.
You’ve said these actors, and Max I know you’re one of them— one of four? But who are the others?
Max: Ashley Mayfield is playing Astrid, who is the make-up artist character. Then there’s Benjamin Mccardell, who plays Jacob, and that’s the farm-to-fame protagonist. And then Kieran Newell plays the role of Stephen, who is the Hollywood agent, and Kieran is a recent Towson graduate. And then me of course, I play a whole bunch of ‘others.’ This is fun, young, spunky cast. Everyone is just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks, luckily a lot of stuff seems to be sticking!
Marshall: I think it matches the energy of the show. There’s a balanced, youthful zaniness to the show and I couldn’t ask for a better group on and off stage to meet that energy.
What would you say you have learned about yourself, Marshall, as a playwright, from the last time through to this time? What are you learning or discovering, what have you taught yourself?
Marshall: To be a broken record, yes, I have kept my promise not to direct my own work in the foreseeable future. I’ve had other opportunities with some of my other one-acts, since Scam Artist, through other companies, and it’s been playwright hat only. Every time I do feel like I’m learning more about the playwright’s role in the room and the relationships the playwright has with the director versus actors— and it’s none. I’m learning more about how actors and directors get to relate and how I just get to sit back and watch. It has been really nice this time around getting to work with Francesco, who has made the show their own and taken it to places that I wouldn’t have taken it. But those places are still so valid and so awesome and I’m loving every second of it.
Max, you’ve produced both of these shows now, so how are you finding your role as producer, artistic director/founder whatever title you’re having, is growing and what are you learning about yourself in those roles by getting to be involved with this production?
Max: This one I feel like I’m definitely more involved than I was with the last one. I was juggling two other shows when Scam Artist was going on. So I kind of came in towards the end— like tech week. The show needed an extra set of eyes and it was nice for me to be there then and that was that. But for this show, Francesco and I have been friends for a very long time, I think we’re coming up on a decade at this point. They and I are very collaborative. That was a really great experience for me. With Marshall and I, when we were doing Scam Artist, I was never really the “producer on the floor.” I mean I was definitely there in finance. But for this I feel like I’m watching what we’re creating every step of the way. I feel a lot of pride in what is happening in that room, more than I think I normally would and a part of that is because I’m an actor as well in this show. I have a lot riding on it. I think this project lit a fire under my butt as well? I’m in the show so the stakes feel higher, which made me want to be more invested as a producer and not just the guy who throws money at things. I feel like you really need to understand what the idea of the production is as a producer? Everyone needs to be on the same page.
Marshall: You are definitely a hands on producer.
We love a “hands on” producer as opposed to someone who just blindly throws money at a project.
Max: I’ve done my fair share of money-throwing, but I’d like to think that when the money was thrown I was focusing on making sure it was thrown at the right things so we could improve the overall quality of the production and be responsible with our financial investments.
If there is one thing that you hope people will take away from coming out to see No Experience Necessary, what would that be?
Max: I want to speak first so that Marshall has to think harder! You have to be true to yourself. Don’t let the world around you persuade who you are inside. It is a very fun show but the ending—Marshall’s endings always have a way to leave you thinking I guess? It never goes exactly where you thought it was going to go. A little ambiguity, a little curiosity, a little uncertainty? I think that’s a good thing. It makes you think.
Marshall: It’s a story about genuine connection. We talk about anxiety in this show too and that might take some people by surprise. Especially anxiety with imposter syndrome and the concept of “do I belong?” So finding your place, where is your place, all those meaty questions that we’re all asking ourselves all the time? I think that’s the takeaway here. It’s funny the shape that imposter syndrome takes in this show because the protagonist is literally pretending to be somebody when he’s not. Then the consequences of that coming into play.
Max: Don’t lie on your resume! That’s the other takeaway! Don’t lie on your resume!
Marshall: This protagonist Jacob, the journey that he takes and the consequences that he faces really speak to all of that. And I hope people find that while being true to themselves. I’m really happy that in the second act— and this might be a spoiler, so let me speak carefully here— but in the second act we start to see the consequences that arise when you lie and take the easy way out. And I think that’s like a life lesson. Actions, especially when you do things like lie in this capacity, do have consequences.
Put your marketing hats on. Why do you want people to come out and see No Experience Necessary?
Marshall: New works, baby!
Marshall: It’s fresh! It’s new! It’s zany! It’s out there! Guaranteed to have a good time for at least an hour and a half!
I cannot express enough to my readers how much like a cheesy-bad radio ad that just sounded, which just desperately makes me want to see it all the more.
Marshall: There is some of that in there. Max is playing what— the TV host, the A-list celebrity, the intern/assistant?
Max: Yeah, the other three actors have set characters and I’m sort of playing the ‘Hollywood’ world around them.
Marshall: You’re playing Hollywood. You are the Hollywood.
If you had to sum up your experience with No Experience Necessary in just one word, what is the word you would use?
Max: Communal.
Marshall: Gut-busting. Ooh— but Max mentioned communal as a word and I want to point out that that is not just for Truest Ethos. We needed a desk? And MTC (Maryland Theatre Collective) was kind and lent us a desk.
We love MTC. They also use this space here at Chesapeake Arts Center.
Marshall: And also, I did get permission to mention this, but MTC is doing a play of mine this fall. Max is directing, it’s called Monster or #MeTooBrute, and it’s Julius Caeser as an online influencer. It’s a full-length, very tech-heavy, and will be coming up one weekend in October.
No Experience Necessary plays March 22nd, 23rd, and 24th 2024 with Truest Ethos Theatre Company currently in Studio 194 at the Chesapeake Arts Center— 194 Hammond Lane in the Brooklyn Park neighborhood of Baltimore, MD. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance online.
