7/2/03

To Whom It May Concern:

I have known Robert Carne for three months.  I was fortunate enough to be one of the cast members of “Chamber Music” for Workn’ Girl Productions which Robert directed.  Robert was incredibly supportive of each actor’s personal process, allowing enough freedom for individual character development, whilst giving suggestions and advice where needed.  He created a safe, creative space for the actor to experiment.  It was obvious to me that Robert had an incredibly solid technique, which he was able to impart in a clear, understandable way (a rare thing indeed).  I found his direction to be intelligent, insightful, and always practical.  Robert was wonderful to work with, and I hope to have the pleasure of working with him again soon.  I would recommend him highly as a director or acting coach.

Melissa Layton (Role of Pearl White)

 9/13/03

I was fortunate enough to be one of the 9 cast members to work with Robert Carne on the production of Arthur Kopit’s comedy Chamber Music.  As a person Rob is extremely kind, giving and enthusiastic, and as a director he is exactly the same.  From the beginning Rob encouraged us to experiment (‘Nothing you can do will be going too far for me’!) and find moments that worked for us.  Rob is a very imaginative director who creates on the spot, and despite his own ideas continually being far superior, he willingly listened to ours with endless patience and always emphasized that his ideas came from what we were contributing as actors. And how wonderful to be told ‘OK, now forget what we rehearsed, let’s go with this moment’.  Put quite simply, Robert Carne is the director of every actor’s dreams.

Natalie Richards, actor

2003

To Whom it May Concern

 Most of our company first met Robert Carne at the beginning of this year (2003) when we approached him to direct our play.

 As this was the company’s first production we did not have a lot of money to invest in a director. We approached Robert (he came highly recommended) in the hope that he would be able to give us at least 10 hours worth of direction. Robert, obviously having had more experience in theatre than ‘Workn’ Girl Productions’, told us that he would be delighted to assist, but stated he would need to give us at least 30 hours worth of direction for the play we were considering.  After our second meeting, Robert counted back the weeks until our first performance and said he would help us from week 6 until opening.  Lucky that this wasn’t the case!!  Robert showed up to every one of our readings (which were held weekly) months before we begun official rehearsals. This gave us time to understand him as a director and for him to get to know us as a group.  We chose a one-act play with nine characters. 

 During the weeks up to official rehearsals I was amazed at how quickly Robert had studied each actor for his or her strengths and weaknesses and was able to direct each accordingly.  During our rehearsals, Robert, who has such a wealth of information, shared his knowledge and experiences with us.  He was always very approachable within the group during rehearsals and also, if you were struggling or needed to clarify something, you could approach him at any other time after rehearsal or even give him a call where he would drop everything to assist.

 During our official rehearsals, Robert had so much enthusiasm and motivation.  He gave us the confidence to explore and experiment and ensured that we used our time efficiently.

 Robert took control of our “bump in” where he organized our lighting and set.  Robert made himself available to all of our shows (ten in total) and our dress rehearsal.  Robert took notes at every show and gave them back to us at our call time before the next performance.

 Our first production would not have been as successful without Robert as our Director. Robert’s commitment and dedication to us personally and professionally went over and above what was required and expected.  Our entire cast and company have gained so much from Robert and we will always be very grateful that we met and worked with him. As a result of this experience we will always consult Robert in any future endeavour Workn’ Girl Productions, or we personally, embark on.

 We highly recommend Robert as a Director.

 Yours sincerely

                               Charmain Lorch

For Workn’ Girl Productions inc