Confessions of a Single Parent (Actress)

My name is Tamara Anderson, an educational advocate, parent, educator, and a professional actress speaking as a member of Alliance for Philadelphia Public Schools and Opt Out Philly. And my daughter is an artist. The culture of Standardized Testing is in direct opposition to the altruistic mission set forth by the School District of Philadelphia, which is “to provide a high-quality education that prepares, ensures, and empowers all students to achieve their full intellectual and social potential in order to become lifelong learners and productive members of society.” The problem is that this is not in align with the purpose of state testing that is overly connected to severe accountability measures that can lead to handing over a poor performing school to a charter school operator, eliminating teachers and support staff, or simply destroying a community in order to increase test performance.   The truth about testing is that it is a multi-billion dollar business that has q...

In the world of film and television, moments are compressed and smaller. As actors we are expected to sustain moments for brief and purposeful minutes. But at times when we transfer from stage to screen we have to make the adjustment. No one needs a complete bio for a one-liner or a brief scene but it does need to have something. And it should not take a million takes to figure it out. This is where homework comes in. Once I was doing a scene for a class and my character was a waitress reading a lists of fish being sold to a customer. She opened up the following question to the class: "What do you think Tamara's character wants in the scene?" The answers began to fly around the room, "She wants to get it done because she is exhausted from work, She is tired of being abused." Blah Blah Blah. Then the question came to me. "I think she simply wants to sell fish." Yep! Because sometimes the role of pizza delivery guy simply wants to deliver pizza. And ...

"You can only have a divine experience if you recognize aspects of yourself that maybe you can't reveal," Viola Davis. Watching an interview with Ms. Viola Davis and Mr. Denzel Washington about Fences by August Wilson on Broadway reminded me of the beauty that is felt each time I am on stage or even in the audition space. It reminded me of the power of words and how a great script shows vulnerability and the imperfections that make up this tapestry that we call life. One of my students just asked me who I considered to be amazing actors. And I found myself making excuses and fumbling over my response because so many of the scripts that we see on the screen are simply snapshots and glimpses into the actual three-dimensional aspects of humanity. They are not always the vehicles for actors to truly flex their acting muscles. The stage is a bit a different. It is not for the meek. It is for those who are able to sustain, stretch, fall, and rise without the assistance of e...

If you have been too busy with auditions, performing, and making all your dreams come true, it may not be so obvious that public education is going to hell in a hand basket. Standardized test scores are the norm and critical thinking and the arts are simply for those who can afford it. Literature is barely read and the joy that we all got from attending music in school is no longer the norm. I just attended a conference where the Director of an organization that provides funding to many schools in Philadelphia described educational reform as, "Dumping the Losers." I substitute at schools that focus much of their energy on how a student can pass an exam in Kindergarten as opposed to developing joy for learning through play. Shit! They cannot even take a nap when neuroscience studies proves that they need them. And this corporate influence is not only in schools, it is also in entertainment. Full-time jobs with benefits in television are so limited because anyone with a camer...

Billy Porter during an interview said that he was grateful for the lack of work. He reminded me that we should never only practice our art when we are under contract. We should never seek permission to do what we do. There are so many ways for us to connect with other actors, writers, and directors to create an artistic moment. It reminds me of the many readings that I have participated in that at times were simply in a living room with home cooked food and some chairs. The new words on the page that have yet to be spoken provided me with the chance to remember why I entered this business in the first place. The sheer joy of trying something new and pruning old routines into fresher ones. The space during unemployment lets me learn new music new monologues, and to read and watch new plays. Just last week I learned some great new songs that I had copied years ago and never looked at. Hearing them in the rehearsal space with the piano's support brought a smile to my face and a flut...