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Jamison Foreman esteems each acting endeavor as a chance to fathom aspects of his humanity and to instill in patrons a greater sense of their identities’ possibilities. Beginning tonight, the 26-year-old will further his fascination with combining contemplation and consideration as Jim O’Connor in “The Glass Menagerie.”
“He’s the character who comes closest to who I am,” the resident of the 1800 block of South 12th Street said of the Tennessee Williams creation. “There’s this positive restlessness within him that’s akin to what I’m going through. We want to explore ourselves and compel others.”
The East Passyunk Crossing inhabitant is helping Commonwealth Classic Theatre to celebrates its 10th anniversary summer season with a three-week run at the Center City-situated Off Broad Street Theatre. The 1944 play marks his fourth collaboration with the Media-based entity, including the recent replete-with-South-Philly-residents production of “Twelfth Night.” Touting Williams’ text as teeming with rich descriptors and images, he also reveres its relevance to contemporary society, a blessing that puts its author on par with some of Foreman’s favorite scribes, namely Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen and William Shakespeare.
“The flow of the script is just as illustrative as that of Shakespeare’s works and allows as much attachment to the language,” he said. “Plus, when we look at what it says about the difficulties of economic inequality, that really hits home with today’s audiences.”
His role finds Foreman playing a comforter, both of himself and Laura Wingfield, the owner of the title collection, and siding with the sentiment that life and art love imitating each other. Just as O’Connor aspires for improvement, his portrayer yearns for novelty and will experience it next month.
“I feel as if I’ve just lifted off the diving board and am at the apex of the jump,” Foreman said of plans to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree through the Academy for Classical Acting, a partnership between the Shakespeare Theatre Co. and George Washington University. “There’s still the fall to get into the water, and the water is September.”
Before he reaches the metaphorical milestone, the thespian is reveling in having another local opportunity to tackle a superlative opus, as “The Glass Menagerie” further fuels his interest in executing works that not only sate his storytelling urges but also surfeit his poetic sensitivities. In leaving an emotional residue he hopes will help to alter viewers’ perceptions of the world, the stage presentations engender within Foreman a call to continue to enrich himself.
“I’m always demanding more of myself,” he said. “With each new assignment, I find myself taking courses in that time period and in those eras’ thought processes. I love investing the time because the work is that captivating.”
As Foreman adores Shakespeare, one could contend, to borrow a bit from “Hamlet,” he is “to the manner born” as a performer. His parents met as regional theater practitioners, with his mother inserting him into productions once she began helming directorial duties.
“Acting is essentially the family business,” the Virginia native said of his introduction to memorizing and mesmerizing. “Having exposure at a young age pretty much set me up for this career, and I’ve become so enamored with disappearing into any role for the glory of the art.”
Foreman made musical theater his foremost pursuit and analyzed its serious and escapist qualities as a registrant at The University of the Arts, with Charlie Gilbert, the former director of the Ira Brind School of Theater Arts and another East Passyunk Crossing denizen, helping him to secure his South Philly abode. Once a degreed individual, he appeared in a Baltimore staging of “Damn Yankees” and a District of Columbia offering of “Sweeney Todd,” with a transformative trip to China for a tour of “Fame” also proving his beginner’s pluck.
“I soon realized I had a craving for a tad more depth and desired more of the classical theater scene,” Foreman said, noting the “beautiful qualities” of the language within the latter. “I’ll never knock musical theater, which still goes down as my first passion, but it’s been great to experience so many different sorts of projects.”
Pennsylvania has proven a profitable source of variety, as he has aligned himself with standout presenters such as the Adrienne Theatre, Azuka Theatre, New City Stage, Walnut Street Theatre and Inis Nua, InterAct Theatre and People’s Light & Theatre companies. He has especially enjoyed gracing stages in Philadelphia, as he sees himself and his ilk as rejecters of ridicule directed at theater’s potency.
“The last year alone has featured so many companies putting on immensely social conscious works,” Foreman said. “There are so many challenging pieces, it’s pretty clear we’re not playing small ball in this city.”
The wherewithal-abounding artist added he senses traces of agitation among his peers, as they look to maximize what he believes is the city’s “unfulfilled promise.” While he loves conversing with his contemporaries about the future of their field, he adores aiding youths in developing delight for their interpretive and creative gifts, which he encourages as a pianist/instructor for the Arden Theatre’s Hamilton Family Arts Center.
“Just like with adults, I base what I do with the children on a deep love for and understanding of what art can do for a person’s life,” Foreman, whose melodic endeavors include the 2009 FringeArts Festival musical “Realm of the Unreal,” said. “It’s fantastic helping them to use context and intellect to create a new vantage point through which to view life.”
With “a treasure chest of motifs” and other ideas, the impending graduate school student knows his diligence could yield critical regard, but nothing will tempt his grounded nature to meet the puffy clouds of pride.
“I’m looking to grow as an artist, but I’m only temporary,” Foreman said. “It’s art that’s going to live on.”
For tickets, visit commonwealthclassictheatre.org.
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124.
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