Little did Tim Robbins, the Artistic Director of The Actors’ Gang, know when he asked the company to write plays, that one of the ensemble’s newest members, James Bane, had already been doing just that. Little did Bane know that his project, James’ Play, would find its way into the company’s Angels, Devils and Other Plays, an evening of 11 short plays, that’s currently being performed through June 16th.
“I immediately thought of this play I had written already, but it was originally a one-man piece,” Bane said by phone recently. “But being a new member of The Actors’ Gang, I didn’t want to not submit something. I wanted to show that I’m active and trying to participate. I should just send it and see if he likes or not. I was very fortunate that he did.”
In James’ Play, Bane tackles the subject of suicide. It’s something with which he’s sadly all too familiar. The former Marine’s father killed himself in March of 2011.
“When my dad committed suicide I found out his father had also committed suicide,” Bane revealed. “I’m James Edward Bane III and I found out my grandfather, James Edward Bane, who was a World War II veteran, killed himself as well. That might be a pattern. Maybe not. But I can’t ignore it. Unfortunately right after I first performed this solo piece, my best friend Brad, who was a Marine, took his own life in December of 2011.”
Fortunately Bane had a support system he could lean on while he was enrolled at USC getting his MFA in Theatre.
“It’s a lot like a family. I had this incredible instructor, Luis Alfaro [playwright: Oedipus El Rey, Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles] and he encouraged us to write the story we have to write. At the time I was dealing with my father’s suicide, but trying not to dwell on it. But part of the healing process was to explore it creatively for me.”
Visions of being an actor were in his mind during the last years of his time in the Marines. When self-doubt reared its ugly head, Bane got a major reality check. “I was in Washington, D.C. working with injured guys back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and you would see them come to terms with their injuries and disabilities. I remember being up there and being asked what I wanted to do and I said ‘I don’t know if I could do this.’ And I was saying it to a kid without legs who said he was going to do a marathon. I couldn’t believe I was saying this to him. It’s really my attitude: if I want to be defeated by this I’m going to be. If I want to grow past this, I can, too.”
When Bane found himself accepted into The Actors’ Gang, nobody was as surprised as he was. “I got into acting thinking about being a movie star, not an artist,” he offered. “Now I know it’s so much more than that. I never thought I’d write anything. How did I get to be in the company of so many talented and hardworking actors who want to bring something to life? It’s really hard to describe at times.”
Now that he’s there, he has high hopes for what James’ Play can accomplish. “My goal is twofold. One is to help me deal with my crap. But also I really hope, and this is the bigger thing, I hope it gives a voice to someone else’s feelings if they are thinking about hurting themselves. Knowing they aren’t alone or seeing the effect it has on loved one. If it gives them a pause for a second longer, that’s really my hope.”
And if his dad or his buddy Brad had a chance to see the play, what would he like their reaction to be? “I would want them to be proud of my work; proud of me for pursuing this dream. And in all honesty, I would like for them to tell me it’s okay for me to use their stories. I still have a problem with that. I don’t know if it is survivor’s guilt, but part of me feels guilty for using part of their story even though I’m a part of it.”
Main Image by Ashley Randall/Courtesy of The Actors’ Gang