mark cohen, the_blank_slate
15. Is your character a "regular" anywhere? What do the other people there think of him?
haha. mark is a regular at the life cafe in alphabet city, where he stays all night and never buys anything-- even when he does order, he can't pay. the maitre'd hates him (and his friends who all do the same thing with him) but the waitstaff is friendly and a lot of them are starving artists just like him, so they all get along well. he's friendly with the other regulars there too; in the movie you see the group (mark, roger, mimi, maureen, etc) come in and greet a lot of the other customers by name, and they push the tables all together to sit in a big group.
16. If your character went to a zoo and didn't have time to see everything, which animals would he
look at?
the polar bears, which he's loved since he was little for no reason he can explain, and any underwater animal-- sharks, whales, fish, whatever. the ocean both fascinates and terrifies him, and he loves seeing a bit of it up close. he'd be happy just at an aquarium if he could.
17. When your character goes shopping, which stores does he frequent?
goodwill and street vendors are about the extent of mark's choices in terms of clothing, but he's pretty deft at shoplifting too. other than clothes, he pretty much only goes into bookstores, both because he loves to read and again because it's easy to shoplift books. they don't have a TV so anything of that nature is out, and the only other store he would go into would be a camera store, to ogle parts and accessories for his.
18. What is your character's financial situation? How does he feel about it?
there's poor, then there's broke, and then there's the bohos of the 6th floor loft on the corner of 11th and B. they're basically squatters in the building that belongs to an old friend's father-in-law, and they get money when collins has a teaching job (or sells some of his pot) or when mark's parents send him some. they can't afford to pay for heat in the building, or even electricity sometimes, so they're all pretty broke. mark is happy with it though; he finds it freeing not to be weighed down by worries about money or things, and as long as they can pay for food and roger's medicine they'll be okay.
19. What hobbies did your character have once, but has since given up on?
he used to watch old movies a lot-- both old classics and just his old favorites. but not having a tv will make that a bit impossible. he used to go to movies on his own a lot too, though the lack of money thing makes that difficult now. he once did a lot more writing than he does now; up until just before the play begins he was shooting off of screenplays he'd written, and when he was in high school he wrote prose and poetry as well.
20. Has your character ever been fired from a job? If so, why?
yes. when he was 16 he was fired from his first job at starbucks because his manager didn't like him and wrote him up for stupid things. this was one of the things that cemented mark's 'damn the man' attitude toward corporate america (though at the time he was just pissed to be broke again).
21. Has your character ever quit a job? If so, why?
mark has quit a few jobs when they didn't hold his attention. after proving he could live the broke bohemian lifestyle, he doesn't feel the need to hold down steady income. he's been in and out of work as their need demands; when they're really broke and all out of work he'll go find another coffee shop or a bookstore to take him in, but he usually ends up quitting after a while because it cuts into his filming time. also, he memorably quits his job with the TV show buzzline toward the end of the play, because he realizes it's selling his soul to corporate america the same as starbucks was ten years before; he has a talent and it's something he loves doing, and he's going to do it or do nothing.
haha. mark is a regular at the life cafe in alphabet city, where he stays all night and never buys anything-- even when he does order, he can't pay. the maitre'd hates him (and his friends who all do the same thing with him) but the waitstaff is friendly and a lot of them are starving artists just like him, so they all get along well. he's friendly with the other regulars there too; in the movie you see the group (mark, roger, mimi, maureen, etc) come in and greet a lot of the other customers by name, and they push the tables all together to sit in a big group.
16. If your character went to a zoo and didn't have time to see everything, which animals would he
look at?
the polar bears, which he's loved since he was little for no reason he can explain, and any underwater animal-- sharks, whales, fish, whatever. the ocean both fascinates and terrifies him, and he loves seeing a bit of it up close. he'd be happy just at an aquarium if he could.
17. When your character goes shopping, which stores does he frequent?
goodwill and street vendors are about the extent of mark's choices in terms of clothing, but he's pretty deft at shoplifting too. other than clothes, he pretty much only goes into bookstores, both because he loves to read and again because it's easy to shoplift books. they don't have a TV so anything of that nature is out, and the only other store he would go into would be a camera store, to ogle parts and accessories for his.
18. What is your character's financial situation? How does he feel about it?
there's poor, then there's broke, and then there's the bohos of the 6th floor loft on the corner of 11th and B. they're basically squatters in the building that belongs to an old friend's father-in-law, and they get money when collins has a teaching job (or sells some of his pot) or when mark's parents send him some. they can't afford to pay for heat in the building, or even electricity sometimes, so they're all pretty broke. mark is happy with it though; he finds it freeing not to be weighed down by worries about money or things, and as long as they can pay for food and roger's medicine they'll be okay.
19. What hobbies did your character have once, but has since given up on?
he used to watch old movies a lot-- both old classics and just his old favorites. but not having a tv will make that a bit impossible. he used to go to movies on his own a lot too, though the lack of money thing makes that difficult now. he once did a lot more writing than he does now; up until just before the play begins he was shooting off of screenplays he'd written, and when he was in high school he wrote prose and poetry as well.
20. Has your character ever been fired from a job? If so, why?
yes. when he was 16 he was fired from his first job at starbucks because his manager didn't like him and wrote him up for stupid things. this was one of the things that cemented mark's 'damn the man' attitude toward corporate america (though at the time he was just pissed to be broke again).
21. Has your character ever quit a job? If so, why?
mark has quit a few jobs when they didn't hold his attention. after proving he could live the broke bohemian lifestyle, he doesn't feel the need to hold down steady income. he's been in and out of work as their need demands; when they're really broke and all out of work he'll go find another coffee shop or a bookstore to take him in, but he usually ends up quitting after a while because it cuts into his filming time. also, he memorably quits his job with the TV show buzzline toward the end of the play, because he realizes it's selling his soul to corporate america the same as starbucks was ten years before; he has a talent and it's something he loves doing, and he's going to do it or do nothing.