ch-ch-changes

It has been a little while since a blog update but that does not mean nothing has happened. After a lot of hemming and ha-ing about the schedule, we finally have a rehearsal schedule that is close enough to finalized to begin rehearsals. Rehearsals began on Monday and have been moving ever since. We're using these first few rehearsals to look closely at the scripts and start big rewrites. It is really inspiring what happens when you get your words into the hands of a passionate design team, a thoughtful director, and a very talented cast. Issues in the script appear that you've never seen before, lines become funny that were once just lines, and the rewriting process seems much more doable. It's hard to hear interpretation in your head as you write. Of course, I know exactly how everything would sound if I always read it but that is never the way an actor will take the words. And thank god for that.

I wish it were as easy to edit the solo piece. In the past three days I've been through four edits of the piece and have probably shaved 10 minutes from it's run time (roughly a page of words). That many edits in so few days is a bit excessive so as per Danielle's nudging, I'm going to sit on it for a few days. We'll block the piece tonight (or begin anyway) and I can focus on being an actor and developing a character rather than being a playwright rewriting a script. I thought it would be much easier to separate these dual roles but as it turns out, they work together very closely. It is a challenging area for me that I expect to work on very diligently.

What I'm running into now is the delicate balance in rewrites. I want to make the shows make more sense, to flush out ideas and dialogue and to still remain artistically happy. As we discuss interpretation and sticky spots in the process, I see where the weak spots of the script are; I know where plot points are vague. Now, I have to decide what is purposely vague, what is to be left up to audience interpretation and what really needs to be written to simply make a better script. I think the tendency for playwrights (especially young playwrights, like myself) is to take the input of everyone and try to implement every idea into the script. I find myself leaning towards this. However, in the end it has to be a script I am happy with, that I feel like is still my own.

Someone reminded me of the dates of our show the other day (March 4th and 5th) and I realized we are just about a month from performance. The process is moving very quickly. We still keep running into little obstacles, most of which are taken care of very quickly but sometimes not without a little heartache. For awhile, our big issue to be taken care of was the start times of our show. Apocalypse Plays is on the same weekend as two other shows. But after a little fanagling we have finalized start times that will hopefully work for everyone. The show on the 4th will begin at 9pm while the two shows on the 5th will be at 7:30pm and 10pm. I'm hoping the varying times will make it easier to get more people to the theatre.

Sleeping hours are few and far between these day. The mind of the artist never ceases.

cast

And...we have a cast! Now the show seems very real. I think I have been living in a world where this wasn't really happening. All of the talk seemed nice about the show but in my head it seemed like just that, talk. But now, with real people willing to do my work, it does seem real. We're all working toward the goal: final production. Starting this week is a race to March 4th and 5th. I don't want to take this production too fast but at the same time, I know the time will fly.

The cast is meeting for the first time tonight. Originally, the plan was to have a read-thru but at least one of our cast members won't be there and another one has to leave early. So we'll talk about the process, thank everyone sincerely and send them on their way.

The idea is that the first week will consist of just work-shopping the plays. It has been awhile since I have taken a red pen to these plays and edited them. I'll looking forward to seeing them on their feet. The plan is to give the actors the scripts, set up an approximate set and let them naturally block the shows themselves. Then change the set and let them try it again. I need to see what they can do with the script the way it is now and then hopefully, the inspiration will strike me to change them/edit them/generally make them better. I'm working for a polished finish product and I only have two months to do so. While the pretty long rehearsal process will be helpful, I wish I was getting more performances of the work. As a playwright, audiences tell you a lot about the work. There are some things you can only learn from watching an audience watch your work. Maybe I'll have to bring some people in throughout the process to get their feedback.

Auditions Tomorrow!

Happy New Year blogosphere. There has been a lag in posts seeing as how school just resumed session for winter quarter. The production (and these blogs) should pick up now that school has started moving again.

Yes, we audition tomorrow! My only concern at this moment is the lack of people. Winter quarter is a hard time. We try and cram so much into just ten weeks. Students are occupied with the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF), main stage shows, classes, other STP shows and other performance classes. It is a trial to get students this quarter but I am hopeful. It is helpful that I will be playing one of the parts myself but that still leaves six parts to be filled (five more substantial parts).

I've never been on the other side of the audition table before; I have to say I'm pretty excited. As an actor you spend so much time attempting to be exactly what other people want for your production. This time I get to decide what I want. Well, Danielle and I get to decide what we want. It seems to me to be a scary prospect. Well, here we go.

We had our first production meeting last week. It went well. We are definitely at the beginning of our process. The beginning of the process is not without its difficulties though. Our dates (March 4th and 5th) overlap with not one but two other shows, our set designer will only be here for half of the production and we have a lot of hoops to jump through. We're not changing our dates but we may be moving our start times to try and be accommodating to other productions. It'll be a full weekend but we want as many people to be able to see the show and we want to see other shows as well. All in all I'm determined to make this work. It has to now especially because Apocalypse Plays is my senior project. I am currently getting credit for this production (which is also a new exciting development).

We sign contracts tomorrow. And we audition. We're only days away from being a full blown production.