Thurs Feb 26 - Four(play) at Table

We weren't actually at a table again, but rather hanging out in the library of my basement. Which was nice and relaxed, but I admit rehearsing in my basement makes me want to work in jammies. This is not exactly a "dress for success" attitude. I resisted my flannels, but other distractions did pop up, like the magnificent (and allergy inducing, sorry D) Doyle Cat, and the bouncy bebe V. Nevertheless, I was glad people made the trek out east so we didn't lose an evening work.

Once we got down to it, the work was crisp and moved smoothly. Scenes called: 2 - Anna's studio and Scene 11 - hotel. A meeting, and a parting. We did the work in sensible chronological order. That is the logical way to proceed - not only do we find parallels and word echos, there is the very practical consideration of being able to let T out after her scene. It's the best idea. BUT...while I am not a unsettled as I felt after the work-through of scene 12, scene 11 is certainly also a heartbreaker. Making these observations in our first full week makes me think I need some post-rehearsal ritual or something to shake off the emotional drain. Credit to both the playwright and the cast for provoking this reaction, by the way.

In the scenes, there was some nice banter work as well as emotional and physical turmoil. Both scenes are well set to start blocking next week.

An interesting point that came up in Scene 2 is the odd kinship that appears between Alice and Anna when they have time alone. There isn't a clear reason for it. And yet it is always there. I want to think about this some more. What does this dynamic give each character, and how will it manifest in the staging?

On Sunday we start blocking, despite the fact we haven't talked through scenes 4, 7, and 9. I had been getting a bit tense about this, but I've calmed down about it. After all, the work has been going very smoothly and the cast are putting in the work, so it's reasonable to put it on its feet and trust we'll bridge the gaps.

Now: a spagetti sauce sandwich and bed! I hope for better dreams tonight!

Wed Feb 25 - Table (for) Three

How well do we know the people we love?

It's hard to spend an hour on Scene 12 and not have that sticky question bounce around inside your skull. In a pessimistic mood, the question extends to include everyone we encounter. We only know what we are told and what we see. While the observant among us can sherlock our way through deductions to make educated guesses, the fact is we really do not know the heart of anyone, not even ourselves. Especially ourselves? Or is that too simple, too pat an answer, to satisfy the messy monster that lives in the heart of this play?

Think I'm being unnecessarily poetic? I think I am understating the point. Working on the Restaurant scene tonight we came across the line " Be bigger than jealous". But the character can't, he's unable to see past the physical betrayal of his partner. She seems unwilling to take the lumps and guilt for her actions as her motivation was not personal, and she did not seek the experience. Is monogamy a form of control? Is that a bad thing? The monster at the centre of the play is part jealousy, part vengeance, part martyr and part master. This hybrid beast lurks in every scene, waiting to taste blood.

I am both over the moon with the quality of work the cast is bringing and getting annoyed at the clock tick tick tocking away. We were able to get through the restaurant and the park scenes, barely. In hindsight is is hard to end the evening with the park, is is a brutal ending. When it comes at the end of a run it has a warmer ring, since it wraps up so many key elements of the story. Standing alone, it provokes sorrow and difficult questions without the payoff of structural closure.

Not much by way of lighter moments in these two scenes - but we did find a few. Also promising ways to make the betrayal(s) more personal and immediate. I don't want to get into specifics here, but the stakes went up considerably in the restaurant scene and I think the results will crackle onstage.

My head is getting muddled from the late evening, and the nagging questions. Going to sleep to think about the elements of identity that assure us we exist. No biggie there...

(note on picture: I tried to unwind by doing a Facebook meme involving randomly generated words and images. While the result was fun, it feels oddly like the universe wants to keep those questions at the front of my brain)

Tues Feb 24 - Table Day 2

Two couples. Two scenes. One diabolical writer. Result? So many horribly real ways love can go terribly wrong. Why must we be such selfish jerks? And why must our playwright have coded it in all such hideous beauty?

Of course, it is this very quality that draws almost everyone to the play. I've been asking everyone familiar with the play what they like about the script, and almost everyone says a variation on "it's just so real". I know what they mean, but it is that brute force honesty that makes the play so hard to watch. We're staging an emotional car crash, and we have to ensure full impact.

Full Cast Tonight! I am pleased by the generous give-and-take dynamic that is developing. The discussion and readings tonight sounded like a group who had been working together far longer than three rehearsals, both in terms of the general mood of the hall and in the clarity of thought going into the work. The two scenes worked (5 and 6) are the most complicated to block, both in terms of numbers and focus, so getting a clear grounding in the emotional shape of the scenes was my main objective. For bonus, we were able to discuss some key tactics in the breakup sequence.

In scene 5 (Gallery) it is essential that the entanglements seem that they may be carried off without terrible consequence or messy complications. We (the audience) have to like these characters, flawed though they may be, or nothing that follows will matter. There must be the promise of happily-ever-after. Without that lighter touch, the naked emotion of scene 6 (domestic interiors) could come off as a bunch of mean people hurting one another. And who would care enough to see that?

It is clear from the work tonight that the moment-by-moment sense of possibility is playable. There are several sections of 5 that give the actors the opportunity to use their wit and wiles to charm and enchant their scene partner - I think this is going to translate to an irresistable scene sequence overall. I am looking forward to putting it on its feet.

Scene 6. Gulp. This is where the bombing starts, each section brings another barrage of hard emotional truths and convenient self-deceptions. In the end, we're going to have to refocus on the playable, but in order to get there an entire backstory needed to be established and essential questions of character needed to be answered. Again, I felt the cast show excellent critical thinking in establishing these points, and we've made strong progress.

Unfortunately, we only got up to the point of Dan and Alice ending, with no time yet to dig into the raw edges of the last pages with Anna and Larry. On the one hand I am not too concerned - that section bleeds from the gut, and I think we'll explore it better in a physical rehearsal anyway. On the other - I need to watch how far we fall behind our posted schedule. We are now 2 scenes and 2 sections behind where we need to be to keep on track. Adding rehearsal is obviously not an option, and I do not want to rush the process too much when the group and cast dynamic is still gelling. I think I will have to sit down and think through the rest of this week and next to ensure we will cover all the necessary ground.

We had some visitors today - Raizie who will join us for props, and Tina, mistress of marketing both joined us to meet the cast and to get the flavour of the show. Thanks for coming, ladies!

Ahh now to sleep. Hope for no acrimonious messy humiliating break-up dreams. Love the play, but don't want it in my resting head tonight!

Mon Feb 23 - Table Talk Day One

My eyes are bigger than my stomach. Or rather, I knew I was piling too much into one evening, but I couldn't resist. Ah well, the work acheived reflects quality before quantity, and there's nothing there to be sorry for! In the end, we worked 2 1/2 of the 4 scenes called - not a great average if I was keeping stats, and would drive an SM crazy - but since I don't keep score or have an SM yet, I will keep whistling to myself and happily reflect on the progress we made this evening.

I think the achievement of the evening was a good thorough working of Scene 1. In a play where action and reaction are actual themes, it was important to establish the chain of action and to start thinking (collectively as well as in our individual work) about the choices and how those choices fit into the larger patterns. The antagonism between Dan and Larry, for example, manifests clearly in their brief encounter. Not that it would be overstated or given particular emphasis, but it establishes a relationship rhythms that may prove helpful.

This also gave an opportunity to begin the lengthy process of unravelling the mystery of Alice. Working with L to discover the difference between her truths and lies will be great fun. I don't want to push or force choices yet, because there is still so much text to sift. It does feel a bit like panning for gold - patience and repetition will pay off. I think we all need to have more time with both the text and the world to find answers.

I am looking forward to the banter bits we found - I must keep my lantern trained on the script looking for more of them. The lightness (spiritually, not content-wise) of those moment will be crucial to keep the tone of the overall piece inviting. Find the fun, or else!

L was released early, and we had an engaging reading, discussion and evaluation of Scene 3 - the infamous internet chat. On the one hand, hilarity will ensue. On the other, I must continue to contain my personal sense of sympathy for Larry. Both S and D recognize the tremendous fun and risk of the scene - I want to ensure the staging helps them, especially with the projections. I can already foresee this scene becoming a polish priority, in some ways it will run like a dance, once we have nailed down the visual story.

We scratched the surface of the surgery scene (10), but with a tortoiseshell comb, not a diamond cutter. There are so many thrust/parries in that duel we could spend an entire evening just there. But that is not in the cards - instead I focused on the need to elevate the fight and raise the stakes - for the audience, rather than a specific character - by giving Dan permission to struggle up to each point of confrontation. Why does he go to see Larry? Why does he linger when he is so throughly attacked and trounced? I still need to think on it before we revisit. Must say, it was nice to hear Larry win, especially right back to back with Scene 3.

Thanks all for a very thoughtful and productive evening. Stay warm!

First Read

And they're off!

First reads have an odd vibe, don't they? When you are working at a new theatre with new people, the process of sitting down and reading the words together is at once intimate and alienating. I think this is one of the reasons many of us theatre folk band together into small tribes and avoid playing with people we have never done shows with before. When you play with your own gang, there's less risk, more shorthands, less random stress, more history. The downside of that, of course, is that you fall into ruts and do the same show over and over again, changing only the title and perhaps a costume or two. For me, there isn't an old crony in the bunch. Stepping into a new project with a large number of variables puts us outside of our comfort zone.

But then, this play (Closer) lives outside of the comfort zone. It revels in it the outland of emotional gamble. It roars and smashes the comfort zone to shards.

Still, I entered the room to meet a group of talented relative strangers, whose work shone for the brief glimpses they shared during the audition process. There is an internal tension to casting. Experience teaches that this is the part of the showbuilding with the greatest risk for the director. It stretches your imagination, but your imagination has to be grounded in reality. Therefore, the first read becomes a first test of my intuitive and theatrical sense and ability. No pressure.

All that in mind, I done good. (Pat self on back in self-congratulatory fashion). Once the room warmed and we had an opportunity to meet the space (thank you so much Brandon!) and to start setting up the world, the afternoon went by briskly. I was able to enjoy hearing the words with my ears after months of living with voices in my head. As I listened, I heard new things that I swear were never there before, and it was just so exciting to watch actors listen to one another, seeking/breaking connections and trying different approaches. This will never get old.

The read was followed by general discussion and then a scene by scene overview. I tried to give background on the play and playwright as would be helpful rather than a big lecture. This is another pitfall of preparation - by the time you hit the table, information is literally falling out of your ears and eyesockets. (okay, not literally. But it feels like it) I am glad we have a chance to revisit each scene at the table this coming week. The sheer emotional weight of the script needs time to settle and shake off before we can make staging decisions - the company needs to synchronize timeline and the precise story to move forward with clarity.

I want to thank everyone for their work today - actors, producers, designers, all - despite my jitters and first day panic your intelligent work and sense of adventure will make this show sparkle.

Huzzah!

Scene 12 - July 1997

Content Lifted from Wikipedia

July 1 - The United Kingdom hands sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
July 4 - NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
July 5 - In Cambodia, Hun Sen of the Cambodian People's Party overthrows Norodom Ranariddh in a coup.
July 7 - The Great Flood begins in southern Poland.
July 8 - Mayo Clinic researchers warn that the dieting drug "fen-phen" can cause severe heart and lung damage.
July 8 - NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance in 1999.
July 10 - In London, scientists report their DNA analysis findings from a Neanderthal skeleton, which support the out of Africa theory of human evolution, placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.
July 10 - Miguel Ángel Blanco is kidnapped in Ermua, Spain and murdered by the ETA.
July 11 - Thailand's worst hotel fire at Pattaya kills 90.
July 13 - The remains of Che Guevara are returned to Cuba for burial, alongside some of his comrades.
July 15 - Spree killer Andrew Cunanan shoots fashion designer Gianni Versace to death outside Versace's Miami, Florida residence.
July 16 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 63.17 to close at 8,038.88. It is the Dow's first close above 8,000. The Dow has doubled its value in 30 months.
July 17 - The F.W. Woolworth Company closes after 117 years in business.
July 21 - The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
July 23 - Digital Equipment Corporation files antitrust charges against chipmaker Intel.
July 25 - K.R. Narayanan is sworn in as India's 10th president and the first member of the Dalit caste to hold this office.
July 27 - About 50 are killed in the Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria.

Scene 11 - January 1997

Content Lifted from Wikipedia

January 9 - Yachtsman Tony Bullimore is found alive, 5 days after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean.

Bill Clinton, the President of the United States, began his second term on January 20
January 17 - A Delta II rocket carrying a military GPS payload explodes, shortly after liftoff from Cape Canaveral.
January 18 - In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill 3 Spanish aid workers, 3 soldiers, and seriously wound another.
January 19 - Yasser Arafat returns to Hebron after more than 30 years, and joins celebrations over the handover of the last Israeli-controlled West Bank city.
January 20 - U.S. President Bill Clinton is inaugurated for his second term.
January 21 - Newt Gingrich becomes the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives to be disciplined internally for ethical misconduct.
January 22 - Madeleine Albright becomes the first female Secretary of State, after confirmation by the United States Senate.
January 23 - Mir Aimal Kasi is sentenced to death for a 1993 assault rifle attack outside CIA headquarters that killed 2 and wounded 3.
January 26 - Super Bowl XXXI: The Green Bay Packers win the NFL Championship for the first time since 1967, defeating the New England Patriots 35-21 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
January 27 - It is revealed that French museums had nearly 2,000 pieces of art that had been stolen by Nazis.