Saturday, May 23, 2009

Day Four

Howdy,

Okay, the work is still going very well. And for four days into rehearsal the depth of the acting work is amazing. Today though had two interesting glitches. One Eric T. was a tad intellectual for the first half of rehearsal. Now, he was aware of it and made an adjustment for the second half. That earlier part of rehearsal demonstrated how specific and detailed the work has to be for the play to succeed, and one half of an off day sometimes is the best way to be reminded of how good the work has been. The first half of rehearsal would be good in any other process. But - Bo and Ruthie are not being intellectual, they are innocent, vulnerable, and very much in the present. It is their view of the world, and watching them mature through the play that makes the journey so powerful. And that was made clear today.
The other thing is, as much as Scott and I love that there is a minimal design element to the play, there are some challenges. We believe the 'trap' door will work. We will see in the theater. We are still creating the illusion through stage activity of shutting a 'window'. I found a solution that seemed to work... but for Scott it was still an activity and not really clear or specific. The good news is we have two and a half weeks to find the right activity. This is where an additional $1,500 can always help, to go from what is really in the world of the play... to what is required to fully experience the story. I like our solutions thus far - I'm sure we will find an equally beautiful and simple solution for this. It is my first moment of difficulty in the limitation of the realization of the physical world. I look forward to sharing the answer with you.
The play is beautiful. Sometimes that forgets to get mentioned. Scott has written a lovely play. With beautiful arcs for the character, wonderful situation, and tremendous language. And there are a few rewrites that he has incorporated that were specific to notes from the last workshop, and some of the language inspired by the cast. It is a joy to continue to work on.

Goodnight,
Padraic


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