Wednesday, March 25, 2009

From Dev. to Production



Howdy,

So, we've been in the process of bringing the play to full production. More details to follow - but look for it to happen in June. I've decided to blog about the process because I've been doing a study in Web 2.0 and the value of sharing the process step by step with any one interested. I hope you're interested.
The main challenge of guiding the play to full production is courage. Courage to evolve beyond the magic of the 'rehearsal' room atmosphere that made the play a success. Part of the success, in my opinion, was the imagination of the audience to fill in the reality of the treehouse, and environment. The acting was simple - guiding the audience to experience the play - the sound was similar - we also allowed people see us make the some of the sounds and the board ops were present. It was as if we were making the audience aware that they were being told a story, a romantic bedtime story and then slowly the story tellers went away and the audience was swept up in the reality of the story they were watching.
The designers and I agree when moving into the theater we want to fully realize the production. Yet we don't want to lose the magic of the story telling. The magic isn't just in the imagination of the the audience, or the power of theater. There is magic in the play. It is a story of people being trapped in a limited physical environment - but vastness outside the space contains great possibilities. That vastness of the possibility inside the treehouse - as well as the 'magic' that resides in the play wants to be realized in the set. Thankfully Lea has done a wonderful job bringing me slowly along from the minimal rehearsal room feeling to the three walls and roof version and then back to a minimal magical version of the set. (above are sketches of one full wall - then two walls) That journey was required so I knew that I was making decisions not out of fear of change from what we did before...but out of what is the most effective way of sharing the story with audience inside a theater on a night to night basis. At some point...it will no longer be rehearsal, and the play has to stand fully on it's legs and claim itself fully in the theater. I believe we are on the path to a design that will strengthen the experience of the play.
One thing Lea and I talked about is that it is important for the audience to be able to see the treehouse through the eyes of Ruthie and then equally through the eyes of Bo. By providing a minimal framework of what the house is - the audience has the flexibility to shift their view of the tree house. It is my hope that the view of the house will continuously shift as the story grows. Eventually it will settle as the environment is no longer the issue for the characters - and shifts to what is happening between them that matters more, and the elements will allow us to focus more on their internal journey.
As we get close to finalizing the set Lea and I will share more sketches.
I hope to share more of the journey was we continue to design the play.

Fun facts: Scott has some rewrites. And Clark University is generously helping with some props.

goodnight,

Padraic

No comments:

Post a Comment