Off Book vs.Off Track

I am effectively off book for act one, and nearly there for act two. That is to say, I should be able to recall any line I have to call for quickly from now on. In theory.

The off track part? It may be an exaggeration, but I am sad to report that there are several more frustrating issues concerning the production of Radium Girls.

To begin with, someone quite the show at this late date, forcing other actresses to take on even more work at last minute. I don't know the reasons for quitting, but if it isn't an emergency of some kind, it was a lousy thing to do.

As to the others issues...I think it's best to be discreet about them at this point. I can be honest in this post about how the show is going, without getting into specifics. Specifics would only be something like gossip, anyway. Concerns would morph into complaints, and I don't want that.

Suffice to stay that there are various different kinds of difficulties going on at the same time. The impression I get is that I'm not the only person involved in the show that would concede this. Different things bother different people, and there may even be one or two things that bother only me. Still, I'm probably not taking a big leap when I say that it's bothersome to almost everyone on some level.

Any given person could have made different choices to have avoided any given difficulty, but it's impossible to declare one person responsible for 100% of the bumps in this road. Blame doesn't change anything anyway.

I'm glad I that I've gone over my lines more often, and in an more immersive way than usual, though. Being off book (which as I say, I almost am for the whole show) makes up for a lot of issues, insofar as the creation of performance is concerned. As I stated in a previous post, sometimes an actor has to reach inside further, not just when performing, but when building a performance. I'm there now.

I don't mean nobody else matters. I want to make things go well for my cast mates, if I can. I remain open to going over scenes in another room, or staying late to get something right. I'm still a team player. You have to be. But when things are a bit of a mess, you have to approach your team, and your joint project from an alternate angle, and that requires more reliance on instinct and adaptation to the situation, as opposed to diving head first into the environment.

We did have the whole stage last night, as we worked on scenes from act one. The set of the current show is portable, it would seem. I am relieved to have been on stage at least. And I didn't have to call for line too many times. A momentum shift always begins after I've performed a scene off book for the first time. Character work and other things begin to happen faster.

And the venue itself is mostly cleaned up not from the recent remodeling project, so it's less claustrophobic than it had been.

Plus I used one of my own business cards as prop for my character's business card, and one of the actresses was impressed by that. Has nothing to do with the quality of rehearsal, but it made someone smile. No small thing among cast mates.

How many smiles tonight, as we work our way through scenes in Act II? I'll find out in a few hours. At least some more satisfaction on my part, I would guess, because my favorites scenes for myself are all in Act II. Looking forward to getting to rehearse those in full, at last.

What Plays May Come

I'm in. I was cast in the Full Circle Theater Company's production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, in the role of Hamlet.

Despite Hamlet being, in this play, a small role, I am quite excited about it. I have not yet read the entire script, but from what I understand, all of Hamlet's brief appearances in the play consist of actual Shakespearean lines. So while my stage time will be brief, what time I have will still be the Prince of Denmark. That alone should make it extra fun, I would think.

I don't yet know when rehearsals begin, as I believe the director is still coming up with the schedule. Nor as of yet do I know who else is in the play with me. I can only assume of course that at least some of the people with whom I auditioned a week ago today will be in the play, but I suppose I cannot be sure. I could have asked, but I didn't. I will find out soon enough. I do hope that there is a mixture of new and familiar people in the cast.

I predict that this will be a well attended production, though. I don't want to jinx us of course, but this play is a rather popular one among many of my local friends. And indeed among Shakespeare fans even though it is not Shakespeare itself. And since it will take place in the summer. (First and second weekends in July), there should be many people with a lot of free time.

I myself have only seen bits and pieces of the movie version here and there, and have never read the script front to back, but based on my research, and the audition cold-reads, I can certainly understand it's appeal to certain types. Probably a play I would enjoy watching, if I were not already in it. This is just the first theatre around here that has mounted a production of it, and I was told by a friend that the movie is not a good adaptation. Hence, I have not seen it in its entirety.

This should be a especially fun production, I feel. I always look forward to starting a new show, but thus far this one fills me with a keen anticipation.