Underway with Jekyll (And Hyde)

Last week we had the table reading for Jekyll and Hyde. (Henceforth referred to as J&H.) The director, a friend whom I have known for years, provided wine and cheese for the affair. But even without these items, it went well.

Sadly, someone who had been cast tried out for something else, and opted to take that role instead, so that caused a delay in starting the rehearsal process. Now, I had never met this person, but I thought that was a lousy thing to do. All the worse because someone left a show I was directing once just as it was getting started, and to tell you the truth, it still angers me to think about it to this day. So, I don't take kindly to people doing that to other directors.

However, all roles were eventually filled, and we were off and running.

Because of the delay, I have a hell of a lot to memorize in far less time than normal. I'm working on it of course, but the clock is ticking faster on this one than on most.

I have been playing with a stage British accent. I'm sure I'd fool no actual British person, but I think it has become serviceable, and I will continue to hone it. I haven't used an accent in a play in years.

We blocked the first few scenes last night. (I'm a bit behind in my updating here.) That took longer than the director wanted to, for various reasons. The play, though consisting of a small cast and minimal sets has certain aspects that can make staging tricky, especially in a smaller space such as the Black Box Arts Center. I do believe the intimate venue will eventually serve the play well, but it will take some special considerations as we get started and work out way through the movements. The first several scenes are more complicated in that regard than subsequent ones.

Blocking rehearsals tonight (Tuesday) through to Thursday this week, so there will be much more to say about the feel of the movements on stage as soon as tonight.

Next Up?

Unexpectedly, I already have an update on my theatre activities.

Last week I auditioned for, and was cast in the Jeffrey Hatcher adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the Black Box Arts Center. I'll be playing Jekyll.

It is interesting, and a bit of a whirlwind how this all came about.

In truth, the story has never been one of my favorites. But once Glengarry Glen Ross was over, I looked into this script, as much out of curiosity as anything else. It is in many ways a unique adaptation. The nature of the staging, as much as if not more than the story itself drew my interest.

It is a cast of only six people, four of whom each play Hyde at some point, along with several other characters. It was, ironically, this aspect of multiple Hydes the encouraged me to give it a shot. How interesting, then, that I should end up as one of the only two characters that doesn't play Hyde at all, or indeed any of the other roles.

I mentioned my preference to play one of the Hydes on my audition sheet. But I was asked if I would be willing to play Jekyll, and I agreed. It is very rare for me to refuse a role that is offered, if I have auditioned. I think it happened just once, in fact. So of course, I accepted Jekyll.

It's written to be a minimalist, fast moving production, and those things also appeal to me, as did the story being told mostly in vignettes. (Last year's A Christmas Carol that I appeared in had a similar structure.

It also doesn't hurt that the director is a friend of mine, with whom i have worked many times before.

So Jekyll it is. I think the first reading will probably be this coming Sunday evening, (today is Friday.) I look forward to it, as I do most readings at the start of a show. But because I have little attachment to or preconceived notions of this tale, this show offers me the rare clean slate. I can in  many ways build my experience totally from the ground up this time, in ways that aren't quite possible when one is more familiar with the story or script. I have a lot of work to do in this show, of course, but the approach to the work will in many ways be more organic or collaborative than most of my other shows have been for a while.

Other than one person, I know all of the other people involved in this show, which is almost always a plus as well.

We'll be performing the show in Halloween season, which works out quite well with the material.

So check back often, as we will have to hit the ground running on this one, given the time frame.

Malcolm in the...Play

A few weeks ago, I auditioned at the Black Box Arts Center for a production of Macbeth. I was given the role of Malcolm, son of Duncan, Prince of Cumberland and eventual King of Scotland. (Sorry for the spoilers there.)

Those of you familiar with the play probably already know that as written, Malcolm is not one of the most memorable characters in Shakespeare's canon. This has its advantages and its disadvantages. The down side is I have no famous or excellent Shakespearean lines to deliver in this play. Let's face it, one doesn't often quote Malcolm. Another down side, however, is also an upside in certain ways; I have to work harder to create him.

I began doing this right after I was informed I got the role. Since the text doesn't provide much depth, it's up to the actor portraying Malcolm to add some meat to the bones provided. This of course is what all actors in all roles must do, but it takes on an even greater importance with smaller, lesser-remembered ones. If I don't put in that effort, both the character and myself become mostly invisible during the show, as there is no famous or poetic speech to fall back on. My creative muscles must be worked extra hard, and I've been working them over this character from the start.

Not every choice is set in stone yet. After all, production only just began on this one. But after reading his lines several times, looking up a few things and brainstorming/journaling about it, I've formed the basis of a character I can sink my teeth into, as it were. I hope to share more particulars as rehearsals go on, but we've only had one read-through so far, and I only just the other day emailed the director with my initial thoughts on how to approach this character. I've not heard back from her yet, so I don't know for sure if she has strong objections to anything I've laid out.

But I've known the director for years, and been in two previous Shakespeare shows she directed: Romeo and Juliet and Richard III. (In the same building.) She tends to give her actors a lot of creative freedom with their performances.

I can say it's set in modern times, or in the very least time non-specific, so that frees everyone up a bit when it comes to ideas and character.

I've also dipped into a few wells I haven't used in developing a character for a while. Already, in addition to brainstorming and reading the lines, I've done super-easy things, like look at pictures of Scottish landscapes. Not that any one picture of Scotland will make my performance, but the idea is to expose my mind to images, thoughts, activities that someone in Malcolm's position in this play would be exposed to.

This isn't Method acting, but rather building a library of information up front on which to build ideas and perceptions of the character as the process goes on, (and the images trickle further down into my mind.) It may be an alternate timeline in a lot of ways, but there can be zero doubt that this play takes place in Scotland, and that Malcolm is a prince and future king of same. Ergo, I look at pictures of Scotland, as I haven't been there in person.

I've said so many times it's the little things that can take a performance from good to great, adequate to memorable. These easy explorations of relevant source material will help me build nuance and subtlety into my performance. I don't know just how many people, if any, will notice my efforts. But it's worth it to me to have some information within my head about who the character is off stage, outside of the direct action of the play as it will make it easier to give a deeper performance.

And I have more time than usual to engage in such activity; this play won't go on until October. An upcoming remodeling of the performance space, as well as some extras within the production itself pursuant to the directors vision necessitated a longer than average rehearsal period. I don't mind this. Community theaters in this area rarely have that long to rehearse. Might as well make the most of it.

And just for fun I bought this t-shirt for the read-through, and to wear on a regular basis throughout rehearsals:

I got it from one of those universal high school/college apparel sites. Just plug your school name into whatever the template is. Even got it in the colors of the Scottish flag.

I know about half the cast from previous plays, and the other half are new to me. I introduced myself to the new people via email, so they aren't put off by my sometimes removed nature. (Often mistaken for snobbery.) Nobody wrote me back, but they can't say I never introduced myself.

An elephant in the room of course is the "curse" of the play. I don't think much about it as an actor, but I have respected the tradition, as it were. I have said "Macbeth" more in the last few weeks than I have in the previous decade, probably. I'm used to not saying it. Our director lit a candle with Shakespeare's portrait on it during the first read through, thereby, she told us, dispelling the curse. To think and speak of it is to give it power, was her position, and therefore she lit a candle, and declared there was to be no more talk of the curse.

So begins my third Shakespeare play with this director in this venue, and my fourth Shakespeare performance overall. (Five, if you'd like to count my one man show. Most don't.) Do follow me on yet another journey, loyal blog readers.

Radium Girls

Well, the theatre process begins anew for me. I've been cast in a production of Radium Girls.

Actually, I was cast officially about a week ago, and auditioned about a week before that. But the director had to search for people to fill some of the roles after auditions were complete. Not enough people tried out initially.

I didn't post about the auditions. I tend not to do that here on the blog anymore, preferring to post about shows once I know I'm in them.

For those who don't feel like clicking on the link above, Radium Girls is an ensemble piece. Set in the 1920's, it tells the story of young girls who worked in a factory painting watches with radium based paint. Such painted glowed in the dark, and make the faces easier to see in the dark. The dangers of radium were not widely understood at the time, but when the girls all begin to suffer from severe radiation illnesses, they seek compensation from the factory, and to spread the word on the dangers. The factory of course resists, and there is the basic conflict in the play.

Generally, each actor in a production of this show plays multiple roles. (With a few exceptions.) I'll be playing three characters, two of which I stated I liked in my audition sheet. The third has only one paragraph in the whole play. If you are familiar with the show, I'll be playing Reporter, Berry and Lovesick Cowboy. Smaller, but interesting roles that I look forward to exploring.

The story is told in a series of minimalist vignettes. Sort of like Our Town or The Laramie Project, but more politically significant than the former and less intense than the latter. The fourth wall isn't broken as often, either.

I've met the director before, in passing, in my travels in local theatre circles over the years, but have never worked with her. I have one friend of mine who is also in the show, and one cast mate I was in a show with once, years ago. The others I saw for the first time either at the audition, or on Sunday night during the initial table read at the director's house.

The reading went well. It can of course be difficult to determine who well certain scenes will go based just on a reading, before most people are in full gear. But for what it's worth, I didn't notice anything to cause concern about who we've got for the show.

Schedules are bad. So bad, the whole cast never meets on the same day. I have offered to alter my schedule at home if it will be helpful. I haven't heard back on that yet, but I don't want to stand in the way of progress if I can help it. After my previous show, I believe getting as much rehearsing done with everyone as soon as possible is best.

Though we have lost about two weeks of the process already, because the director had to fill the missing roles. We're set now, though. My first rehearsal will be tonight (Tuesday.) As with my last several shows, this one will take place at the Black Box Arts Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

I will start studying lines right away, as I think I fell a tad behind for a while in my last show, and I won't have much time. I have far  fewer lines than I did in my last show, but they won't get into my memory by themselves.

I am in fact happy to have a smaller presence this time. In the last show back in February, I had a large role in one of the short plays, and, arguably I was the lead role in the second short play. And I had almost no down time. This time I will have long stretches where I will get a chance to relax and gather myself between scenes. I really could have used that in the last show, and I relieved I will have it in this one.

So, this marks the first time I've been in two shows in one year in quite a few years. Let's see how it goes.

One Man Show: Progress Report

The other day I sat down and delivered my one man show out loud to myself, in its entirety for the first time. (Stage directions included.) It took one hour and 20 minutes, which is quite close to ideal this early on.

That time will of course expand once stage movement and other performance factors are considered. But that time will also contract once I become familiar with the text and can deliver it by memory. So I'm thinking an hour ten to an hour twenty is close to the actual final performance time, barring any major changes I would make to the script.

Right now, I don't foresee any major changes to it. The sequence works and the nature of the non-Shakespearean speeches have a good mixture of information, reflection and entertainment, which is key.

There are many Shakespearean speeches in the show. That's the point, after all, to examine the kings in the histories. But if the line I deliver between those speeches ring false or put people to sleep, it simply wont matter how well I deliver the Shakespeare.

I still need to evolve the nature of the base-character for the same reasons. He has to be someone with whom an audience wants to spend time for that hour and 20 minutes, without being someone that overshadows the drama of the Shakespeare. I had a vision in my head of what sort tone to set with who I am calling "The Actor", and my first full-reading showed me it could work in some ways, and might not work in others. Part mad-scientist and part Olivier and part Woody Allen is how he comes off right now. Nothing intrinsically wrong with any of those components in their own right, but the balance between them could probably be adjusted. That's what I will be working on the most in the coming sessions.

Through it all, I think of lines off the cuff that would sound better than the ones I have written down, or at least enhance them. I will eventually write down some of these, I suppose, and will continue to polish and tweak the writing. But the general flow seems to be in place now, and seems it will work, once individual sentences are polished.

Long way to go so far. But, to paraphrase a famous observation, it is perhaps the end of the beginning. Keep coming back here to see how it progresses. I might even have an official title for it the next time I post...

The Reading of Our Discontent

The title to this entry doesn't technically make any sense. But when you try to be cute, logic is sometimes sacrificed. The point is, last night was the first read-through of Richard III.

The whole cast wasn't present, however. One or two small roles have yet to be cast, and about 5 people who do have roles were not able to attend for various reasons. "Richard" himself was about an hour late due to the email mentioning the meeting being lost in his spam folder.

But we pushed on as best we could, starting with a brief overview of the royal family tree of the time. Actually is is more of a family bramble, so many twists and turns does it have. But the director felt, and I agree, that understanding the basics of it would help keep the characters within the play, and their relationship to one another straight, I am in a way fortunate, as Buckingham falls outside the genetic entanglements. His name wasn't even on the chart the director drew for us. I am amused by that.

The director also took us to the stage to give us an rough idea of what she envisions in terms of set designs and other concepts unique to this particular production of the play. Going into some of those details here wouldn't make much sense, as one probably needs to be familiar with the venue itself. But suffice to say, in her own words, that this director "loves symbolism". I can also say that the play will be in no specific time period. "Achronic", as it were.

As to the reading itself, it went about as well as can be expected for having so many people missing. Most of the actors with large roles were there, after all, for most of the evening, and they all seem to have a firm grasp on the language. I mentioned in a previous post that there are several friends of mine in this show, but also plenty of people I haven't met before, but I get the early sense that this group will get along well.

I was already testing some of the character ideas I had for Buckingham since getting the role. (I try to infuse as much as I can even in the first reading of a play.) Right now I see him as that guy who is trying to network his way into his ideal life, and has usually succeeded. The most successful real-estate agent in the kingdom who always makes the sale. The guy who can do so because he is smooth and personally likable to most people around him. No mere sycophant, Buckingham believes he is well on his way to being a confident of a king, and in so being is thus able to accomplish all of the personal goals he has for himself. Anything from having land to starting a company and such will be made easier being the side-kick of the king, and that is what he wants to be. Right now, I don't see him as wanting to be king himself.

He does see in Richard, however, the right amount of ruthlessness and ambition to get the crown, and Buckingham, while personally admiring that to an extent is more enamored with catching this wave by helping to guide it to shore himself. And he is successful at doing so...until the end of course.

There are one or two passages in this abridged text that I trip over a bit as I read them. That, however, will of course be cured with time and practice. The director was wise enough to allow a larger amount of time for rehearsal for this play, in fact, than most plays. The standard play has about 6 weeks of rehearsal. This one will have about 8 weeks. We won't even be required to be off book until late July, because the director wants us to be worried as little about lines as possible. A generous approach that I believe will reap large dividends in the end.

Schedules for rehearsals are not yet devised, but will be soon and sent to us via email. I have more conflicts for this rehearsal period than I usually do, but not many compared to most actors I have worked with, so I don't anticipate a problem. I hope you will join me once again as I undertake not just another production adventure, but a Shakespearean adventure to boot. Check back often, loyal blog readers. Always Off Book will be hopping again in the near future.

Duke of Buckingham

Within the last hour, I received word; I have been given the role of the Duke of Buckingham in the production of Richard III.


I'm still processing everything at this point. I have not yet reviewed the edited script, as I am in the midst of a busy day. (How privileged you should feel, loyal blog readers, that I took time to write to you in the midst of it!) Yet based on the original text, there are some dangers to the role that I hope to avoid, though much of that will depend on the director's vision of the play overall. Namely I hope to avoid being a talking plot device, which is a trap actors who play Buckingham often fall into. The script as given doesn't make the role an especially poetic one, from what I recall, though there are a few nice lines here and there. So my initial impression is that stage presence will be key in order to compensate for what the role lacks within the script itself. I can do this, and have done it before with other characters. Yet it is particularly tricky with Shakespearean characters that are not well-known or often quoted, so depending on the nature of the rest of the cast and the production as a whole, I have my work cut out for me.

Several of my local friends also ended up in this production.

The first read-through is not yet scheduled, though a tentative date for this Saturday evening has been suggested. I don't yet know if I will be able to attend that or not, though of course I will try to do so.

Whatever the case about roles and schedules, I thus embark on my third Shakespearean journey with this play, and I hope you will all follow along as I blog about it here, as always.

A Semi-Start

Tonight was the first read-through for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. (Henceforth referred to as RGD as necessary.) Though over half of the cast was missing due to scheduling conflicts. In fact, the schedule will be tight throughout the whole process due to many conflicts from all parties. (One reason we didn't start until today.) So there won't be a full read through with everyone present. We need to jump right into blocking rehearsals on Wednesday.

I have only perused the schedule so far, but it appears that despite my smaller part, I won't have many days off this month, though I will probably be able to go home early a few times. This because most of the play consists of only the two main characters talking to one another, and they will probably be the last to leave rehearsal on any given night, so as to give the rest of us something to do from the start of the evening. At least until we get into running entire acts. And we will reach that point after only about two weeks, as opposed to the usual four or so. Again, it will be somewhat condensed because of the schedule.

I anticipate no particular problems with my few lines. If I buckle down I could probably be off book within a week or two. But during the break between acts today, the director confirmed what I had already suspected; I will appear in several scenes, sometimes for an extended period of time, without any lines. Presumably for some of these I will be silently performing, in the background, some of the lines from the actual Hamlet, while being observed be the main characters. Other times I won't be saying anything at all, but rather just establishing Hamlet's presence in the background. Though I have no idea what exactly I'll be doing and when, I look forward to doing this. Authentic character presentation when in the silent background is a skill in which I take great pride, and one that is often ignored.

The best part of it all will be that I will be, in essence, creating Hamlet. Maybe not as deeply as one playing the real role of Hamlet, but there is plenty of room to explore what Hamlet should and should not be, within the confines of the director's expectations. Besides, you can't do the background justice, if you are not as an actor, treating it as though it were the foreground.

I report for rehearsal next on Wednesday for just such a scene. I appear, and move about, but don't say anything yet. I wasn't even aware I made an entrance in that scene until today. (I have only skimmed the script until tonight.)

The script is not bad. I didn't find it as funny as some of my cast mates did, but it has its clever moments. I am looking forward to seeing how it all develops.