T'was the Night Before Christmas

Actually, it will be two nights before Christmas. And really more like afternoon.

But semantics aside, I will be participating in a one-night only staged reading of Clement Moore's classic poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," which of course is commonly known as "T'was the Night Before Christmas. As usual with me the last few years, I'll be doing this at the Black Box Arts Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

It was all a sort of last minute project. My friend that runs the BBAC was talking with a newer friend of mine who has never directed before, and they concocted this project. It will be my newer friend's directorial debut.

There were no auditions for this, only recruitment, given the time constraint. I was given the choice of being "Pa" or the Narrator, and I chose the latter. With one exception, I'll be the only one speaking during the show; I'll be reading the poem as others act out the scene on the stage next to me. I even have a small cozy nook from which to do my part.

 a small cozy nook from which to do my part.

We'll rehearse this twice before we perform it on Saturday afternoon. Maybe more than that, as we can probably fit in more than one run through a night. The point being, it won't take long to get set.

If you've read this blog before, you know I usually jump at the chance to take part in staged readings. They can never replace regular stage productions, but readings are good for all actors to take part in sometimes, if you ask me. A small helping of the meat of performing, without having as much "green vegetables" of rehearsing, and no memorizing. Less time, less energy, but nearly as much fun as a standard show, if you want it to be.

So hopefully this will be a happy reading for all, and for all a good night. I'll keep you posted this week on how it's going, loyal blog readers.

A Staged Reading of "Over the River and Through the Woods"

It was a bit of a whirlwind for me, and for my cast. Though I had been granted the privilege of directing a staged reading of this play at the Winchester Little Theatre more than a month ago, several factors contributed to it's being a difficult project to get off the ground.

To begin with, a project that absorbed almost the entire talent pool for the WLT was scheduled for the same day. Those few that were not in said project went to see said project. Which meant that from the start I had fewer people available to me. Casting it required a few weeks, and some help from a few insiders with connections I do not have with the community. (The play only has six people in it.)

Once it was cast, the schedule conflicts were a disaster. There we no days when the entire cast could meet on the same day. And I had only envision two or three rehearsals anyway, given that it was a reading. So after much moving around, I was able to set aside two days this month, each one only missing a single person.

Some unfortunate events prevented me, however, from attending the first rehearsal of my own reading. Thankfully the cast seemed to like each other, from the reports I got, and had great chemistry. I saw this first hand a few days later when I finally was able to attend a rehearsal. (The second one.)

I never intended to give notes and suggestions of great complexity and depth in regards to character and motivation issues, due to the limited time we would have together as a production. Readings can be creative exercises, but unless you've got the same amount of time to rehearse them as you do a regular play (and that is rarely the case), I feel that directors best serve the project by focusing mostly on mechanics. Volume, pacing, even the set up of the chairs and podiums and such. Coordinating rehearsals. Explaining the overall vision of the piece. Being available to actors for concerns about nuances in scenes and within speeches, but basically allowing such things to form naturally within the well maintained structure of rehearsals and the performance.

That being said, I of course had hoped to have a bit more time with this cast than I did. However, once I finally saw them all (minus one) read the script together, I knew the reading was in good hands. The reports I got via email were correct; everyone played off of everyone else quite well. I did have some mechanics to take care of, and a few rough spots that needed polishing, but I was pleased with what I saw from the beginning. I had even less to do in regards to performances than I had imagined.

That second rehearsal was only a few days before the one and only performance of the reading. Due to availability, we had yet to rehearse it on the actual stage it would be performed on. So we decided to have one more run through, on the actual stage on the very day of the performance. It was the first time the entire cast and myself were present. It was even the first time I had met one of the cast members, as crazy as that sounds. But such was the nature of this experience.

I gave a few notes, mostly mechanical again. Dusted off a few things, cleaned up an aspect here and there. There was not much that had to be done, however. The directions I gave were incorporated into the reading, and after the extra run-through on the day, I was satisfied. There is always more you can do, if you have more time, and I am sure more things could have gone even better, had we had another few rehearsals. But we didn't have that luxury, and I wasn't going to let that bother me, or the cast. I reminded them all that we were story tellers, first and foremost, and that if it went as well that night as it had gone during the final rehearsal, the audience, whoever they may be, would enjoy themselves.

After a brief "speech" to the cast before hand, wherein I thanked them, and hoped they had had fun, I left them backstage while I went out to the lobby of the theater to await my short pre-show announcements. Believe it or not, I was anxious and nervous for it all to start. Not because I feared for the quality of the show, but because I was excited to see how it would all turn out on such short notice. (I had been together with them for less then a week, officially, and it was all about to end in less than two hours.)

The crowd, much smaller than it otherwise would have been if not for the other project I mentioned still managed to fill one of the three small sections of seats in the little theater. They were warm and receptive to my introduction to the piece, and remained so throughout, laughing quite a bit at various places. Their responses made them sound like a crowd twice their size, actually.

At intermission I went backstage and told the cast to keep it up, and that I had received compliments already before it was even finished. They did not disappoint in the second half, and neither did the audience. Everyone, myself included, had a nice time that evening. I could tell something had gone right, given that the cast wished they could do it all again. There was even talk about trying to put together another reading of it at another venue. (Only a theory at this point.)

Over all, this experience had some problems, but we overcome them. So much so that looking back over the last week, it almost seems as if there were no real problems leading into this reading after all. I know some things could have gone better. I regret the schedule conflict with the other project, and a few other things. But given how little time we actually had, the size of the production and the size/responsiveness of the crowd that came to see it, it wouldn't be absurd to conclude that, by proportion at least, this was one of the more satisfying theater experiences I've had over the last few years. Nothing can replace a true production on stage, but i have said before and will again that staged reading can be a source of great enjoyment in their own right for everyone involved.

Dramatic Readings? Dramatic Benefits.

What I want to talk about today are dramatic readings.

For those who are not familiar, they are exactly what they sound like. Actors read a play aloud from a script which they have in front of them. There is little to no memorizing of the lines, but the staging can vary to a great degree. Some readings consist merely of actors behind podiums. Others make use of props and set pieces. It all depends on the director.

However complicated the actual staging is, (though I think the simpler, the better for a reading) I cannot sing enough praises of staged readings to actors.

Resist the temptation to see them as watered down theatre, or as one friend of mine has called them “acting-lite.”

They are only acting-lite to lesser actors. In reality, a reading is an excellent way to hone skills of the craft, some of which do not get the attention the deserve in a standard production.

For one, projection and annunciation become even more important, as in many cases sets and extras are not present to invoke mood. You have the script in front of you. The audience does not, yet they must catch every word you read, in order to make sense of the story. The result is that readings often require a tighter focus, not a looser one, on the script, lest having the words in front of you lead to complacency.

Secondly, a reading forces the actor to pay closer attention to the face. Behind a podium, gesticulations and certainly crosses are of far less use to the performer. The often overlooked power of the facial expression must be utilized, in order to be true to a reading. The lessons about the use of the face one is forced to learn during a reading will hopefully carry over into the next conventional production one finds oneself in.

And finally, readings require far less time commitment. Some rehearse very little. Others do not rehearse at all. Either way, dramatic readings of any play, by virtue of what they are, require less time for the actor, while at the same time providing the same opportunity to delve into the complexities of character analysis and presentation.

That is, for the actor who takes a reading as seriously as he takes a production. And for me, only the best do so.

Why not be the best of the best, and get yourself involved in a reading?

(Originally appeared on showbizradio.net on February 18, 2009. Time specific references have been edited for this post.)

Production Update

Hello, loyal blog readers. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was directing "Art", and that despite this being an acting blog, I'd give you the occasional update. Here's one.

For the last two rehearsals, the cast has been on the stage for the first time. Not alone, as the set for the current (and soon to be concluded) production is still there. But by the time we rehearse again, the stage will be 100% ours. This is good news, as we have practiced in more than one place under some trying circumstances since we got a full cast. (Which didn't even happen until three weeks into the production, given that a lead quit on me five minutes into the very first meeting.)

This is to be a dramatic reading of the play. But a stylized reading, if you will. I will have three podiums on the stage, and if all goes well, each will have a shelf for the few props the script requires. The actors will be free to move around a bit within the "orbit" or their particular podiums, thus making the presentation neither simply a reading, nor a full out production. Rather my goal is to have it taking place in this sort of parallel dimension of theatre, wherein the actors are reading, yes, but are able to present, interact with one another (and the audience) and most importantly invoke the story being told. It wasn't what I originally envisioned, but I think it will work out nicely. Based on the results so far after two rehearsals on stage, anyway.

I have actually been in favor of dramatic readings for other works. They are faster, require less time and less money, and with some imagination can still be a moving experience for an audience as well as for an actor. Not every script would be suited for a reading like this, but I feel a good deal more of them would be, if directors and theaters would be willing to attempt them.

The key is for the actors to make the characters as alive as possible. To make the performances more important than the source of the lines. (A script in front of them as opposed to their own memory.) If actors can do that, and I know my actors can, audience will respond.

That's one reason I made it stylized in this fashion. I've seen readings wherein it the actors simply stood at a music stand and read from a script. Otherwise they worked around with a script in their hand. Good things can happen from either approach, but the limitation of those (particularly the second one) is that the audience feels as though they are watching actors read scripts. They may concede that fine actors are reading the script, but reading nonetheless. Put another way, many readings emphasize the reading as opposed to the acting. I am aiming to reverse that with my stylized presentation.

Much like in a musical where one accepts the conceit that people will at key moments break into song, the goal of this type of reading is to make the audience accept the conceit that these characters are real and interacting in a sort of undefined space that nonetheless represents an actual location. When the performances are real, this conceit becomes acceptable. That in a nutshell is my goal for this. Based on what I have seen so far, my cast is well on its way to achieving that vision.

Ground Floor

Due to professional confidence the details of what I am about to share here will have to remain few and far between. I did however want to make mention of it here on the blog.

I have been asked to participate in a private, first-time reading of an early draft of a script penned by a local playwright. Again, I cannot say which playwright, or even what the script is about, as this is a commissioned work for which the writer is getting paid. That makes the nature of the work quite sensitive at this point. Suffice to say I jumped at the chance.

The first reading of a draft of a play, whether in public, or in this case, in private, is of no small significance to a playwright. It is the first chance they have to encounter their work outside of their own heads. Free of their own biases a playwright can, through a reading, encounter the first glimpse of what a performance of his words will sound like. Plays are destined to be performed, and unlike perhaps novels, are never truly explored until they are spoken. Not that novels shouldn't sound good when read aloud, but being heard out loud is the raison d'etre of a play.

Sometimes for these reading the playwright will ask each actor for specific feedback on the character read. Sometimes, the playwright asks for general feedback from everyone on the whole piece. Still at other times, the playwright seeks no direct feedback at all, seeking only to listen to his words from a distance. Truth be told I do not yet know what the expectations are in this case. Yet I am about halfway through the script now, and I can tell you I feel I will enjoy bringing the first semblance of life to this character.

That is what it is, too. Essentially. In some ways I am the first person to come at the character from a completely removed perspective. I won't be "originating" the character, because that term applied to he who will first perform this role in a life production, but I will be perhaps "introducing" the character to his creator in a way. I will be a mirror of sorts which will, (if I am competent) allow the playwright to asses where he wants to go with the lines, the scenes, and of course the character himself. As both a writer and an actor, I think it will be an uncommon privilege to do so.