Last night I opened my first ever one-man show. And of course, the first ever play I myself wrote. It was in many ways a unique experience.
There are many ways to talk about opening night, but I'll start with the most honest; almost nobody was in the audience. Five people total, only one of whom did not work for the venue itself.
If you've done any theatre at all, you know that performing for a handful of people can be an indescribably mixture between sick and worried, or depressing and dull. It saps an actor's energy not only faster than a larger audience would, but in a different way. A more palpable way that one can feel during a performance, as opposed to during a break or after the show is over.
Combine this with the fact that a one man show by its nature is more tiring than most other types of shows, and you have the makings of an exhausting evening.
I will say, however, that I made no attempts to conserve energy by holding back on my performance. I still gave it as much as I had, and from a performance angle, I am for the most part satisfied. It felt like it went faster than rehearsals tended to go, but I'm not sure because I didn't time it. Perhaps it only seemed faster because at times I was in a different zone; some moments and scenes seemed to begin and end before I was fully aware of them. That may make it sound like I wasn't paying attention, but I was. I just found that some moments were more automatic (not flat) than others. I will need more distance from the experience before I can judge whether or not this is a positive or negative.
I stumbled in a few places during the performance, but I was able to correct the mistakes quickly. My small audience probably did not notice, but of course I did, and I tend to be hard on myself. Hopefully, there will be fewer such errors tonight.
Despite the lack of audience, and the fact that I am the only one on stage, it did at times feel like an opening night. I wish I could say that the excitement and anticipation level were as high as normal, but without anyone to bounce those feelings off of, or to share them with, it wasn't quite like that. Nevertheless, an opening night is an opening night, and the actor bits of me deep inside my psyche could still tell.
Honesty has always been my policy here on this blog, and I won't pretend it was an exhilarating way to get started on this project of mine. It was in more way than one, a disappointing opening. Plus, as writer, actor and producer of the show, I bare the brunt of most of that disappointment alone. In some ways the let down has been so sudden and potent that last night, and today I've felt more numb than anything else, and therefore cannot elaborate on the evening's impact with as much detail as I might normally report on a performance. Once again, with time and distance, I may be able to offer more on this experience, but for now I'm still in the middle of it.
I can say, without any doubt, that I successfully presented something on which I alone have been working for over a year. From concept to presentation, I did, on my end, about 90% of what I set out to do so far. And I must also remember that this is simply the beginning. I intend to take this show elsewhere over the years...to keep it in my theatre arsenal as an offering when other opportunities arise. "The King is But a Man" is something for the long haul of my creative life, not merely something to fill the time this weekend. With a little luck and some work on my part, it will have different incarnations and many different times. It will be different things to different audiences in different venues as time goes by. Last night was merely the world premiere.
And of course, I have two performances remaining in this initial run, during which things may improve drastically. I have no idea how many people will come tonight, but I do know I will summon the best I have to offer again.
A few more people in the seats who enjoy the show would be nice, however, I will admit.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
"Tech" Week
This is it, loyal blog readers. My "tech" week for the one man show!
I put "tech" on quotation marks, however, because it is very much unlike most tech weeks. It is still just me at rehearsal, and I will only in fact be rehearsing twice this week instead of every day. (Once behind last night, once being tomorrow night.) I decided that given the nature of the show, and how many times I have been able to rehearse it twice a week, I wouldn't need to run it every day this week.
And of course, there are virtually no technical aspects to this show to rehearse, anyway. The usual lighting technician at the Black Box was kind enough to program a basic plot into the theatre lights for me the other day, so now I have those. I turned them on myself last night before rehearsal. It took some getting used to, I have to say, as I had only practiced with the work lights up to that point. But that's part of tech week. I don't think it will cause great problems, though. It's different, but not distracting. Plus I have one more night to perform under them. I just need to find someone to turn them off at intermission. Maybe. Intermission will be very clear to the audience when it comes, so if I can't find anyone to switch them off, it's not tragic.
I stumbled over a few lines last night, but once again, I wasn't derailed. If any of my three initial performances go as well as say the last three rehearsals, I'll be doing fine. Things to improve, as always, but I'd have little to be ashamed of if I gave the audience as much as I gave the last few rehearsals. (Though of course I hope to give more.)
I hope I did not "peak" too early as it were. That is doing the show best during rehearsals, and not as well during the performances. But I will have the audience during the performances, which usually boosted my abilities somewhat. I won't beat myself up if this experiment isn't perfect, but I also hope that the performances are of course the best presentation I am to give of the show, out of all of the times I've done it.
On Thursday, my final rehearsal, my goal is to have as much fun as I can with this show. Not that I've had no fun so far. Doing Shakespeare well is invigorating. But I want to finally let go, and worry less about the little things, and give all of myself to presenting the show, so that is the frame of mind I am in going into the weekend. We shall soon find out if I can do that.
I put "tech" on quotation marks, however, because it is very much unlike most tech weeks. It is still just me at rehearsal, and I will only in fact be rehearsing twice this week instead of every day. (Once behind last night, once being tomorrow night.) I decided that given the nature of the show, and how many times I have been able to rehearse it twice a week, I wouldn't need to run it every day this week.
And of course, there are virtually no technical aspects to this show to rehearse, anyway. The usual lighting technician at the Black Box was kind enough to program a basic plot into the theatre lights for me the other day, so now I have those. I turned them on myself last night before rehearsal. It took some getting used to, I have to say, as I had only practiced with the work lights up to that point. But that's part of tech week. I don't think it will cause great problems, though. It's different, but not distracting. Plus I have one more night to perform under them. I just need to find someone to turn them off at intermission. Maybe. Intermission will be very clear to the audience when it comes, so if I can't find anyone to switch them off, it's not tragic.
I stumbled over a few lines last night, but once again, I wasn't derailed. If any of my three initial performances go as well as say the last three rehearsals, I'll be doing fine. Things to improve, as always, but I'd have little to be ashamed of if I gave the audience as much as I gave the last few rehearsals. (Though of course I hope to give more.)
I hope I did not "peak" too early as it were. That is doing the show best during rehearsals, and not as well during the performances. But I will have the audience during the performances, which usually boosted my abilities somewhat. I won't beat myself up if this experiment isn't perfect, but I also hope that the performances are of course the best presentation I am to give of the show, out of all of the times I've done it.
On Thursday, my final rehearsal, my goal is to have as much fun as I can with this show. Not that I've had no fun so far. Doing Shakespeare well is invigorating. But I want to finally let go, and worry less about the little things, and give all of myself to presenting the show, so that is the frame of mind I am in going into the weekend. We shall soon find out if I can do that.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Quick Update
Heat! That is to say the problems with the heating system at the venue I'm rehearsing on have been, for the time being, resolved. Thus last night was my first fully heated rehearsal for the show. It was much more comfortable, but believe it or not required some adjustment. It is of course far better to rehearse with heat than in the sort of cold I've rehearsed in so far, but one's breathing, and body temperature and such naturally change when the heater is on. So there were some energy and breathing issues to adjust to. Plus I may have sweat for the very first time last night while running the show. Not a lot, but it was there.
As to the rehearsal itself outside of the temperature, I can only say it continues to go well. There were still a few places I stumbled over that I attribute to fatigue. I've been reviewing those lines in the script, (and found that I had been saying one of them incorrectly, whoops), and will run them to myself at home, as needed between now and opening. Most if not all of the hitches should smooth out by then, I'd say.
I made some posters for the show. My own printer has no colored ink, so the ones I printed at home were in black and white. Not as eye catching, of course, but all of the information is there. I followed a simple template. As much as I'd like fancy posters, I've not gotten word from those who had said they could work on them for me. So I took matters into my own hands. (Not so odd for a one man show!) I may go into an Office Depot today and run off some color copies, and put some of them up somewhere.
A volunteer photographer may also come and take some pictures during rehearsal in the coming days.
Some friends of mine have been spreading the word about the show, as have some kind strangers via the Black Box Arts Center Facebook page. Between that and some posters going up, I hope to grab the attention of at least a handful of people each night who don't know me, who are willing to come.
Yet first things first. A few more rehearsals to go.
As to the rehearsal itself outside of the temperature, I can only say it continues to go well. There were still a few places I stumbled over that I attribute to fatigue. I've been reviewing those lines in the script, (and found that I had been saying one of them incorrectly, whoops), and will run them to myself at home, as needed between now and opening. Most if not all of the hitches should smooth out by then, I'd say.
I made some posters for the show. My own printer has no colored ink, so the ones I printed at home were in black and white. Not as eye catching, of course, but all of the information is there. I followed a simple template. As much as I'd like fancy posters, I've not gotten word from those who had said they could work on them for me. So I took matters into my own hands. (Not so odd for a one man show!) I may go into an Office Depot today and run off some color copies, and put some of them up somewhere.
A volunteer photographer may also come and take some pictures during rehearsal in the coming days.
Some friends of mine have been spreading the word about the show, as have some kind strangers via the Black Box Arts Center Facebook page. Between that and some posters going up, I hope to grab the attention of at least a handful of people each night who don't know me, who are willing to come.
Yet first things first. A few more rehearsals to go.
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