We're slogging through table work right now. Table work is different depending on the show. For this one, we're slowly going over each "chapter" in the text. A chapter is a long monologue (I'd say they're three minutes long on average). The show alternates between the Ploughman and Death (yours truly). The whole show contains 32 chapters I believe. I have 15 of them - I think. This means I've got 45 minutes' worth of text to memorize.
Let me rephrase this:
I have 45 minutes of text--that was originally written in 1401 in German and has now been translated into English--to memorize.
My favorite word so far: PUTREFACTION. Death calls the human race a "midden heap of putrefaction." (and a TON of other things, but I won't spoil the fun and disgusting. I'll also let you look up "midden.")
The main part of this week's table work is devoted to gaining a total understanding of the text. I read my chapter. We ask questions, discuss tricky points, look up words and other allusions. I'm also working on pronounciation. I've got to be on the look out for the whole "bagel/begel" or "flag/fleg" sounds. Ultimately, this is tedious, slow work. I'm eager to start working on my feet. But I imagine this is going to be a long, arduous rehearsal process. But I think it will pay dividends in the end. We've got just under two months before we open. It's that timeframe that seems a little ways off, but it's dangerously close.
Death is fun. He's not evil (though he is pretty relentless and cold-hearted). But man, this work is hard. I've got to start working on the memorizing.
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OTHER NEWS
I've been hired by the company to stick around for the following year as an annual company member. I work on the marketing team as a "marketing assistant." Essentially, I'm responsible for media relations, setting up interviews, sending press releases, updating event calendars on various websites. Additionally, I work on in house design projects (like season passes, brochures, magazine ads). I also maintain the Twitter and Facebook Fan pages for the company. I'll be looking into other social media outlets for the company. I help get the word out about the theatre. It's essential and actually fun. I'm able to focus some of my other knacks for the art.
Aside from living in a cubicle, I also have some artistic assignments that will be fun.
The biggie is playing Erhart Borkman in John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen. We're presenting a brand-new adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher, which is thrilling. I'm so excited to be a part of this show. That opens in April and runs until June.
Another role I've got is playing the illustrious inventor Charles Dabernow Schmendiman in Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Steve Martin. This show opens up in May and runs until September. Schmendiman is a tiny role, but it's packed with energy, comedy, and is sure to steal the show (for a brief time).
Both of these productions have new directors who have national reputations as well.
I'm also understudying Antony Wilding in Enchanted April and Laurie, et al in an original company-adapted version of Little Women.
I'd say I've got a pretty full plate this year. It gets a little sparse at the end of the year, but I'm a part of an ensemble, resident theatre company. We all have to share responsibilities on and off stage. The Ibsen project is such a blessing.
This does mean no grad school for Tim in 2010. I'm attending the U/RTA auditions so that I can take a serious crack at auditioning and hopefully talk to some schools. Who knows, deferment may even be an option for 2011. It's all hard to tell.
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