Ibsen Day 6

Traveling to Fergus Falls

This is probably one of our busiest days on tour.

We drove to Fergus Falls.

The Jams: NPR’s Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me – A lot of fun. It reminded me how much I’d like to listen to more podcasts and stuff. Dave Barry (the humor columnist) was on, and it was quite funny. I’m just not trained to sit and listen to podcasts. I can’t have them on when I’m working. I suppose they’re good to play when I’m cleaning or cooking. But I live in a big communal house, so that’s not always the most convenient for interruptions and people going in and out of the house frequently.

We load in to the venue. There are no legs or much of a backstage/wing area. But the stage is quite deep. Anyway, this will be the most different-feeling show from a space/physical sense.

The food: Don Pablo’s – EXCELLENT, authentic Mexican food. The salsa was exquisite. The chips were warm. I had a steak fajita quesadilla. It came with rice, guacamole, and beans. Nom Nom Nom.

Between the food and the show, I chilled out in the hotel, working on work and taking a quick nap.

It was hard because there were kids CONSTANTLY swimming. Our room has a balcony that goes out to the pool/indoor courtyard area. Those kids were noisy. Fun tidbit: the swimming pool was shaped like the state of Minnesota. Regrettably, I never took a picture. You’ll just have to believe me.

Show was weird. I wasn’t energized for whatever reason.

If you recall the trauma of finding my way on stage…it returned. I’ve probably jinxed myself into some kind of complex now. In getting from the “STOCKMANN! Shouting with bricks prologue” I had some difficulty with my citizen costume. When I took that off, my jacket for Hovstad also came on. So I was a bit late getting onstage.

I COULDN’T SEE ANYTHING AGAIN.

I managed not to run into anything, but I couldn’t find the chair to sit down in. time The lights came on. I was supposed to be frozen, but I was in mid-sit. This is when you just mentally “facepalm” and go on with the scene. But it was just grumble-worthy.

I remember scoping out the path from the entrance, to the coat rack, and to the table—it just didn’t work out for me.

Normally, this kind of thing wouldn’t be a huge deal to me, but when it’s the very top of the show…it kind of throws a kink into things.

After the show, we had a talkback (our first one for this show). Those who stayed were ENTHRALLED with the performance (which is reassuring because the house was very mild and small). I had a classmate from college in the audience (which I didn’t realize until the end). AND a theatre teacher from high school was there! I never had her as a director or teacher, but I had many friends who did, and she remembered me (especially after I said I had grown up in Sioux Falls). That was a fun treat. Both the teacher and my classmate LOVED the show.

The Reading: I finished Eugene O’Neill’s trilogy Mourning Becomes Electra. At least one person dies at the end of each play, recalling the Orestia trilogy by Aeschylus (but it’s set in New England during the Civil War).

My favorite part was the second play: The Hunted. For some reason, I was hooked. The first play has a TON of exposition, but it’s essential for the rest of the arc (of course).