The Maid's Tragedy Day #1

In an effort to make these posts more visually interesting, here's a rehearsal photo from "Epicene."
But this post is all about "The Maid's Tragedy," and I have no idea if you think this photo is actually interesting.
Jay McClure must think so: he took the pic.

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We've begun rehearsing Beaumont & Fletcher's saucy revenge tragedy The Maid's Tragedy today. I for one, am relieved for the chance to take a "back seat." My part is pretty small, but I do have some sizzling one liners that you'd hear in the taverns of King's Landing on Game of Thrones. I share them with Chris Johnston too, so...we won't be having any fun at all with that....

I'm playing Diphilus (we're pronouncing it like dih-FILE-us, if you're curious).

I'm also playing Night in the masque, and given that this character is a queen, I'll probably be wearing a dress. But I haven't figured out my costume yet, so we'll see. I will be dancing. I know that much. But it looks like Greg won't be the only dude in a dress this Ren Season, folks.

We've started blocking from the beginning of the play. I'm in the first scene, welcoming my brother Melantius (Rene) from war. He's shocked to hear that his best bud, Amintor (Greg) is marrying Evadne (our sister, played by Sarah)--NOT his betrothed Aspatia (Abbi).

That's when the complications and suffering begin. It's pretty much all downhill from there.

So many of us say this, but it's true: I love the variety that comes from the seasons at ASC. If I were doing just one of these great plays, I would have a blast. But it would be tough to sustain over the course of 8 shows a week for months on end. The fact we're busting through five plays is something to relish. And they all have their merits as plays and as acting opportunities.

With this play, I'm honing my listening skills. (I mean, I'm never not, but...you'll see what I mean in a minute). I've done very little preparation for this show. My knowledge of it is basic at minimum. This isn't something I advise for any actor. I'm working under the frames of the Renaissance Season, however, working from my cue script (something I didn't do for Timon or Epicene).

Yes, I've reviewed the scenes I'm in. But given the marathon load that was Epicene, this show is a bit of a "break." I suspect I'm working more in a way that an actor on a TV series would. This is a long way of saying: the listening I have to do while I'm on stage is vital because I rarely have any sense of what will be said next. This is quite refreshing. In Epicene, I pretty much know what everyone is saying because they are my cues. That's a whole other beast. I'm charged with the responsibility of keeping the play on course. With this play, I'm very much supporting the action (and providing some twisted comic relief). I have to be there for the leads, making sure that I'm giving them enough resistance or support when necessary.

Most of the day, I worked on music. I'm hoping we can work up a Johnny Flynn song for this show. He's an English folk singer/songwriter/trumpet player/Shakespearean actor. Needless to say, I feel a kinship to this guy. John Harrell (playing Calianax) has drummed up a re-imagined version of a Pink Floyd song. We worked that up in the afternoon, and it was so much fun.