The Fifth and Final Show

We opened The Maid's Tragedy to a, dare I say, raucous crowd. Opening nights at the ASC are pay-what-you-will previews. Folks get to decide how much they want to pay at the end of the show. But on Friday night, 100+ people had bought tickets ahead of time to ensure seats. That's a great sign.

The hometown crowds like these, I find, are often full of folks who adore the ASC. Having a full house of of superfans is a lot of fun. It's not necessarily indicative of future houses, but still a great gift. That said, I'm surprised with how funny folks thought the show was. There were a lot of younger folks in the audience, and they seemed more prone to laughter than others.

The Maid's Tragedy is...I dunno...I was about to write ridiculous, but that's not quite right. It's angsty. It feels operatic. It's extreme. It's bloody (and we're using blood packets for this show--a first for my time at ASC)! There seemed to be a lot of folks who knew the story--I only say this because there were knowing responses when Aspatia makes her first entrance and Melantius congratulates her on her supposed wedding day (and it's anything but...her betrothed has been set up to marry Evadne instead).

It was a lot of fun to do the Diphilus/Strato insult exchange after the big wedding night scene. I must say Chris and I brought the house down, or at least shook up the foundation a bit. (The exchange has a great "your mom" line. Those Early Modern playwrights knew a thing or two about sophomoric comedy.) During this scene (and much of my other scenes), I felt so at ease. I haven't been this relaxed for an opening in a long time.

All in all, I think it was a successful opening. It's hard to believe that we don't have to rehearse anymore for the Ren Season. We have three weeks of performances left.

The rest of the weekend, we played to very generous houses. Each of the shows had great turnout. I hope this continues as the weather warms up. The Saturday matinee of Epicene got into a good groove. I got to the playhouse 90 minutes early, reviewed all of my lines, and was able to get a luxurious warm-up in before music call. I never called "prithee." I did have some "word burgers" as we call them here--obvious stumbling over some words. John and I got a little kerfluffled during the cursing of Cutbeard exchange, but we were able to get back on track quite easily. It happens.

And now, I'm enjoying a full 72 hours off. It's our "spring break." We don't have to return to the theatre until Wednesday night. I'm catching up on sleep, enjoying my Amazon Prime trial, and making headway through a giant novel The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton. It just won the Booker Prize. This is a dense, intricate novel set in the New Zealand gold rush in the 1860s. I also borrowed The Hollow Crown series from the library. I've seen the Richard II (which is excellent) and am eager to review that along with the Henry IVs and V. Additionally, I've received cuts for upcoming productions of Hamlet and Much Ado. I've transferred all of those into my Arden editions.

Talkback - Timon Edition

We're gearing up for our opening of The Maid's Tragedy. We've had a dress and a preview earlier this week. I think it's coming together quite well. I think a giant sigh of relief will release once we get backstage after curtain call tonight. I'll write more about that later.

Anyway, I wanted to share with you some common questions that some folks have asked during talkbacks--particularly as they pertain to Timon of Athens. We had a performance of that last night and it was fun to engage with the audiences about this show. I love participating in talkbacks. We usually have one after every student matinee, and they are more generalized questions about the Ren Season or life as an actor at ASC. The comedies usually get that kind of response as well. But last night (And every Thursday night, we hold a talkback) was a bit different; folks asked more questions about Timon. I'll relay some of those questions and share my thoughts or what other actors said (this is all paraphrasing):

• How does costuming work?

We are in charge of coming up with costumes. Typically, the actor who's done the most work on the play (whether he or she cut the play or is playing the largest role) has done some thinking about the "design" of the play and comes up with a costume. The rest of the troupe follows suit (or doesn't). In the case of Timon, the logistics of many quick costume changes (I think some of the women have four or five changes in the first twenty minutes of the play). The folks who have to play many characters in this show agreed on having a black base so that they could drape other pieces over without having to do many elaborate changes.

• How do the speeches grow/change over the course of the run? Do you ever get bored?

In my experience so far, it's never a dull moment during the Ren Season. Timon doesn't get boring, ever. And we're doing this show once a week. Everything deepens and strengthens over time. The language in Timon is wonderful. It's Charles Mingus jazz. The audiences help in "teaching" the play during this season. Our rehearsals of the plays happen while we're performing them.

• What's the deal with Apemantus?

Josh (playing the role) said that Apemantus is a kind of Fool in this play (even though there is an actual Fool in one scene). Fools speak the truth; however, because that truth is difficult to swallow for many characters, no one really listens to him. There is a kind of cynic/jester role he plays--especially in the beginning. Partygoers laugh at him. In this production, his punk/alternative vibes suggest a warped sense of luxury. It's almost as if having him around makes Timon's household and parties even more special. And come on, that cave seen between Timon and Apemantus is awesome. 

• What's it like to play so many characters in one show?

I play Flavius for 98% of this show. I do play the messenger of Ventidius at the beginning of the play. It's distinguished with costume, and I deepen my voice a bit. I think my messenger is looking for temp work. He's trying to make some extra money. But anyway, Chris answered this question in the talkback last night. He mentioned that there's a lot of trust with the audience that goes on with doubling/tripling/quadrupling in shows at the ASC. The text is the ultimate guide. Costumes are a big help.

Honestly, the largest hurdle in playing multiple characters in one show is finding the flow of the costume changes backstage. Otherwise, an actor's job deals with investing in the lives of so many different characters. When we're playing a bunch in one show, it's just heightened/concentrated.  For something like As You Like It, I made an effort to change my voice, make significant costume changes, and carry my body in different ways. For some characters, it's not as necessary. The pages who sing "Lover and Lass" are seemingly inconsequential. I didn't develop a giant backstory about that character. I think he's a bit tipsy and fully embracing the forest life. The banishment has been good to him.

When the doubling becomes more significant and switches back and forth frequently, it can be challenging. I haven't had to work on any extreme doubling. I do have an odd doubling that's upcoming in Much Ado: Claudio and the Sexton. Right after the wedding scene, I'm the Sexton for the "Writ down an ass" scene with Dogberry, and then I jump back to Claudio with very few lines to spare for the next scene. It's fast in addition to jumping between high drama and comedy.

• The second half of "Timon" feels like Shakespeare, but the first half doesn't so much. Can you tell when there are Middleton parts in this show? 

I'm not suited to be an authority on this. I have no experience with Middleton. Critics claim that Middleton is responsible for the character of Flavius. I don't really care. It's my job to deliver the text and tell the story. The only thing I have noticed is how irregular the verse is (which is typical of later Shakespeare). It's clumsy, but in a good way. There's a lot of enjambment and parenthetical phrases. All of that is useful for playing a character who is conflicted and deeply agitated. Flavius also speaks, however, with a lot of rhyming couplets. That suggests a certainty and strength. I love the chance to play with a wide spectrum.

The first half is all over the place. Many scenes span lots of locations and characters. Part of that has to do with our swift cutting of the play. The second half is almost entirely at the cave. I love that shift. Shakespeare's plays are all full of conundrums. Some people think this play was a rush job and that this is an early draft. I won't say it's not without its issues, but at the end of the day, as an actor, I can't worry about those issues while I'm playing the scenes. At the end, if the play has got you thinking, asking questions, and talking with fellow audience members, our production has done something right.

• How do you like performing an "obscure" show that audiences aren't so familiar with rather than something like "Midsummer"?

I'm loving this. You can feel the audience lean forward. Most of the folks coming to see Timon have no prior experience. They may have heard of its reputation, but there's not really a "All the world's a stage" line or speech in Timon--in terms of its familiarity. Hamlet is chock-full of familiar phrases. I've heard of one production where the guy playing Hamlet wrote "to be or not to be, that is the question" on a chalkboard and then commenced with the rest of the speech. I think the idea being that when something so oft-quoted and familiar can send people out of a production. Who knows. On the other hand, familiarity can be a wonderful thing with audiences. 

But with this show, we get to give the gift of something new to the audience. I haven't done a lot of new work before, but this experience with Timon has felt like that, and I expect many audiences would say the same. That's exciting. They're leaning forward. It's difficult to know what jokes are going to land (yes, Timon has funny moments). This production feels more alive and vital for whatever reason.

Week Wrap-Up

To be honest, I'm losing steam with this. I wish that weren't the case, but alas. I think part of the reason is that these posts can, on occasion, meander through the day-to-day. I want to continue writing about the work, but I think honing the focus will help things out.

Anyway, the season is winding down (in the sense that we're going to stop rehearsing). We've got three weeks left?!

From what I can tell, the first three shows (As You Like It, Servant of Two Masters, and Timon of Athens) are in some kind of well-oiled machine land. Servant may be less so given the challenges of rapid-fire comedy. But since I don't have much going on in that show, it's hard for me to tell.

Epicene will continue to be a bear. We did a Sunday matinee yesterday (our first for this show), and it wasn't our strongest effort. I got to the theatre an hour early to stretch, warm-up, and review my second half lines. I felt pretty good energy-wise, but the long week caught up with me. There were some flukey mishaps throughout the show. None of them were major. But we were white-knuckling this a bit. I wish that weren't the case. This is a hard one for me, and I'm going to be thinking/learning about this whole experience for a long time.

Before the show, the cast assembled to finesse some storytelling moments. I think they were good fixes. These "changes" involve either delaying or cutting a group response (something of that nature). There's a puzzling moment still--and I won't get into the nitty gritty details--and I wouldn't be surprised if that requires some ironing. The more I do this show, the more confounding it becomes.

Yours truly and Andrew (as Dauphine) in Epicene. Photo by Pat Jarrett.

A big characteristic of this play is that everyone is serving Truewit's plotting, but the folks are at different levels of consciousness of the plotting. Even his "helpers": Cutbeard and Otter, are pawns and subject to Truewit's ridicule. The Collegiates are also accomplices, but Truewit banks on their natures, rather than letting them in on the whole jest. To throw another wrench into the mix, Truewit isn't even privy to the ultimate jest of Epicene's identity... While this all makes sense to me, it becomes difficult to orchestrate group reactions in the big scenes. Each of the characters has a supremely individual response to the action, which can be problematic for the larger storytelling (my kingdom for a director!)

Epicene may not ever get to the well-oiled machine land, which is a shame because this show could use it. I think the best solution to this is doing this show more than once a week. A Jonson City Comedy needs to fire on all cylinders and quickly. I will continue to give my body and mind the best prep before it arrives for the remaining weeks. I'm also optimistic the show will start clicking along.

I should point out that I'm not saying Epicene is a failure. This is more of an artist's "divine dissatisfaction." Audiences who venture to the playhouse to see an obscure 17th century comedy have been enjoying it, and I think we've drummed up some vivid characters in some hilarious predicaments.

MEANWHILE, while all this is going on, we're rehearsing The Maid's Tragedy!

I'm grateful for the break in responsibility, but others have giant loads to bear. I'm in full support mode with these rehearsals. We have our first dress tomorrow afternoon, and I need to make sure I review everything before then.

And in other news, I published by new website. Take a look if you'd like (there are more Epicene photos there).

Maid's Tragedy Rehearsal: Tuesday

Today

• Worked on some music with our trumpet trio (Chris, Abbi, and yours truly) for a song I'm working on.
• The masquers are trying to figure out this masque. It's a tricky spot in the play. The uncut masque is long and even has a subplot. We have a very limited number of people available for this masque.
• Staged the Act IV banquet scene. This was tricky. It involves ten people sitting at a table. We experimented with many tables in various positions. There are private conversations and public conversations. Figuring out the angle of the table, where people can sit, if everyone needs to be sitting was a bulk of the rehearsal. This is where I applaud scenic designers and directors. These are questions they ask and answer long before rehearsals begin. We ended up creating a long banquet table, adding two square tables to the ends. It makes a "Last Supper" picture that isn't the most realistic, but this way, the audience will be able to see the face of every actor who speaks with no problem. We've also orchestrated who carries the chairs, the glasses, pages the curtains, brings the tables off and on, etc. What's even trickier is that a bed has to come on stage right after this, and the bed can only live in a certain space backstage. So the table will have to be disassembled in the discovery space as quickly as possible to make room for the King's bed.
• Looked through the stock of wigs for the masque.
• I think I found some shoes for this show too. I'm not sure about them though. We'll see.
• Later in the afternoon, we did a work-through of the first act. This involves the masque. It's complicated. We're using the trap, the balcony, music, dancing, singing, masques, dresses and wigs.
• After that, we had some music time to work on a Pink Floyd song. It's so much fun. I can't wait for people to hear this.