Tuesday, January 29, 2008

action


the past two weeks have been awesome- a whirlwind of all-day rehearsals, and superquick 1.5 day trips to new york.

after almost three weeks of table work, we sat down to the table to start another long day, when jim, who plays brutus, said: "arthur, i'm not sitting at this table and reading any more. we can keep reading, but i'm going to stand up." arthur's face was inscrutable for a moment, and then, in his thick french accent, said: "okay. we have a run-thru."

now, a run-thru is what you typically do after blocking each scene in the show. you work on the pieces, then you put them all together. when you go see a play, you are watching a run-thru. what arthur proposed was to skip everything that typically goes in the middle of the process. three weeks at the table reading, and now, hey, let's put on a show.

long story short, it was awesome, albeit messy, weird, and funny-looking. we had a blast, and out of the sheer shock of trying to act out a whole play on the fly for the first time, we came up with a lot of fun stuff that remains in the show now. we've spent the time since then working on scenes individually, and running the show in parts and wholes.

it's great fun to do. during the show i get some great little monologues, plus i get to perform a dance, to murder an emperor, smear my hands in his blood, kill myself, and after dying, help another guy kill himself too. i get to wear a skinny 60's suit, smoke a cigarette, and scream at the top of my lungs. and all the who's of the who in cambridge will come to see it. and the best part of it all: i'm getting paid for this!

(pic is of me in rehearsal waiting for my next scene.)

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