it seems I am a little late

Isn't that how Stanislavski starts AN ACTOR PREPARES? The student is late for a rehearsal and the Stanislavski character tears him a new one for saying "It seems I am a little late". Stanislavski cancels rehearsal, letting the student know how incredibly disrespectful his tardiness is...

So, I was about a half hour late today. I was biking down in Londonderry - about 6 miles away, and I had about 45 minutes to get home. But I had a flat tire. So. It seems I was a little late.

Rehearsal went well. That darn kite monologue. I personally have a distaste for memories that are in any way acted out. We never speak this way in real life - when we are telling stories we check in with our audience, but we rarely step away from them and act out moments that have occurred long ago.

So I don't want that in this either.

right before the kite monologue

We've blocked and now we are drilling down, doing detailed work. The issue at hand yesterday was trying to get Willie and Sam to have fun - not solely to justify Hally's "no joking" line - but also, I feel, it is here, right before the phone call from Hally's mum, that we need to see nostalgia for the good ol' days. Even if these were the good ol' bad days.

I think we are touching the surface, but the concerns now seem to be blocking and remembering lines.

Clifton expressed some concern about what it would be like to get lost up there. I am sure that by the time i finish my work, there will be such a clear feeling of beat changes that this concern can be avoided.

Tesh comes back today for some more dancing. And I am hopeful they'll all start to look great now. They look good, but I want great.

master harold week 2 day 2

Slowly and methodically we've blocked (staged) the play. There is the moment where Hally spits in Sam's face. This is the climax, of course. It is now staged more or less center stage. With all these tables on the deck, there is surprisingly little space. What to do?

Had a nice conversation with Guiesseppe on the porch last night - trying to figure out why Sam asks Willie's permission - "Should I hit him?" "Why not?" He is a smart actor - and he figured it out. Willie hits people - thus Sam, who doesn't asks his new teacher if this is the answer to the insult.

Guiesseppe also has to moon Clifton. And it is center stage. Yow. We will also have to restage this for the schools - I think I can make it work

Offer

Or, "What should I do?"
I've been offered a gig in April of next year. It's a nice theater, a good play, and I have a three day overlap with my Berkeley Rep gig. Hmm. It'd be a shame to have to turn it down - I don't want to. But, I do think I need to be at Berkeley for various reasons.

Have emailed Val - I am sure we'll figure it out.

Crappy Blocking

There's all these tables at the St. George Tea Room in the play and Sam and Willie have got to set the place for the next day of business. So, I had them move the furniture today. It was painful and laborious. ANd just awful to watch.

At one point the action of the play was all upstage - trapped behind these ugly tables chairs knives forks.

Awful. Restaged. All is well.

But the lesson I suppose is that no matter how you plan things, there's nothing like seeing in reality. And the reality here is that the most important stuff has got to happen front and center, not upstage and hidden.

We've practically staged the whole play - there are maybe 3-4 pages left. There will be no fireworks when we finish, but it'll mean we can get to the nitty gritty sooner.

Master Harold: Sunday

Live and learn. I decided it was time (after say four days of being on our feet) to give some technical notes.

For Wendell, it was to avoid the "run-up" - He has a tendency to add "aaah.."sounds before he speaks. I get why - I think. It shows a sense of urgency and need for interjection, but my preference is that he do so with the words themselves.

For Clifton, playing Hally, I want him to see the 17 year old boy the way I think Hally sees himself: as an adult. Sure, he's petulant and a whiner, but he thinks he is smarter than everyone and is an adult. He's not.

For Guiesseppe: I feel technically he is stretching words out so much that the full force force of the sentences are not landing. I imagine part of this is simply the new dialect he has to assume. But I wonder. And I felt that nipping this now was the right step.

Unfortunately, I gave Guiesseppe this note during a break - and he (jokingly?) gave me grief about it. When Melissa the stage manager came around to let us know break was done, he said he wanted extra time 'cause I was giving him notes. Now...Guiesseppe and I go a long way back. A LONG way. So, I guess I figured he wouldn't have a problem with the notes - and he probably didn't.

But I was reminded that a break is a break. And I will respect that.

Braly 8.5

that's what he's saying. He feels like he has hit his stride. Better yet - he has had the breakthrough that I've hoped for. He really took to heart my admonishing him (coaxing, "directing"?) that I've never seen him make that direct connection with an audience member, used that reaction to fuel him for the rest of the piece...

He did it.

So the point of the Edinburgh venture was to get him battle-ready for a new york run, to make him a better performer, and to improve the script itself. Seems like that's been accomplished...I can only imagine where he'll be in two weeks...

And now, hopefully, he'll get better word of mouth. The crowd size has been fine. averaging about 30 folks per show. Perhaps the audience tipping point will move in the right direction.


The other thing we hoped for was some decent reviews. Some pullquotes that we could use for the american run. He's got a string of reviews about to come out. But now, it really is all about the scotsman. If he can get a decent review there, he has a shot at a Fringe First. What that would do? Allow him to perform in front of a larger crowd and really get that buzz going...

Fingers crossed.

master harold dance

Tesha Buss arrived on the scene yesterday. She's a fantastic choreographer and just a wonderful force. Guiesseppe and Wendell are both reticent about the dance - and reasonably so. It's tough: you're not a dancer and you gotta act like one.

Well - after a few hours of dancing, Guiesseppe and Wendell are doing wonders with the quick step and with the foxtrot. Tesha's energy makes you relaxed and makes the proceedings fun.

So - good things. Today we are going to run everything we've covered so far. Which is a lot. I am pretty shocked. I think we've covered through page 40 so far. That's close to 2/3 of the play. How did that happen? Well - first off, I think Wilson Chin's design is such that, well, it makes the action easier to move through. Also, Guiesseppe and Wendell have great familiarity with the material. Guiesseppe played willie about 15 years ago, Wendell has been working with the material throughout the past several years, and Clifton, well, Clifton is just good...

I am pleased.