My week has looked like this:
Monday was the prep for the "ren run" (I told you wrong before--it's called a "ren" run, short for renaissance). I think I may have also said that Monday was the ren run, but actually Monday was just the prep for the ren run. Monday was the day they had all to themselves with no director yet--they kind of pieced the play together and worked out what they were going to do.
Tuesday was the real ren run--they run the entire show with the only rehearsal being whatever they worked on the day before in prep. The director watches their initial work, and then has a starting place from which to work with the actors from there on out. (Let me just pause and say how impressive this was to watch. The actors had never worked on Two Gents together till Monday. On Tuesday, they ran the entire show. And, had most people paid to see this first "rough" ren run, they wouldn't have asked for their money back. It was entertaining, almost completely fluid and cohesive, and downright hilarious.)
Tuesday, as I think I said, call was noon and the ren run went from 1:00 till about 3:00ish. The assistant stage manager asked if I wanted to help out with the production of Merchant that night. I'm technically only contracted to work on Two Gents, but I figured, hey. It's not like I'm doing much else with my life. So I crewed the production of Merchant Tuesday night--carrying some props and taking line notes.
Wednesday, Thursday, and today were full-day rehearsals. We've worked through, scene by scene, first doing table work--paraphrasing and scansion--then putting the scene on its feet and working through it a few times. (I'll probably save an entire future post to talk about the paraphrasing and scansion work that they do.)
Wednesday, Thursday, and today were full-day rehearsals. We've worked through, scene by scene, first doing table work--paraphrasing and scansion--then putting the scene on its feet and working through it a few times. (I'll probably save an entire future post to talk about the paraphrasing and scansion work that they do.)
There are two different companies here at the Blackfriars right now. They have two troupes: their resident troupe and their touring troupe. The touring troupe is just ending their tour and closing in residence here in Staunton--they've been playing all over the United States for almost a year. This weekend, the touring company is closing their productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream (which is what I saw Saturday night just after arriving--loved it, excellently done), The Winter's Tale (which I saw last night--well done, but perhaps not my favorite Shakespeare), and 'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford (which I have a comp ticket to see the final performance of tomorrow night and which I've heard is very good).
Their resident troupe (the one I'm working with), is currently in rehearsals for three of the five shows that they will eventually be running simultaneously: The Merchant of Venice, The Lion in Winter (by James Goldman--the only non-Shakespeare piece on their list), The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Cymbeline, and King John. I, of course, am technically only working on Two Gents. But I will get a chance to see the same actors I work with every day do Merchant and The Lion in Winter before I leave. I need hardly point it out, but yes--they eventually will be running all these shows simultaneously, meaning that all the lines and characters for all five shows will be in their heads. (Don't forget--they also double! Some actors play multiple characters within one show.) Often they'll do a matinee performance of one show at 2:00, then turn around and do an evening performance of a completely different show, then do a completely different show the next night, and so on. It probably just shows how inexperienced I am and how much I have to learn that running five shows at once is a new concept to me. They stagger the openings, of course. They started on Merchant first, and now have that one solidly under their belts. The production I crewed Tuesday night was actually their first preview of Merchant. Once they'd started Merchant, they started working on Lion. Now that they have that one pretty well under their belts and their first preview will be next Tuesday night, they've started Two Gents.
The days are long, for me (if assistant stage managers get antsy sitting through 4-hour college production rehearsals every night, imagine sitting through 8-hour day-long rehearsals). The actors come and go when they're called, and also have live pre-show and intermission music to prepare and rehearse. Rehearsals start at 10:00 a.m. and run till 7:00 p.m. typically, with a lunch break from 2:00 to 3:00. Now that they're about to open a couple of their shows, rehearsals will run from 12:30 till 4:30 on show nights, giving them time to prep before house opens at 7:00. Sundays through Fridays are rehearsal days, Saturdays are show days, and Mondays are the day off.
That's really all I can think of for now. It's been a bit of a long week. When I'm not at the playhouse, I'm eating, sleeping, or memorizing my own lines for the shows I'll be in this fall. But it's good, and I'm learning a lot.
Oh! And today I splurged and bought myself the ASC hoodie, which says "We do it with the lights on."
Oh! And today I splurged and bought myself the ASC hoodie, which says "We do it with the lights on."
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