It’s not over ’til the fat Greek sings

Well, ya’ll. Never in my wildest dreams did I think something silly like a sheduling problem would shut us down. And not after five months of hard work especially. But we’re not done yet.
I hope to do a staged reading on September 11 in the MercLab. Expect to be contacted about this by either me or Karin Silet in the next week. And come next spring I would like to see us put this on for real, though that will depend on, of course, scheduling everybody. Unfortunately we will lose our beloved Amy by then, and it looks like DB will be moving on as well, so there will be a couple holes to fill. But beyond them, I hope as many of you as possible will be available.
I love you all, and I appreciate the hard work you’ve put into making this production a reality. Until it is, just keep chanting every night as you fall asleep at night: “In Troy, there lies the scene…”

On Playing a Man

Now, when I filled out my audition form, in answer to the question, “What part are you auditioning for?” I wrote “the MAN parts.” I asked for it, I know that, and I’m certainly not disappointed by the technical aspects of pretending that I have junk. But I’m wondering if anyone else is having a hard time getting their brains and bodies around playing the opposite gender. I want to take the task seriously, and not just lower my register and hope for the best. I don’t want to look like a dick, I want to look like I have one. But there are alot of simple biological things that I either don’t know about, or don’t really know how to fake; and I feel a little stupid asking about them. So I’ve been staring at strange men on the street lately–does he lead with his chest, or his crotch? Is he leaning with his shoulder, or his hip? How do penises FIT in pants, anyway? Isn’t that uncomfortable?

Can we find a way to work this into warmups? I was never a huge fan of “walk like your character” but maybe it’s valid here. And you might find me asking ridiculous personal questions, but I swear it’s all in the interest of the Art, and I’m happy to talk about wielding breasts whenever.
jess evans

Nor doth he of himself know them for aught…

Hey, Y’all.

So – I continue to discover little passages, little sections in my lines where I don’t know:

a) what I’m saying, exactly,  and/or
b) why I’m saying it.

Either one above can change to whom I’m speaking, so there are points where my head breathes a heavy sigh and I continue my quest for understanding by tracing the action back to the object being acted upon, and sometimes just by identifying the damn object.

How about everybody else? Are there lines you’ve yet to conquer?

Maybe even more importantly – Do you always understand what’s being said to you?

What has made my skin crawl watching some Shakespeare productions in the past is when it’s evident that the actors are merely waiting for a que line, without really listening and responding to their fellow actors onstage. We need to avoid that – even if it means upheaval by someone stopping a rehearsal long enough to ask “Who? Why? What?”

I plan on slammin’ the brakes a few times myself.

Love you guys,   Kathy

‘Troilus and Cressida’ goes to Mexico

There’s Puerto Vallarta sand in my script…

When the planets in evil mixture to disorder wander….

… my friends are unhappy, my dog is a neurotic mess, I am sad for my family and lack thereof, I can’t get it together, no one can get it together, my motions seem fruitless, my mind is a blank, I’m the only one who cares, I don’t care anymore, I’m too tired to care, I am filled with hope and as easily cast down, I look to the wrong things for solace and assurance, I wonder why I’ve tried to do anything, What is it worth? What does it matter? Why this? Why me?

It seems lately that I know many whose planets are wandering. Are yours?

One more…

Paris dont' play dat way...

Les Photos de la Cast

Kathy pondering Ulysses

Greg- don't go to the bathroom- we neeeeeed you!

Table work

We are all so damn funny

Hector has gas

Such Stuff As Dreams Are Made On

Believe it or not, I rarely dream about either work or play. They are instead bizarre, confused, usually totally unrelated to anything happening in real life, difficult for me to remember, and defy me to describe them when I have returned to the waking world. (What little I’ve been able to share with Kathy always results in, “Dude, that is so weird!” Like, I know!)

The point. The point is I dreamt about working on Troilus & Cressida last night. Well really it was this morning. It was so good and so interesting that it woke me up at my usual time without any help of the alarm. And as the dream was ending, I had this wonderful fugue of insight that I knew I just had to share on the blog!

Sadly — and per usual — I simply could not reconstruct what I was thinking about when I slid out of bed and headed to the shower. My usual morning routine is to clean up and head to the basement for some geeky “me” time at the painting table. But this morning I spent a good chunk of that golden hour poring over the script, trying to recall what it was I was so excited about. It was actually something of a disappointment to have to give up the effort and return to the normal routine.

In any case, I still feel the excitement that permeated that dream. I cannot wait to see everyone next week when rehearsals resume. This summer should be an absolute blast! Maybe I’ll get lucky and my supreme insights from early this morning will return as we work our way through this project. At the very least, I expect to be impressed with all manner of new insights provoked by the rest of you.

–Damon

Aeneas Visual Representation

This is what I found when I looked up Aeneas in art.  He is the good son, loving husband and father and before Troy burned he was a dedicated and reliable soldier.  In a dodge ball game, I would want him on my team.  

Andrea

Actor homework- Helen’s visual

Elle est dangereuse.

-from Hally Marlino