On the Inside of play.

Last night was another great rehearsal for play. We are starting to build the original piece from our writings, rehearsal room ideas, and imaginations. But the coolest thing for me about building this piece is how everything and everyone just fits together. Ideas flow. One person after another adds something to what we are doing. We speak the same theatrical language (which, honestly, can be really hard to find) and we don't mind talking. I got to rehearsal in a really energetic and kind of goofy mood yesterday and everyone just played off of that. And I played off of the other energies in the room. Some quiet, some tired, some just as goofy as me.

The thing about the 7 of us building the piece is - we just click. Plain and simple. It's not competitive or tense: everyone just checks their ego at the door (and we're all actors, so let's be honest, that's an accomplishment). I feel confident in saying we all really enjoy being around eachother and hearing eachother and telling eachother stories. Listening is a huge part of how we are creating, and I know, I am enthralled by my fellow actors. We all come from different places, different backgrounds, different kinds of families...and we're writiing a piece about growing up - so it's pretty interesting to see how different it can be for people and what is universal about it.
Apparently everyone who came of age in the mid-ninties still knows some horrible piece of boy-band choreography and knows how to play M*A*S*H. Who knew?

I'm hoping to get Robyn, Tony, Jonny, Sierra, Tierra, and James (and maybe Gideon too!) to help me out with a few more blog installments about how much fun we're having playing around and how excited we are to show Boston what actors can create and all the different ways we can do it. But for now - that's what I have to say.

Oh and go see theatre this weekend. Seriously. I mean it.
- Family (de) Values * Happy Medium Theatre Co.
- Candyland * New Exhibition Room
- The Tempest * Gurnet Theatre Project
- Quills - Bad Habit Productions
- Grimm * Company One

*M-L

A Good Day

These are things that happened to me today (in no particular order):

- I worked. I waited on some people from Pittsfield, which was funsies.

- I hugged both Michael Fisher and Kenny Fuentes in Cane's on Comm Ave.

- I saw a little girl rocking in a recliner in the window of Goodwill. This tugged at some heartstrings.

- I witnesses a blind couple (and two seeing-eye dogs) grocery shopping.

- I had a beer with MLM.

- I went for a 3 mile run.

... and I had a productive rehearsal. We had play. rehearsal tonight. OUTSIDE. And it was fun. For me, rehearsal in itself is fun. But this was great. Nothing gets my adrenaline pumping like an audience. And we had a random, built-in, unavoidable audience. We had people give us words of encouragement, teenagers make snide remarks, gaggles of girls giving us weird, confused stares. And some good work grew out of this environment. You have to understand that these actors are taking nothing and turning it into intentions and developing characters. Taking a list of "ingredients" or requirements/instructions and turning them into a storyline. And we had fun. And that's what its about. It was a great end to a great day and it was a day that reminded me that even when you're rehearsing two shows, working forty hours a week, attempting to see your roommates at least once a day, and trying to sleep once and a awhile, that this life is so worth it. I'm going to sleep happy tonight and going into tech for Refuge tomorrow. I wish you a fabulous week. :)