Tech Run
Things are running smoother now. We finished our QxQ on Wednesday night and, although we didn't have enough time to fit in an Italian run, I was pleased with what we accomplished. The actors adapted to the lights and sound very well, particularly in complex sequences like the battle (about which more below).
Tonight we had a tech run--no costumes, but pretty much everything else--and I warned the actors that if they couldn't shave 10 minutes off the first half of the play, I'd have to start cutting scenes. They managed to shorten it--just barely. The first half currently runs 1 hour and 19 minutes, which is still longer than I'd like (1 hour and 10 was my grail, but I'll settle for 1:15). But I'm not cutting anything... except maybe the blood effects in Gloster's blinding. Yeah, who needs blood, anyway.
The cast started to do some tremendous things tonight. Instead of lurching from cue to cue like frightened animals, they really took control of the pace and flow of the play, creating an environment in which their characters could interact. It sounds abstract and philosophical, but it really has to do with energy. The energy of the runs has felt wild and unbridled for a long time now, and it is finally coming under control. The audience will know where to look; they will know which characters love or hate or fear each other; they will know when to lean forward and when to let out their breaths. Too often, actors don't realize that the audience is waiting eagerly for this energy, for these cues; they want to be controlled and manipulated and drawn into the world of the play, however bleak and ugly that world might become. Actors are powerful people, when they know how to wield their power properly.
I'm looking forward to watching that energy grow and tighten. We have only one more run before audiences start to appear, and so whatever we run on Saturday is what we're sticking to. This, therefore, is my final chance to meddle. Luckily, I have very few regrets. If I could go back in time and re-structure something entirely, it would probably have to be the battle...it's not the cast's fault, or anyone's really, it's just one of those complex lighting-sound-blocking-heavy moments when the whole ends up being rather less than the sum of its parts. But I really ought not to get pessimistic about anything at this point. Miraculous things have been known to occur in the final days before curtain.
Tonight we had a tech run--no costumes, but pretty much everything else--and I warned the actors that if they couldn't shave 10 minutes off the first half of the play, I'd have to start cutting scenes. They managed to shorten it--just barely. The first half currently runs 1 hour and 19 minutes, which is still longer than I'd like (1 hour and 10 was my grail, but I'll settle for 1:15). But I'm not cutting anything... except maybe the blood effects in Gloster's blinding. Yeah, who needs blood, anyway.
The cast started to do some tremendous things tonight. Instead of lurching from cue to cue like frightened animals, they really took control of the pace and flow of the play, creating an environment in which their characters could interact. It sounds abstract and philosophical, but it really has to do with energy. The energy of the runs has felt wild and unbridled for a long time now, and it is finally coming under control. The audience will know where to look; they will know which characters love or hate or fear each other; they will know when to lean forward and when to let out their breaths. Too often, actors don't realize that the audience is waiting eagerly for this energy, for these cues; they want to be controlled and manipulated and drawn into the world of the play, however bleak and ugly that world might become. Actors are powerful people, when they know how to wield their power properly.
I'm looking forward to watching that energy grow and tighten. We have only one more run before audiences start to appear, and so whatever we run on Saturday is what we're sticking to. This, therefore, is my final chance to meddle. Luckily, I have very few regrets. If I could go back in time and re-structure something entirely, it would probably have to be the battle...it's not the cast's fault, or anyone's really, it's just one of those complex lighting-sound-blocking-heavy moments when the whole ends up being rather less than the sum of its parts. But I really ought not to get pessimistic about anything at this point. Miraculous things have been known to occur in the final days before curtain.
posted by Scott Sharplin at 11:19 p.m.
1 Comments:
I need blood. So, do I get the condoms or no? Remember, Always practice safe bloodletting. If I buy some I'll tell the clerk they are for my grandson.
Last night in one of my blind scenes I frigging stumbled when I saw.
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