Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Three Block(ing)s

This week I had the first real blocking rehearsal with both Ali in Her Heart and Lena in Seeing the Thing. In Her Heart, Kivan was happy to see how we wanted to move, at first, and then gave us more specific direction later. We got rather specific and began using the space in unique ways. Because we're not performing in a normal proscenium theater, we can use the space more realistically. With an audience in front of you and only in front of you, actors have to worry about always facing them (not showing their backsides). It creates a degree of artifice that isn't conducive to good performances. You have to play to the crowd. On the other hand, with an audience on two sides, we're playing to the corner, yes, but more than that, we're playing to each other. We have the freedom to emphasize one character over another in any given moment and blocking becomes much more organic, as we interact with one another without worrying so much how it looks from one singular perspective. Ultimately, this will mean that each seat will get a little different view of the action and that's okay. Every side is interesting, in my opinion, and tells a slightly different story.

We also set some rules for ourselves. Glory, Ali's character, for example, would go downstage (towards the audience and the northern lights) when she felt more connected to her deceased husband, and upstage (towards the back wall and me) when felt more connected to East, my character. This created a unique dynamic for the scene and one that gave clear reasons for moving.

Blocking for Seeing the Thing was an unexpected consequence of the weather (I was meant to rehearse with Travis in They Fell that evening) but ended up being very productive. Kivan wasn't as prepared as he had been for Seeing the Thing but we were productive nonetheless. I guess the biggest thing that emerged for me in blocking with some idea of the ground plan, was the impact that levels can have. When Lena's character of Rhonda would be up on a platform higher than me, it drove home what a monumental task giving his gift is for Dave, my character. It made it far more daunting and her a bit more intimidating. Having to physically climb to say what I needed to say was quite effective at making the impediments to Dave's goal very clear. It was like a more physical version of psychological gestures (a technique for making lines clearer where in you deliver the lines with a physical gesture in mind. For example, an angry line can be delivered with a push). I guess that's what blocking is supposed to be; an extension of the pursuit of an objective and an outgrowth of the circumstances of these characters.

Overall, it has been an excellent first few blocking rehearsals.

Ben Sulzberger
East/Chad/Dave

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

A Word From Someone New

I have enjoyed my time at Story Theater Company. Me being new to this program, I am not use to such a close relationship with my peers.   Being in Costumes is a personal joy. I have an opportunity to work with everyone, allowing for a much more personal relationship with my cast. Our director, Kivan Kirk, has taught us in a way that allows us to figure out how to act by ourselves. It truly allows us to find an inner peace within ourselves. We really get to know ourselves.

I have met a lot of new friends and I am learning to work and communicate with my fellow workers. I am especially close to my scene partner, Elizabeth Cowley. We have been friends for a while and it was luck that got us in the same scene. We have been able to work on scenes in study hall as well as in our acting and tech classes. I know that after this production we will still be close friends, but the best part about this production is that I know I will be friends with all of my cast mates.

I have been acting for only two years now and I know that this has been the best acting experience of my acting career. All other productions I have done have been done through the school. When I worked with my school there was a cast of 70 people. Half of them I didn't know and the others I was not in a scene with. Here at Story Theater Company I truly feel like I have built a strong relationship with all of my cast mates. I also have been able to form a great relationship with my directors. In school plays I only was able to talk with my director if I did something wrong. Here I know I am truly getting the full focus of how I can improve.

I look forward to doing more Story Theater Company productions in the future. I can not wait to build even more relationship with more cast members and strengthen the already existing ones from this production. The better part of this is with each new production there are new scenarios to figure out. This experience has been one of the best. I can not wait to see how much further I get into the world of acting.

Drew Wilson
Lendall

Stepping Back

So far, participating in Almost, Maine has been very fascinating. It has been different in many ways from other shows I have acted in in the past. I think that stepping away from the script and getting to know the play as a whole and learning more about its themes and concepts before we started working on the individual scenes has been really beneficial in many ways. For me, it has helped a lot with stepping back and looking at the whole thing instead of just focusing on what I say and what I do. It really helped when we just sat down and talked about love. From the beginning, love had always been scary. It is confusing. And it generally isn’t something I often have conversations about. It was helpful to hear others’ experiences and stories.

Another thing we have worked on so far in the rehearsal process is looking at many different possibilities, and being open to trying new things. While blocking This Hurts, Kivan showed us a few different ways Jayna and I could do something, and then we decided which one we thought fit best.

Also, I’ve noticed that whenever I come in for a rehearsal or workday, everyone else seems very excited to be there, and that helps keep a positive, enjoyable environment and it definitely makes for a good, productive time.

Overall, working on this show has taught me a lot so far, and I’m excited to see what other great experiences it will bring our way.

Anna Suski
Steve

Monday, February 8, 2016

Confessions of a Teenage Drama Leader


What’s it like to be the leader of a team that’s all the same age as you? How does that change how things have to be handled? How will I use my position as a way to better improve those around me and myself? These are some of the questions that I constantly thought about when I started my position as Props Head. Keeping these concerns in mind, I was able to form solutions for what kind of leader I wanted to be throughout the entire process.

My team doesn’t sit in on production meetings with me, therefore they don’t get the chance to talk about the decisions behind each prop, the connection to the director's concept, and the whole production aspect that underlies everything. While I discuss ideas with just the production heads and directors, and this has allowed for freedom in expression of ideas, my team is sometimes at a loss about what is happening when they arrive early Saturday mornings. Part of my job is to fill in those gaps and give them just enough insight so that they can help me make decisions and carry out the image we want for Almost, Maine. While it can be hard to always take the time to properly explain the thought processes that went into choosing a specific prop, I think it’s important to key every member of the group in.

I can be very much a perfectionist, particularly if I know what I’m doing. It’s easy to know what tasks have to get done, what they need to look like, and when and how it’s all going to be completed. However, while knowing my job to the fullest extent is extremely important, it doesn’t help anybody else out if I keep them in the dark about everything we do as a team. I’m finding it’s a better experience for everyone if I keep them as informed as I can as we’re heading out for a shopping trip, or starting to sew 11 (yikes) bags of love. They should know why we need this and how it will contribute to the overall production.

I’ve been on the props team as just a member for two years, and through observing my leaders at the time, I built up some basic knowledge on how the job should be done and things to avoid. Therefore, my intent is that hopefully the members on my team will have a new found sparked interest in props and they can use that in further projects. Ultimately, learning and building on experience is what I hope to gain, not just for myself, but for each individual member of the team.

One of the biggest challenges that I’ve faced so far is the obstacle of everyone on my team, along with other designers that you have to correspond with, being relatively the same age as me. While this may increase the level of comfort when working together, sometimes that comfort can overlap and blur the line of authority that is supposed to be held at all times to create a productive work space. It’s very easy to shift into an attitude that centers around a main goal of making new friends, or continuing friendships (especially as a teenager).

Sure, it’s important to connect with your team, but it has to be done so in such a way that they still view you as someone who is in charge and to be respected. Acting too much like a friend can result in work not being done on time and workshop days being flooded by the mindset of “we’re here just to hang out.” There has to be trust in every relationship; however, when the line between leader and friend is crossed, things can easily become complicated. It often creates the thinking of “oh they’ll understand, I can turn this assignment in late because they’re my friend.” Once that line is crossed, it can be extremely difficult to backtrack and gain back that level of jurisdiction. While the easy route is to act like a friend during work days, this results in an unmotivated environment.

Overall, being in charge is an experience that wouldn’t be possible without actually having the chance to make decisions and figure out the best ways to deal with all kinds of situations. The knowledge that I’m building up now will better prepare me for the future, especially with the trial and error process that will eventually help me to understand effective leadership.

Allyson Goodman
Props Team Leader