Saturday, February 20, 2016

Transitions

“On Thursday’s rehearsal we worked on building the transitions between the different vignettes. Connecting the different scenes without making the play feel disjointed as a whole seemed like a daunting task, and I definitely had my doubts about our plan. After figuring out the first two, though, I understood where Kivan was coming from and how these would work. Instead of just bringing on the next set pieces, the transitions embody the community of Almost; though each transition is different, the atmosphere of the town is maintained between each individual scene.”  - Lena Menefee-Cook

“This week we worked on transitions. We discussed and tried many different ways to get all (or most) of the characters on stage to give the feeling of a hustling small town. I enjoyed working our characters and their stories into the transitions. Even if crossing the stage silently, we can show a lot about our characters and the town.” - Ben Teske

“Working on transitions helped build the community of Almost. It helped us realize the relationships between everyone in Almost, and not just those in a scene together.” - Anna Suski

“Not only is it important to be be actively engaged in scene, but while out of scene, too. We worked four transitions this Thursday. The first one, which had already been roughly planned out and shown to the rest of the cast a few rehearsals earlier, came to life as I watched from the sidelines, having not been in attendance at that previous rehearsal. I learned here, or a least I now believe, that it’s just as important to sit back, take it all in and process the images on stage as it is to get up and do it. I watched Kivan make only slight changes, but with considerate enhancements to the transition. This may have been the way two people acknowledged one another, or how one took another’s hand, or if recognition of a face created this facial expression or a different one, but once it was done right, you could almost hear the magical “click” as the pieces slid into place. I was given the privilege of watching these “clicks” start popping up more and more as small adjustments were made. It may seem weird, but I was almost sad to stop watching, and start physically engaging in the scene. I’ve learned both ways, though, are very important for the growth of a scene, transition, or play as a whole. I’m glad I got to see both sides of it on Thursday.” - Jayna Wanamaker

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

New Year, New Play

I can’t say having been apart of the previous teen shows has given me a sense of comfort, because when I walked into our first production meeting for Almost, Maine, I was just as nervous as I as for the first meeting of David & Lisa; the only difference now is that I have my own architects ruler. Every production is different, and while I now know how to use an impact driver / screw gun, I couldn’t go into it thinking I knew everything just because I had been involved in the last two shows and had taken a beginning theatre course at ISU. I’ve designed the past two shows, David & Lisa and Much Ado About Nothing, and each time is something new and different. My experience with Almost, Maine has been especially unique due to the style of the play, the theatre space, and the new leaders.
This production comes with a distinct set of challenges based mainly on how it’s written. The vignette form has been something new for me. It’s interesting as well as painstaking. The goal of the set for Almost, Maine is to portray the many different places of the town while still making the scenes feel connected, since they’re set at the exact same time. For the last two productions, I’ve never really had to deal with set changes and set pieces being taken on and off a lot. The idea of creating many sets was exciting but also a little daunting. However, this year I’m not the only set designer that comes into production meetings. Clove Woodworth is my Assistant Set Designer. So, along with working on the play, I have someone to more closely collaborate with and delegate harder tasks to. It’s been a bit of a learning curve for me to change some of my focus sometimes and make sure I’m keeping her fully informed as well as demonstrating what I do, designing on a closer level. Sometimes I forget that she can’t instantly read my brain and I need to remember to inform her of my plans and if anything changes. It’s a new kind of communication that has been a great experience.

Zoey Lazere

Story Theater Company has a new location on South Dayton Avenue to add onto the new and exciting happenings this year. For Almost, Maine, this is the place we’re holding rehearsals, building sets, and where the show will be performed. It’s been both helpful and a hindrance. On one side, it’s helpful because if I need to take measurements for the performing area I can just run over. We can easily move our set pieces through the garage doors without having to load them in a truck and if something needs to be repainted, I can get it done right away. However, the other side of that is since we will have more people than ever in this space during the performances, Story Theater Company is building a lobby inside the workshop. For the set crew especially, it means we can’t leave what we’re working on out and it leaves us with little space. Luckily, since the production of A Slice Of Reggie happened a few weeks prior to the start of Almost, Maine, we were able to reuse the makeshift platform stage, one of the largest things we’d have had to build otherwise. However, it’s been an adjustment that we’ve had to work around.
To add on even more change this year, we have two new Technical Directors and a new Production Manager. It was refreshing as well as a little weird to introduce myself again in a space that had become so familiar. I had gotten accustomed to working with people who were already aware of my general skill set and I wasn’t quite sure how much the new faces knew about my previous involvement. My responsibilities have shifted a bit because of this as well. Since I had learned some of the basics the years before, such as ground plans, renderings, and budgeting, they trusted me to do those jobs again without having to watch over my shoulder. I was just getting comfortable with it last year so this was something I had to work hard on. I starting to get into the swing of things last year and at the start of this year it seemed like more responsibility was coming my way. I want to take that responsibility, though, and use my previous experience to create this production and guide my set team, and Clove, to really show them how set design works.

Lena Menefee-Cook, Zoey Lazere, Kivan Kirk (Director)

I’m happy to be back and working with a new set team, a new assistant, and in a new space. Each production gives me different insights and teaches me how to deal with the different twists and turns that happen during shows.

Zoey Lazere
Set Designer/Builder