Friday, 29 September 2006
The A-Team and A Flock Of Seagulls
by Sam Berger
So, a director's blog. What should I include in this? Lengthy diatribes on the alleged failings of the cast? The Somme-like battles myself and Tim might be having? An incoherent treatise on my theories of the theatrical arts? Or perhaps just some notes and thoughts on how things are going. Hmmm. Let's go for the latter. ('Damn!', I hear you say).
How are things going? To be honest, good. We had a casting problem in that we lost one of our actors, but, as fate would have it, I now have my A-Team cast: B A Baracus had another engagement with the RSC, but apart from that everything is looking peachy. We've been trying to get a read-through together before we get into rehearsals, but due to various other obligations (rehearsals, work, etc) this has had to be cancelled. This is both good and bad. Good in that I think it's nice that the first time we'll hear the script read is when we start rehearsing, and that the read-through will mark the beginning of the rehearsal period; bad, in that Tim's not going to be able to hear his play until a few days later as he can't attend the first couple of rehearsals. By that time we may have changed the play into a musical with dance numbers and a lengthy a cappella tribute to Flock Of Seagulls.
The current draft of the script is looking good - in fact, I've marked it with the words 'PRODUCTION SCRIPT' in green ink, which must go towards something. With two weeks to go before rehearsals begin everything seems to be in place. I've got a meeting with our set designer, Catherine, at the weekend and I hope to meet with the sound man and lighting guy next week - kind of essential so that I can get an overall feel for everything that's going on.
Finished the design for the By the Tale T-shirts this evening - a particularly silly motif featuring a bared bottom and a glowing red fire poker. Slight problems in doing the Travelogue design as I think the By the Tale design is so funny.
I think I'm going to try and end every blog entry with a statement from some theatre 'person' that is inspirational to me - hopefully this won't make you, my dear reader, cringe. First, and there'll probably be a few from this, some words from David Mamet's book True and False
Acting is not a genteel profession. Actors used to be buried at a crossroads with a stake through the heart. Those people's performance so troubled the onlookers that they feared their ghosts. An awesome compliment.
Those players moved the audience not such that they were admitted to a graduate school, or received a complimentary review, but such that the audience feared for their soul. Now that seems something to aim for.