I'm sitting in a coffee shop in Midtown-ish Omaha (or Dundee) called 'Espresso Yourself'. It's about a ten minute walk east of the place I'm staying at. The entire walk here I felt like I should have been listening to Aimee Mann or the Decemberists. I fell somewhere to the right of either option with The Sea and Cake. It's not a town for Weezer--or rather--Pinkerton. In L.A., I find myself asking "Wow...where does everyone live?" and here I ask "Wow, where does everyone work?" It's a fluke of SimCity design that all of these residential zones have blossomed into such a well-rooted and beautiful comminuty. I feel like Rage couldn't grow here, who would water such a thing?
The first thing that blew my gourd was the neverending sound of insects. There's a constant chirp that pulls me back almost two decades, and I'm plunged into a past that's chock-full of Baltimore firefly catching and Nintendo in the basement. Oh yeah, there are basements here. The Big Bad Wolf would have a hell of a time blowing down these houses, which I guess is the point. Not like some wood and wallboard affair, these places were built in the 20s and made to remain. Things just feel solid.
A week here has (aside from the worry about the show, which has subsided) been extremely calming. I know for a fact that I'm going to miss it when I leave, and not just because I won't have my own room to walk around pantsless. It'll be the grey skies, sporradic rains, and muggy air who's facebook pages I'll keep checking when I'm lonely.
Ugh....what an INTERNET thing to say.
Love!
Dakotah
EDIT: Nothing to do with Nebraska, but here's some nostalgia for ya'.
Showing posts with label David Garrick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label David Garrick. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Nebraska Shakes: The Process
Real quick--let me mention that the whole "I'm the worst actor in the cast blah blah blah" thing is actually back in full swing for a moment, so to get out of that bullshit rut, I'm going to talk about Le Process(e).
We got the adapted scripts about a month ago, and have been theoretically doing our own text work up until now. It is waaay pared-down, with the Witch playing all the incidental characters, Duncan playing Macduff, and Banquo playing Rosse. Malcom is...well...always Malcom. Then there's M and Lady M.
It seemed like the leads were off-book on day one, but really it took me about a day and a half to be totally solid. The director is an actor director--meaning he'll go in there and tell you to 'move here' or 'this moment worked' and stuff like that. He's got a lot of good ideas and images, and is totally willing to forgo them for stronger ideas and more solid images. I realize that because I've never worked with him before--I've been spending the past several days trying to impress him. Which is not acting. It is, rather, sucking fat hardcore balls. But enough about that (and by that, I mean I'm sure I'll toss some more sardonic self-loathing in here before the end.)
We had the play blocked in about three days, and now we've got room to play.Generally, the director would give the general shape of the scene and leave the playing up to the actors. This was great. The only downside is the nearly zero text work we've done--which actually seems pretty okay for almost everyone. Again, our Lady M is a freaking machine with incredible spot-on instincts. We haven't really done any character exercises either, which is good considering the time frame we've got. Again, to bring this back to 'woe-is-me'ville, I feel like I'm floundering MAJORLY.
The sounds and music were kind of done the same way. We play. The director has an idea and we all sort of throw in what seems to make sense and what sticks sticks and what doesn't doesn't. Given that we have eight hours in a day, we can really dig into it--and that's been the most rewarding part. If I can just get over trying to be good, and start learning, I'll feel solid. It's just tough when my notes are things like, "Try to project." and "It's actually pronounced preTENSE." and "What's your point of view, here?" I certainly don't feel like someone who's just graduated from a theater program. This is all, of course, to say it's day 5 of week 1 of my 3rd Shakespeare show. I'll come off it, but right now its very frustrating.
Alright alright. I'm done. Thanks.
Love or whatever, grumble grumble
Dakotah
We got the adapted scripts about a month ago, and have been theoretically doing our own text work up until now. It is waaay pared-down, with the Witch playing all the incidental characters, Duncan playing Macduff, and Banquo playing Rosse. Malcom is...well...always Malcom. Then there's M and Lady M.
It seemed like the leads were off-book on day one, but really it took me about a day and a half to be totally solid. The director is an actor director--meaning he'll go in there and tell you to 'move here' or 'this moment worked' and stuff like that. He's got a lot of good ideas and images, and is totally willing to forgo them for stronger ideas and more solid images. I realize that because I've never worked with him before--I've been spending the past several days trying to impress him. Which is not acting. It is, rather, sucking fat hardcore balls. But enough about that (and by that, I mean I'm sure I'll toss some more sardonic self-loathing in here before the end.)
We had the play blocked in about three days, and now we've got room to play.Generally, the director would give the general shape of the scene and leave the playing up to the actors. This was great. The only downside is the nearly zero text work we've done--which actually seems pretty okay for almost everyone. Again, our Lady M is a freaking machine with incredible spot-on instincts. We haven't really done any character exercises either, which is good considering the time frame we've got. Again, to bring this back to 'woe-is-me'ville, I feel like I'm floundering MAJORLY.
The sounds and music were kind of done the same way. We play. The director has an idea and we all sort of throw in what seems to make sense and what sticks sticks and what doesn't doesn't. Given that we have eight hours in a day, we can really dig into it--and that's been the most rewarding part. If I can just get over trying to be good, and start learning, I'll feel solid. It's just tough when my notes are things like, "Try to project." and "It's actually pronounced preTENSE." and "What's your point of view, here?" I certainly don't feel like someone who's just graduated from a theater program. This is all, of course, to say it's day 5 of week 1 of my 3rd Shakespeare show. I'll come off it, but right now its very frustrating.
Alright alright. I'm done. Thanks.
Love or whatever, grumble grumble
Dakotah
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