My blocking style: CREATIVE ADRENALINE HYPERDRIVE MODE

Had a ballet class the other day, my first at the school that blendedchaitea* is also attending. I enjoyed it, though it wasn't quite what I expected. I guess because they don't expect you to necessarily be there every class, it wasn't so much like "here is the lesson" as "follow along with the teacher as she goes." I did a reasonable job of following along, as I am fairly athletic even if I am totally unschooled. I enjoyed the challenge of it, and I liked that it felt like a workout. Though I really need to drop a few pounds. My thighs have gotten big enough to make some of the closer-set leg positions uncomfortable to do properly, which I loathe. Makes me feel like a tub. Hopefully the ballet will contribute to the slimming down, which will in turn make the ballet easier. I'm hoping to go again tonight before I meet Jared for BSCF.

Second Merely Players rehearsal yesterday was a rousing success. I was really pleased with the blocking we set down. I like to go into rehearsals with a very firm plan of what we're going to be doing with each scene. My preferred style is to give a solid framework for each scene's action, then have the actors develop their own pieces of it from there. It usually comes out with very good results when I've come up with something good that inspires the cast acting it out. But sometimes just working on the blocking on my own, I don't quite... get there. I don't get inspired to figure something out that's quite on the level I want it to be. As I've said so many times before, I believe a dynamic, well-composed, and well-orchestrated stage is the key to an engaging production. That's a pretty tough thing to achieve. So sometimes, like last night, I end up having to go in with my plan about seventy-five percent of where I want it to be. But then, once I'm in rehearsal, the creative pressure kicks in. I don't want my cast to see me unprepared, or turning in a level of work less than what I believe I'm capable of, so I'd better figure it out RIGHT NOW GODDAMN IT. And that frenzied urgency to turn it out right now so I don't let down my actors, what I call CREATIVE ADRENALINE HYPERDRIVE, kicks up the plan the final twenty-five percent. We worked out some really great, active, dynamic stuff last night that seemed to click with the actors performing it, and I felt really on my game.

This is really important ot me because I believe plays, particularly plays with a classical bent, benefit from activity that is supertextual. Hold Thy Peace has never been very good at bringing a lot of action to the stage that is not directly informed by the text. But things that are done even when they are not said can add more depth, more visual texture, and explicate aspects of the show that otherwise may seem unclear, rushed, or plain unbelievable. Merely Players in particular I wanted to be extremely active and visually layered, so having a lot going on is crucial. This is an unusual case because I happened to have also written this text we're working with, but but I prefer to included as little blocking in a script as possible in order to allow it to be directed without baggage. I included a litlte to suggest the sort of physical humor I wanted to get at, but largely I wanted to develop the staging independently of the script so that we didn't limit what we could do. And that means coming up with a lot of stuff that isn't written down, that adds layers to just the things suggested by the words.

There is, it occurred to me last night, just one weird downside to these energetic creative bursts. They kind of take up so much of my brainpower that there isn't much room left over for anything else. Normally I'd say I'm a pretty together, mentally present person when it comes to running mundane responsibility stuff-- scheduling, staying organized, being on top of what's going on, things like that. But I find when I go into that CREATIVE ADRENALINE HYPERDRIVE mode, it pushes all ability to handle those things right out of my head. There is only the project, work for the project, make the project great-- but I can't seem to remember the rehearsal schedule I made for that night, I have a hard time focusing on anything I have to read, and my brain moves so far ahead of my mouth that I sometimes forget what I'm talking about. I spent rehearsal practically bouncing off the walls, and by the end of it I was twitchy and babbly. But it is worth it to lose a little of my mental composure, because we came up with some really fun, interesting, funny stuff to use in the show. I'm really proud of myself, and incredibly pleased with the people I was working with, who were kind enough to gently remind me the different between eight o'clock and nine o'clock when I lost the ability to tell.