So many friends!

This has been a nice week for seeing people I have been missing. The early part of it saw lovely friends crearespero* and aurora_knight* coming to Waltham to visit, which involved playing on playgrounds and nice dinners and a trip to go swimming and a lovely long walk. I've missed both of them terribly, so this visit was really lovely. Jane could only stay for one night, but Frances only just leaves today. She is going to spend a little extra time with katiescarlett29* before the whole gang of us goes up to her place this weekend. On Friday I will get to see nennivian* when she joins Jared, Bernie, and I to drive up to Long Island together. Steph is finally back from Argentina and has invited us all to visit her and see a Shakespeare in the Park performance of Measure for Measure. And that means that not only will I be reunited with Steph, who I have been missing painfully since she shipped off for Argentina, I will get to see Plesser and thefarowl* as well! So a good chunk of all the people whom I haven't been able to spend time with in a while will all be in one place. I'm really grateful to Steph for inviting us, because it will be so wonderful for us all to get together again.

Musing on planning curtain call

One of my favorite small pleasures that comes with directing is getting to put together the curtain call. It's akin to a little piece of decadent candy for me; small, not terribly important, but immensely delicious and satisfying. Curtain call exists pretty much solely as a reward for the actors, their moment to be acknowledged for their hard work. I also like using it as a way of deconstructing the relationships in the show, composing it in such a way as to display to the sharp-eyed audience member how the character relate to the plot and to each other. And while I guess I put entirely too much thought into it, but as I said, doing it just so gives me a great deal of pleasure.

Here is my theory of how curtain calls are best organized. There are two factors to consider, order and grouping. Order is the procession in which the actors appear, with the most important characters emerging later than the others. As an actor, I've always found it's really an honor to emerging in the last three waves of bows, with the coveted final one the most ego-boosting of all. If (n) is the number of waves of bowing, the most significant characters tend to appear in waves (n), (n-1), and (n-2). I firmly believe that the most significant deciding factor on where to place people is how much influence they have over the course of the plot. Role size I do feel is a factor to consider, but I find it much less important than plot significance. I would rather a smaller character come out later if they matter more to the story-- or if they are a particularly notable part, like Mercutio or Palamon --than strictly gauge by how many lines they have, or by how much time they spend onstage.

Groupings, as in, what combination of people come out at what time, I feel should be determined by character-relatedness, the similarity of the service they provide to the plot. Obviously characters who feature together and are roughly the same size parts should come out to bow together. But that also means that if they're doing the same kind of thing for the story, even if they don't interact much onstage, grouping them together makes sense. For example, if there are two parallel figures who both provide support to the main characters but don't deal much with each other, I like to have them come out together. Opposites-- such as Edgar and Edmond in Lear-- also make sense.

Let's use the curtain call of Romeo and Juliet as an example. I thought having Frances as Tybalt and myself as Paris come out together and fairly early made sense. Even though our characters don't have much to do with each other onstage, we served the same plot purpose-- immediate antagonism --and our roles were about the same size. By contrast, I felt like instead of having the Nurse come out alone in position (n-1) and Friar Lawrence come out alone at (n-3), they should have both come out together at (n-1)-- again, they had the same plot purpose of facilitating the efforts of the two leads, and had about the same time spent onstage. Sacrificing the solo bow I believe would have been worth both of them moved up to acknowledge their significance by the order.

The solo bow is a bit tricky. Normally I only give it to the most important characters (as in, the primary support comes out at wave (n-1) alone, and then the lead comes out at position (n) alone) but it's also a way to acknowledge the uniqueness of a supporting role. I find it appropriate for the fan favorite in a show, such as Palamon in To Think of Nothing, to get a moment for the audience to express their particular appreciation. Sometimes a compromise can be made status-wise by having certain character come out earlier, but alone. The solo bow is kind of an honor, so sometimes you can balance acknowledgement of two different groups' significance by having the earlier wave contain just one person bowing by himself, and the later wave come out with a group. This is what I did with Horatio; he appeared earlier in the order than Laertes and Ophelia, but he got the honor of bowing by himself. And sometimes you just have a character who doesn't go with anyone else in the show, and simply doesn't make sense in any grouping with anyone else.

For HTP, I designed the curtain call for both of the shows I directed, plus King Lear. I only sort of remember what I did with Lear; anyone who wants to remind me is welcome. It was remarkably difficult to design a curtain call for To Think of Nothing because everybody was pretty much just as important to the piece as everyone else. Hell, everyone being constructs of Cassander's brain, everyone literally IS the main character! So I couldn't use my normal formula there. What I settled on was that it would reflect the depth to which each character penetrated Cassander's thoughts. Which meant that even though Damon and Selene are respectively the second- and third-largest parts in the show (at least by line count), I decided they should be the first to come out.

As a side note, I have always been a fan of the "call out"-- when the actor or actors who came out in the previous wave remain just slightly to the side of center stage and make a gesture to "call out" the next wave and sort of present them to the audience as they take their bow. I have used it in the three prior HTP curtain calls I organized, specifically with the last two waves to emerge, with Claudius calling out Hamlet, Cordelia calling out Lear, and Andromeda calling out Cassander. I like it as a concept because it acknowledges the way actors and characters need each other for their plots to be interesting and their performances to be strong. It highlights the fact that Claudius and Hamlet, for example, need each other for the conflict to be meaningful, and the way Frances and Jared used each other's performance to make their own better. The call out allows Claudius to show his gratitude to Hamlet for that, and keeping Claudius present during Hamlet's bow acknowledges his own contribution. It's a moment where the actors actually get to demonstrate out of character, "And we thank each other for working together." I have never actually used it except between solo bows for the last two characters, as a sort of tribute to the lead and to the primary support, but I can imagine other contexts for it as well. Perhaps between a group that is strongly connected to another group, but who's contribution to the show as a whole is of a different nature.

Maybe I am unnecessary overcomplicating things, but I really enjoy thinking about this stuff. It's fun for me. :-)

To England, Hamlet

Frances departs for England today. I will be taking her to the airport this evening, and we'll have dinner together before she departs. I made her a small token for her to take with her, a little gift I've had in mind for some time now. This will totally ruin the surprise is she sees this before I see her today, but whatever. It's a photo collage of her in my shows and me in hers around a shot of us together out of costume. It has her as Hamlet and Andromeda-- I love how different she looks between the two --and me as Cordelia and the Fool-- I love how different I look between the two --as well as us arm in arm in a picture taken right after Lear.

I learned so much about acting and directing from observing and working with her. Her method of acting was always so fascinating to me, and I think I learned my most valuable directing skill, that of deconstructing and quanitfying what an actor is doing onstage, in the process of trying to figure out what made her performances work and how she built them. When I directed her as Hamlet I fell in love with her physicality and wanted to use it to convey how strange, restless, and dangerous the character had become. She was so much more imposing and effective because of the way the character was invested in her body and in her every movement.

Since then I have worked to integrate her style into my own performances. She is such an expressive, wide-ranging physical actor extended by the fact that she is so strong and flexible, and by watching her I've learned a lot about how to bring my body into my acting. We were cast as twin brothers in A Comedy of Errors, so I did my best to sort of "match" her, be compatible with her portrayal if not necessarily imitate her. Since those were highly comedic characters, we just kind of went for the same sort of exaggerated, slightly spastic silliness, and I think it worked. In King Lear she cast me as the Fool, which is very clearly the Frances-type role in the show, and that time I pretty directly channeled her style. The Fool's strange body positions were directly inspired by her, and the ceaseless moving energy was extrapolated from there. This prepared me for playing Puck, easily my most physically demanding role to date, where I would have to move as inhumanly as possible and would achieve the best effect the stranger and more contorted I looked. Studying and working with her has taught me so much about physical acting, and I know I am way better at it now because I had the chance to learn from her.

Good social news

Have been very much enjoying having Frances around this week. I had a dinner for her on Friday night, which though it had some logistical issues turned out to be lovely. I served chicken in a pureed sauce of carrot, onion, cider, and heavy cream, and after dinner the conversation lasted well into the night. I do not often spend a lot of time in the company of other girls, and how much I enjoyed it this time makes me think that it is something I could stand to do more often. Also in Frances's honor I attended the Hold Thy Peace open mic night they had on Saturday. It was fun just doing some Shakespeare riffs with my fellow friends and actors-- I got to read Petrucchio to Steph's Katherine, for example, a role I've always thought would be fun. It's made me really happy to have had this time to spend with her. And hey, anything that makes me less of a hermit and keeps me from falling asleep at ten is okay in my book.

In other social news, Jared is coming in again this weekend! He had a couple of interviews arise, so on the plane he will hop. Sadly he will miss Frances by one day. :-( He plans on being at BSCF and hopes to see people, so I encourage you to come to gaming this week to hang out with us. I will have to plan other interesting things for us to do while he's here, but that's a good start.

Frances in town, and the perks of living alone

The much-missed crearespero* has graced us all with a visit this week, stopping by on her way to grad school in England. She will be staying with us at Elsinore for the next seven days. Despite the massive clamor for her company from the moment of her arrival, I was lucky enough to get to bring her to my rehearsal and then take her out to dinner afterward. I had a lovely time getting to hang out with her again, and I look forward to having this week with her around before she departs the country.

We had some really nice conversation last night. She mentioned that she will be having a flat all too herself, and after I got finished dying of jealousy, we talked a little bit about the various issues one encounters in living with other people. My living situation has been quite good lately, and let it be known how awesome I think my current roommates are. But still, in my ideal world, I think I would still choose living alone over living with roommates. Now that I live entirely with amicable people there are actually pleasant things about having others around at home, but a lot of things about my nature inclines me to desire a space which I am in complete control of where I can be totally alone.

My frequent but not constant tendency to withdraw into my own thoughts makes it so I require a lot of alone time, and I am always most comfortable in the space I call my own. I don't want to make people feel like they're ignored, uninteresting, or unwanted, but if they encounter me when I'm in introvert mode, I'm probably going to treat them like they are. It's not my intention, but that's kind of the message that "No desire to talk to or interact with you now," sends. And I really dislike being put in the position of not getting to have my introvert time just because I'm afraid of coming off as rude or of hurting feelings. Living alone means that there is always a way to be in my own space, where I am most comfortable and at ease, where there's no one else around.

Theoretically this can be dealt with by living with understanding people who get that just because you don't want to visit or hang right now doesn't mean you hate them. And in large part, at least in my current situation, it is. But even the whole "being alone together" thing is difficult for me, because I am always so acutely concerned with what the other person may observe.

See, most of the time I love having, and actively work to cultivate, a state of affairs where all eyes are frequently on me. Therein lies one of the chief reasons I keep a public, frequently updated Livejournal as opposed to a private diary, because I thrive on people's attention and interest. I'm sure even the little bug living under big rocks have noticed this. But I have a very definite idea of how I want to present myself in public, and at times that can take a lot of effort to maintain my preferred presentation. It's a bit complicated to describe exactly, but it's basically my way of appearing to and interacting with others to all the ends I find most valuable. We all have this to some degree or other, I believe, but I would think I'm a little more uncomfortable than most when mine is not what I would like it to be. I want, for example, to always be polite to people. That's something important to me. It can be tough to be polite, however, if you're tired, upset, or otherwise not feeling yourself. I have a rule that when I don't feel able to act like a person, I am not fit for the company of other people, and should therefore retreat to somewhere where I will not encounter them. There's a certain way you should act in front of company, and when you live with people, you always have some kind of company.

And of course there's some measure of vanity to it, as there is with everything in me. Though I am worlds better than about it than I was when I was in high school, I still dislike being seen when I'm sweating, bleeding, bloated, sick, or otherwise not appearing to my best. To this day, whenever I get a new zit, the first thought that crosses my mind is "Well, maybe I won't run into anyone I know today." And at any rate, I simply don't like having an audience for some of things I want to do that I worry may be perceived as weird or annoying. Having my own space means I have a place to hide when I'm not feeling up to being polite, engaging, interesting, and perfectly groomed. Again, I like to keep everything in order for when I have company.

I've had conversations with people about what it's like to feel invisible, which is something I've never really experienced and feel incredibly sorry for anyone for whom that's a common occurence. But even though I would never trade places with them, sometimes I wish invisibility was something I could turn on and off selectively. Because sometimes I don't have it in me to behave in the manner that I feel is appropriate for company. Sometimes I want to cram my hair into a squashy bun and sit around wrapped in a blanket and schlubby pajama pants. Sometimes I want to eat cake frosting with a spoon. Sometimes I want to watch endless hours of television I've seen a million times before. I have evolved enough to be comfortable talking about the fact that sometimes I do these things. But I still really don't like people being witness to when I do them.

Furniture accomplished

Gah, long day yesterday. Yesterday was my day of "get kitchen furniture in order come hell or highwater, God damn it," and God damn it, I got it done. On Monday night my kitchen cart came in, and Jared and Charlotte so graciously put it together for me while I was cooking dinner. Monday was a really good day; Charlotte and Frances came over to Elsinore to have a little body-painting party, followed by dinner. Charlotte did a beautiful design on my lower back and on Frances's arm and shoulder. And to make things even better, beforehand she gave me one of the nicest massages I have ever had. I'll have to ask her in more detail exactly what she did, because it was fantastic. And while Frances and I made a dinner of pesto pasta and ratatouille, she and Jared undertook the surprisingly complex task of putting together the cart. How lucky I am to have such helpful, capable friends. :-) I really like the cart, too; it rolls smoothly, has a good-sized cabinet for storage, and is a perfect height to use as extra counterspace.

As for yesterday, I managed to make agreements with two sellers on Craigslist to pick up a replacement for the kitchen table and a replacement for the pantry shelf. Mission accomplished, but not easily. It involved lots of driving, more than I'd expected because on the first run neither of my two GPS devices could find the address. So that involved lots of fighting back and forth around one-way streets in Cambridge and lots of awkward calling of the seller trying to get to an address that neither my phone device or my car device recognized the existence of. But I managed to secure an item known as a chef's or baker's rack. I started looking for one as a replacement for the shelf-as-pantry we've got going on right now after seeing one in Matt and Lise's kitchen on Sunday, and very quickly I found one. I like it because it combines shelf space with a metal mesh backsplash you can use to hang things on. I've always kind of disliked the old pantry shelf; as Jared once put it, "It's a lot less kitchen than it is garage." I'll be glad to have a nicer, more versatile piece as a replacement. Though it occurs to me I'll need to buy some hooks if I want to start hanging stuff.

Getting the table didn't turn out to be too bad, and the seller was extremely helpful in getting it loaded into my car and making sure everything was set. The table is pretty similar to the one that was there, except it has a little drawer in one end. We removed the legs and it slid into the back of my car just fine. Though the table was all I really wanted, he said it came with four chairs at no extra charge. The chairs are not excessively nice, they are a bit worn and the white paint is flaking off, but I took them anyway just in case I can fix them up. They would probably be perfectly fine if they had a new coat of paint. Maybe I could sand them down and stain them. That will be a project for this summer, I think. And so I accomplished two fairly significant furniture pieces, all without spending a ton of money. Not bad.

After all of that, I was pretty exhausted, especially since I hadn't eaten all day and my back was stiff from so much time in the car. But still, I managed to get them unloaded at the house. They're not really set up yet, as the table needs to be reassembled and their predessors are still taking up their intended space, but I'm proud of getting it done. As I said, I will feel really good about everything when the place is finally all set up and ready to be used.

Completed my sheet assignments!

I just finished my second replacement character for Labor Wars. That means I have completed all my sheet assignments! Yay! I am actually extremely pleased with how this last one turned out. I shamelessly stole a brilliant structural idea from natbudin* (with his permission!) that he used in another sheet, and it turned out to be the perfect mechanism to convey the information. It makes for a slightly unorthodox character sheet, which has never been my inclination, but I found that my typical format wasn't really working for me.

Today will be spent in low-key pleasant things. I will be picking up crearespero* around lunchtime and we'll be running some errands together, as I believe the place she needs to be is right next to the place I need to be, so that coincides nicely. And then this evening I have my hot date with blendedchaitea*. Way back when she went above and beyond the call of duty helping me with To Think of Nothing, I promised I'd take her out to dinner to thank her, and now, months later, we're finally getting to do it. We'll be meeting at Tom Can Cook, and I plan to dress up pretty for her. :-) I am looking forward to spending some time with her and with Frances, and using it to relax and feel okay.

I've been a ball of stress lately. If I can't fix the source, I can at least do something to manage the effects.

Randomness of this focus-elusive week

Have been very busy and yet annoyingly unable to focus very well for the past several days. I've still got a lot of work to do in preparation for Festival. Printing and packing hasn't gone nearly as quickly as I'd hoped it would, so I'm a bit behind on my self-imposed scheduel. I've read most of the materials for LXHS, but not everything, so I'll have to get on that.

After polling and gathering opinions, I've decided to go with Larpercalia for next year's Festival nickname. It amuses me and we can always put an explanation on the website. After all, "Festival" is the most important name and the one that people mostly use when talking about it and advertising it; the nickname's just for fun anyway.

This past weekend I held the cast party for To Think of Nothing. I ended up cooking basically a full dinner for it, which turned out to be a good choice as everyone in attendance was pleased and impressed by it. With my three lovely helpers (so nice to have helpers!) nennivian*, katiescarlett29*, and crearespero*, we put together guacamole, chicken braised with cider and apples, garlic bread bruscetta, and the complicated wild rice dish. The extra hands made it easy, and the company was very much appreciated.

I have started reading Penny Arcade. I don't always find it funny, but they do a lot of really sharp commentary and certain strips are hilarious. I decided to check it out on a whim the other day because so many people I know read it. Right now the only web comics I follow are Something Positive (have since high school), Penny and Aggie, Girls With Slingshots, and of course Order of the Stick. I'm not sure if I enjoy PA enough to put in my regular rotation, but I'm glad to have finally absorbed it.

Tonight I am performing in Kindness's post-bac art show. I will have to get in contact with him to find out when he wants me to come over and make sure we're set with our plan. If you're available from 5-7PM, come to the Dreitzer Gallery in Spingold to see the work.

"There was one other. But she was in Egypt. And besides, she didn't last as long as I have."

Last night I had Frances, Brenda, and Charlotte over for dinner and to watch a little I, Claudius. It was a lovely evening with some of my favorite people, and some of my favorite television.

Given the company, the timing, and theme of the evening, the conversation inevitably included talk of Caesar. I mentioned (something I am only just now revealing here) how when I made suggestions to help Lenny and Jenna cast the show, my only thought that differed from their final choices was that I had Brenda and Steph switched as Antony and Cassius. This was with total respect for both as actors (seeing as neither role is exactly undesirable) but with concern that Steph would not want to play as a man, and I could more easily see Cassius as a woman than Mark Antony. I must concede my error in judgment in that case. To have cast as I had suggested would have not only deprived us of Steph's remarkable interpretation of Mark Antony, it would have also removed the advantage of the remarkable onstage chemistry of Brenda and Frances. Their version worked out fantastically, and my concerns turned out to be for nothing.

The truth is I have a difficult time holding the Shakespearean Antony as the conception of Antony in my head. I tend to see him far more (and I think this may actually be more historically accurate) as a rough-and-tumble soldier who partied too much, said whatever came to mind, and was much less of a politician and much more of a born battlefield second-in-command. That is a very masculine image, and it is from this that my inability to picture that character feminized came.

Of course my thinking on all matters of this period is influence by I, Claudius, one of my two all-time favorite novels and the fantastic BBC miniseries we watched part of last night. Antony is dead by the time that I, Claudius begins, but it still does a great deal to emphasize the cruder image of Antony I have in my head. He has been soundly dishonored and defeated many years ago by that point, and is dismissed by Marcellus as a "wine-soaked lover and his Egyptian whore." In his place remains only Augustus, and for all that I'm not sure it's accurate to history at all, I LOVE the Gravesian version of Augustus. He is expansive, emotional, forthright, friendly-tempered, in possession of a strong code of values, and perhaps even a bit boyish while still having the more typical qualities of a supreme statesmen of cunning, discernment, and political acument. I like that balance, that atypical combination. He is intensely likeable and yet respectable in his capacity.

I find myself wanting to write a play about the period where he and Antony split, clashed at Actium with Octavian emerging the victor, and the transition from triumvir Octavian to emperor Augustus. I suppose that is a time period already covered by Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, but as I said, that interpretation of Antony does not particularly strike me. And at any rate, I am significantly more interested in Augustus as a character.

With him as my central figure, I would go with my preference for the expansive, emotional Octavian. This man would mourn Caesar and despise treachery but genuinely mull over the position of Brutus; he would adore Caesar as his personal god but feel the pressure of having to live up to him; he would have a bright outlook on the Rome that the new Triumvirate was going to build together and be genuinely wounded that Antony, a man who he thought was his friend, could betray him. I would like to play with the notion that Augustus became emperor with the intention of sort of putting Rome back in order, and then returning it to a more Republic notion of government. The he liked the idea of the Republic, but it was clear that the empire couldn't support it at the time, that it needed the firm central guidance that at that time only he was in a position to provide. I would also want to show Livia as a strong driving force behind him, not so wicked as the Gravesian version of her, but with a much more cynical view of things than he had. She'd be a pragmatist who was willing to do the hard, sometimes distasteful things for the good of Rome, someone who didn't believe in the Republic at all and thought that only an emperor could run things the way they needed to be. And I'd want to contrast the two of them with portrayals of Cleopatra and Antony, more power-hungry and less civic-minded, their relationship more lustful and more tempestuous than the loving but more subdued and more intellectual one of Octavian and Livia. Though battles are tough to depict in theater, I think it would culminate in the defeat of Anthony at Actium, and the making of Octavian into the Emperor Augustus.

I don't know what I would call the piece. I like the way Shakespeare gives simple, punchy main-character-name titles to his historical and psuedo-historical pieces, so maybe I'd just go with "Octavian." I know I've got other things going on right now, but I really like this idea. I think it bears a little more exploration to see if I could viably write it.

Amazing opening night





Caesar opened last night, and I must say, it was fantastic, even better than I thought it was going to be. The energy was up, the actors increased their dynamic movement to fill the stage and make the best use of the set, the amount of character-building stage business went up. While other shows may have had standout performances, the acting was consistently better across the board than any Shakespeare we've done before it. The technical aspects came together gorgeously, looking slick, professional, and painstaking. This was definitely one of the best mainstage shows Hold Thy Peace has put on to date. Lenny and Jenna, the directors of this excellent piece, should be incredibly proud.

Brenda conveys the intensity of an obsessive personality with a fascinating combination of fire and steel. She cuts a tall, square, lean figure in her suit and her military uniform, plotting, imposing, inexorable. My guts twist at the thought that I'll probably never get a chance to direct her myself. She perfectly accents Frances, lovely Frances, who is so talented I get lost in it. Her need to cogitate and weigh contrasts brilliantly with Brenda's constant burning surety. I also admire her for balancing Brutus's quiet cerebralness with a dynamic ponderousness that emphasizes the character's ponderousness without divorcing from the physical performance. I want to see her play every role in all of Shakespeare, because I believe she could do it all, and I want to bear witness to it.

Steph confirms my theory that when good actors are required to stretch, it improves them and helps them to grow. Making the role of Mark Antony a woman, keeping the gender identity while adapting it to fit an atypical societal position, is not an easy job, and not really one Steph has had to attempt before. Among all the fantastic performances in the show, she is the standout, and I believe it is because she was challaneged to create a part outside of her typical repetoire. Her "Friends, Romans, countrymen," speech got applause when it only otherwise occurred at act breaks.

  

Nati is very interesting to me. He is clearly talented and has fantastic instincts-- of everyone, his stage business I found the most genuine and the most compelling. I could see someone with his repetoire being inclined to over-acting, but I thought he balanced it well last night, keeping busy and interesting and active without being too distracting. Caitlin's performance is so complex. She has a remarkable ability to convey layers of feeling beneath the words-- you get no just what she's saying, but what's going on behind her eyes a the same time, which is a really difficult thing. And I have been impressed by April's progression. She was really good as Regan, but in playing the Nurse and having the opportunity to play a character requiring a lot of meta-commentary by the actor (must understand the dramatic function of the part to the play, has many different notes to hit, has many levels to hit, which levels and which notes are appropriate when, et cetera) I think she grew much more savvy about how to go approach roles. She auditioned for Caesar with a monologue of the Nurse, which though she had performed on stage, she directed herself to clean up her performance to a point of making it more honest and less over-the-top while still keeping it funny. It was one of the best-prepared auditions I've ever seen. Her portrayal of Decius demonstrated how much more sophisticated and nuanced her acting, and her approach to roles, are getting.

 

I enjoy the double casting of Julius Caesar and Octavian-- I should, it was my suggestion. ;-) I like it because I find actors give stronger performances when they are double-cast meaningfully, which this is. Octavian was the grand-nephew of Caesar, so you get family resemblance, and there is now some continuity between the man that became Rome's first dictator and his heir who became its first emperor. Also, it gives Plesser a chance to stretch. I thought he did a very good job of differentiating the two, making Caesar an arrogant, stage-filling presence and Octavian stern, calculating general planning to win a war and rebuild a government.

The other notable thing about the evening is that Charlotte, wanting to do something creative while killing time before the show, painted a design on my back. It is gothy and gorgeous, kind of an abstract bat wing design. There should be pictures of it up shortly. She is incredibly talented, and I am so flattered to have been able to be a canvas for her. Sadly in sleep I smeared it somewhat, but she can paint a new one on me anytime. :-) I shall be attending again tonight, after which photo call will happen for sure. I am ready and excited. Then, I believe, there will probably be the traditional pilgrimage to IHOP.

All I can say now is "Hail, Caesar!"



Third day of Caesar tech



Caesar tech week continues to go well. Last night was mostly devoted to light focus, which is a grindingly slow and tedious process by the time you get to all four electrics. I was a little grumbly over this (though it was absolutely no one's fault and everyone was working very hard) because I wanted the run to start so I could watch it for my photo call planning, and I needed to leave by midnight. Still, things were getting done nicely, and eventually the show got running. Last night I watched the first half of the show for the first time before I had to leave. In order to run an efficient photo call, I took notes on what scenes needing snapping when, with what people, and in what costume.

So many great things going on up there. First off, the acting is phenomenal. Everyone really sinks their teeth into their roles. I've said this before, but Plesser improves in technique, presence, and nuance with every show. I love Charlotte's committment to her roles, the way she assumes the persona of the character. I was so impressed not only by Steph's acting, but how she made me buy the Marc Antony role as a woman. Caitlin had so much fantastic attitude. I adore the subtle force and slyness of April's performance. Zanna brought an unexpected but very effective strength and presence to Calpurnia, and I enjoyed the passion and even slight sternness of Gigi's Portia. And, of course, Frances and Brenda not only were great alone, they played off one another so well. I was very impressed by Frances's finding an alternate way of conveying Brutus's intensity without resorting to restless energy, which made a great contrast to the roiling anger Brenda brought Cassius.

The set looks fantastic, one of the best sets HTP has ever had, in my humble opinion. The marbling effect on the platforms is gorgeous, and the curtains are awesome. They not only serve for an interesting vertical addition to the aesthetic, they effectively divide the stage into useful smaller sections, and they can have color thrown on them from the lights. And when this show's over, they can be folded up and stored for any other show to use, ready to go and free of cost.

The costumes look amazing. They were very skillfully designed and look good on the actors. And they are all in dark, bold colors that contrast beautifully with the light-colored stage behind them. I was impressed by Shana's ability to emulate the look of the period so well.

The one thing that needs a little work is the level of movement onstage. Probably because they were used to rehearsing in spaces significantly more cramped than the actual stage, there's a lot of standing around and speechifying happening. It makes it look a bit flat. But they're aware it's going on, and I'm confident they can figure out how to utilize the beautiful space around them to create a more dynamic look. Most of the elements are so good that if they can just get over this one hurdle, they'll be golden.

I am now going to organized my notes for photo call. I wish I could have gotten the second act in order as well, but I couldn't stay late enough. Ah, well, I can do that during the run tonight. I want things to go as quickly as possible, so I plan to wow everyone with my awesome efficiency. ;-)

Shameless costume design self-congratulation...

It occurs to me that now that To Think of Nothing is over, I can talk about an aspect of it I've been incredibly proud of without fear of spoiling it for those coming to see the show. :-)

As I mentioned, I believe all the costumes in a given play have to work together to create an effect. A big aspect of this is color. I don't just mean the colors all have to complement each other, though they do-- I mean I really like it when the colors mean something, separately and in comparison to each other.

To Think of Nothing is a play full of parallel characters. There are real people and their literary counterparts, there are various embodiments of the same aspect of the main character's psyche. I decided to indicate those parallels through use of color.

Cassander, the playwright who thinks too much, unwittingly projects himself into his character of Damon. Also connected to them and their overthinking nature is the analytical aspect of the Graces, Thalia. Therefore these characters were dressed in various shades of blue.



Please excuse Plesser's remarkable out-of-characterness. :-)

Andromeda, the woman Cassander has fallen for, is represented in his play by Selene. And, since he sees them as the bastion of all that is good and kind, the nice Grace Aglaea is connected to them. So they all wear shades of red.



And finally there is Palamon, Cassander's dear friend but also sternest critic. So he and the harsh Grace Euphrosyne are both dressed in green.



All these pictures and more can be seen on Facebook.

I was incredibly pleased with how these costumes came out. I got lucky enough to find pieces that were all in different shades of the relevant color, so that the connection was always present but not so screamingly obvious as it might have been if they were all in the same value-- Frances's dress has an orange cast to it while Charlotte's gown is burgundy and Liz's sash is crimson, for example. It makes it much more subtle. I polled the audience a little after both shows to see if anyone picked up on it, and the split was about fifty-fifty, and fortunately nobody thought it was obvious from the start. That was important to me. My goal was that people would realize it gradually, and I'm okay with some people not noticing it if it means it doesn't whack anybody over the head. I am also quite relieved I didn't go with my first instinct of dressing Damon and Selene in black-- they would have completely disappeared into the black box theater. I think back then I was worried that ANY color similarity between the real people and their literary counterparts would be beating the audience over the head with that connection. But it looks so much better this way.

So, yeah, I think I did a pretty damn good job, if I may say so myself. If anyone with more costume design knowledge and experience wants to weigh in with comments, criticisms, or suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. This is one aspect of the show that I thought was just really slick, so I wanted to share my process on it. :-D

Meals with artistic people

Having Brenda and Frances over for dinner tonight. It is cold and sad outside, so I want comfort food. I have decided to make a big old meatloaf. Haven't had that in a while, and it will be easy, tasty, and comforting. Frances has an idea for a Hamlet-related theater piece that I'm interesting in hearing about, so we shall discuss that over dinner.

Yesterday I had a lovely lunch with Jonathan and heard about HIS theatrical piece he wanted my help with. As part of his final art show he wants to incorporate a sort of living installation that expresses his theme, and he asked me to play a part in it. I love his idea, and I'm very excited. This should be happening in April, I think, which means plenty of time to prepare.

Have all the headshots taken and prepped now. Just have to print out Jonathan's and we're good to go. I still need people's bios, though. I should send out an e-mail threatening that if I don't get bios by, say, Thursday, I'm writing them myself. And they will say nothing but how awesome I, their wonderful and long-suffering director, am.

I love dinner parties

Lovely day yesterday. A good chunk was spent in Frances's lovely company with her coming over to Elsinore to study and myself doing little chores, as well as in preparation for a big dinner that was the brainchild of Steph. Bernie and I made creme brulee ahead of time, so it would have time to set. We're still a little thrown off by the fact that he don't have a recipe for my twelve-ounce ramekins, so we're never quite sure of the cooktime. Bernie caramelized the sugar on top with his beloved torch, and they seemed to be a big hit. They certainly are elegant-looking, for all how easy they are to make. I personally thought they tasted a little burnt on top, with extremely tasty custard beneath, but I'm beginning to suspect that it's supposed to be that way, and I just don't particularly like the flavor of the caramelized sugar. So they were probably perfect!

I found a recipe in my new Rachel Ray cookbook for a French onion soup with an Italian twist-- the broth has a dash of balsamic in it, and the crouton on top is covered with a bruschetta of tomato, mozzarella, and basil. We cooked at Wittenburg, the name that Brenda and Frances have given their grad. To my chagrin I set off their fire alarm when I put my first batch of croutons under their unpexpectedly powerful broiler and burned everything, necessitating a new loaf of bread and entirely too much time having to listen to that damned siren. My apologies to everyone's eardrums. The soup came out well, though. I think the bruschetta brightened up the onion flavor. Because I didn't want to buy wine, I substituted white wine vinegar in the broth, which may have made it a bit too acidic. I don't know, is vinegar more acidic than wine? I would think so. Still, it was an easy, flavorful recipe that I plan on making again, and it nicely complimented the tomato-basil pasta dish that Frances contributed. We did have three desserts, what with the creme brulee, Steph's strawberry empanadas, and the baked brie that Shana made. All in all, it was a really nice evening, if a bit more disorganized than I like. In my growing experience throwing dinner parties, I find I prefer when they're more coordinated, so everybody knows to make dishes that compliment each other, and when we know how many people are coming to better estimate how much to make. We could have done with one less side dish and one more dessert. ;-)

To Think of Nothing - official invitation

It occurs to me that my show opens exactly two weeks from today. So I am exhausting all venues I can think of to get the word out about it. A Facebook invite has already been setup, but to reach those who read my Livejournal but like myself aren't big Facebook fans, here's the repost of the invitation for you:

To Think of Nothing, directed by Bernie Gabin and Phoebe Roberts, will be playing two nights only in the Merrick Black Box Theater in the Spingold Theater at Brandeis University, Thursday February 25th and Friday February 26th, to start at 8PM. The show should run no longer than an hour. Tickets are free, but donations are gladly accepted.

Starring

JARED HITE (Faustus, Claudius, Lear, Oberon, Lord Capulet) as Cassander
FRANCES KIMPEL (Caliban, Hamlet, Dromio of Syracuse, Tybalt, Brutus) as Andromeda
STEPHANIE KAROL (Goneril, Helena, Marc Antony) as Thalia
CAITLIN PARTRIDGE (Juliet, Casca) as Euphrosyne
LIZ BAESSLER (Snug, Mercutio) as Aglaea
JONATHAN PLESSER (Albany, Lysander, Friar Lawrence, Julius Caesar/Octavian) as Damon
CHARLOTTE OSWALD (Hippolyta) as Selene
JONATHAN KINDNESS (Rosencrantz, Gloucester, Bottom) as Palamon

As I said-- "This is probably the most significant thing I've done as a writer and artist. It would mean the world to me if you would do me the honor of marking this down and coming to see my show. If you are available on either date, please come join me for this important event."

Tickets are free, but seating is limited, so it is recommended that you reserve your seats ahead of time. Drop me a line at breakinglight11@gmail.com with the showing you're coming for and the number of seats you'd like to reserve.

We may be adding a Friday matinee, but I want to talk to everyone in the cast about it first.

This is just to say tonight

Tonight was rehearsal for To Think of Nothing. A very special rehearsal.

Tonight I looked very beautiful. Maybe it was the energy of creation. But during the break when I saw myself suddenly in the bathroom mirror, my eyes were bright, my color was high, and I was startlingly beautiful.

Tonight I finished the last of my special tea. I will not be buying more anytime soon due to budgetary constraints, but I will miss it until I can.

Tonight I discovered that my fedora goes well with my camel coat. The band is almost exactly the same color as the wool. I like that very much.

Tonight it occurred to me how much I like the clicking sound of my tall boots. It makes me feel authoritative, stylish, and sleek.

Tonight Jared was excellent. Everything I hoped he would be. Tonight Frances was lovely. She has stepped into the character. She even wore the red dress tonight, and I was lost in looking at her. Tonight things seemed good when I was afraid they would not.

Tonight we had our first full run through of To Think of Nothing. The play I wrote exists. As my troubled protagonist Cassander found, sometimes, there are no words.

My mother is smarter than me

I mentioned to my mom the other day that my staticky hair was driving me batty. She suggested I use more conditioner. I conditioned THE HELL out of it yesterday, and Great Caesar's Ghost, this is the most manageable and un-maddening it's been all week. I heartily recommend this to anyone with similar static-electricity problems.

I also told my mom about the dress I found for Frances's costume. She told me that, no, dear, taking your actor's inseam does not give you enough information to hem a skirt to proper length-- how, for lack of more delicate phrasing, do you know where the crotch starts on the dress? Torso lengths vary, dear. One must have them wear the dress and then tack up the hem to where it must be.

Thank you, Mom, for being so much smarter than me.

Costume success!

Hit the thrift store today in hopes of finding something for use in To Think of Nothing. The biggest thing I was looking for a red formal dress for Frances. Her character Andromeda is supposed to look like she was dressed for an evening out at the theater. I wasn't expecting to see anything suitable, but to my pleasant surprise I found an elegant gown in a perfect color. I tried it on myself, and found it a very nice fit. This made me optimistic, as Frances is similarly shaped to me, but I immediately after became nervous, as I have tried on costume pieces on her behalf before that did not always end up fitting her. Still, it was just the look I wanted, so I decided to take the chance and buy it. When Frances and Brenda came over for dinner tonight, she offered to try it on. Figuring I should get my heart broken sooner rather than later, I agreed. I waited in the kitchen, my breath caught in my throat... only to have my lovely leading lady emerge looking perfect in the gown. I couldn't believe I actually lucked out! So, for only eight dollars, Andromeda is excellently costumed.

It needs ironing, and it will have to be hemmed to proper length, but that's nothing I can't take care of. Will have to investigate how to accomplish the sewing. So that means Frances, Jared, and Plesser are dressed. Jared will be wearing a sky blue button-down shirt. Plesser will be wearing the blue Elizabethan doublet my mother made for my brother when he played Romeo a few years back. It's a beautiful piece, blue velour on one side and reversible with a silky blue patterned other side. If we had more time and a bigger budget, I might ask her to make the costume for Charlotte. I need a burgundy Elizabethan gown for her, which might be tough to find. If worst comes to worse, I think she may have a burgundy dress that we might be able to make seem Elizabethan in a pinch. We need a green button-down for Kindness, but that won't be tough to find. If he doesn't have one of his own, Jared does.

Not sure what were going to do about the Graces. They need to look ancient Greek, but not too cheesy costumey ancient Greek. If we can find white gowns with that air that would be fine, and if worst comes to worst, Steph knows how to make pretty cool-looking chitons out of sheets.

So we're in pretty good shape, costume-wise. And we're keeping the budget low too! Hooray!

Planning for dinner with Frances and Brenda

Trying to figure out what to make for dinner with Frances and Brenda tonight. As it often is when I cook for other chefs, I get a bit anxious to impress them with what I serve. Brenda is quite knowledgeable and talented in the kitchen, you see, and Frances is no slouch herself. I plan to run it by Jared first, but at the moment I'm leaning towards tilapia in balsamic brown butter with a farfalle in tomato-mascarpone sauce on the side. This is a delicious Rachel Ray recipe I've made for several little gatherings, so it is a tasty, visually appealing dish that I know I can capably prepare. I'm planning on asking them to arrive in the early evening so Jared has some time to spend with them as well. At eight tonight he has the supers game, so I'm looking forward to him at least joining us for dinner beforehand.

On a distantly related note, I kind of want to take a picture of myself in my bikini with an apron and a chef's hat over it and then caption it with, "Never trust a skinny chef." This appeals to both my vanity and my sense of humor.

Project record-keeping

I have not been cooking enough recently. I was really pleased with how the stew came out the other night, and the whole process was so pleasant and relaxing and satisfying I see it would be quite good for me to do more of that. At rehearsal last night on a whim I invited Frances over for dinner tomorrow evening, so Jared and I will be entertaining her and Brenda before he goes to his supers campaign. I shall have to pick something very special to cook; it's been a long time since I just got to hang out with them socially. I did get no fewer than five lovely cookbooks of various kinds this past Christmas, so selecting something suitable should not be a problem.

I know that I have not been cooking enough recently because cooking has shown up so rarely in my blogging lately, both here and what I'm calling my new record book. I started an auxiliary LJ account (bl_endeavors on the remote chance that anyone cares) as a place to keep records of what I have done working toward my various projects-- improving my cooking abilities, improving my dressing habits, my writing projects, stuff like that. I like keeping records of such things, if to no further end than I like being able to read over and compare them to see what is consistent and what has changed. Thus far it has mostly been my documenting the outfits I've been putting together each day to see what works and what doesn't, and what pieces I wear a lot and feel good about and what should be gotten rid of. I started a new journal to do this in because I very much doubt anyone is interested in such minutiae besides me, and I didn't want it cluttering up my oh-so-much-more-significant entries on life angst, closet wrangling, and larp babble. Most of the entries have been about outfits if only because while the outside force of propriety compels me to dress every day, but laziness and shortness of time often keep me from cooking every day. If I have something interesting other than just recording what the product that day was I will continue to write it here, but the dull flat facts I will confine to the alternate space.