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Thursday, December 1, 2016
Theatre 101: The Dreaded First Rehearsals
Fun and perhaps
little-known fact about me. I was a theatre major in college at Florida State
Univ. I was also in a community theatre group with my church. We did some great
shows, including Beauty and the Beast,
The Mousetrap, Harvey, and The
Imaginary Invalid.
This summer,
Dinner Theatre was revived at my church, and I was in my first production in over
10 years, a really funny play called Oh,
What A Tangled Web. Now, we’re working on a new play, a Western Melodrama
called The Vile Veterinarian, Or How Much
Is That Doggy With The Widow. The show is as crazy as it sounds. It’s full
of horrible (and horribly funny) puns, which are usually a “no-
no” in most
writing circles. The characters have quirky names like Polly Purina (the
heroine), Hugh Kandoit (the hero), Dr. Ray Beeze (the villain) and his
assistant, Kitty Litter. I play Miss. April May June, a noted opera singer and hat
connoisseur. I get to sing (badly).
 |
| April May June hat connoisseur |
Right now we’re
still in the early stages and working on blocking (where your character moves
on stage). It’s a bit of a mess at this point, frankly. Most of the actors are
still “on book”, which means we haven’t memorized our lines yet. The director
(and actors) are still trying to figure out where all these people need to be
so they don’t block someone else or end up with their backs to the audience.
Nothing seems to work, and at times, we all wonder if it will ever come
together. Actors go through times of feeling like they are the worst ever.
This stage
reminds me a lot of writing the first draft of a book. Most authors will tell
you that their first draft is utter trash. The plot is shaky, the characters
haven’t figured out where to go yet, the motivation is sketchy. There are times
when we authors wonder if this isn’t the worst book ever written. But then we
go back for a second or third draft and fix all those dangling plot points,
dead scenes and useless fluff. We tighten the prose and dig deeper for emotion.
Eventually, we do end up with something we can be proud of, but it only happens
after a lot of blood, sweat and tears.
A play is like that, too. It's a mess until you learn your lines, where you're supposed to be, and practice enough so that everything seems natural. Then you have a play (and hopefully a book) you can be proud of.
Any of you ever done any acting? What were you in? Ever have the urge to get back into it?
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I was a Speech and Drama major so I have also spent time treading the boards. This brings back so many memories of times spent on both sides of the lights. Yes, I also enjoyed directing. My first experience in the director's chair was in high school when the faculty member who was directing became ill and left me in charge! I sometimes do feel the urge to go back into the theatre, but my husband and I volunteer with a group that brings many professional productions to town and I've learned to enjoy simply being a part of the audience.
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