What is it about this play MISSING that keeps us all on tenterhooks? It's two weeks today since we opened (after three preview performances), and only NOW are the insistent voices in my head beginning to fade. Like a successful jingle heard over and over again, or the tune from a musical you're working on that won't let your mind rest, elements of our production keep popping up in those anxiety-inducing dream visions that occur in the twilight between sleep and waking.
Recently I dreamt that I received a phone call while pounding rock music filled my home (which happens in MISSING, but not to me). I was offered the lead in a production I suddenly knew I had read for the week before (in dreamtime). Just as I was trying to explain that I was already committed, my wife urged me to "get the dates", because another actor could take over my present duties.
How does this relate to MISSING? Simple. In our play virtually every character is caught in a paradoxical, morally ambiguous trap, subject to equal and opposite emotional pressures. In my dream, the two overriding prerogatives of my life, work and family, are at war. What do you do when there's no right answer? Each character in MISSING tries to find a suitable personal solution.
Further, I would argue that this tension is manifested in the structure of the play as well, in the opposing challenges offered to the actors. As we began our work, we were all concerned with our characters, while taking peripheral note of certain choral sections of the script. Within two days, playing a character seemed a snap compared to the rhetorical demands of the choral set pieces. Sometimes linear, more often fragmented and chaotic, these lines defied logic and resisted memorization. Yet it was virtually impossible to stage them effectively until we were all off book.
Ultimately, all was well --but our varying attitudes and approaches to this challenge were instructive. Some performers found these words unnecessary and intrusive, and yet mastered the technical demands quickly. Others felt these interludes were an integral part of the piece, and should be considered as part of a dance that included many different steps and rhythms.
This dichotomy of styles, I think, enriches and informs ALL of MISSING, while also representing PHYSICALLY the PSYCHIC tensions of the characters. And THAT'S why live theatre is for experiencing, and not just for reading.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Post made by Laurie Murphy, Factory Theatre:
MISSING's Andrew Gillies wins theatre award in Halifax for his work as an actor. Congratulations from all of us here at Factory!
Chronicle Herald, May 24, 2009:
The 10th annual Merritt Awards recognizing excellence in Nova Scotia theatre production were presented at a gala ceremony Monday Night at Neptune Theatre, hosted by actor Charlie Rhindress.
...Outstanding performance by an actor in a supporting role: Andrew Gillies as General Burgoyne in The Devil’s Disciple, Neptune Theatre.
For article in full, click http://thechronicleherald.ca/Search/9011123.html.
MISSING's Andrew Gillies wins theatre award in Halifax for his work as an actor. Congratulations from all of us here at Factory!
Chronicle Herald, May 24, 2009:
The 10th annual Merritt Awards recognizing excellence in Nova Scotia theatre production were presented at a gala ceremony Monday Night at Neptune Theatre, hosted by actor Charlie Rhindress.
...Outstanding performance by an actor in a supporting role: Andrew Gillies as General Burgoyne in The Devil’s Disciple, Neptune Theatre.
For article in full, click http://thechronicleherald.ca/Search/9011123.html.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Bannerman Bloggination
Let the Bloggination begin! Or I suppose I SHOULD say, "continue". I"m impressed by the frankness and lucidity of David Ferry's previous notes.
I am, however, a completely different Guy. Guy Bannerman, in fact. Still, it's good to have a forum to discuss our performers' experience of MISSING -- and we may have a few opinions on the rehearsal process, too, already chronicled by our fearless director.
We were reminded about that very process today, when an enthusiastic audience of Brampton teenagers asked us how long it had taken to perfect our scene changes. Sighs and groans were our response, as we relived those hectic last days. With any new script, there are bound to be necessary last-minute decisions that lend added challenges to the final rehearsals and first previews. Although we did absorb some minor line additions and cuts from Florence Gibson, our transitions developed into a master class on tightening and restructuring.
David Ferry had already instituted a convention of overlapping the endings and beginnings of scenes vocally, while necessary movement of set pieces was carried out. This alone was not enough to support the accelerating flow of the play towards its conclusion. Ultimately David developed a convention that froze the largest set pieces (the diner counters) in one all-purpose configuration, and combined this with the gradual stripping down of the stage picture by eliminating pieces of furniture from familiar locations. For example, a fight that used the large farmhouse table as an integral element was restaged in an empty space.
There was even a humourous element to the proceedings, as a chair needed by one actor missed being set by another actor. A clever improvisation covered the mistake -- and was almost immediately incorporated into the "official" version. Art includes accidents!
I am, however, a completely different Guy. Guy Bannerman, in fact. Still, it's good to have a forum to discuss our performers' experience of MISSING -- and we may have a few opinions on the rehearsal process, too, already chronicled by our fearless director.
We were reminded about that very process today, when an enthusiastic audience of Brampton teenagers asked us how long it had taken to perfect our scene changes. Sighs and groans were our response, as we relived those hectic last days. With any new script, there are bound to be necessary last-minute decisions that lend added challenges to the final rehearsals and first previews. Although we did absorb some minor line additions and cuts from Florence Gibson, our transitions developed into a master class on tightening and restructuring.
David Ferry had already instituted a convention of overlapping the endings and beginnings of scenes vocally, while necessary movement of set pieces was carried out. This alone was not enough to support the accelerating flow of the play towards its conclusion. Ultimately David developed a convention that froze the largest set pieces (the diner counters) in one all-purpose configuration, and combined this with the gradual stripping down of the stage picture by eliminating pieces of furniture from familiar locations. For example, a fight that used the large farmhouse table as an integral element was restaged in an empty space.
There was even a humourous element to the proceedings, as a chair needed by one actor missed being set by another actor. A clever improvisation covered the mistake -- and was almost immediately incorporated into the "official" version. Art includes accidents!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sneak Peek of MISSING with Kyra Harper and Shauna Black
"It takes a writer as skilled as Florence Gibson to juggle the multitude of realities that are on the table in Missing..." - Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star
BUY NOW at www.factorytheatre.ca
Call: 416-504-9971
NOW PLAYING TO APR 5
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
director's notes 8
Sorry for my absence since Thursday last, it was Captain Crunch time at the factory.
If you follow this blog you likely know theatre and the absurd process we follow to get a play opened..I suspect if one had 3 months to stage a piece one would still feel unprepared for opening--but I say, give me the three months and we'll see.
Starting with the Thursday 10/12 hour call it truly felt like a race..and like the man pushing the rock up the hill, I felt like a bull trying to herd us all across some imaginary finish line. I also had two projects I am serving as dramaturge/director on getting ready for the Passe Muraille BUZZ week..so Saturday and Sunday morning before Missing rehs found me rehearsing those, and yesterday I started rehearsals for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
The actors and designers and stage management and production crew spent last week madly scrambling to get the play to where it needs to be for an audience. In the process it really is true that you end up making lightning decisions..cuts, shifts, re-blocking. On Weds we looked at the major set image and it seemed it would never be what we wanted (a large wire sculpture) but by Sunday it was there. I had a wild desire to end the play with falling leaves..nice image but it didn't work well and more importantly was meaningless in the end. I had thought that a radio broadcast the character does to plead for his wife to come home would impart the right sense of isolation if it seemed that we observed it from the rear of a broadcast booth only
hearing him via a series of portable radios behind the audience..but it was strangely static..out with the mic and the idea.
Saturday I re-blocked the whole of the second half of the play so the pace and flow of the play would be better serviced..it helped but we had a dress that night so it was pretty scary for the actors.
Sunday's first preview was relatively smooth and we got to a time we liked, but I sat there seeing only what wasn't working for me..a dangerous time for a director..you can be so hard on yourself it can be counter-productive.
Yesterday I suggested a further re-ordering of scenes and some cuts to Florence and spent the evening after Judas rehearsals working them out and communicating with the designers and actors and stage management how they would work and how we would rehearse them today for tonight's preview. Off to morning rehearsal of Judas and then into the theatre for a couple of Missing hours, then watching again tonight with our second audience.
Next up..observations about my second recent experience directing a non linear piece by a feminist author (36 Views was the other one)--what I have learned.
If you follow this blog you likely know theatre and the absurd process we follow to get a play opened..I suspect if one had 3 months to stage a piece one would still feel unprepared for opening--but I say, give me the three months and we'll see.
Starting with the Thursday 10/12 hour call it truly felt like a race..and like the man pushing the rock up the hill, I felt like a bull trying to herd us all across some imaginary finish line. I also had two projects I am serving as dramaturge/director on getting ready for the Passe Muraille BUZZ week..so Saturday and Sunday morning before Missing rehs found me rehearsing those, and yesterday I started rehearsals for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.
The actors and designers and stage management and production crew spent last week madly scrambling to get the play to where it needs to be for an audience. In the process it really is true that you end up making lightning decisions..cuts, shifts, re-blocking. On Weds we looked at the major set image and it seemed it would never be what we wanted (a large wire sculpture) but by Sunday it was there. I had a wild desire to end the play with falling leaves..nice image but it didn't work well and more importantly was meaningless in the end. I had thought that a radio broadcast the character does to plead for his wife to come home would impart the right sense of isolation if it seemed that we observed it from the rear of a broadcast booth only
hearing him via a series of portable radios behind the audience..but it was strangely static..out with the mic and the idea.
Saturday I re-blocked the whole of the second half of the play so the pace and flow of the play would be better serviced..it helped but we had a dress that night so it was pretty scary for the actors.
Sunday's first preview was relatively smooth and we got to a time we liked, but I sat there seeing only what wasn't working for me..a dangerous time for a director..you can be so hard on yourself it can be counter-productive.
Yesterday I suggested a further re-ordering of scenes and some cuts to Florence and spent the evening after Judas rehearsals working them out and communicating with the designers and actors and stage management how they would work and how we would rehearse them today for tonight's preview. Off to morning rehearsal of Judas and then into the theatre for a couple of Missing hours, then watching again tonight with our second audience.
Next up..observations about my second recent experience directing a non linear piece by a feminist author (36 Views was the other one)--what I have learned.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
director's notes 6
The dynamics of a cast are always fascinating.
For me the challenge is in reading the dynamics well.
I never know.
I try to create a free-flowing or at least somewhat loosy-goosy working environment so people can have humour and feel free to talk, but it seems to me that the culture of theatre is still infused with a sense of hierarchical nature of older theatre traditions.
The director is the boss..and of course in a fundamental way you are..you are the one that gets to say "here not there" and "let's cut that" etc. so no matter how often you try to encourage open discussion..some people remain sceptical.
My spouse is working on this and she thinks I am totally full of fertilizer in my belief that I allow the free flow (word to the wise, be careful working with those who know you as intimately as a spouse, they can be a hard sell), however I retain the right to disagree with her.
The challenge with doing a big dense project in a limited number of weeks is that you have to move so fast, often it is hard for others to keep up with you (I have been living with the piece for years, they have been on board for weeks). So as I bull my way to the finish line (well really the start line)I have to keep looking around to make sure I am not leaving a trail of injuries.
We got to two scenes past half way in the QtoQ last night and have another five hours today..hopefully we will get to a run.
As the actors acclimatize to the set and lights and sound, the next step is to get back to the text and the relationships and also to make sure they get runs in for the flow. My needs also include expanding on the visual conceits I have tried to create and to the overall meta-theatrical approach to the piece.I am changing aspects of the set as we go and also I want to check sight-lines, volume of actors and keep the plot points clear to an audience.
Then --are there cuts I can introduce without creating panic?
I am really looking forward to acting again.
For me the challenge is in reading the dynamics well.
I never know.
I try to create a free-flowing or at least somewhat loosy-goosy working environment so people can have humour and feel free to talk, but it seems to me that the culture of theatre is still infused with a sense of hierarchical nature of older theatre traditions.
The director is the boss..and of course in a fundamental way you are..you are the one that gets to say "here not there" and "let's cut that" etc. so no matter how often you try to encourage open discussion..some people remain sceptical.
My spouse is working on this and she thinks I am totally full of fertilizer in my belief that I allow the free flow (word to the wise, be careful working with those who know you as intimately as a spouse, they can be a hard sell), however I retain the right to disagree with her.
The challenge with doing a big dense project in a limited number of weeks is that you have to move so fast, often it is hard for others to keep up with you (I have been living with the piece for years, they have been on board for weeks). So as I bull my way to the finish line (well really the start line)I have to keep looking around to make sure I am not leaving a trail of injuries.
We got to two scenes past half way in the QtoQ last night and have another five hours today..hopefully we will get to a run.
As the actors acclimatize to the set and lights and sound, the next step is to get back to the text and the relationships and also to make sure they get runs in for the flow. My needs also include expanding on the visual conceits I have tried to create and to the overall meta-theatrical approach to the piece.I am changing aspects of the set as we go and also I want to check sight-lines, volume of actors and keep the plot points clear to an audience.
Then --are there cuts I can introduce without creating panic?
I am really looking forward to acting again.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
directors notes 7
This email from a friend while in TECH REHS,It made me laugh:
Okay, what's the dealio,
Monday, March 2 was your last entry. It's now Wednesday the 4th. Soon it will be Thursday. And not a new blog in sight. What gives? You busy?
C'mon, I'm on pins and needles. Will Dame Harper finally come out of her dressing room and, once more, unleash a torrent of venom upon her castmates. Will Chris Stanton finally come clean with his obvious hard of hearing. Andrew Gillies is Albanian (please, does anyone really buy that British thing) Fiona Highet only took your gig so she could meet me.
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS has nothing on you guys.
eves x
Moving the play into the big room we will play in from the small room we were rehearsing in, is as usual fraught with danger, uh, challenges>in this director's mind it is akin to moving from jumping off the parachute training tower to jumping from the plane way up there.
Looking out to the abyss below I think "I hate what I've done to the play--what the hell was I thinking, jesus these poor actors, that's not what the set maquette looked like, how come the lights look so bright/dark".
As usual waking up this morning at 4AM I thought "I can cut the doors, the backdrop, the foley sndfx"etc etc.
I am about to restart the QtoQ and we are already in scene 4 (out of 16) with a mere five hours to go. The actors are remarkably good humoured and patient, I am characteristically demanding and assuming everyone is inside my head..so I am trying to give everyone lot's of "Attaboy's/girl's (my friend Paul Eves of above email once wisely said that all actors want occasionally is a couple of Attaboy's now and then).
I will try to post something of interest tomorrow regarding the play and the process and not something born out of fatigue and self loathing. Cheers.
Okay, what's the dealio,
Monday, March 2 was your last entry. It's now Wednesday the 4th. Soon it will be Thursday. And not a new blog in sight. What gives? You busy?
C'mon, I'm on pins and needles. Will Dame Harper finally come out of her dressing room and, once more, unleash a torrent of venom upon her castmates. Will Chris Stanton finally come clean with his obvious hard of hearing. Andrew Gillies is Albanian (please, does anyone really buy that British thing) Fiona Highet only took your gig so she could meet me.
UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS has nothing on you guys.
eves x
Moving the play into the big room we will play in from the small room we were rehearsing in, is as usual fraught with danger, uh, challenges>in this director's mind it is akin to moving from jumping off the parachute training tower to jumping from the plane way up there.
Looking out to the abyss below I think "I hate what I've done to the play--what the hell was I thinking, jesus these poor actors, that's not what the set maquette looked like, how come the lights look so bright/dark".
As usual waking up this morning at 4AM I thought "I can cut the doors, the backdrop, the foley sndfx"etc etc.
I am about to restart the QtoQ and we are already in scene 4 (out of 16) with a mere five hours to go. The actors are remarkably good humoured and patient, I am characteristically demanding and assuming everyone is inside my head..so I am trying to give everyone lot's of "Attaboy's/girl's (my friend Paul Eves of above email once wisely said that all actors want occasionally is a couple of Attaboy's now and then).
I will try to post something of interest tomorrow regarding the play and the process and not something born out of fatigue and self loathing. Cheers.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Directors Notes 5 (a video)
This is Andrew Gillies and Fiona Highet in MISSING Rehearsal playing Ian and Carol
Interesting few days leading to a second stumble through for lights on Saturday. The challenges for actors on new plays are particularly volatile in that as we discover more and more where the play sits or how it technically and thematically plays out, there are often text changes, cuts, shifts, and re-assignment of choral lines as well as blocking changes. It becomes clearer and clearer to me that Florence has written a world that is disintegrating for the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) alike. Also the world of the community (chorus) is such an essential aspect of the piece that as we struggle with actor operated scene changes of furniture and props, we have discovered that the worlds increasingly overlap and eventually collide (especially for the cop Carol). This needs to be reflected too in the lighting and sound design so daily calls to the designers to discuss how we manifest this. Pieces of "furniture" from all three worlds invade one scene. Actors finish one scene as another actor begins theirs. In my minds eye I feel like a camera is constantly zooming out from an ECU to reveal a world in the background.
Interesting few days leading to a second stumble through for lights on Saturday. The challenges for actors on new plays are particularly volatile in that as we discover more and more where the play sits or how it technically and thematically plays out, there are often text changes, cuts, shifts, and re-assignment of choral lines as well as blocking changes. It becomes clearer and clearer to me that Florence has written a world that is disintegrating for the protagonist(s) and antagonist(s) alike. Also the world of the community (chorus) is such an essential aspect of the piece that as we struggle with actor operated scene changes of furniture and props, we have discovered that the worlds increasingly overlap and eventually collide (especially for the cop Carol). This needs to be reflected too in the lighting and sound design so daily calls to the designers to discuss how we manifest this. Pieces of "furniture" from all three worlds invade one scene. Actors finish one scene as another actor begins theirs. In my minds eye I feel like a camera is constantly zooming out from an ECU to reveal a world in the background.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
