As I've mentioned numerous times before, the name of my blog comes from
A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's an insult hurled at Helena by Hermia.
It's hard to believe it's been 9 years since I had the pleasure of playing Helena.
I was talking with a friend the other day about the production, which then had me digging out the scrapbook, and then I had to go and google all my old cast mates... so it seems appropriate that I reminisce about this show this week for Theatre Thursday.
We performed outdoors in a public park for 6 weeks, and on the road at other public parks for another 2. We had to set up and strike the two story set every night because we couldn't have kids coming and playing on it during the day. I was pretty quick with my power drill. The night we first loaded the set into a truck for the tour had my husband in hysterics... he said that actors carrying large wooden set pieces were funnier than any 3 Stooges act.
We even did one performance (with a trimmed down set) on Catalina Island. We then camped out on the stage in the park there. In the middle of the night the wild boars came down the hills and rummaged through the garbage. It was an adventure.
We performed to large crowds every night, but had to deal with the things that happen in a park. Like dogs wandering on stage. Drunken people. A guy on his bike rode right in front of the stage one night. We all stopped, watched him pass, and then carried on.
The backstage area was small and musty, so we would sit in the grass behind the stage and apply our makeup. We stood in circles doing warmups, and would cartwheel through the grass.
During the middle of the run I took a two week intensive in Viewpoint/Suzuki training. If you're familiar with the SITI company that might mean something to you, but the thing you have to understand is this: the Suzuki training is very physical and particularly hard on the thigh muscles (I'm sure there's a technical name for them, I just don't know what it is). I wanted to cry every time I took the stairs. Most of my entrances and exits came from around the back of the stage, and I had to climb 6 or 7 steps to get on and off the stage. Plus, I had to RUN up the stairs on the set to escape Hermia. I loaded up on ibuprofen, doused myself in Ben Gay,and apologized to the rest of the cast for the smell.
I was the oldest actor among the lovers, and the most experienced. I think it was the first Shakespeare show for all of them. The guy playing Demetrius was... well, not the brightest bulb in the lamp, if you get my drift. Opening night, as we sat watching the Pyramus and Thisbe play within the play in the fifth act he delivered his line, " He dares not come there for the candle; for, you see, it is already in snuff" and then leans over to me and whispers "What does "snuff" mean anyway?" I managed to keep a smile on my face as I patted his knee and whispered "I'll tell you later, dear."
My husband always tells me that I'm the toughest critic in the room, and he's probably right. As we were rehearsing for the show I expressed to him that I thought the show was pretty good, but that Demetrius was not. He kept telling me that I was just being too hard on him.
He came to see the show opening night (and many times after that) and loved it. But on the way home he said "But you were right about Demetrius." One of the best compliments I ever received was from the man who played Theseus. He told me that every night I go on stage and make him believe that I'm actually in love with Demetrius. No small task, I tell you.
I had heard that the actor had gone on to study at NYU's Tisch drama school, and, after speculating how on earth he had managed to get in, hoped that he learned something there. If he did go he apparently learned that he's not an actor, because google tells me that he now works in foreign policy.
(
and that's about as catty as I get on this blog. sorry)
Even still, it was a great experience.
With the show being outdoors my husband got to take pictures, and so I ended up with some great productions shots. At our last performance I gave everyone an envelope full of photos. It was a great gift, to get actual, GOOD pictures of a performance.
Our Lion. At the end of the run he gave everyone a Christmas ornament that looked like his mane. I hang it every year and think of my dreamy summer.
_________________
I'm debating changing The Big Guy's bloggy name to Demetrius.
So methinks:And I have found Demetrius like a jewel,Mine own, and not mine own.
I don't know. It seems like an awfully long name to type. I'm still debating.
I am not a slut,
One of the things I really appreciated about this show was the director's attention to detail. We would work a scene over and over and over again to get the timing of something as small as a head turn just right. Comedy is precision, and much, much harder than drama to do really well. It's one of the things that frustrates me about so many directors. There are moments that could be hysterical if they would just take the time to make the physicality really clear, but usually they don't take the time with the actors to make it happen. The actors are left to their own devices, and often one actor tries too hard for the laugh. The precision of physicality really calls for an outside eye. Another reason I wouldn't want to work without a director.
We went everywhere Ariel went. 
We did an enchanting little dance with scarves. 
Pretty much everyone was in both shows. We did a fundraiser in the middle of the summer where we combined the two shows, having the characters interact and such. It was fun for us to put together, we got to combine all the inside jokes into a silly show. I'm pretty sure we tried to give it a basic plot, but I can't for life of me remember what it was.
