Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Playing on the Fringe: Performance Number Sixteen
Our first Sunday matinee! (If I'm not mistaken, it was SAK's first Sunday matinee ever... Does anyone know differently?) A small but respectable house gathered for this experiment in long-form improv. I think we were all a little tired (Robyn and I were both in last night's two shows), but we pulled together...
Act one, by all accounts was pretty solid and fun. Charles and Ron joined Robyn and I on the stage and we got to work generating our four possible storylines. Charles was in great voice, and did a great job as Ryan, a Fringe Festival assistant, who decided to produce and direct his own offering: a one-man naked Shakespeare show featuring the ill-equipped Simon. Robyn played a rather intoxicated and power-hungry critic, while Ron provided one of our darker characters of the afternoon as an unnamed audience member in a trench coat. Ron then dropped the coat to give us Alex, a struggling college student who made his current girlfriend, Charlene, slightly sick every time she saw him, but was apparently food for the eyes of the somewhat Spanish-speaking Josephina. Alex's mentor (and Spanish/Physics teacher?!) Dr. Bill Jones, weighed in with some rock 'n' roll advice to try to motivate Alex to action. Robyn's audience-inspired character was Karen, a woman with her own trailer, slightly challenged adult daughter, Fanzy, and next-door crush and all-around nice guy, Jerry. However, Daddy Joe, a lottery-winning power monger, threatened her happiness with his plan to destroy the trailer park to build a bingo establishment. Lastly, I was Joel, a reclusive nineteen-year-old who shared his sparsely furnished apartment (a couch, television and newly-purchased "man candle") with his equally reclusive friend, Jeremy. They were visited by Suzie, a motherly figure (who lived next door), the complex's kind-hearted cop, and a possible apparition who was able to open and close the front door at whim! I had fun with a near "Candle in the Wind" parody as my man candle burnt down to a handful of wax while I sang: "My story ended long before the man candle ever did."
The fringe contingent pulled for Ryan, and so we followed him and his would-be producer desires into the second act. (This weekend was an "all player one" weekend in terms of the votes.) Robyn's critic, Mrs. Roeper, emerged as his nemesis, and sought to thwart his artistic ambitions, writing a scathing review of his solo Shakespeare show. Thrown into despair, Ryan sought help from his younger shut-in brother, and tried to motivate his actor, Simon, to improve the show's quality. Ultimately, Roeper's own desires to perform were revealed (as were the trenchcoated observer's from act one), and she emerged as Ryan's next potential Fringe star.
While the first act was quite strong, we all agreed that act two was a little more of a struggle. We wrestled with some of the structural issues that had plagued us last night, in addition to finding a driving energy, which aggravated the problem further. Just when the show traditionally peaks, the urgency started to droop a little, and we had to scramble to find a meaningful ending. Again, rather than simplify the plot, there were many tangential complications that didn't directly assist the star in his plight, and we struggled to propel the action into several key songs. We were also a little too referential in our material, I suspect. So while this played to our Fringe guests, it may not have reached the "universal" level in terms of theme or empathy.
It is not a secret in the company that the "star" position is quite a bit of work, in spite of the best efforts of the supporting players. There is a lot to remember in terms of structure, plot points and drive, and ultimately the star provides the physical means for the play's journey. During rehearsals, there was limited time for us to all rotate into this position (I think most of us only got to play it once before we put the show in front of an audience), and currently approximately half the company hasn't played the role since we opened. Subsequently, it is generally a little nerve-racking when you're plopped into this position. However, it struck me this weekend that it's important that we all review this crucial role regularly if we're to keep the overall momentum of the show pulsing forward. I sensed a general tentativeness with all the various act two roles today that I thought we had already addressed and problem solved. It just reminds me, yet again, that this show continues to demand a level of concentration and detail that is quite daunting as a performer.
Matinee improv is difficult! We all seemed a little fatigued. That's going to be the challenge overall.
Your sleeping-a-little-less-than-he'd-like Director, David C.
Our first Sunday matinee! (If I'm not mistaken, it was SAK's first Sunday matinee ever... Does anyone know differently?) A small but respectable house gathered for this experiment in long-form improv. I think we were all a little tired (Robyn and I were both in last night's two shows), but we pulled together...
Act one, by all accounts was pretty solid and fun. Charles and Ron joined Robyn and I on the stage and we got to work generating our four possible storylines. Charles was in great voice, and did a great job as Ryan, a Fringe Festival assistant, who decided to produce and direct his own offering: a one-man naked Shakespeare show featuring the ill-equipped Simon. Robyn played a rather intoxicated and power-hungry critic, while Ron provided one of our darker characters of the afternoon as an unnamed audience member in a trench coat. Ron then dropped the coat to give us Alex, a struggling college student who made his current girlfriend, Charlene, slightly sick every time she saw him, but was apparently food for the eyes of the somewhat Spanish-speaking Josephina. Alex's mentor (and Spanish/Physics teacher?!) Dr. Bill Jones, weighed in with some rock 'n' roll advice to try to motivate Alex to action. Robyn's audience-inspired character was Karen, a woman with her own trailer, slightly challenged adult daughter, Fanzy, and next-door crush and all-around nice guy, Jerry. However, Daddy Joe, a lottery-winning power monger, threatened her happiness with his plan to destroy the trailer park to build a bingo establishment. Lastly, I was Joel, a reclusive nineteen-year-old who shared his sparsely furnished apartment (a couch, television and newly-purchased "man candle") with his equally reclusive friend, Jeremy. They were visited by Suzie, a motherly figure (who lived next door), the complex's kind-hearted cop, and a possible apparition who was able to open and close the front door at whim! I had fun with a near "Candle in the Wind" parody as my man candle burnt down to a handful of wax while I sang: "My story ended long before the man candle ever did."The fringe contingent pulled for Ryan, and so we followed him and his would-be producer desires into the second act. (This weekend was an "all player one" weekend in terms of the votes.) Robyn's critic, Mrs. Roeper, emerged as his nemesis, and sought to thwart his artistic ambitions, writing a scathing review of his solo Shakespeare show. Thrown into despair, Ryan sought help from his younger shut-in brother, and tried to motivate his actor, Simon, to improve the show's quality. Ultimately, Roeper's own desires to perform were revealed (as were the trenchcoated observer's from act one), and she emerged as Ryan's next potential Fringe star.
While the first act was quite strong, we all agreed that act two was a little more of a struggle. We wrestled with some of the structural issues that had plagued us last night, in addition to finding a driving energy, which aggravated the problem further. Just when the show traditionally peaks, the urgency started to droop a little, and we had to scramble to find a meaningful ending. Again, rather than simplify the plot, there were many tangential complications that didn't directly assist the star in his plight, and we struggled to propel the action into several key songs. We were also a little too referential in our material, I suspect. So while this played to our Fringe guests, it may not have reached the "universal" level in terms of theme or empathy.
It is not a secret in the company that the "star" position is quite a bit of work, in spite of the best efforts of the supporting players. There is a lot to remember in terms of structure, plot points and drive, and ultimately the star provides the physical means for the play's journey. During rehearsals, there was limited time for us to all rotate into this position (I think most of us only got to play it once before we put the show in front of an audience), and currently approximately half the company hasn't played the role since we opened. Subsequently, it is generally a little nerve-racking when you're plopped into this position. However, it struck me this weekend that it's important that we all review this crucial role regularly if we're to keep the overall momentum of the show pulsing forward. I sensed a general tentativeness with all the various act two roles today that I thought we had already addressed and problem solved. It just reminds me, yet again, that this show continues to demand a level of concentration and detail that is quite daunting as a performer.
Matinee improv is difficult! We all seemed a little fatigued. That's going to be the challenge overall.
Your sleeping-a-little-less-than-he'd-like Director, David C.
