My dear Sir,
We are now at a "wrapping up" point for the semester as the cast and I have a few weeks off before soldiering on. The past few months have been extremely productive, and ended with a real breakthrough this past Sunday.
Beginning the process, I did mountains of reading about yourself and about Russia at the time, and on critical takes on your plays. I covered my dining table with a stack of papers and books at least a foot high. I was afraid to move them, and after a few weeks, when they were moved for me, I was thankful that they'd been placed out of sight. I'd digested them, and didn't need to have them standing before me as an obstacle. As you know, I used time and its imagery as my way of initially accessing the text. My actors developed tempos for the characters to inhabit, and we worked with that for a few weeks as they got more and more familiar with and involved with the play. We reduced monologues to their most important sounds, and created movement pieces based on these. We created the timeline previously mentioned, which seemed to have a great effect on the actors in realizing the vast difference between the fast, American times they live in and the much more legato time of the play. The actors wrote character bios and reactions to the work we'd done. We created movement exercises to explore what time might feel like for the characters (though, since this was at the beginning of the process, these were not quite as fully realized as they might be were we to try the exercise again, which we might do). We explored what happens when all the characters' tempos exist in the same room, what happens when those explorations lead into text, what happens if the actors improv mundane situations both in and out of those tempos.
We then started some very basic exploratory scene work, first reading a scene out loud and then trying to improv our way through them. We also improved through a number of scenes that do not occur in the play, including Andrei asking Natasha to meet his family for the first time and also that initial meeting. We continued to work on this for the past few weeks, making steady but very slow progress. I showed the actors the film Vanya on 42nd Street as we tried to explore what it means to talk, just to simply talk, trying to overcome their impulses toward performance. We had a number of conversations about conversation itself, its rules, its meanings, how and why we do it.
And then, Sunday, improving our way through the end of Act I, it happened. Only for a brief moment. The second time we tried the improv that day, the actors all listened to each other for a moment, and responded. The scene had gotten off-course, and I wanted to stop them, but since they were actually conversing, I let it run until the conversation became forced. We tried it again, with Kris clarifying a bit before we started, and then, for a minute or two, there was magic. They were around the table, and the sisters were needling Natasha through subtext. Conversation happened, they talked, they listened, they responded, and they made Natasha uncomfortable through actual conversation. They conversed around the notion of making her unwelcome. It was beautiful.
And then it ended abruptly. But for a group of actors who want so much to DO, and not just to LIVE, it was an amazing moment, and I couldn't be more happy that we reached it before adjourning for the semester.
I've personally learned so much through the experience so far, working in this new, extended way. What happened on Sunday for that brief moment was richer and deeper than anything I've been able to achieve with actors on other projects. Having given up staging for the time being, and working with them to discover the play and its possibilities, my ideas for staging are growing along with their work, though these are still far from being formed. It's just so exciting to me to see these young actors challenge themselves and grow, and to be excited by the growth itself.
I'm still not sure how this experience will affect my work on other projects that I don't have months and months to mount. But I'm sure it will. As we go into next semester, with its promise of actual performance at the end of the Spring, and with new actors joining us next month, I'm sure I'll solidify those notions.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
12/1/2009
My dear Sir,
My project working on your play is a "Directed Independent Study." That means that I will receive graduate credit for it towards my MFA in directing degree, and I have a faculty member who oversees and assigns a grade to my work. I've always been "about" grades, and I'm an anxious person to begin with. So the thought of getting a grade for my work on this project sometimes inhibits me, though I've done well so far in overcoming that so far. My professor, Kris Salata, has come to a few of our work sessions, and until today, his presence has quite terrified me. What if he doesn't like what I'm doing? What if he thinks I'm getting nowhere?
As of tonight, I no longer have that fear. Kris came to visit us today. In the previous times that has happened, I felt I needed to "show him something." Today, I just did the work. Actually, I hate to call it work. I organized the PLAYING, like I always do. And the playing was good.
Kris is as excited about the project as I am, and the actors are excited, too. They suggested we get together to play in January before classes start. I'm so lucky to have supportive faculty, and just as lucky to have excited actors. I'm lucky to have TIME to explore your play. I'm lucky that because of that time, I haven't had to focus on results... that can come later. I'm discovering how I can work, and how I can play at the same time. THIS is what I want to do, and thank goodness I am drawn to an academic setting. Hopefully I can find a place to teach that will allow me not only to rehearse a show for a month, as we do here in America, but to explore over a long time in addition to that. We haven't started "staging" anything yet. And when we do stage, next semester, we'll be all the better for it. THIS process is exactly what I need right now. And I'm determined to find a way to work this way again
My project working on your play is a "Directed Independent Study." That means that I will receive graduate credit for it towards my MFA in directing degree, and I have a faculty member who oversees and assigns a grade to my work. I've always been "about" grades, and I'm an anxious person to begin with. So the thought of getting a grade for my work on this project sometimes inhibits me, though I've done well so far in overcoming that so far. My professor, Kris Salata, has come to a few of our work sessions, and until today, his presence has quite terrified me. What if he doesn't like what I'm doing? What if he thinks I'm getting nowhere?
As of tonight, I no longer have that fear. Kris came to visit us today. In the previous times that has happened, I felt I needed to "show him something." Today, I just did the work. Actually, I hate to call it work. I organized the PLAYING, like I always do. And the playing was good.
Kris is as excited about the project as I am, and the actors are excited, too. They suggested we get together to play in January before classes start. I'm so lucky to have supportive faculty, and just as lucky to have excited actors. I'm lucky to have TIME to explore your play. I'm lucky that because of that time, I haven't had to focus on results... that can come later. I'm discovering how I can work, and how I can play at the same time. THIS is what I want to do, and thank goodness I am drawn to an academic setting. Hopefully I can find a place to teach that will allow me not only to rehearse a show for a month, as we do here in America, but to explore over a long time in addition to that. We haven't started "staging" anything yet. And when we do stage, next semester, we'll be all the better for it. THIS process is exactly what I need right now. And I'm determined to find a way to work this way again
Luxury and continuance
My dear Anton Pavlovich,
For the past few rehearsals, we've been continuing to consider and discover what it means to talk. One of the exercises we've tried taking scenes from your play and improving our way through them, though the results have been mixed. The actors want so desperately to DO, and rightly so. Theatre is doing. But I think maybe that, in order to really delve deeply into your play, we've got to figure out just how to BE before we can DO. People who don't like your work often claim that nothing happens in them. Of course, you and I know the exact opposite to be true; a lot happens. Lots and lots. But it doesn't happen in a way we're accustomed to today. There aren't huge plot turns, or bits, or sitcom-inspired set pieces. And these are the things we're used to working with, so you challenge us to let those things go.
So, the other day, we improved through the scene in which Vershinin introduces himself. We had only our Vershinin and our sisters available. The scene that occurred was interesting, but only began to tap into actual life. One of the things that happened was that the sisters got... nervous is the only word I can think of. They were quite taken with this new man who appeared in their home, and wanted to entertain him. Olga kept disappearing to "get some cookies" and often Irina would go with her. We could hear them whispering and giggling behind the door. I'm not sure the Olga and Irina of your time and place would do such a thing, but I think it was a good way for the young modern actresses I work with to find a relationship with the situation. I'd like to play that scene again, maybe change the rules: maybe it's too rude to leave the room, maybe you have to stay.
Today at our rehearsal, I want to improv through a scene that's NOT in your play. I believe I want Andrei to bring Natasha home for dinner for the very first time, to introduce her to the family. We'll have Chebutykin with us, and we'll see what happens. Kris, my professor, has suggested that we have an actual dinner party, and I think this "scene" would be a perfect one to play with in that setting. I'd love to make it a real dinner. Have the sisters and the doctor show up 20 minutes before Natasha and Andrei. Doing it at a restaurant just wouldn't work; my home is too far away for my busy students to get to. Kris has offered his home, but since it's the end of the semester, everyone is so busy there's just no time to do it.
Speaking of the end of the semester, we've decided we won't do a performance per se this semester. The work we're doing is stimulating and (I think) remarkable, but it hasn't yet quite begun to lead to performance, though I know it will. We are going to have an "open rehearsal" next week for the faculty committee, and just show them what we've been doing. I know it may seem that we've just been playing and that we don't seem to be getting anywhere. But I think we really ARE getting somewhere. We're finding the place and the time and the themes of the play on a really physical level, and it takes time to work like this. We ARE playing. We're working, but it feels like play because we like the work so much. So the Project will continue into next semester, with a performance then. We've been granted the true luxury of being able to explore. Really explore, without trying to dictate where those explorations take us. Perhaps the major benefit I'll take from this project is an arsenal of rehearsal techniques I'll be able to use on projects which DO have a timeline and a performance objective.
The rehearsals also function as a class for some of the actors, and it's changed in practice from what I thought it would be. They were somewhat unfamiliar with the play when we started. I'd hoped that in our collaborations we'd find ways of staging and looking at things that would come together in a performance more "about" your play than "of" it. But it's really turned into sort of an acting class for them, which is fine with me. I say that's fine because the new ways we work on the acting do inform me as to what staging, etc, should be, and certainly helps me every day with my analysis and understanding of the play. As they explore the characters and situations, themes are brought into relief then fade, and other themes surface. I try to explore them thoroughly before we move on. Sometimes I'm able to, sometimes not. I suppose that's the nature of the beast.
The other day, Kris asked me to come into his Performance II class and talk about you and your work as they began their own explorations. He asked me why I wanted to work on your play. I thought you might like to know, too. I love Three Sisters for so many reasons, but primarily because I see myself so clearly in all of the characters. I KNOW these people. The burden of everyday-ness weighs upon them in a way that other playwrights just can't seem to give. Masha brushes her teeth. And it affects the rest of her life. These people have bills to pay, and carpets to put up, and trains to catch, and books to read, and work do to. They walk home exhausted from jobs they hate, and still have to deal with the people around them. They have ENCOMPASSING lives.
Sometimes I wonder what I could do if I just didn't have to deal with MAINTENANCE. With the brushing of the teeth, and the "I have to eat now, though I don't want to, because I won't have time to later," and the need to clip my fingernails and clean the toilet. All these things sometimes weigh on my SO HEAVILY. And these are the things that the characters in Three Sisters are weighted with. ALL of life. And that's why I love your play so much.
Yours
Curtis
For the past few rehearsals, we've been continuing to consider and discover what it means to talk. One of the exercises we've tried taking scenes from your play and improving our way through them, though the results have been mixed. The actors want so desperately to DO, and rightly so. Theatre is doing. But I think maybe that, in order to really delve deeply into your play, we've got to figure out just how to BE before we can DO. People who don't like your work often claim that nothing happens in them. Of course, you and I know the exact opposite to be true; a lot happens. Lots and lots. But it doesn't happen in a way we're accustomed to today. There aren't huge plot turns, or bits, or sitcom-inspired set pieces. And these are the things we're used to working with, so you challenge us to let those things go.
So, the other day, we improved through the scene in which Vershinin introduces himself. We had only our Vershinin and our sisters available. The scene that occurred was interesting, but only began to tap into actual life. One of the things that happened was that the sisters got... nervous is the only word I can think of. They were quite taken with this new man who appeared in their home, and wanted to entertain him. Olga kept disappearing to "get some cookies" and often Irina would go with her. We could hear them whispering and giggling behind the door. I'm not sure the Olga and Irina of your time and place would do such a thing, but I think it was a good way for the young modern actresses I work with to find a relationship with the situation. I'd like to play that scene again, maybe change the rules: maybe it's too rude to leave the room, maybe you have to stay.
Today at our rehearsal, I want to improv through a scene that's NOT in your play. I believe I want Andrei to bring Natasha home for dinner for the very first time, to introduce her to the family. We'll have Chebutykin with us, and we'll see what happens. Kris, my professor, has suggested that we have an actual dinner party, and I think this "scene" would be a perfect one to play with in that setting. I'd love to make it a real dinner. Have the sisters and the doctor show up 20 minutes before Natasha and Andrei. Doing it at a restaurant just wouldn't work; my home is too far away for my busy students to get to. Kris has offered his home, but since it's the end of the semester, everyone is so busy there's just no time to do it.
Speaking of the end of the semester, we've decided we won't do a performance per se this semester. The work we're doing is stimulating and (I think) remarkable, but it hasn't yet quite begun to lead to performance, though I know it will. We are going to have an "open rehearsal" next week for the faculty committee, and just show them what we've been doing. I know it may seem that we've just been playing and that we don't seem to be getting anywhere. But I think we really ARE getting somewhere. We're finding the place and the time and the themes of the play on a really physical level, and it takes time to work like this. We ARE playing. We're working, but it feels like play because we like the work so much. So the Project will continue into next semester, with a performance then. We've been granted the true luxury of being able to explore. Really explore, without trying to dictate where those explorations take us. Perhaps the major benefit I'll take from this project is an arsenal of rehearsal techniques I'll be able to use on projects which DO have a timeline and a performance objective.
The rehearsals also function as a class for some of the actors, and it's changed in practice from what I thought it would be. They were somewhat unfamiliar with the play when we started. I'd hoped that in our collaborations we'd find ways of staging and looking at things that would come together in a performance more "about" your play than "of" it. But it's really turned into sort of an acting class for them, which is fine with me. I say that's fine because the new ways we work on the acting do inform me as to what staging, etc, should be, and certainly helps me every day with my analysis and understanding of the play. As they explore the characters and situations, themes are brought into relief then fade, and other themes surface. I try to explore them thoroughly before we move on. Sometimes I'm able to, sometimes not. I suppose that's the nature of the beast.
The other day, Kris asked me to come into his Performance II class and talk about you and your work as they began their own explorations. He asked me why I wanted to work on your play. I thought you might like to know, too. I love Three Sisters for so many reasons, but primarily because I see myself so clearly in all of the characters. I KNOW these people. The burden of everyday-ness weighs upon them in a way that other playwrights just can't seem to give. Masha brushes her teeth. And it affects the rest of her life. These people have bills to pay, and carpets to put up, and trains to catch, and books to read, and work do to. They walk home exhausted from jobs they hate, and still have to deal with the people around them. They have ENCOMPASSING lives.
Sometimes I wonder what I could do if I just didn't have to deal with MAINTENANCE. With the brushing of the teeth, and the "I have to eat now, though I don't want to, because I won't have time to later," and the need to clip my fingernails and clean the toilet. All these things sometimes weigh on my SO HEAVILY. And these are the things that the characters in Three Sisters are weighted with. ALL of life. And that's why I love your play so much.
Yours
Curtis
Text messages...
My dear Anton Pavlovich,
The actors in my project sometimes surprise me with text messages about your play and about our process that have made me smile. Thought you might like to read some of them:
I think i was wrong about masha. She lives in the present.
This uta hagen really knows what she's talking about.
I'm officially in love with this play. Just thought you should know!
I'm at my new job, and I'm online passing the time, so i'm doing checkov research. The picture i'm looking at of him looks like edward norton.
And my favorite:
Oh sweet Jesus. Curtis, you're special.
The actors in my project sometimes surprise me with text messages about your play and about our process that have made me smile. Thought you might like to read some of them:
I think i was wrong about masha. She lives in the present.
This uta hagen really knows what she's talking about.
I'm officially in love with this play. Just thought you should know!
I'm at my new job, and I'm online passing the time, so i'm doing checkov research. The picture i'm looking at of him looks like edward norton.
And my favorite:
Oh sweet Jesus. Curtis, you're special.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)