I believe that the best performances come from measured and calibrated dynamics.
Playing each scene at a energy/intensity of 10 and then at a 1, setting the possibilities, and then the team makes the decision for where one plays the final product from there.
Or in a show like the Collyer Brothers – what Langley’s arc looks like.
One of the evergreen topics on the rotating menu that theatre blogs cycle through is the “fight” between professional theatremakers and community theatre makers. This is of course a radical narrative distillation of a more nuanced relationship. This week the piece making the rounds is from the venerable theatre omnibus OnStage Blog. The article, by Timothy Fitzgerald, is a perfectly cromulent defense of community theatre as an important foundational piece, particularly of the American branch of stage performance and of the communities they exist in in general. The flaw in the article is the premise. When I was writing regularly about theatre firebrands firebranding all over the place, a frequent refrain of mine was “check your listings”. It was argued time and again that certain communities were only programing Old Chestnut 4 and Boring Musical 7 – which mostly was untrue. Mostly communities program Reliable Favorites about %70 of the
Hey Christina. Hey Kate. I’ve been conversing with the two of you in my head for a couple of weeks. Turns out I did a show. Turns out neither of you showed up to boss me around, so I had to wing it.Opening weekend I repped my last three towns: I wore them under my costume. It was Twelfth Night outside with a 90s edge. I did Sir Toby. You’ve seen pictures I’m sure. And lord above but the cut is all with Twelfth Night isn’t it? This cut is a lot like your short cut Kate, very lean and chooses to strip most of the venom from Toby. Which is the way I think I like him. It also cuts a lot of the foreign language gags which leaves a lot of space for it to stay ensemble comedy. So, honestly? It was a raft of problems from jump.
