Hmmm, I’m never quite sure what these 'blogs' should contain…..I mean, who actually reads the things? Who are their audiences, hence, whom am I writing for?  I suppose I’ll just walk you through the first week as an actor.  If you are a theatregoer perhaps you’ll find the process interesting.  Keep in mind however; that the way I work may be completely different from another actor’s approach. If you are another actor…..well, know that my process is certainly superior to yours.

 So before I set foot through the door I’ve revisited Oedipus and Antigone by Sophocles.  A good excuse to spend time in something I haven’t read since college. I compare the classic to our 'present' piece. I’m just looking for a skeletal view at this point.  I don’t make my choices yet, I don’t get married to any interpretation or delivery, I just want a good sense of who I THINK my character is.  Once the ensemble is gathered and we have a director, I’ll probably throw that all out the window anyway.

 Our first reading of the play together as a cast takes place in the chapel in front of producers, designers, master carpenters and electricians, the marketing team and anyone else who is considered a big shot at the theatre.  The director is there, who, by the way, just happens to be one of the playwrights.  Now, this circumstance can either thrill an actor by having such a luxury, or it can make him want to run screaming from the room with intimidation.  I personally have had the wonderful opportunity of having the playwright present for the last three shows I’ve done and love having access to their brains, their souls and their hearts.  However, know that in this situation you will only waste energy with any discussion that begins with ….”Well this is what I think the playwright had in mind”…….um, the actual playwright…sitting across the table from you, will always win that argument.  In our case, we get both Meg and Keith (Keith, for a couple of days anyway) who co-wrote this piece, then Meg will stay and direct.  It’s pretty clear who REALLY knows this play.  We read again, and talk intensely about the piece section by section for the rest of the evening and through the second day’s rehearsal.  This process has a snappy name….Table Work.

Day three begins with what now has become our warm-up.  Beanbag toss name game and Koosh ball volleyball.  It’s competitive, relaxing and fun.  We then sit and break the play into scenes and as a cast, we name them.  This too makes for a grand time.  We think we are clever.  We think we are hilarious. Good, because for the next 4 hours we are 'verbing'.  This is the process in which you go through your script, sentence by sentence and define your action.  With a verb.  Not with a description, but with a verb.  I get the hot seat first.  30 minutes of going through my part while the rest of the cast sits and watches.  It’s brutal.  It’s tedious.  It’s beneficial and invigorating.  And I’d just as soon put a gun in my mouth as do it again.  Everyone’s process is different.  Mine is very personal and instinctive so having to talk about it and define it in front of everyone makes me cringe.  Meg tells me she chose me to go first because she knew I would be brave.  She’s wrong. I am not brave.  And perhaps because I’m curled up in a ball in the corner of the room by this process, I’m not scheduled to rehearse the next two nights.  Thank you.  I will verb at home.  In private.

 When I return Saturday, the play is on its feet.  We are 'blocking'….which is figuring out where we stand and when we move there.  Meg is not a director who tells you where to go and on what line to do it (probably because she’s an actor as well), but allows you to go where and when you feel like it would happen naturally.  We do it again and again and again.  This process is only beginning and will start out very generally then through the coming weeks will become more and more specific.  By opening night, our movements will be deliberate, but organic.  We will move with purpose, but hopefully our characters will be so ingrained in us that it will feel as if it is happening for the first time every night.  That is always the goal.  To tell the story.  To make it fresh.  To make it real.  And after week one, it feels like we’re on the right track…….