“Stop thinking realistically.”  How many of us get to hear that for a change?

One of the highlights of this week was Kathleen Cahill bringing in two pictures.  The first…of a starry night.  It was what you might expect should you tilt your head upwards in the evening.  Pinholes in the curtain of night.  The second picture…Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh.

One subject, two completely different depictions.  I began imagining this production of Charm as a three dimensional painting and each actor an unique brush stroke that would be applied to the canvas of the stage.

Storytelling is an art much like painting:  the uniquely finished picture depends on the perspective of the artist(s).  This week has been a continuing quest to discover and explore the style of this story we are telling.  So far, it has been a whimsical combination of the Vaudevillian, Chekhovian, and just plain “Bizarrian’’.  I believe it was Meg Gibson (forgive me if I’m wrong) who described it as, “a surreal comedy of manners set in the 1800’s’’.  I loved that description.

Regardless of who was in a scene, the entire cast has been present in the rehearsal room.  It has been quite an education getting to see how each person works, and to participate in the cast’s bonding experience which adds to the ensemble feel of the production.  The transitions--and there are a lot of them--will be as crucial to the storytelling as the scenes that precede or follow.  I am already anxious to see what the audience’s reaction will be.

As for Nathaniel…well, I am beginning to find he and I have more in common than I would’ve speculated.  It appears my shy, frustrated, and repressed teenage years might have served me well, aiding my contributing brush stroke to the canvas.

And there’s still one more element to the painting that has yet to be explored, and that is Count O.  I am curious to see where this week will take us/me as we venture to Italy and towards the conclusion of Kathleen’s script.  How rare that an actor gets to play such polar opposites in one production.  With subtitles no less!