Penny and I had a rehearsal today where we put together the scene from Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief and the scene from Waiting for Godot. I created transitions, but I'm certainly not married to these, so I'm expecting to change them.
The issue I found in going from August: Osage County into Desdemona is that there's a blackout at the end of A:OC. That is the only scene in which I require a blackout, so that takes the transition and disconnects it from the previous scene. Until this point all of the transitions deal with connecting the end of one scene to the beginning of the next. I've been doing that by having new characters enter and bring an actor from the previous scene into their new role, or by ending a scene physically where a new one will begin. I am not going to go into the details of each transition (I don't want to give away the whole performance!) but the point is that there has been some connective tissue between scenes until this troublesome blackout. If I don't change this transition before my advisor sees the piece at the end of the month, I will find out from her if that blackout is as irksome as I find it to be.
One thing that has certainly simplified these transitions--and I must say I am proud of myself for making this decision--is the simplicity of the set. Four acting blocks are quick and easy to move around and do not require dressing to make them functional in the scenes. The small amount of props makes things simple too, but something occurred to me during rehearsal today: where to keep these props when they are not in use? Why it took me this long to think of this question, I do not know, but at least I did think of it! I'm also unsure as to where actors are entering from/exiting from since there is no set piece to create a barrier between the stage and the wings. The nature of the space we will be in pretty much eliminates the wing space too....so these are two technical problems facing me at the moment.
A solution I am brainstorming:
Have actors who are not currently participating in a scene stand on an acting block in a sculpture pose (like in the introduction). That would require that 2 acting blocks be placed far upsatge (left and right), making that 6 blocks total for the performance. The props could then be kept behind these blocks according to the actor who uses them. All of Wes' props would live behind his upstage block and all of Penny's props would live behind her's. The props are all relatively small, so that is completely feasible. The only drawback to this solution might be any distraction caused by an actor preparing for an entrance. They will be completely visible to the audience, so I might have to work with Wes and Penny on a way for them to subtly prepare/have them prepare completely in character.
That goes on my list of things to do after the break. While we're on the subject, here's the complete list of what I aim to attack after the break:
-working in rehearsals with the plan I just outlined above
-working in the Dance Studio to perfect all of the statues as they occur in the scenes (I want the actors bodies to be as close as possible to the positions Rodin sculpted)
-running the entire show straight through with my actors
-being off book by March 30th
-working the scenes to bring out distinct performances based on the style of each scene
-purchase of costumes and makeup
-recording of museum moment sound tracks
-editing of music for transitions
-acquisition of all props
-sending a description of my lighting needs to the lovely student volunteer SM
That's what I'm going to be doing when I get back. Over the break I will be commencing the memorization of lines.
Now, as always, I will leave you with the pictures of the 2 sculptures that were worked into the scenes Penny and I blocked today:
"La toilette de Venus" from Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief
"The Thinker" from Waiting for Godot
and the obligatory photo of a dog with glasses:
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