GCTC Artist's Blog

2008-01-19T07:48:00.000-08:00

In the middle of rehearsals yesterday, a concerned voice was heard through some speaker in the studio.

"We have an actor stuck in an elevator. I repeat, we have an actor stuck in an elevator. Please help."

OK, I'm not sure there was an actual plea for help. Though the friendly voice was concerned.

Kristina Watt, poor thing, was trapped. She was in there for an hour I think. She was fine of course but it reminded me of the old GCTC and the well known bathroom that Mary Ellis (and likely countless others) got stuck in. It was a nice reminder, despite the unfortunate nature of the incident.

Gotta run, rehearsals are starting.

2008-01-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

My first blog...one week into rehearsals
It has been one week since we've started rehearsing for The Optimists. And I am finally getting to this blog. A week late. Not very optimistic of me, I suppose, if you've been expecting to read about how things are going. Or it could just be me being putting things off. Which is not very optimistic, I know.But I have to say after week one of rehearsals, things feel great. I couldn't ask for a nicer and more talented group of actors to work with. As for the director, well....I am kidding of course. Charlie is fantastic, the theatre is fantastic, the stage management is fantastic, the entire crew and front-of-house staff is fantastic. There. Put that in your optimistic pipe and smoke it.Week two is upon us and I really hope we don't screw things up.
Posted by Michael Mancini at 6:51 AM

2007-11-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

Ah, now that I've finally left Ottawa and I'm back home, I have time to actually put a little post on this blog. Isn't that always the way. I'll be back with more. Must get to sleep. Took the kids to the Santa Claus Parade here in TO and I'm bagged.

2007-10-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Heather-Claire Nortey
Friday, October 26, 2007

“When We Come To The End of The Day …”

I remember when I rushed up the stairs of the Great Canadian Theatre Company on my way to the first read-through in the studio. I remember seeing all the unfamiliar faces and wondering what the process of creating a professional show would be like. I remember the feelings of doubt, wonder, amazement, and excitement. It is so important that I remember the various aspects of this experience because looking back I see just how much I have grown.

The rehearsal process, although it seemed like it would last forever at the time, now seems as if it was nothing at all. I have performed in ten shows now and I have two more performances to go. We close Sunday, October the 28^th after the 2pm matinee. I am a little dejected that the experience is coming to an end, but it doesn’t mean that I stop growing and learning about the theatre industry … if anything this is only the beginning.

Tech week went by quickly. The days we were working ten out of twelve hours a day are long gone. Many aspects of the show changed in just one week. Some entrances and exits were altered because of the size of some of the props certain actors had to carry. In terms of costumes, I started out wearing a nun’s habit and then I changed into a mother, and then a vagrant, followed by a photographer. The costume changes were cut down quite a bit … so that made the transitions a little easier. Part of the process is seeing what works and what doesn’t. If someone keeps everyone on stage waiting for them to change, then that costume change in that transition doesn’t work and the show is better off without it or another version of it. Some of the choreography for dance numbers was changed because of the lighting, the formations with the band on stage, and the overall spectacle of a scene. When we rehearsed the song “How to Catch a Man” in the studio, some of the students thought that we just needed to learn a few more dances and we would have learned all the choreography for the show. However, this dance number was just another example of how actors and performers in this day and age must be flexible and able to adapt quickly. There is no use in insisting on executing certain movements the old way, if there is an easier way that will improve the production and add focus to important individuals and themes in a scene. Sometimes, we had to move things around on stage to accommodate the band a little better. We were all so used to performing in the studio without the band, so when the band started to attend rehearsals we were all told to incorporate them into our little world of Salmon Elbow. They are the local musicians who play at all of our town celebrations. All of the changes, the tension, and the stress that were associated with tech week were all for the best. It’s just part of the process of creating a professional musical theatre production.

After previews and run-throughs, we met in the green room for notes and discussions ... all with the aim of improving the show. Opening night came and went. We no longer have note sessions, sometimes our stage manager will tell us to watch out for something, but in general we all have learned from our mistakes and have moved on. Moreover, all the performers know the show pretty well at this point.

During the rehearsal process of the show, I was thrilled with the information the professional actors shared with us students. Well, now that we are in performance mode the advice and discussions have only increased. The green room has become a light-hearted place where I can learn about the Stratford Festival, plays that the other actors have committed to working on in the future, the actors’ past theatre experiences, and a place to discuss acting theories and popular performers of the past and of today. Just last Wednesday, Paul Rainville talked with me about giving back to the theatre community and helping younger actors in the business. We spoke about imagery when creating a role. I also spoke to Sarah McVie and we discussed objectives, tasks, and the process of working on bringing a character to life. I did some actor’s homework (well weeks ago) and I tried to work on the lives of the characters I play in the show. It’s not just about putting on a costume and saying you are a different person. I took some time to analyze the play and just refer various aspects of the show to what I have learned about theatre, acting styles, and character development. Talking with the other actors in the show helped me to refer back to the work and research I had already done and to build on it.

The experience I have gained from this production cannot all be learned from a desk in a lecture hall. I have met people in the industry and I have had so much fun on stage. The Great Canadian Theatre Company used to just be the local theatre where I went to review shows for my classes. Now I see that it is a place for community, friendships, and self-improvement all united by the love of the stage.

-Heather-Claire Nortey

2007-10-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

Greg Delmage on The Rehearsin' Business

Well! We've been at this whole rehearsal business for a while now and I've been MIA here on the blog, so I had to do something about it, and comment on the process thus far as we reach the final stretch. I'm not gonna' lie, I was pretty intimidated by the whole business, the first day I walked into the GCTC studio, but really, I found that we students were welcomed quickly. Generally, the rehearsal thing is generally straightforward, but this time it's a question of who it is we are working with. So that brings us to where are now, working in tandem with professional actors who have been more than willing to pass on any knowledge and experience they have gained over their careers, which not only makes us feel like we're truly acting with them, and gives us a taste of what's to come should we continue pursuing a career in theatre or film acting.

As for the process, it always takes to get a feel for the show and a feel for the director, and in this case, a feel for the music. As we come upon tech week I find that the show has really started to groove, in it's plucky, folky way. Last night we had our first rehearsal where we students worked with the band and it was brilliant. In and of itself, with rehearsal piano and John on his banjo, the show already sounded great, but with the accordion, tuba and trumpet, so much more flavour has been added to the show - it gives you a real sense of the piece's style, and how the world of the show flows.

Now tonight we're supposed to be getting into our costumes a bit for the first time, which I'm really looking forward to. Not only because I've copious amounts of costume changes to attend to in a brief period, but more so to continue flavouring the town of Salmon Elbow. We'll see how that goes.

2007-09-28T08:15:00.000-07:00

Heather-Claire Nortey
September 28, 2007

Bringing It All Together

The students from the University of Ottawa have now been in rehearsal with The Man from the Capital cast for some time now. It is remarkable to see how the show has progressed. Last Thursday, September 20, I returned to rehearsal around 4:30pm to work on the scene in which I have some dialogue (when I am not performing this will be Anthony or David). After blocking the scene and going for my costume fitting, I ran the first part of Act 2 with the cast. Remember, the main cast has been in rehearsal for about two weeks now every day, but this was my first run with them. It felt good to be able to jump in and be part of the activity. Every day we come to rehearsal, we can see just how much has been accomplished in our absence.

Last Sunday, September 23rd, we performed a full run-through for the designers. It was an opportunity to see how much we have accomplished and how much more we have to do to improve the show. Designers took notes on lighting changes and costume requirements. The costumes for this show are amazing. In one fitting I tried on many different outfits, shoes, hats… I now have a visual in my head of what the townsfolk in the show will look like. I have seen pictures of how people dressed in the 1930s and I have been working on characters in rehearsal, but when trying on the different costumes I felt like I was actually one of them.

Yesterday morning, Thursday, September 27^th, we worked on two choreographies. The first one was for a song called “Dear Citizens”. It was such a joy to be able to dance and sing on stage with the whole cast. I felt the spark that comes from performing and now I just can’t wait to get on the actual stage in the new theatre and start to do full runs of the show with costume changes. This is the kind of show that has many technical requirements. There are many costume changes, large props, and many other things. I am glad that I am involved in the process and I am learning so much from the director, musical director, choreographer, and the other performers. We will be starting tech week soon and things may get intense, but it’s all part of the wonderful learning experience.

2007-09-19T20:44:00.000-07:00

Sept. 19/07
David daCosta
So the weekend of September 15-16 included two days of 10-6 pm rehearsals. Of course the rest of the cast had been doing this every day since the first read on the 11th, but it was the student body's first crack at an 'all-dayer'. I couldn't believe how much the group had accomplished since the first read which had occurred on the not-so-distant previous Tuesday. Obviously things have to be accomplished quickly with the amount of time for rehearsals, but never the less...I was impressed. The music is a bit more difficult to learn than I had thought it would be because it is...well...kind of difficult. The vocal lines are fast flowing, covering many a note with not too much time in between. Not to say all the songs are or even any of the songs are all over the place, but it's definitely not Summer Nights we're singing here. Anyway, it was a bit intimidating at first to step in and try to blend in with the others while singing..but once we(chorus) got more of a feel for it, things started to flow a bit more smoothly. I get the music chiming into my head regularly now, so that's a good thing. Well..it's been 2 days since I've been at rehearsal, and I return tomorrow...undoubtedly, where the show is at will be much different than where I left it Sunday...I look forward to seeing where that is exactly come the morning sun. A bientot.

2007-09-11T21:00:00.000-07:00

Heather-Claire Nortey
Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The Community from the Capital

I walked into the new GCTC building on Wellington today (Tuesday, September 11, 2007) at 9:50 AM. I was greeted by the bright colours of the interior and a lovely staircase that led up to the studio where I was going to meet the cast and crew of the show “The Man from the Capital”. Walking into the room, I saw actors being measured for costumes, people looking through scripts, and a beautiful piano. I was not surprised to see the action around me; I was in fact quite thrilled to be there. Six of us were cast as the chorus in this musical last spring and all summer I have been waiting for the moment that the rehearsal process would begin. I reminded myself that this is not just a show, but it is a business and yet a grand opportunity for self-improvement and excitement. I enjoyed the professional atmosphere, the organization of the read-through, and seeing everyone with a thirst to perform all in one room ready to work.

I enjoyed meeting some of the actors and hearing them perform in the first read-through. Their voices were passionate and fervent and the music was quick, light, and humorous. Slowly, I was starting to get a feel for the small town of Salmon Elbow during the Depression. Seeing a maquette / miniature version of the set was very helpful. I now have a visual of what this world will look like in a few weeks, after so many people have contributed and worked hard to bring it to life. The script is witty, amusing, and yet it gives you a chance to think about what life was like at that time in Canadian history. Some of the moments that are written down present great opportunities for the actor and musical performer. Reading the script at home was nothing like the voices and music I heard Tuesday morning. I cannot wait to take part in the action, music, and learn the choreography for this show.

I look forward to rehearsing with this group of talented individuals and working with director Jennifer Brewin. Right away I knew that this process would be unlike any of the other theatre, music, and dance shows that I have performed in. I plan to take advantage of this opportunity and learn what I can, do the best that I can, and contribute to the show however I can. I am not there to just sing, dance, say a few lines and then leave at the end of the day. I am also there to help convey the feel of the world within the play.

Although the theatrical world that we are going to create is in the Depression era, there are so many things in the show that will bring smiles to the faces of children, adults, and students in the audience. Taking one last glance at the people around me before I left the room reminded me of the community of characters in the show. Everyone who is working on the show has a purpose and our team is a little community of local artists from the capital. This is a great opportunity for me as a theatre student and as someone who is passionate about music and choreography mixed to perfection in the theatre. We all have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but it helps to be on a winning team. I look forward to learning what I can from these talented individuals and having a great time in the process.

-Heather-Claire Nortey

2007-09-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

David daCosta
Today was the first day of rehearsal i.e. the 'Meet and Greet' day. This included the first read by the cast. I sat along with my peers from Ottawa U who have been lucky enough to be selected to be members of the chorus in this project. I was really excited to meet the entire creative team...and I must say the thing which excites me most about this project is the opportunity to watch some of Ottawa's finest actors at work, behind the scenes. Just to see the work ethic and methods of these professional actors is going to be an incredible learning experience. I was immediately impressed with how 'in character' the actors all were at only the first read! You can see how serious they take the work...and how much joy one can get out of being seriously in the work. My goals for this project are ultimately the same as any project I've done...to do the best job that I can. But i also want to view this as a mentorship opportunity to a certain extent. I love being in this environment and I want to soak up, as some sort of metaphorical, theatre/acting learning sponge if you will, as much as I can from being around such a talented and professional team. It's so cool to be working as an actor with, for example, Todd Duckworth ...a person I had only seen perform from my seat in the audience (I am a big fan) and now I get to perform with him! Awesome.

On another note, I am really excited at how much fun this play is going to be. I think we have a special show here..something that audiences are really going to love, and hopefully want to come back to again and again. I had read the original play by Gogol, but had never really found it that funny...maybe because of my disconnection from the time period in which it was written; who knows. However, this adaptation is hilarious and easy to relate to for people of pretty well all ages. That's one thing I really like about musicals as well...even if the subject matter is mature, or complicated, if you have good music, then younger audience members can still enjoy the show...like when I was a kid and loved Les Mis...I didn't know much about the plot, or understand the French Revolution, but I loved it. Anyhow, the music for the show is awesome, albeit quite different from a Les Mis type of vibe. It's fun, kinda wonky at times, and quite original. I can't wait to learn the songs.
So that's about it for my impressions of day 1...myself and the other students will be back in rehearsal action this Saturday, so look for an update then!
cheers.

2007-05-28T17:26:00.001-07:00

Couldn't be more down-to-earth

I worked at GCTC during what I’ll call its middle years. I worked under three artistic directors (there are five that have served to date in the building at 910 Gladstone) and two general managers. There was a steady stream of new faces within production, stage management, publicity, and support staff in the form of co-op students. Oddly enough, it was the artists that provided the most stable influence and emerged as a kind of “house” company.

If you think about it, the name, Great Canadian Theatre Company, sounds a bit pretentious. Yet, the company was anything but that. GCTC operated on a shoestring budget; employees were paid poorly and actors did not fare any better. We even put out an appeal one year for people to send in their Canadian Tire money. The theatre space was small, its lobby tiny, its office closet-like and the dressing room—was just that, a room.

Deficits often loomed large. It was the runaway box office success of the Wingfield plays and Rod Beattie’s generosity in continuing to perform in our small theatre when he could easily have moved the show to a larger, more lucrative venue. There was many a season where Wingfield kept us afloat. Fans returned so many times to see Rod that we endearingly called them Wing-nuts. Nor will I ever forget the staged reading of A. R. Gurney’s Love Letters performed by Rod Beattie and Martha Henry.

It was a time when tobacco companies could still openly support the arts. It was a time where we saw the audience grow; we took a few risks; we added to the average cast size; we produced a season of new works; we went after the Elgin Theatre space; we did more fundraising and fundraising events; we saw the art and actors mature. There were plays that worked like Target Audience and McLuhan: The Musical and several that did not. We had great fun with a remount of The Mystery of the Oak Island Treasure. At one show we distributed eye patches to everyone in the audience, and they wore them, young and old alike. Only Katherine Sandford, GCTC publicist, could come up with a concoction of swamp juice, delivering bottles of it to the local media to promote The Adventures of Emily Brontesaurus. After one performance of Show Me the Button I’ll Push It, the audience was invited to join Rick Mercer and Charles Lynch at the Prescott Tavern for pizza and beer. And I cannot forget a moonlit boat cruise on the Ottawa River with Fat Man Waving serenading us late into the night.

When it could the theatre offered its support to other companies like the Ottawa Shakespeare Festival, New Theatre of Ottawa and gave Barry Caplan, a.k.a. GATD, somewhat free reign over the stage to produce his Night Howl Series.

We had our bad moments and disappointments too. Plays were trashed by the critics (some deserved it, some didn’t); at times audiences stayed away; there was the Gulf war; there were layoffs in the public service; people that you did not want to see go left; and people that you wished would leave overstayed (I hope that I wasn’t one of them). Send your memories to Kate Wright at wricom@rogers.com.

2007-05-17T16:40:00.000-07:00

The Bumblebee

“What’s the buzz, tell me what’s happening? What’s the buzz, tell me what’ s happening?” Many more than several years ago, GCTC came up with a new logo. I call it the bumblebee—black, yellow, black, yellow. We all know it and recognize it. What is significant about the bumblebee is the contribution that one graphic designer by the name of Mark Taylor made to GCTC for well over a decade. When I started working at GCTC, someone suggested that I contact Mark. Mark was a graphic designer. We connected up. We chatted. Somehow Mark agreed to help GCTC out. He began by designing our season brochure, our play posters, our signage, our 20^th anniversary logo, and on and on and on. Even when Mark couldn’t help out, he put us on to Shelia Corbett, another graphic designer, who could. I can’t say that Mark received a lot in return, other than our heartfelt appreciation.

2007-05-06T06:35:00.000-07:00

Favourites anyone?

GCTC introduced me to the works of George F. Walker. It came as no surprise that GCTC was producing the works of one playwright. Centaur Theatre in Montreal had been producing the works of South African author, Athol Fugard and premiering those of Montrealer David Fennario for many years. One of the things about seeing a playwright’s body of work is that you can look back, compare, and ask yourself which one you liked the best. For me, that favourite is “Love and Anger.” The character of Petie Maxwell resonated. I may be paraphrasing here a bit, but who can forget a line like “If it looks like a Nazi, call it a Nazi.” Or Petie being asked, “Are you communist or something?” and his responding “Or something.” Sarah’s big tractor trailer speech was unforgettable. While “Love and Anger” remains the favourite, the character of Phillie in “Criminal Genius” part of the Suburban Motel series particularly grabbed me. Who can’t connect with Phillie’s self-indulgent lamentation at the end of the play?—the world’s to blame and as luck would have it, I have none of it. “Bad luck loves me like I’m its mother.” Send in your memory of a Walker play that GCTC produced to Kate Wright wricom@rogers.com

2007-05-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

Sitting on a shelf, hidden in a closet, or filed away

It was 40 years ago that Expo 67 opened in Montreal on April 27th. Expo was a major international cultural showcase to mark Canada’s 100^th birthday. Forty years later, I still have my Expo 67 Passport. This got me thinking about the things that I’ve saved from GCTC. I have season brochures dating back to 1992. That year included works by Joan Macleod, George Walker, George Seremba, and Ottawa’s own Katherine Sandford. There were seasons with themes, like Micheline Chevrier’s “Portraits of Women” season (1997-98), Lorne Pardy’s season on reflection (2000-01) entitled “A Look In” and seasons that marked anniversary milestones. This small stack of brochures represents world premieres, co-productions, collective creations, and just some great moments in theatre. -- Send your memories to Kate Wright at wricom@rogers.com for our Farewell to 910 Gladstone event.

2007-05-02T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Dividing Line:

I moved to Ottawa in 1989 and contacted GCTC to become a volunteer. I was enlisted to serve on the company’s then nascent fundraising committee. In early 1990 I became employed by the theatre to work on its audience development efforts. I was warmly welcomed into the GCTC fold and remained with the company for the next seven years. There was one thing however that forever placed me and others on the other side of a divide. That divide existed between those who had been there for Sandinista! and those who had not. With the opening of 910 Gladstone, GCTC had a permanent place to mount its productions. Those who were there for that first housewarming in the form of Sandinista! were obviously touched deeply by that experience. It was something they never forgot. Send your GCTC memories to Kate Wright (wricom@rogers.com ).

2007-01-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

Here goes. When I was asked if I would contribute to the artist's blog while working on Carol Churchill's A Number I said yes with some trepidation. I've never blogged before. What in hell would I say about what we do in rehearsal that might be of interest to anyone. And what would I want to keep private and what might I want to share? Trying to unveil the act of creation and describe it, to break it down, is a bit like trying to describe what makes a joke funny; nothing could be less funny or spoil a joke more. There is so much of acting that is instinctual, and in that sense rather mysterious. And the rest of it is often routine plodding work. Of course there is a continual dialectic between yourself and the director, and the give and take with your fellow actors - in this case just one, the wonderful Barry MacGregor. I think there are few things more dull in the Theatre than watching an actor on stage in his/her own little bubble, offering a performance so consciously prefigured that nothing anyone else does will alter it. I'm never certain if this phenomenon is the result of a lack of confidence or, more likely, a rampant ego crying out "look at meeee!" But I digress.

I find this play fascinating. When I first read it I certainly didn't really understand it, but knew at once I wanted to do it. The challenge seemed terrific fun. I mean, to play 3 sons, two of them clones of the other, what a treat for an actor. And, of course, this play "about cloning" is really less about cloning and more about the relationship between father and son - always rich emotional territory to explore. When Charles (McFarland, the director) and I first spoke about it he explained that we would be doing it, as written, with an English accent, which for me meant 3 of them, and we discussed what accents I should consider for each character. Fortunately I was working at the NAC with Peter Hinton on the Ark project before Christmas and one of the participants, Simon Cox, was an actor/director from England, and he generously offered his time to speak the text into a tape recorder and generally babble on for me so that I might get a jump on the dialects before rehearsals began. I am also fortunate in that both Barry and Charles speak with an English accent so keeping my ears open to their speech is a help. Because the thing about playing a character with a dialect is that you have to internalize it enough that you are not on stage in front of the audience "playing the dialect." You need to be playing the text, the situation, your character's objective in the scene. If you are thinking about the accent or thinking about your lines you can't act. In fact, this is a tricky play to memorize because of the brilliance of the writing; the characters speak so often in fractured syntax, unable or unwilling to complete their thoughts. They are often on their own tack and not listening to the other. So you work with a sort of cleave in the brain: one character is not listening to the other character, he's thinking his own logical(at least to him) tragectory, but the actor must have an ear open for the cue to know when to speak.

Barry and I are at this stage now (as we leave the church basement rehearsal space and move onto the set in the theatre tomorrow and prepare for the tech week and the addition of sound, lights and costumes). We are at the stage where we are "off book" meaning we no longer carry the scripts with us as we rehearse. At first it is clumsy and clunky and, I'm sure, painful for the director and stage management to have to sit through, but in the sections that we know well we are beginning to play together, and the glimmers of where we are headed are quite exciting.

I suppose that is enough for now.
Til next time, cheers,
Todd

2006-12-03T09:55:00.000-08:00

Leo: Beginning and Ending

Opening night!...

...was embarrassingly long ago. The work was so intensive for a fiendishly long-short time, and once it's up and running and the production team's work is done (though the cast and crew's work is only beginning), the life you put on hold so easily takes over. The blog waits, ignored but not forgotten.

I'm not accustomed to the opportunity to continue to fine-tune a show through previews. My main experience with them is as an audience member. From that point of view, they just look like cheap ticket nights for those who don't procrastinate. (Oh, the Ottawa theatre audiences always waiting till the final weekend to go see shows!!) But of course, previews really are that: pre-views, public showings of the work before it's done. Everyone working on the production was quite clear on that. Certainly, the work was presentable by the time we started previews--we weren't showing rehearsals in public. No drastic changes happened after we went into previews. No massive cuts to fix a flawed production, as one sometimes hears of in monster Broadway productions. We all did our homework well and there was nothing cause us to realize at the last minute that we'd gone about things the wrong way and we had to redo it to avoid a humilation! But still, there was the study finessing of moments, smoothing out of transitions, "squeezing the air out" to help the action to flow and the pace to move. This work continued on. The gemstone tumbler continued its methodical churning.

During this process, with all the elements finally together during the previews, we were finally in the position to say "this is the complete package of what we're giving the audience." I set myself the challenge of trying to forget everything I'd experienced in rehearsal, and to simply see the show as the audience does, "as if for the first time." What would someone coming in with no foreknowledge find too confusing, distracting or misleading? It's a puzzling contradiction that the director (and assistant!) represent the audience, but quickly become so familiar with the production that your experience rapidly becomes entirely different from a spectator who has no prior knowledge of the show.

I only partly succeeded at this challenge. We made one or two small alterations based on my realizations. A couple possible confusions of, "Oh, someone watching this might mis-interpret this line and think the play's about something it's not." But those were fleeting moments, few and far between--Micheline is not one to let lack of clarity sneak into her productions! But opening night was different. With the directing officially done, with no scraps of paper to scribble notes in the dark of the audience, I was finally able to stop being the assistant director and to just be someone watching the show. Others too clearly felt the transformation. Not just in the audience either. The actors had a volatile new energy on opening night that hadn't been there in previews. For them too, having an audience had been one thing, but very clearly Opening Night was a whole other stage in the work.

After a week of Life steering me towards a hundred other things I hadn't had time for, that seems so long ago now. And yet the actors and crew still have much of the run left to do. Most if not all of us will be back for closing night. But will we who finished our jobs on opening night feel like strangers by then?

Perhaps they'll remember that I was once around. Ignored but not forgotten.

2006-11-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

Leo days 13-17, November 16-21

Tumbling gemstones.

It's always so satisfying seeing the various elements come together. Though it can be quite the challenge getting all the jigsaw pieces to fit together. Particularly with a show like Leo, where there are well over a hundred sound and light cues to support and join the many quick scenes and solo speeches. (Is this one a true soliloquy, or who is Leo talking to?)

Thursday we finish building light cues, set sound levels, and spend the afternoon with all designers and actors finally together, assembling the pieces late into the night. Then, as crafted as each moment--and particularly each transition (always tricky those transitions)--is, it seems that from Friday on we're mostly consumed with tweaking and adjusting and reworking the moments of change. Micheline keeps a careful eye on the actors too. (Though of course it shouldn't happen, I've seen productions where the actors' work virtually halted and in worst cases regressed when we get to tech week. Thankfully that isn't the case with this production!) It's a war on two fronts, running the show afternoons and evenings followed each time with one set of notes to tweak the sound and light cues, followed by another set of notes for the actors.

As the pace picks up, it gets trickier as assistant director to contribute in a timely way without getting in the way of the designers and directors vision and their quick collaboration as veterans who have established ways of working together and no time to waste. As for the actors, there seems only room and time for a single source of notes to integrate into the runs or one single precious hour per day when the actors can work on stage with tech other than the runs. I do get to see my observations addressed, but through the discrete mechanism of midnight emails summarizing my thoughts, read by Micheline the following morning and the relevant points addressed either at the top of the afternoon or after she's had a chance to see a run and decide if she agrees with my conclusions.

While the foundation is very strong, Micheline and the designers keep changing as much as they dare for as long as they dare. New sound and light cues are added, existing cues are re-shaped, actor blocking is altered. But essential ideas are unchanged--we've done our homework, no need and no time for second-guessing!--and as the days go by, the nature of changes get narrower and tech notes in particular take less and less time. I'm reminded of gemstones in a tumbler, gradually loosing their hard edges and being transformed through repetitive motion into smooth, shining, brilliance.

We aren't quite brilliant yet. It's always terrifically difficult to generate the final polish of a show without the one last, most important jigsaw puzzle piece: the audience. It's now 7:30 and the audience of the first preview performance has JUST been let in as I type this sentence (ah, the joys of laptops with wireless internet access!).

Perhaps it's not a jigsaw. Perhaps it isn't gemstones. Perhaps it's Frankenstein's monster.

Hopefully it'll be a little better behaved. And a little more polished.

2006-11-16T10:53:00.000-08:00

Leo days 9-12, November 9-15

Tempus Fudge It

How did we get here? The further we go, the longer the days seem to get. Seem? Heck, we are now into extended days of 12-14 hours, though mercifully most individuals are spared the full brunt of the long days. Then again, so much happens in so many different places that it's hard to keep track of who's doing what when.

Last Thursday we ran the complete show for the first time for the designers and a couple other GCTC types to see. Design meeting squeezed into lunch break. Then into revisiting the show scene by scene and "act" by "act"--Micheline has divided the 90 minutes of uninterrupted performance into five sections so that we can run segments and feel some continuity while still maintaining focus on a clearly delimited portion of text. Meanwhile, Friday we squeeze in another lunchtime production meeting. Costume and prop elements start coming in piece by piece. Things are simultaneously getting clearer and messier.

Then, after a break (air!), the actors move into the theatre for the first time on Tuesday. It's their first glimpse of the actual theatre space and the actual set they'll be performing on. Here's where the days become marathons for director and stage management, as we mix rehearsals with actors in the space with technical work building lighting and sound cues. Both actors and designers have the challenge of shooting a moving target: the space changes the actors' performances, and the lighting looks are set based on best guesses of what the performances are likely to be, though already we've made unanticipated changes that will require adjustments to lighting. Meanwhile, a change in what lights are turned on during rehearsals (not even actual theatrical lighting yet!) works further changes on the actors, as do their costumes--worn briefly for a scene presented to the media. It's easy to imagine the ping-ponging of performances responding to tech elements and vice versa over the remainder of tech week. If only there was more time to allow this back-and-forth resonance to evolve!

By the end of Wednesday, I can start to see the daylight beginning to break over the dark mid-rehearsal slog. We still find plenty of "we haven't found this" moments and we're not yet at the point of saying "yes, this is it!" But I can now just make out the outlines of what the final "yes!" will look like, and it looks good.

As we go home bleary eyed after long days, and come back still bleary eyed the next morning to run the next marathon, it's nice to feel that the show, not yet there, will be there.

There is enough time.

2006-11-09T20:43:00.000-08:00

Leo Days 6, 7 and 8 - Nov 7-9

Breaking the rules and goofing off...

...is not at all what we're doing these days. Mid-way through the middle week of rehearsals, we're between the exciting stage of initial discovery and still some distance from the exciting stage of all the elements coming together as opening night approaches. But as we "get the work done," I find myself looking for glimpses of not simply "doing the job".

They say you can't break rules until you know them, and as someone very suspicious of rules I'm glad to see Micheline so expertly throwing them out. For instance, there's a simplistic notion that acting has to be about doing things to the other actors on stage. Micheline often pushes the actors to focus instead on their own characters, affirming that this is both what real people do all the time and also a more interesting activity to watch on stage. Another sacred cow is to always "raise the stakes", which often gets reduced to making choices to trigger the biggest emotions. Micheline, however, will focus on the most effective and affective emotions, often quite different from what's biggest. Instead she asks: "What's the choice that makes the story interesting, that draws the audience in?" Where a simplistic approach would push a struggle to an explosive fight, Micheline will it say something very moving about disagreeing with someone you love, where the restraint is what makes the action beautiful.

And then there's the silliness.

Unfortunately for this blog, that's pretty much all in the domain of "you had to be there." There's the prop candy being blatantly eaten when we stop to talk. The infection of Spanish into day to day conversation. The actors themselves getting "high" on air when rehearsing the marijuana-smoking scene. It's painfully unfunny to recall humour in a humourless way, but I'd be failing to capture the spirit of the work if I didn't acknowledge that the planning, discussing and testing out of possible staging choices wasn't filled with a low simmer of playfulness bubbling through rehearsals.

Unfortunately, that wonderful energy can be hard to put into the work itself. Each of us has heard and said any number of times that they call it a "play" for a reason, that doing the job and having fun should be synonyms, not antonyms. But now, having reached a stage where the play is blocked and a first "stumble through" is shared with the designers, but still far from feeling that we've "found" the play, applying that rule is hard to follow.

2006-11-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

Leo Days 2, 3, 4 and 5 - November 1-4

Oh, the whirlwind/whirlpool!

Not to say things are bad. Not at all! But the play's recurring image of a whirlpool is echoed in the enormity of discussion and exploration that's made this past week both so short and so long. Where did it go? And where have we gotten to?

I had meant to follow up my first post on the pre-rehearsal background with a belated introduction of the players. But if the point of this blog is the how of the rehearsal process, there again seems far too much how to delay it with any who.

So, what's been going on?

Day 2

Table discussions. In other words, reading scenes, discussing what happens, or what needs to happen. While remaining very open and having many uncertainties about how to deal with individual passages, Micheline clearly knows why she likes the play and how it needs to be presented to convey this quality. Thankfully, the cast get this vision and buy it.

This gets translated scene by scene into who the characters are to each other and how they treat each other for the story to have the qualities of youthful optimism sympathetic, human imperfection that gives the play its power. Each of the actors shares their readings of each scene, naturally gravitating to the point of view of their character. Micheline negotiates the validity of each of these different positions, usually finding common ground between them and her opinion, though usually there's also a degree of adjusting and evolving of opinions on everyone's part to achieve a consensus. And while specific interpretations are far from set in stone, we manage to keep arriving at interpretations that not only explain what the text means but that identify what makes it meaningful. I note that the litmus test for a scene's analysis being truly satisfying is when the actors and director get passionate about expressing their interpretation. It isn't enough to say "the scene can be about X," it needs the extra layer of "...and it's great that we get to put X on stage." This is happening with most scenes, and it's a lot of fun to watch, and occasionally contribute to. As much as I liked the text on first reading it, my respect has grown immensely through this work.

Day 3

We finish the re-reading of scenes in the first half of the day. That is, after Day 1, it took this long to negotiate through a single "annotated" reading of the play. We've learned a good deal, identified many questions which we know will only be decided through trying out actions on our feet, others we hope will be settled once on our feet. But with 3 weeks of rehearsals, we're keen to get the show on its feet--though I can feel the fear mixed with excitement among the actors.

I've been scolded for interfering too much with actors I've directed in the past. Probably with good reason. But I'm struck by just how actively Micheline intervenes, how specific she can be with her requests as she gives the actors blocking, adjusts a physicality for purely practical reasons or an emotional interpretation. Grossly simplified examples: "Don't look at the floor, we can't see your face," or "Don't be upset by what he's saying, we need this scene to be about being built up and feeling good about who you are." All this despite the fact that Micheline swears her blocking will all change, that she invites a sense of play and change, and despite the fact that she's not imposing a pre-designed plan for action or story and freely uses ideas from the actors and adjusts what she asks as the shape of the play emerges scene by scene.

I realize that Micheline has the quality I hope to cultivate in my own directing: keeping loose about unimportant details, the better to perceive which seemingly tiny details will affect the very essence of the play, to help build a message and feeling for the audience. We could decide later on to change every last choice being made about where to stand, when to sit. That's not the point of this stage of the work even though that's the form it's taking (sometimes vaguely, sometimes very precisely). But the real underlying work is to feel out in minute detail what the play needs to be like moment by moment to have maximum impact.

Day 4

More of the same. We continue working the scenes, in order. Broad questions about what scenes are about from our reading on days 2-3 are getting answered, though some individual moments (lines, crosses, transitions from one scene to the next) are opening new questions.

Meanwhile, a lunch hour production meeting gives me a glimpse of some of the technical activity I'm otherwise been mostly removed from. The set is being built, though some of the more distinctive elements are still being tested. Costume elements are being hunted down. Top priority there is shoes, as this affects how actors stand, walk and hold themselves. Likewise, a rehearsal skirt is delivered for the one woman actor so she can feel how her clothes will impact on how she can move.

At the end of the day Micheline says she works slowly. But the stage manager and I agree that it's more that she's careful, rigorous. She takes the time to get to the essence of what a moment can be, to not let slide a vague line or unclear action. But when the meaning is known, she can be very efficient. She won't leave a scene alone just because it's plausible or can work one way, if it's not totally clear or not serving the purpose of the play as fully as she knows it can. But when these issues aren't at stake, she can find a way to stage the text in no time or turn an ugly stage picture into a pretty one with just a word.

Day 5

We're still not through the play in our sequential staging of the scenes. But we're where we need to be. Actors are starting to put their scripts down and work from memory. The text presents a challenge in the form of frequent, sudden scene transitions interspersed with direct audience address. These are getting more comfortable to negotiate. Recurring and contrasting movements is starting to appear, giving the play some overall shape, if still a bit crude and haphazard.

We'll finish blocking next Tuesday, after which we'll move from these initial staging choices, based on finding the essence of the play, to more specific and refined choices. Pretty stage pictures, pointed gestures, careful echoing of one scene's action later, these details will come later. But the architecture of the production's story and style are coming together.

2006-10-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

Leo Day 1 - October 31

What does it mean for this production, Rosa Laborde's Leo, that we're starting rehearsals on Halloween?

Of course, this is just one more day in a creative process that started a long time ago. But as the first day of rehearsals, it is an important landmark, and an occasion for many of us (your humble assistant director/narrator included) to get caught up on the work to date and "begin" this new phase.

First off, some ground rules. This blog is about a glimpse at the creative process behind GCTC's shows. I'm looking to describe the nature of how we work, as seen from my perch as assistant director. No spoiler alerts here: this isn't about the content of the show (for a quick intro see GCTC's website), but a look at what activity goes into shaping that content.

So, how do I boil down this mass of work into an easily digestible blog entry? Well...

Sorry if this is dizzying, but it's the best compromise I can manage between bogging down with details and failing to capture the enormous work that gets a production ready to even start rehearsing. A script was submitted. Read. Enjoyed. Approved. A director, production team, cast all sought out and confirmed. (Eventually an assistant director got added to the mix.) People read, re-read, re-re-read the script. Ideas, images, themes emerge. Talk, email, sketch, paint, draw, scan, print, build, shine tiny flashlights on scale models and take pictures of the results... and a VAST amount of other stuff that I'm leaving out. I myself get a tiny glimpse of sneak-peek on Day 0, at an afternoon design meeting yesterday before the big launch this morning.

And somehow, out of all of this, we manage to have the staff and Board of the GCTC several rows deep facing the U-shaped tables where I find myself lucky enough to be counted among the production team. After a quick round of introductions, the cast (a fabulous trio) reads the play, and we laugh, we have chills, we applaud. The maquette (scale model of the set) and costume sketches are shown, accompanied by director and designer discussions of the themes and images they want these designs to convey. More applause. One actor literally bows to the model of the set!

We go on through the rest of the day with an exercise of reading all the lines of each of the three characters, one character at a time. This provokes much discussion of how we see the characters, their relationship to each other and their experience of the historical situation in which the play is set. (I just said this blog isn't about play contents, but it's relevant that this play is about three youth coming of age in Chile over the period leading up to and through Salvador Allende's 3 years of socialist government, ending with the military coup that saw him shot and Pinochet put in power. So the work and this afternoon's discussion involves finding the right amount of attention to pay to the rich historical fabric into which the fictional play is woven, without being distracted by it. It also involves getting comfortable with frequent use of Spanish names, words and phrases used in the play.) This exercise gives me and all of us new incites into the characters. I for one gain several new layers of respect for the richness of the text. And also for director Micheline's reflections on it. Not simply a matter of her knowledge and appreciation of the text, but her deep understanding of its possibilities. It's not yet necessary or even appropriate to have all the answers (though she certainly has many), but Micheline clearly knows exactly what questions to ask.

I leave Day 1 feeling frankly a bit overwhelmed. I've directed several shows and it's a bit strange for me to be assistant directing, to not have the buck-stops-here responsibility over artistic choices for the show. I can't help but project myself into the director role, and I'm painfully aware of how far behind I'd be if I were about to start directing rehearsals of this show myself. Of course, that's not what I'm here to do! But I am itching to contribute. And they've so far been very polite to hear my odd interjection here and there (will that last, I wonder?). But I need to read the play a couple hundred more times and read at least the dozen books I hurriedly checked out of various Gatineau public library branches last weekend to begin to start to get to the point where I can start to share the appreciation the other members of the creative team so clearly have of this rich world of this text and it's sharply contrasting, beautiful, flawed inhabitants.

But intimidation aside, I can tell off the bat that this is going to be a very strong show. Sure, this is what everyone always says, I know, but it really feels credible: I can see the play's potential, and I can see that the cast and production team not only see that potential too but they know how to tap it. And that feeling that there's all this power and we're ready to unleash it is very exciting to be a part of.

It's a happy Halloween.

2006-09-30T10:57:00.000-07:00

Day 18 - Saturday September 30 2006

- last day of rehearsal in Toronto - feels like we're already gearing up for the move - psychologically shifting ground - as hard as it was to leave Ottawa, leaving this environment of rehearsal and table-work feels odd - another leave-taking

- subtle changes to the atmosphere in the room - any new faces stand out - it's a protective environment that is harsh and nurturing at the same time - critical but informed eyes are sought but they tread lightly - speaking of new faces in the room: my one chance to see my son's show at Ryerson meant sitting in at the director's invitation to a tech rehearsal - not really fair for young actors to subject them to the sudden intrusion - not exactly strangers - worse still it's the Rainvilles - Simon's dad - another actor - bless them they did well in spite of the distraction

- Friday's run felt like we'd touched down and though wobbly we were on the ground - lots of folks in the room but all of them informed and part of the extended family - Richard let me go right away to race over to Ryerson

- we're creatures of change clinging to the comfort we know - there are still some line changes - it feels like we're on the ground now and really walking the landscape of the play - there's some distance to go yet but the pieces are fitting more snuggly

- more imagery: there's a climbing motif in Stephen's play and in rehearsal it really feels as though we are finding the handholds as we go - play-making is like that - we investigate the relative strength and security of the next spot to cling to and there are big risks - the distance to fall seems great but the heights are there to reach as well - so it's deliberate still - the real playing is in the descent - Jack Kerouac once described the image of running down a mountain side - and ultimately it's like that a free-fall of "flying" or running down the mountainside - every handhold noted remembered but sailing past

Thursday October 19 2006 - so the time somehow got away from me - so easy to devote a moment or two when away from home then too much to catch up on - we got straight into "tech week' when we got back to Ottawa - on set with media calls and building in sound and light cues and scene transitions - somehow in the midst of all that Richard grabbed moments to clear up beats and worked his way through the entire text and to overuse the recurring imagery: this time through we crawled every inch and got right down on the ground to look at the minute twists and bends we could follow - the tech period and the long days of Q to Q's feel like a gestation phase - there is time to be onstage "in play" yet waiting to be told where to pick something up so that a scene transition can be smoothed out - so a piece may gets worked and reworked - actors run lines with each other or on their own and it all just feels like a further settling in to the world

we had the luxury of two days off over the thanksgiving weekend and the out of towners came by for Monday Thanksgiving at our house - a home cooked meal - Victor roasted a leg of lamb - delicious - we had a big turkey and everyone brought trimmings treats

and then the week of the opening of a show - two five hour rehearsal days followed by previews and notes and then the adrenal extravagance known as opening night - there was a nice build to it - we got closer and closer to the story we wanted to tell - word of mouth seems to be very favourable so that has meant good attendance and an enthusiastic response

thanks for reading this - and thanks for your interest in live performance

2006-09-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

Monday September 25 2006

Day 12 - the six day work-week got extended for me - yesterday I went out to Stratford again and got to do a call-back for a director - so no complaints about the opportunity but the week seemed longer than usual - Sandy had a nice dinner for me when I got back to town and I called family to say the audition had gone well - there were a few surprises - first there was a part they'd wanted me to look at - alas (or alack as the bard might say) that information never quite got to me - so got to do a cold-read as they are so quaintly named - "Take your time with it Paul, don't feel you have to rush. You're doing splendidly and we understand it's a bit last minute." - well they did understand and were patient and supportive and worked with me through the thing - the other surprise was getting to audition with Stephen Russell who played DeGuiche in the NAC-Manitoba Theatre Centre -Theatre Calgary production of Cyrano (with RH Thomson as Cyrano) - Stephen is a real treat - wickedly funny and a magnificent presence onstage - we shared a dressing room on that and he kept me loose and laughing

actors have a weird kinda family that stretches far and wide - intense rehearsal and run periods getting shows up and going - creates a kinship - in the last few weeks at Tarragon there's been a steady stream of familiar faces - we had a significant number of the NAC Hamlet cast around - and when we did Cyrano in Calgary during the time of ATP's Playwrites festival the place was crawling with theatre folk

how's the play going - well we're going to run the whole thing in about half an hour - we've worked right through the piece again and we're down to about ten thousand feet - the work is ever more detailed and choices are more focused - still some questions but a lot of anwers too - "Why did you say it that way?" - "Because it's dramatic!" I adored Jonathan's answer to Richard's question - not a lot of actors would have the honesty and gumption to avow that reasoning for an acting choice - it's been much quoted since - Richard's fighting to keep the tension building and the moments real - in my case he's on me when the choice is something pat or cliche or just my same old scthtick - sometimes it's hard to catch yourself slipping in to the comfortable or tried and true party favourites - he's looking for something else too in the telling of this - it's gotta be close to the bone and on the edge - there's has to be vitality - "It's not life and death - it's more!" to paraphrase Duffy Daugherty

I've been observing how different our approaches are - it's collaborative work and some people really like to hone the work more privately taking the directing notes and trying to internalize and incorporate - then there's folks that like to talk through the process aloud and engage in a creative stream of conversation that builds almost a concensus vision - I've never been a real talker preferring the note and mull approach - but the more I engage in the process the more I admire that ability to open things up - Saturday we hit some sticking points and Richard was quick to say these may be huge clues to something worthwhile lurking nearby - the discussion that followed brought a lot of insight from all sides - and I felt that we were being led to the place we needed to get to - a destination that was inevitable but not obvious at the outset

gotta go do the run - one last thing though - a gestural language and physical vocabulary start to get layered in - they've been there but now Richard points them out and locks in their thematic presence - they are texture - meant to add without drawing focus

hope I've shaken off what Michelle called the Monday dum-dums cause it's time to put the whole thing on it's feet

2006-09-21T09:31:00.000-07:00

Thursday September 21 2006

Day 8 - Wed Sept 20 - Richard showed us two versions of a portion of a scene just to emphasize for us the playing style - in a play that moves very little there aren't a lot of "events" - not a lot happens so moments can be heightened if they are allowed the room to "land" - it's similar to the film/theatre style debate - actors talk about and wonder at the difference between stage and screen work - it's a matter of scale - what reads or is detectable from the back row of GCTC is different from a movie house with an actor's face magnified in close-up on a giant screen - it calls for a shift in perspective on the part of the actor - someone once described working with Bogart and thinking the guy's mystique way overblown - later that same day upon seeing rushes (screening of the day's filming) the actor got to see an extreme close up of Bogey and the meerest flicker of an eyebrow conveyed the whole story - mystique renewed

- in our case Richard suggests find complexity of meaning and intention in the stillness of a story where a stuff happens in a small way - a critic once used the term " the hurried pace of incident" to describe a story that threw so much at it's audience that the reviwer at least felt lost - this tale is being shaped around a restraint that echoes louder for the quiet that it happens in - there's a big point of departure our director has given us

- it does feel like departure since we are still new to the staging process - we had a run-through for the designers on Tuesday and since then we've gone back in for another pass - yesterday more detailed work on the first scene - feels like we did our initial fly-past and have now come down fron thirty thousand feet to twenty or so - the ground looks closer and things stand out more - but there's a lot to do yet -

Day 9 Thursday - more layers - we finish off some work on the first scene - Richard talks about the ability of Lawrence and Graves to engage in verbal jousting that has layers of meaning and intent - there's a deftness to the thinking that comes from encyclopedic knowledge - they memorized the OED (Oxford english Dictionary) just for fun - Richard describes a Tom Stoppard play where he puns at a power of four - his puns have four levels of twisted humour and still the imagery evoked stirs the gut - arguments delivered with a sang froid - gloves off - bare knuckle of banter

we're also now folding in the very practical aspects of scenic shifts - we choreograph the mechanics of reinventing the space to create another locale - a bit of precision movement that still manages to keep the story going without too much of a pause

my bike lost a peddle today so over lunch I'll try to fix that - my hour long rides from Mimico are feeling longer as the days turn autumnal and the west wind blows - the sun is shining today though and it's always a treat to ride in along the lake

2006-09-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Day 8 Tuesday September 18 2006

- the streets around the Tarragon are filled with movie production vehicles - they're shooting a film version of Hairspray - Christopher Walken was seen getting touch-ups on his make-up

-we're up on our feet today - blocking - that's the grown-up version of "okay you go over there and then I'll say" - as the stage pictures get created you can see actors' impulses bring lines to life and moments come into sharper focus - the process is luxurious in some ways cause we get to approach things at a snail's pace and revisit them as we work - you try it one way then another and meaning is uncovered and sometimes whole new ones discovered - and then when you run a scene it all goes by so qickly it seems to all get lost - it's not though and in terms of the playing we are still in early days - the shape is what we're after - it always reminds me of a visual artist's preliminary sketching - I loved seeing the Degas exhibit at the National Gallery some years back - his paintings of dancers included the changes in hand positions that he refashioned but left in - I'd never seen that done - it made me aware of the work that went in to the piece while at the same time suggesting the movement of a dancer - one painter friend poo-pooed the work saying it was old and staid but I found abstract worlds in the cheekbones of the dancers - and I loved being able to glimpse the work in "ghosts of drafts past"

we're away from the table work and that's a big change - there have been some high points and low moments too as changes come in - some of the scenes take off but I've seen a somewhat dispirited playwright as new offerings get dissected - Victor told a story of a playwright gathering up a new draft after a read at the table - without so much as word he simply took all the copies he'd printed out and deposited them in the wastebasket on the way out the door - next day he was back and the new draft sailed - it's a task for the brave - a metier to test one's mettle