Updates – The Blog

One down, three to go. Three more chances to play, to discover, to invent and explore, to realise, to actualise, to – oh, I could go on, but really, I should take a shower and cool down.

Last night, our opening night audience included friends and family, colleagues and students, and their friends and partners. In other words, the home team, very supportive and responsive, some of them theatre makers themselves, and some relatively new to theatre going.

The idea that you can sit in the audience and also contribute to the discussion and to the action on stage can obviously be confronting, but that is something I hope to change before the end of this run. This is one of the challenges I have set with this play, how to create an atmosphere in the theatre which encourages participation, which is clearly not about humiliating the audience, but about engaging with them on equal terms.

Last night, when my character asked for a volunteer to speak some Shakespeare text, someone came out and did so. The short improvisation that resulted allowed me to share yet another vocal quality with the audience, and to highlight yet another aspect of performance that was not otherwise mentioned in the script. And so the work evolves. It is never the same, we do not repeat ourselves, our rehearsal process has been totally geared toward being present to the actual moment, going with the flow in every sense of the word. That doesn’t mean we don’t have marks to hit, climaxes to arrive at, stories to tell, lines to remember. It’s just that we do it as we encounter it, and that means being actually present to the audience that happens to be in the room, and responding to their responses.

Last night, one member of the audience interjected freely throughout the play, prompting me when I forgot my lines (part of the script, I assure you – my forgetting, not his prompting!) so I had to deal with it. He knows his Shakespeare, and was most free in sharing his views on points of interpretation, and his opinion of when we, the performers, hit our marks as he perceived them. I wish he would come every night, because he would have something different to respond to every night.

We are in the process of making the kind of theatre I enjoy. It’s alive, inclusive and it deals with the human condition and some of the philosophical concepts we humans love to toy with. That sounds dry, and it’s not dry by any means. It’s warm-hearted, funny and even a bit silly. And I’m probably going on too much, but I’m pretty sure there won’t be any reviews, and somebody has to tell you about it, otherwise how would you know?

I’m now exploring the idea of setting up a live stream on Friday night. I need someone to operate the computer, and an external mike, so if anyone is willing to lend a hand, give me a bell! One way or another, Dame June Bloom will be heard!

As a general principle, I don’t believe in previews. I know they exist, but why? Every performance is a work in progress, so why make a difference? Or do you deliberately invite audiences in to see work that you don’t believe you can charge full price for?

Aaaargh! So now I am hoist with my own petard, because tonight we had a preview. It was actually our final dress and tech run, but there were certain people who needed to see the show, who couldn’t make it to the actual performances, so we opened the doors to them, and boy oh boy, am I glad we did! Because we actually got to play with an audience, as against the invisible, imaginary people we’ve been playing with so far.

I had the opportunity to experience all of those audience responses that can occur when an actor addresses audience members directly, from the friendly semi-smile to the hard stare to the sliding-look-away, to the ‘oh alright I’ll tell you what I think, since you’ve asked!’. The experience was invaluable, because now I realise how much more clear and precise I need to be in communicating that when I am talking to you, in the audience, I am not pretending to do it, I really am talking to you. And if you don’t like it, you are welcome to ignore me. And if are ok with it, and have a point or a comment to make, please feel free to do so. It’s that kind of a show.

It may not be any kind of a show you are familiar with. There is no intention to humiliate the audience, on the contrary, you are honoured guests AND members of the community that makes up the world of the play, not as actors, but as yourselves (and isn’t that the best kind of acting?)

So many questions, and I’m sure there are many different opinions. I hope you will come along to one our our performances (only four, remember!), and don’t leave without having a chat with us in the foyer afterwards.

Oh, and I must remind you, there are no credit card facilities at The Geoffrey, so only cash sales at the door.

We’ve just completed our third week of rehearsals, and with one more week to go they just get to be more and more fun each and every time. Today we had a photographer in, snapping away, so we worked in costumes. She also took some video clips, so I’ve created a little ‘trailer’ for you to share in a little bit of the process.

As some of you are aware, this production is also the performance element of my PhD on the theory of the voice in performance.  As such, the University of Queensland, School of EMSAH provides me with the venue, but everything else is up to me. So I decided that this was the time to launch my own theatre company, something I’ve been dreaming about ever since I returned to Australia in the late 1990s. Getting the team together has proved a challenge, and I am so honoured to have such a talented and dedicated group of people working with me, all passionate about making poor theatre.  We are working as an Equity Co-op company, under professional conditions, just without the wage packet, sharing the profit and the joy, but not the loss (because there won’t be a loss!)

As we now move into the final week before Production Week, there are programs to be drafted and printed, chairs to be acquired for the venue, (yes, the newly refurbished Drama Studio cum Lecture Room doesn’t actually have its own chairs), and costume and set items to be finalised. Our stage manager joins us full time this week, our musician is creating the most amazing soundscape, our dramaturg is happily kicking ass with her fine-tuning, and the lighting design will take shape over this coming week.

As you can see from the video clip, Tony and I take our work – but not ourselves – seriously.