Week 2

Posted by DCA Theater on January 26, 2009 in January-June 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Black Sheep Productions

by Vance Smith, director

On Saturday (1-17) we received from Steve a new version of Scene 5 with a few notable revisions and a completely overhauled Act 2.  About half of it was brand new and much of what remained from earlier drafts had been restructured.  The changes increase the stakes considerably.  First we worked on Scene 5.  The new changes made a big difference, and the earlier problems with motivation appear to have been eliminated.  Then we all sat to read the new Act 2.  The cast seemed excited by the changes, so I decided to go ahead and put it up on it’s feet.  We staged it and gave it a run through.  Something was off.  The new draft is a big improvement, but the characters and situations, while admittedly often absurd, no longer seem grounded in realty.  A pitfall of a piece like this is to play the funny at the expense of the darker and more emotional elements of the script.  I think I staged it too soon.  We should have spent more time at the table discussing what’s at stake for these characters.

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I like these actor people

Posted by DCA Theater on January 26, 2009 in January-June 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Black Sheep Productions

by Steve Spencer, playwright

I like these actor people.  They like to ask me questions.

Such as:  “Why would my character do something not in his/her best interest?”

And:  “Why isn’t there anything at stake in this scene?  Why would we risk our lives to do such and such?”

Or:  “What on earth does this mean?”

Plus:  “Why do you keep leering at me?”

Including:  “How did I learn this information?”

I like their questions.  They are forcing me to figure things out, to raise the stakes, to raise everything.  They don’t seem to mind being told such baffling directions such as, “This is a comedy, but it’s about the end of the world.  Find that balance.”  They are full of ideas that I need.

Director Man Fancy Vance Smith likes to refer to his rehearsal process as a discussion.  This is precious, but dead on.  The actors are having a discussion about the play every time we meet.  They are helping me enormously.

Plus, they are hilarious.  Most of the time it’s like watching outtakes from Smokey and The Bandit.  I watch them intently as I wait for them to laugh.  It’s a very fun game.

I like these actor people.  I’d like to form a cult with them.  Really figure things out.

I’d like to respond to Fancy Vance’s blog posting about apathy.  I don’t know if apathy is the right word.  I mean, I know plenty of apathetic people, people who don’t care at all.  I hate them.  But I also know many, many people who care but don’t act.  Like me.  I think the more appropriate term is learned helplessness.

Week 2 begins

Posted by DCA Theater on January 20, 2009 in January-June 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Black Sheep Productions

by Vance Smith, Director

Steve and I entered the process with the feeling that most of the work that needed to be done on the script was in Act 2.  After the first read through a week ago, the response to Act 2 was largely positive, so we started thinking maybe it did not need as much work as we had thought.  Still based on what he heard at the reading, Steve came in with a new draft of Act 2 for all of us to read tonight (Thursday the 15th).  None of the changes were drastic.  So, tonight we sat around the table and read the act (which is less than half as long as Act1, so we are working it as one big scene for now).  After the reading there was silence around the table.  I think that spending a week digging into the characters and having so much fun staging the first act has helped emphasize to all of us that something is missing in the second half.  I must admit, that I also was at a loss as to how to start a discussion, but then Steve said, “All right, let me have it.”  Once we got going, an energetic, hour-long discussion followed that raised a number of important questions.  Most notable was that of stakes.  Part of the message (Ahhh!! Not a message play!)  Steve is trying to convey is that people’s apathy and passivity are the cause for many of modern societies ills.  So he had some of the characters in Act 2 embody this idea by passively going about their jobs.  While an interesting choice, the problem this created was a lack of dramatic tension at a pivotal point in the play.  The discussion ended with Steve ironically asking, “ So it sounds like what everyone is saying is that the characters need to care about what they are doing?”  The plan had been to begin staging Act 2, but Steve really wanted to go straight home and start writing, so we broke early.  It was also notable that the actors mostly seemed excited by the discussion and their opportunity to help shape the play during this workshop.  I hope that being a part of this process will give them a more personal connection to the project that they will bring with them when we head in to production in February. 

Week 1

Posted by DCA Theater on January 20, 2009 in January-June 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Black Sheep Productions

by Vance Smith, Director

We began our first night in the Incubator with a table reading of the script.  For most of the actors, this was the first time they had gotten to read much of the second act.  We followed the reading with a discussion, which raised some valuable questions about how certain parts of the play connected to each other, but on the whole the feedback from cast and crew was positive.  Afterwards, Steve and I decided that the most valuable thing for us right now is to get the show up on its feet and see what is working and what needs work. The next night we began staging the first act.  For the next four meetings, we had a blast staging the first four scenes.  The only problem that we ran into consistently was actors not being able to keep a straight face during some of the scripts funnier moments.  A couple of actors told me personally how much fun then were having during this process, and it shows.

Tonight (Wednesday the 14th) was the first hiccup.  As were staging Scene 5, the last one in Act 1, we hit some problems with unclear character motivations.  Both the actors and I were having some trouble getting to the root of what drives the characters in this scene, and I think it was a little frustrating to Steve, who thought it was clear.  We decided to let this one sit for a few days and spend more time with it this weekend. 

Steve’s first day

Posted by DCA Theater on January 12, 2009 in January-June 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Black Sheep Productions

by Camp Freedom! playwright Steve Spencer

The Black Sheep Incubator series has begun.  We started rehearsals last week.  Last Wednesday to be exact.  A group of strangers gathered in the cavernous (yet warm) studio of the Cultural Center to read something I wrote.  The director was there, there was a stage manager present, actors, even the guy designing the set.  The Set Man, as I shall refer to him.  I had been given an opportunity by the DCA to develop a play for free.

I was petrified.

Perhaps the DCA had made a mistake.  Maybe all these people (the DCA included) were wrong.  Perhaps my play didn’t deserve to be developed.  Perhaps we were all (the DCA included) insane.  At any rate, it was too late to do anything about it as we sat down to read the thing.

Then something cool happened.

We talked about the play.  I had prepared answers for various questions in my mind.  I had rationalizations for this decision, for that sentence.  I forgot them all as we talked.  We talked.  A bunch of strangers.  It was awkward, we are all shy to some extent.  But we relaxed.  I tried to be someone I wasn’t, someone better, then I didn’t.  I relaxed.  The obvious flaws (damn it) of my play were pointed out.  The subtle flaws were dissected.  The good parts were remembered.  We all somewhat sort of bonded.  In my opinion.

My suspicion that I am insane is retreating.  Suddenly, I think we might get away with it.