The home stretch

One more rehearsal until tech! AHHHHHHH!

I had resolved the other day not to change any more lines, but then a few more little cuts emerged in my head yesterday. I don't think I'm going to pass them onto the actors until later as I feel my little adjustments this close to the first performance will only cause confusion and distress among those who must memorize them. And hey, this is not about me anymore, so stop it Peter, with your incessant tweaking. I am beginning to feel generally useless at rehearsal. I take notes and email them to Tracy, eat cookies, and repeat all the lines in my head from the play. I think I have about 75% of the show memorized. I even know when they're paraphrasing. That's a lot of brain capacity dedicated to knowing how I constructed sentences and chose words. Oh boy. Time to move on.

The set is being erected at The Thick House as we speak. There is much talk of sturdy two by fours, general structural awesomeness, bad art construction, and finding a couch that doesn't take up too much precious floor space. I am trying to not to head down there and peek. I want to be dazzled by the near finished piece. But maybe I should help paint or something. And, hey, if you have a modernist two-person love seat laying around, let me know.

The performances have really grown in the last week as we do more runs and character arcs begin to really emerge. Of course, they still need an audience, and to hear how and what they'll react to. It's the missing piece we never get until the performances, and I feel like it is such an essential part to the play. I think lots will change and mature in the next week of tech and previews. The cast and crew has been so awesome.

I am starting to have a little tense stomach going. I get more nervous as writer for an opening than I did as an actor. Much more. I need a massage. I'm feeling good and confident, but hot tubs and rubbing seem essential tools for sanity right now.

Oo and some coffee!

i'm podcasted

Sorry I've been out of town. I'll get something more insightful and detailed up here soon.

Who am I apologizing to?

OK I've been interviewed by the Bay Area's one and only Cool as Hell Theatre Podcast. It was very fun, though I think I laugh too much. I realize that I laugh at my own jokes a lot. People may think this is me being arrogantly proud of my funnyness, but I think it's more that I enjoy hanging out with myself. Oh wait, is that the same thing? It's also probably a nervous tick.

Anyway, check out my interview at http://www.coolashelltheatre.com

rehearsal roundup week 1

Our first week of rehearsals of Hunter Gatherers is complete!

Rehearsals have been a delightful blend of heady "table work" (that's reading the script, talking about it, rereading) and fight practice. Carla, our fight choreographer, has given the cast a crash course in all sorts of techniques. I don't want to give too much away as to what type of fighting takes place, but I will say that at some point during the show Wendy does a "Punto Reverso" and that's awesome.

We were also graced by the presence of a lamb expert, John, who runs a nifty little farm up in Sonoma where they, indeed, raise and slaughter lambs. The process doesn't take very long to move from walking lamb to something ready for the oven, and the idea that someone would actually kill and cook in the same day is a valid one, not just a concept I made up for the play. Phew. At least something is based in reality in my play. An expert can do it in about a half hour. I figure that Richard, in this play, would probably take an hour to do it. Their loft has to have a huge oven, of course.

I am still making little tweaks and adjustments to chunks of the script but I am starting to feel uneasily at peace with the state of the script, and I think after the next week of rehearsals, I should hopefully only be focusing on little things. I don't think there's anything huge, writing-wise, for me to do any more. Or is that just false confidence? I hope not. I certainly did not feel entirely happy after a reading last March, as the play made a big shift and parts of it felt raw, but I think that sparked some wonderful development in the script over the last two months. So maybe feeling good about it now is justified. Yes it is!

We're all having a ball, and I'm loving rehearsals so far. So much fun, in fact, that it doesn't always feel like work, and then I realize how soon the performances begin, and then I panic, but then I feel good, and then I tweak a line, and then I have fun, and then it amazes me how quick the final process is, and then I make a bad joke, and then I realize I shouldn't talk too much in rehearsals, and then I just listen and enjoy, and then I go to sleep.

good times

"good times" is actually what I say when I don't really know what to say. I think I've been using that for the last few years. Jon Wolanske called me out on it once. So now when I say it to him, we have a good ol laugh.

Rehearsals are under way for the ol Hunter Gatherers. Very exciting! We're doing great table work: slowly working and talking through the script before they go up on their feet with it next week. I get to say things too right now, as opposed to just listening and having quiet feelings, so that really is good times.

OK, a non show related post soon

And now a little self promotion

It's a little more than a month until my play Hunter Gatherers (pretty picture!) gets officially unleashed in a non-developmental way to the public. I'm excited and nervous, especially as I have been slowly working through the last scene with the hopes that this last, really last, hopefully last pass will saitisfy me and my all knowing stomach.

My stomach seems to tremble or vibrate slightly when I re-read something or hear something that feels wrong to me. I also often get mildly nauseous around 11-11:30 most days, but I don't think that's related to writing. I think that may be partially due to the volume of coffee I drink in the morning, which I'm now trying to cut back a bit. I must carry tension in my stomach, which means I am doomed to an ulcer or some sort of GI issue down the line as my body breaks down and decays over the next several decades.

Speaking of which, the Michael Pollan book, The Omnivore's Dilemma is really interesting. I'm still in the chapters on Corn and farming and am already depressed.

Anyway, that was not the point of this post. The point was to share the awesome marketing blitz items that Killing My Lobster is unleashing upon the world with regards to this play that I would like to share. And, oh, TICKETS ARE ON SALE! buy them now! There is a wide range of price options, which I think will be much appreciated.

Anyhoo, for your enjoyment, please surf to;

• The Official Hunter Gatherers Website!
• Pam's MySpace Profile
• Richard's MySpace Profile
• Wendy's MySpace Profile
• Tom's MySpace Profile
• Killing My Lobster's Website

just in case you haven't seen this

Oh my god. Fearless!