The song of purple summer

My summer has barely begun and already my schedule is full. It's such a relief! I hate having too much time on my hands, and I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my time--acting. It feels like things are finally falling into place. Instead of minimum space between projects, I'm falling from one to the next, and overlapping them. It feels really great to be bettering myself artistically after so long. I know I've been working consistently, but part of me felt like I was waiting for something. Now I'm starting to feel like I found it.

This is the only picture I have from last week
that doesn't give anything away.
I'm harnessed and preparing to jump!

Rehearsals for Shrew are ahead of schedule. We started blocking the show on Thursday and we have a mere two acts left before we start in on the serious scene work (there are five acts total). Right now I'm focusing on building my different characters since I'm portraying so many.

I spend a lot of rehearsal time watching the other actors work. I'm the least experienced in my cast, and it's so much fun for me to be a part of understanding the decisions they're making towards character work and comedy. Already the show is funny, so I can't wait to see how it ends up.

Every actor approaches Shakespeare so differently, and it's so interesting to watch a cast come together. We have to unify pronunciations of names and places. Director is wonderful about allowing us to play right now, so everyone is discovering what voices and physicality they want to use. Some are very strict in diction and others are given the freedom to mumble. I'm fascinated and sometimes distracted by the creativity of those around me. Ultimately, I have a lot of work left to do yet, but I'm excited to jump into scene work soon.

This show is incredibly physical. Not only will there be stage combat, but the blocking itself (especially since it's a park show) has a lot of physicality required. There are struggles, fights, and hilarious beating/throwing/rolling scenes. I'm excited because some of my characters get to be involved in these acts, which is just one more thing I get to learn this summer.

After looking over our newest tentative schedule it looks like we'll be performing in 11-12 parks this summer, each one a different terrain and size. You know how much I love a good challenge.

This summer is off to an amazing start. I'm feeling very fortunate to be working with so many talented people. On Saturday I drove down to Tacoma for a film 'audition'. I met the two directors and my fellow actor. They offered me the role and we spent a couple hours hashing out the plot holes and character discrepancies in the script they had written.

It's been a while since I've been involved in the creative process of a project in the beginning stages. I had forgotten how artistically inspiring it is to work from the ground up. The day I spent with them gave me some great insight to the characters I'll be portraying that I'm not sure I would have had otherwise. I was given the chance to help rewrite dialogue and discuss the emotional journey I'll be taking through the process.

This is a short film the directors are hoping to enter into the Tacoma Film Festival coming up in the fall. This means we're going to have a short shoot and a quick turn around time. It's a sci-fi/romance where I'll be playing two characters who look the same but live in alternate realities and time periods. I'm looking forward to trying something new: I get to speak a foreign language!

Because I've signed on for the film my schedule for the month of June is completely full. I'll have Shrew rehearsals Monday through Saturday, and I'll be filming on Sundays. After having such a great experience on my last film, I'm very excited to be moving forward in this medium. Granted, every experience will be different, but I'm enjoying the ride so far!

Coming up:
1. Working on a new comedy monologue for Acting this week. Sexual Perversity in Chicago by David Mamet. I need to brush up on my comedy for this summer, and Acting Coach wanted to help out. Ironically the monologue is directed towards children, so it's very natural for me since that's my day job.

2. A master class with Henry Woolf on Playing Pinter.  "In this three hour master class, actors will play with Pinter's text under the guidance of a true expert. Henry Woolf, British actor, theatre director, Master Teacher, and a longtime friend and collaborator of 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter, will lead actors through exercises focusing on enjoying playing Pinter."  Pinter is one of my favorite playwrights and I've done scene work of his before that  I've adored. He writes in a very specific style, and I jumped at the opportunity to join this workshop and learn from such a renown artist. There were only 14 spots available, and I feel lucky to have grabbed one.

3. Submitting to every audition that doesn't clash with my schedule for the summer. I've got to stay on my toes, after all.