Production Assistant/Fight Captain/Electrician/Carpenter/Running Crew

Posted on February 16, 2011 by yaghaeinejad

Hey, I am Yasaman Aghaeinejad. I am the Production Assistant for Seascape. This is the first production I have helped work on at UMW. It has been a lot of tears, sweat and blood (on JB’s part)! I have been with the actors since auditions and it has been great watching them develop into their characters. They have all worked extremely hard to make this a great show. As PA, I helped with setting up for rehearsal, the paper work, running lines with the actors and being Fight Captain. Aside from my PA duties, I have also been involved with other aspects of the show. Because of my Stagecraft and Lighting Design class, I helped with hanging lights and building the set. I am also backstage with the running crew during the shows. I truly have been living and breathing Seascape for the past month and a half! I saw our work paid off on opening night. Opening night is my favorite part of the process of putting on a show. After weeks of hard work, laughs, and sometimes frustration, everything comes together on opening night. It was so satisfying to hear the audience laugh from backstage and know that I helped generate that. I hope that this weekend is equally successful and I for one will not know what to do with all of my free time when it is over!

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The Middle Ground

Posted on February 15, 2011 by kalyna57

Hello there!

To those who attended the first weekend of the show, thank you and we hope you enjoyed! We truly had a wonderful turnout for all four performances. The warm and fuzzy feelings were almost stifling, but felt as good as a kitchen during the holidays!

The best part about all of this is that, as I continue putting on Sarah’s scaly skin each night, I feel myself discovering new ways to play her and little movements here and there to add in. Now, Sarah plays with sand, is nearly in love with the sea grass and even has a level of skepticism woven into all her excitement. Even though we have a three day break I still look over the script just to be sure the lines remain in my head. . . They’re there, worry not.

Thursday seems closer every minute and the thought of only four performances left is a little disheartening, but also a form of adrenaline. We only have four chances left to show people our wonderful production and only four chances left to wear these amazing costumes. The next five days are going to be a wonderful adrenaline rush. :)

Really, though, if you haven’t seen it yet, come on down!

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“It was quite a rumpus.”

Posted on February 4, 2011 by kalyna57

Rather, I should say it is. Working on Seascape as a lizard has been quite the adventure. I’m Kalyna, a senior and I will (hopefully) bring to life the lizard Sarah for you wonderful audiences beginning next week.

I’m excited to say the least. This play is quite a concept to tackle, especially as a lizard, we have had to throw away all the concepts we know in order to dim the characters for Albee’s script. I use dim in a good sense, however, because if we hadn’t dimmed the characters’ minds there would be no room for discovery, or “lightbulb moments” as Helen deems them. The rehearsal process is certainly equally, if not more, mentally challenging than it is physically.

I spent my winter break learning lines and working out like a mad-woman. I even joined Gold’s Gym when the University gym closed for the break. With the tight schedule of 4 hour rehearsals and and 18 credit class schedule, I certainly have had my work cut out for me (and unfortunately – or fortunately – have been using rehearsal as a time to somewhat workout).

Of course, most people dwell on the fact of this very short rehearsal process, but the truth is that this is not the first time I’ve had to go this as an actor; 4 weeks (or less) of rehearsal and BAM! a show just when you start believing you’re not ready for one. But, in all honesty, I haven’t been too stressed about the show itself. I know we will do a great job, because I know all four of us have put in a lot of hard work on a personal scale. Me, not only have I struggled with certain moments, but I like to look at Seascape as a whole, one of the best excuses to just play.

I am energetic at rehearsal mostly because I like to play. Being directed to crawl around and slide down sandy slopes is probably the best feeling in the world. Not to mention the costumes – WAIT’LL YOU SEE THESE THINGS! They’re masterpieces.

As Helen said previously, it has been a big team effort to get this show to the point where it is today and I’m just glad I got to be a part of it!

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Lizards, Lovers, and Life

Posted on February 4, 2011 by hhousley

So how exactly do you direct a play with two humans and two lizards? What are the parameters you use in determining how these two diverse life forms interact and engage in meaningful conversation–especially when half of the equation often doesn’t fully understand the other half in even the most rudimentary fashion?

This is the challenge of SEASCAPE–and what a challenge it is! Aside from the obvious hilarity of such an encounter, deeper philosophical and emotional currents tend to threaten the equilibrium humans and lizards are attempting to achieve. But that’s what the rehearsal process is all about–discovering the richness of the script, exploring the possibilities, while telling a story that is more fantasy than reality. And yet it’s so very human!

Marriage, parenthood, evolution, relationships–so many topics covered in our mere 90-minute existence on the stage–yet despite the implication that this is a very serious drama, it’s a hoot. Imagine yourself coming face to face with an amphibian larger than you are, who speaks English perfectly, yet is innocent and naive at the same time–it’s quite a sea change (pun intended) for our human characters and their views on reality and life. And don’t forget the claws! These lizards can tear you apart in a heartbeat–quite the conundrum for our married couple!

Our actors have been challenged by this text–and I’m so proud that they’ve risen to that challenge. As we approach opening, Lauren, Kalyna, JB, and David continue to discover the nuances and idiosyncrasies of their characters and their situation. It’s such a joy to hear a line that was spoken just as written text yesterday suddenly spring to life with understanding and meaning today. The slightest change of inflection brings a whole new dimension to a line, a moment, a scene. That’s why I direct–to guide, facilitate, encourage that moment of discovery–hearing and seeing these light bulbs go off is so satisfying. What fun!

When we got on the set–was it just a week ago?–with its sand dunes, ridges, and levels–the play sprang to life. We had been rehearsing in the Acting Lab on a flat floor, aided by a few mats representing the dunes. Needless to say I was concerned whether our blocking (movement patterns) would translate to the 3-dimensionality of David Hunt’s set, especially since half the cast is crawling on their bellies for a good portion of the play! I have never been very good at visualizing what I see on a ground plan taped out on the Acting Lab floor into the actuality of a built set. But I shouldn’t have worried. The lizards took to the dunes as if they’d been there their entire lives and the humans did as well.

As we enter techs, with the added design elements of lights, sound, costumes, and make-up, I look forward to seeing it all come together. Hours of work have gone into all facets of this production–from the building and painting of the set to the creation of scaly lizard outfits by costume designer Kevin McCluskey and lighting designer Julie Hodge to the design for the lizard faces by senior Madeline LeCuyer–it’s been a group effort. But that’s what’s so thrilling about making theatre–collaborating in common cause as we move to opening night when all is revealed to the audience.

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The Final Stretch- Discovering Nancy

Posted on February 3, 2011 by laurenmcg

It certainly took me long enough to post here, but it’s taken me a rather long time to do any activity these days. With Seascape opening a week from tonight, all the days have been running into each other, and I’ve seldom found time to do anything else. Playing the part of Nancy has been been both the most exciting and the most terrifying experience I’ve ever been given as an actor. I’ll be the first to admit, I’m not experienced in dramatic roles in the slightest, and being a freshman in the role has been very, very intimidating.

Luckily, I was able to find some similarities right off the bat. Nancy is as idealistic as any woman could be, and I find myself getting carried away in plans of my own that are just as unrealistic as Nancy’s own musing of living the rest of her life of the beach. She’s also a bit of a flippant and sharp-natured woman on occasion, and as much as I’d like to deny it, that’s a big part of my own personality as well. She knows what she wants, she sets her heart on it, and she has a very hard time letting it go.

The similarities, as far as I know right now, end there. This is a woman in an unsatisfying marriage, and I hardly know the first thing about such commitment. She’s been through a good chunk of her life, and here I am, just embarking on my own journey right now. It’s these sorts of things that have made her such a challenge to play.

Truth be told, I feel as if I have the most work to do out of all the actors, but it’s time to hit the ground running and prove to myself more than anyone that I am capable of this.

I’ll see you all opening night.

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Wake Up in the Mornin’ feeling like a Lizard…

Posted on February 1, 2011 by jonathonbridgeman

When I tell people outside of the theatre department that I am playing a lizard in Seascape, they assume that my part is something like the 3rd lobster at the nativity in the film Love, Actually. Then, I quickly explain that this part is significantly more important. This is my fifth show on the Klein Theatre stage at UMW, but I have more lines in this show alone than in all four of those previous shows combined. Oh, Hi I’m Jonathon Bridgeman by the way, better known around these parts as JB. I have the wonderful pleasure of playing Leslie (the Lizard!) in our production of Seascape. Currently we are still in the rehearsal process for the show, and we go into tech rehearsals this weekend, which pretty much means Kalyna, Lauren, David, and I will be standing/crawling around on stage while sound and lighting are adjusted to make us sound great and look pretty. So far, rehearsal has been quite the process. The four of us are pretty new to parts this large, so there has been a lot of learning going on, especially on such a tight rehearsal timeline.
We only began rehearsing three weeks ago, and the show opens next week so it has been a little bit stressful for sure. We’ve gotten to a point in the process where we are consistently finding new dimensions to the script each night at rehearsal, and I can honestly say the show is getting so funny. I really hope you all make it out to show and enjoy it!

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Coming to terms with your character

Posted on November 16, 2010 by mairin martin

I almost cannot believe how different the character which I am presenting is from my original read of her. Throughout this process I have struggle greatly with Nellie’s relationship with Alma. I wanted to like my character and did not want her to be malicious. However, the only other option to her not being malicious was that Nellie was absolutely oblivious and therefore somewhat vapid. I had a hard time coming to terms with the idea that she could be either but I didn’t seem to be able to find a third option. I tried quite a few different reads of the character but they all felt forced in comparison. About two weeks ago I let go of trying to force an unauthentic read of the character and explored the reasons why Nellie would be oblivious and slightly vapid. I realized that she actually had a very good reason for being so and that it was because she is consumed and blinded by love. At sixteen, Nellie is just a young girl and I thought back to my own self at sixteen and realized that my life revolved around my most recent and intense crush. Nellie is even more intensely in love with John than I ever thought myself in high school because she has probably never been paid positive attentions from someone like him. If men ever did pay her attention, they were people of the same caliber as her mother, people who she detests. To Nellie, John is perfect and when he showed kindness and tenderness towards her and stuck up for her against her mother that night which she describes in 1.3, he showed Nellie that a wonderful kind of person like that, a man unlike the men her mother brings home, can exist. She has become absorbed by him and is blinded by an adolescent obsessive love from any emotional harm she may be doing Alma.

I also came to realize that Nellie feels a sense of protection towards John. When Alma insults John during 1.3 Nellie becomes slightly disenchanted of Alma and is about to stick up for him when she gets distracted by the opportunity of seeing him out the window. She starts on this vein again in 2.4 when she begins to reproach Alma for hurting John’s feelings by refusing to see him during her illness. This unnecessary need to “stand by her man” is was very reminiscent to me of the girls in high school who would start fights and break off long-standing friendships in defense of their current boy friend to whom they felt the greater allegiance. Nellie also probably feels she owes it to John to defend him against the judgmental Alma. Firstly, because in her eyes John can do no wrong and so Alma must be put to rights and be made to understand that she is wrong in her criticism. And secondly, because he defended her, stood up to her mother and sent her away to the protection of a girl’s school.

Once I came to understand these motivations behind Nellie’s words and actions, I came to understand and even love her as a character. She is just a sweet girl who has led an extremely difficult life and who therefore pursues the one good person who enters her life with single-minded determination in a desperate attempt not to lose him. She is not calloused to the harm she may be causing Alma, nor is she too unintelligent to recognize it. She simply is oblivious to it because she is sixteen and in love and that means that the only person who exists in the world to her is John.

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The Stage

Posted on September 30, 2010 by chall4

Rehearsals are on the stage!!!! I cannot fully express how amazing this is. We’re within the first few weeks of rehearsals and we are lucky enough to get on stage. It’s a phenomenon almost unheard of. For Romeo and Juliet last year we didn’t get into Klien until, I want to say, a few weeks before technical rehearsals. So, we’re are blocking (deciding the characters movement through the set) on the actual stage!!!! Not a tape down, the basic layout of the stage literally taped out in a room that cannot show the rake (tilt) of the stage or how high a step is, but on the stage. I’m not an actor and I’m so excited about this.

As I said, we are blocking the show and should finish tonight. This whole experience just makes me appreciate, all over again, the hard work the people in the shop put into all this. I think right now I’m seeing as a stage manager more of the process that goes into putting up a show than I had previously. And I’m amazed at what I see.

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new year, new students, new responsibilities

Posted on September 29, 2010 by jonkreynolds

Although we are now in our sixth week of classes, I am still feeling the pressure and excitement of the beginning of the year. At this point, we would normally be well into our season, already in our first production, and we are actually just into the rehearsal period for our first show. While the chair of our department is on sabbatical studying in Colorno, Italy (iltavolone.com), things are moving forward and we are pushing ourselves to keep up momentum and find new projects to better ourselves and generate buzz about what we do.

When orientation week came around, I was surprised and elated to see so many new students interested in all facets of theatre, from working backstage, to building sets, to acting, to singing and so on. Once classes started, I was pleased to see so many new students becoming involved and truly interested in learning all they can from our faculty and students. It’s exciting to see that our small department is a place that they have already come to know as the place to be. Our black box theatre, Studio 115, is key to helping students to realize that they have a home here in our department.

It makes me think back to when I was first a student here and how I thought that I knew everything there was to know about this work. I now know that I am still not completely aware of everything we do. Long gone are the days where I was constantly eluding to “high school” and “how we did things”. Its a rite of passage to eventually get told “you’re not in high school anymore” and to realize that “you know very little to nothing, and that you are here to learn what you already think you know”.

This year is going to prove to be the most challenging and, in turn, the most rewarding for me. I am taking on jobs and projects that are normally handled by someone who has much more experience than I do. This is furthering my education even 3 years out of college. I am told that I know what I’m doing, and that I am supported in every decision I make. I am learning that I don’t always fully trust myself, but I am making steps toward knowing that I am now ready to know things, and to start actually being the person I thought I was at 18. By no means am I going to know EVERYTHING, because even the most seasoned and experienced are still learning something or multiple things every day.

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Hitting The Ground Running

Posted on September 24, 2010 by Edgar McKewen-Moreno

Wow.  Just… wow.

Honestly, I feel like the above two sentences could sufficiently convey my feelings towards this show.  However, I also feel like a two-sentence blog post would be cheating everyone who reads it, so I’ll try and expand on this.

I was a late bloomer in the theatre department of my high school, only getting involved at the start of my Junior year.  However, it didn’t take me long at all to realize that waiting was the biggest mistake of my life.  I swore to myself that in college, I wouldn’t hesitate to be part of this fantastic department.  Therefore, when I got here, I attempted to get into anything and everything I could.  My first week of school, I had seven auditions in four days.

Somehow, one of those auditions landed me the role of Gonzales.

I was overjoyed when I received the news of my casting, but shortly after hearing, I started thinking, which, in my case, is never a good thing.  I started thinking of the pressure.  Of being looked down upon by those with exponentially greater training and experience than I.  Of walking that tightrope between being the annoying leech of a freshman that the upperclassmen can’t shake off and being the uninvolved, unmotivated freshman who’s just not giving the amount of effort that something like this takes.

I’d like to think that my balance hasn’t failed me yet.  But as I try and stay in the air, I can take comfort in the fact that I am surrounded by the most caring, supportive, and nurturing people in the world.  Within one month, I can already say that I absolutely adore the members of this department.  They are nice, helpful, and patient, and god knows they need all three to be able to deal with me, and for that I thank them.  After leaving all my friends from my high school’s theatre department and entering a sea of new faces, I am happy to say that the people I have worked with here so far are the exact type of people who make me want to do theatre for the rest of my life.

Within the first few rehearsals, I have already seen unparalleled dedication, professionalism, and sheer love for the art within my fellow actors and techs.  I now know that if I ever fall behind, I know exactly who to look up to to get my bearings and try to catch up.  It reminds me of how birds fly in formation.  The strongest ones head to the front, which somehow gives those behind them a boost.  I’m definitely bringing up the rear here, but those that give me a boost and help me glide are doing a fantastic job at doing just that, whether they realize it or not.  I doubt I will ever be able to pay them back, but I know that within the coming years, I will be doing my best to pay it forward.  The same goes for those who I have helped with lighting.  The knowledge that Bethany and Taylor have imparted to me in this field is something I will never be able to return, so the best thing for me to do is to continue to pass it on.

In only two rehearsals, I have had my eyes opened repeatedly, laughed along with the people I will be spending a great majority of the next month with, been impressed beyond belief who knows how many times, and learned more than I ever did in 4 years of high school drama classes and shows.

I can already tell I’m going to love it here.

-Edgar McKewen-Moreno

Posted in rehearsal, Summer & Smoke, Theatre | 1 Comment