Mon - October 10, 2005

Macbeth Technical Rehearsals 

We are continuing to rehearse Macbeth at Sweet Briar College. We had two tech rehearsals Saturday, and one last night. There is a surprising amount of complexity to the tech in this show - smoke, fog, drums, trumpets, torches, lots of mood lighting, thunder and lightning, and of course the apparitions.
We had our ups and downs - the acting is in pretty good shape, but some of the tech did not quite work last night. I'm not happy with the apparitions. What I wanted was a big puff of smoke erupting from the cauldron, with a gobo shining on the smoke. So far, the smoke is less than overwhelming, the gobo has not arrived, and the voices have to be re-recorded.
I have this idea in this production to have a kind of graveyard on the apron, and each time one of Macbeth's victims is killed, a robed figure brings a skull out and places it on one of the stones. We want to make an eerie light, toll a bell, and light each skull on the stones from below. It should look good, if we ever get it right, but last night they seemed to bring a light up on the wrong skull each time. Tonight we begin dress rehearsals, so we add blood to the Macbeth/Macduff fight, and we add specialty make-up for the witches and Banquo. Most of the costumes were added this weekend, so all the little problems with costumes and wigs are pretty well solved. There is still a lot of painting to do, and the light cues and sound cues are not all correct, yet. We'll see how it goes tonight. 

Posted at 08:57 AM    

Wed - October 5, 2005

DAH Theatre Workshop 

On Monday we hosted Jadranka Andjelic and Electra Behrens of the DAH Theatre Company, located in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The did a fascinating workshop for our students. They started the students moving to music, then they paired them up and had them move with bamboo sticks balanced by pressure on their hands, forcing them to move together at exactly the same distance. Next, they had to do the same with the bamboo sticks on their hips. After that, they introduced the second bamboo stick, and finally they made the students sing a favorite song while moving to two bamboo sticks.

Here is Elecrta, on the left and Jadranka, on the right.

Jadranka works with Doreen McVeigh.



Jadranka addressing the students.


Jadranka watches them work.



Lynn Kable working with Electra





Mary Susan Sinclair-Kuenning moving with her bamboo stick, while Jadranka watches.


Mary Susan and Electra


 

Posted at 09:20 AM    

Sat - October 1, 2005

San Francisco 

Nancy and I drove up to northern Virginia, where we checked into a hotel, the Hampshire Inn Cascade, near Dulles. It was in shopping mall, so we could park in the lot and leave it for a few days. Philip drove up after work, and we went out to dinner with him.
Our flight left the next day, first we had to fly to Atlanta, and then we changed planes to San Francisco. When we arrived, we took the BART train to Union Square. This is new since the last time I was here, it did not used to go out to the airport. It's still a little goofy - you have to go down to a certain level in the parking structure, then go across to the other side of the structure, then take an elevator back up to a station for a shuttle that stops at various terminals in the airport, including the BART station. From the station, though it is a straight shot to Union Square.
Our hotel, the Westin St. Francis, was right on Union Square, so we checked in, then scouted around the general vicinity.

Here is Nancy in Union Square.



The next day, we went out to be tourists. First, we caught a cable car from Union Sq. To Fisherman's Wharf. Here is Nancy on a cable car.



Of course we went to Pier 39 to see the sea lions - though most were gone for the summer.


We tried to get tickets to see Alcatraz, but were unable to.

Hyde St. Pier has many old ships on display.


Including this one.


A Brugmansia, growing in Ghirardelli Sq.


The mermaid fountain in Ghirardelli Sq.


An outdoor cafe near Ghirardelli Sq.


A carousel near Fisherman's Wharf.


Lombard St, from the top of the hill.


We walked down Lombard St. There was a constant line of cars - almost all with out of state licence plates, lined up to go down.


The bottom of the hill at Lombard St.


A beautiful Bougainvillea on Lombard St.
 

Posted at 10:46 AM     Read More  

Thu - September 29, 2005

More Macbeth Rehearsals

We are continuing to rehearse Macbeth at Sweet Briar College. Last night we worked on the two fights; the first is between Young Siward and Macbeth, and the second is between Macduff and Macbeth. The fight choreographer, John Paul Scheidler , came down from Staunton last night (he is a member of the Blackfriars company, and I saw him perform Laertes in Hamlet last summer, which I wrote about here).
I had written to him about the dramatic story that wanted the fights to tell:

Here is what I have in mind dramatically for the two fights.
The first is between Macbeth and Young Siward. I would like Young Siward to be full of adolescent energy and enthusiasm, but way over her head. Lots of swinging about to little effect, while Macbeth moves little, parries easily, waits for Young Siward to tire herself, then ruthlessly kills her. The fight should not last long, and it should look very mismatched.
The fight beween Macduff and Macbeth I want Macbeth to start out extremely confident, thinking he is charmed and can't lose, so while Macduff starts out by charging him, Macbeth at first drives him back and even disarms him - overconfidence lets him give Macduff another chance, even maybe so much confidence as he says "I bear a charmed life" etc, that he opens himself up so that Macduff draws blood on his arm at "untimely ripped". This makes Macbeth - who we are playing as extremely superstitious - lose his will to fight initially - and even kneeling and offering his sword in surrender at "I'll not fight with thee". But Macduff, who does not want Macbeth's surrender goads him by calling him a coward until Macbeth decides to go down fighting, regains fury if not confidence, then the fight goes more evenly for a time but slowly Macduff drives Macbeth upstage until Macbeth is trapped upstage, and eventually does something to give him a chance to duck out of an upstage archway.

The fights that he choreographed last night were fascinating to watch - Scheidler was an excellent teacher - very clear, very energetic, very patient. He emphasized safety over and over, teaching them to always make eye contact to ensure their partner is clear before making any moves, always show with the point the direction you will be going, and always breathe - don't hold your breath - so you do not tire unnecessarily.

The fight with Young Siward starts with Young Siward charging Macbeth, who draws blood on her leg then pushess her to one side, pursues her, hits her in the jaw with the pommel, knocking her down onto a platform, then goes for the kill by driving the sword downward. He showed them how to do this so that the pommel never actually touches her, and Macbeth covers the tip of the sword with his hand during the kill, so there is never actually any danger. It was very well staged, and should be an exciting fight, while remaining safe to the actors.
Then he choreographed the Macbeth-Macduff fight. It was in four stages - the first stage has Macduff come to Macbeth, center, who diverts the energy to the side making Macduff end up to stage left. Macbeth moves in, engaging him and taking his sword, while Macduff retreats further left. Macbeth disdainfully drops Macduff's sword, allowing him to regain it while Macbeth walks away with his back to Macduff up a short stairway. The second stage goes from Macduff following up, feinting to one side while drawing blood on Macbeth's arm on the other side. Macbeth loses heart, offers to surrender. The third stage starts with Macduff goading Macbeth to fight from atop the two foot platform - Macbeth engages him on the stairs and fights his way up, but Macduff manages to grab Macbeth's wounded arm and squeeze it, causing Macbeth to retreat to the upper platform. The final stage begins when Macduff engages Macbeth on the stairs, Macbeth manages to parry downward, giving him time to duck out the archway ahead of Macduff, who follows out. Because there are no walls, we can see Macduff raise his sword for the kill (only his arm and sword are visisble) and hear Macbeth cry out as the fight ends.

Posted at 09:38 AM     Read More  

Tue - September 27, 2005

Macbeth rehearsals

I am about halfway through rehearsals for Macbeth, which I am directing at Sweet Briar College. We are in the parts I like the best, experimenting to find interesting moments in very small portions of the text. One that we found the other day was in the scene where Macbeth (played by Jon Robertson) casually asks Banquo (played by David Zimmerman) if if he is going riding, then invites - really commands - Banquo to return for dinner at the palace. We tried it many ways, but finally struck real gold by having Banquo be aware that Macbeth was planning something, and warning Macbeth that he would have his eye on him. Of course, Banquo underestimates just how ruthless Macbeth is. This allowed Macbeth to to get to the next place, an emotional outburst against Banquo with seems to be fueled by both guilt and jealousy.
Last night we played with a couple of scenes - Act 1 scene 4 where Duncan (played by Mark Forman) surprises everybody by naming Malcolm as heir. We tried emphasizing the surpise by having Macbeth nod his head as if in expectation that Duncan will name him, and have Malcolm as surprised as any one. We also played with a moment in Act scene 3 - the scene the murder is discovered - by having Macbeth hesitate before swearing to join the others in finding out who is responsible.

Posted at 09:32 AM    

Fri - July 22, 2005

Hamlet at the Blackfriars

Khris Lewin as Hamlet

I went to see Hamlet at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton, Virginia on Wednesday, July 20. It is always interesting to see a play in this theatre because there is always a premium on the language - everyone always knows exactly what they mean and there is always a close bond with the audience. Staged well and performed well, this play, like so many others I have seen here (or in the Globe in London which has a very similar dynamic with the audience) was tight, imaginative and fun. Lewin's Hamlet emphasized the madness and de-emphasized the depression. This made for a manic Hamlet, rather than a depressive one - truly an exciting performance to watch. Also good was John Harrell - who has a real comic gift - playing the self important Polonius and the foppish Osric.
I do think that approach - a good and even necessary one for this theatre - does tend to sacrifice some of the deeper questions raised by this play. Hamlet is certainly descending into madness in this production, but a kind of entertaining madness - I never felt that this Hamlet was very dangerous and he seemed more angry than depressed about his situation. All in all, a good, entertaining performance done skillfully and imaginatively.
I have seen this play several times in the last few years but so far the best I've ever seen is Trevor Nunn's terrific Hamlet with Ben Wishaw, which managed to show us a deeply troubled and dangerous young man - you were not sure who he was going to kill - Claudius or himself or maybe some innocent bystanders, but you knew he was going to kill somebody.

Posted at 07:41 PM    

Wed - July 20, 2005

Western Trip 2005 - Montana 

Nancy and I arrived in Missoula, Montana on June 24, 2005, picked a rental car and also picked up our two sons, Geoff and Philip, who arrived on a later flight from Washington, DC. We went to the Missoula cemetary where Nancy's father is buried.



On Saturday, we had a short internment service for Nancy's mother, Yoshiko. My brother Jim, his wife Carol and his daughter Kate drove in from Spokane to attend as well. Two landmarks in Missoula are Mt. Jumbo


and Mt. Sentinel (the M is for the University of Montana).


Between the two flows the Clark Fork River, which continues on through the city of Missoula. We climbed up Mt. Sentinel, to the M. I took pictures of Missoula from there. This picture shows the Clark Fork, the University of Montana campus on the left side of the river and downtown Missoula on the right side.


Here is a closeup of the theatre building - where I worked in the 80's.


Here is another picture of Missoula, taken from Mt. Sentinel, with the campus at the bottom.


On Saturday night, we went to see the Missoula Ospreys baseball team play - here is their mascot.


And here we all are - Geoff, Nancy, Philip and I at the ball game.



On Sunday we went to the church we once attended - Holy Spirit Episcopal.


Later we went to the hospital where Philip was born - Missoula Community Hospital


We also drove to the top of Lolo Pass. On the way there, we got a good view of Mount Lolo


At the top of the pass, I took this picture


On Monday, Geoff and Philip flew back to Washington, and Nancy and I drove down the Bitteroot valley on our way to visit friends in Idaho. Here is the Bitteroot valley.


The is a picture of the Bitteroot Range



 

Posted at 08:21 PM    

Tue - July 19, 2005

Daylilies

Although many daylilies have finished for the year, many others are still blooming. Here are soome now blooming in my garden.

This is Catherine Woodbury one of my favorites because of its muted pastel lilac color.



This is Magic Dawn


This is a new one in my garden this year - Startle. It has a yellow picotee edge.


This is Fires of Fuji - a warm double red with yellow and orange highlights.


Finally, Hyperion, an old classic yellow that I like for its color, a pure yellow with no gold or orange in it.

Posted at 07:23 PM    

Mon - July 18, 2005

Over the Edge of the World by Lawrence Bergreen

I read Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe by Lawrence Bergreen last week, and enjoyed it. It is the story of Magellan's circumnavigation of the world in 1519-22. Magellan was Portugese, so, although his trip was in the service of Charles I of Spain, he was never really trusted by many of the Spaniards on the voyage - in fact, he was constantly having to deal with both overt and covert subversion. Facing down the mutiny of three of the five ships in his armada early in the voyage, when they were in what is now the coast of Argentina, he managed to regain all three ships, but at the cost of deepening the rifts between Magellan and many of the crew. He succeeded in discovering the strait that bears his name, and sailed through it to the Pacific, but one of the ships mutinied again and slipped away to return to Spain. Sailing across the Pacific, they greatly underestimated the distance, losing many crew members to scurvy. Landing in the Philippines, Magellan was killed attempting to demonstrate the superiority of Spanish Arms and armor, only to discover that the natives of the Philippines were able to exploit the Magellan's overconfidence by leading them into a carefully contrived ambush. Bergreen suggests the possibility that Magellan's men may possibly have contributed to his death by not coming to his rescue as vigorously as they could have. The armada found the Spice Islands, but he ships and men were in poor shape, and only two ships remained when they left the Spice Islands loaded with cloves. The Victoria headed west, eventually to return to Spain but the Trinidad headed North east into the north Atlantic, eventually gave up and returned to the Spice Islands where it was captured by the Portugese. Only only one ship and 18 men limped back into Spain.
It is a terrific story, very ably told.

Posted at 07:44 PM    

Fri - July 15, 2005

Guys and Dolls

On July 2, 2005 I went to see Guys and Dolls at the Coeur D'Alene Summer Theatre in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. This is a very well run operation, with a nice facility (on the campus of North Idaho Community College) and some fine actors.
Like many people, I have seen this play many times, including the University of Arizona, the University of Montana, and the National Theatre of Great Britain, and I have always liked it, so it is not surprising that I liked this one, too. The score is very strong, with some great numbers and memorable characters. The approach was frankly theatrical, a good choice, with two dimensional scenery, characters played up as caricatures, costumes with bright stripes. The play was well staged and for the most part well choreographed (although I did wonder why nobody rolled dice in "Luck Be a Lady" until the very end of the number). Sarah had a lovely voice, and some really fine acting was turned by Nicely Nicely.

Posted at 08:42 PM     Read More