First Week of Rehearsals Part Two

January 27-29 started the first week of rehearsals for my play. I had originally planned to start rehearsing Tuesday, but I got a couple people in the cast to come together Monday after school for a little improv session. A few of the actors had approached me and stated they had stage fright, so I attempted to help them feel more comfortable by having them do LOTS AND LOTS of improv. It certainly broke the ice a bit, I believe, and it gave me a chance to see the skills they had. They were very good, much better than I had ever imagined for first time actors :)

Tuesday was the first actual day of rehearsals. I got as much as the cast together as I could during lunch, and then after school. After school I had Brenton, Sebastian, Andrea and I. I managed to grab Josh on his way out of school to stay for a bit. We started with Sebastian and Andrea's scenes, and switched back and forth from those scenes to Brenton and Angela's scenes with me filling in, and then some scenes with Josh them.

Wednesdays I had lunch rehearsal again, with Brenton, Angela, Josh, Sebastian and I after school. We mostly worked on Brenton and Angela's scenes, and while we had some difficulties they were over come eventually - I know how hard it can be to focus. We also cMy main concern as of this day was actually myself. I thought I was being WAYY too bossy and bitchy as a director. As after this rehearsal, on Thursday I spoke with my teacher about how to keep the cast on task and such. She gave me some helpful ideas, and that combined with me keeping my emotions in check have helped.

Thursday lunch rehearsal was the same crew. After school I saw Brenton, Sebastian and I. I also had the help of my assistant Dawn Sargent, who will be helping me throughout the rehearsals and possibly the performance. We worked the best we could with Dawn and I subbing for their other counterparts. There was a lot of good energy in the room.

Friday was only lunch rehearsal. We had Brenton and Angela. We worked through all their scenes, focusing on a couple, with my other assistant Hannah Shannon helping us. Overall it was a good rehearsal, and I think the actors are starting to pass through their stage fright. We've had an audience most of the rehearsals and havent had any problems so far...

As far as remembering lines go, the actors don't HAVE to memorize them, but I would really like them to. I think this might come in time though, as it's not really a lot of lines to remember, so the more they practice the better they get.

- C

First Week of Rehearsals!!

A video of Friday's lunch practice - a piece of the play where old man Brenton ( =] ) JUMPS onto the "couch" when the second the lights rise.

Cast List

NEIL: typical 16 year old boy. Although he is often annoyed by his little sister Lucy, they’re close in that he’s extremely protective of her. He’s used to having to keep an eye on her - with his parents away for the night, he’s left alone with her during one of the worst storms of the year. When the lights go out he does the only thing he can think of - he starts to tell her a story.
(Played by: Brenton Eddy)
LUCY: 7 year old girl, fascinated by her older brother. She loved that her brother will be watching her while her parents are away, and even though she tries to pretend like the storm wasn’t scaring her, once the lights go out she’s very scared. When Neil starts to tell her a story, she becomes fascinated by the story. It is essentially her imagination that the audience is seeing the story projected from.
(Played by: Dawn Sargent)
DAMIEN: Neil’s best friend. The trouble maker, mischievous and the jokester; always trying to trick, fool or scare Lucy. When the lights go out, Damien skateboards over to Neil’s house to hang out; he’s home alone and knows that it’s just Neil and Lucy at their house as well. He bangs on their front door and successfully scares Lucy. Although he teases her constantly he seems to be the mean older brother to her.
(Played by: Dylan Buotte)

SEBASTIAN: head of the Resistance, trying to change the laws of the Election Period, also the main character of Neil’s story. He’s almost the strong, silent type - an excellent leader, many people look up to him, yet secretly most of the time he’s making it up as he goes along. In the play, his age is never specifically stated but he’s young, only about 17 maybe younger. He grew up orphaned on the street; he’s very street smart, and has an ominous kind of presence, power seems to drip from his pores, even though he’s not usually physically or emotionally aggressive.
(Played by: Sebastian Francis - Burnell)
MAILLE: Sebastian’s head strong female counterpart. She’s quick to anger and always looking for a fight - the driving force of the fights behind Sebastian’s strategy. Maille likes to fight - she’s skilled in all kinds of fighting. Her first reaction is always fight and she sees flight as a last resort. Although she and Sebastian get along extremely well (romantic undertones throughout the play) she reeks of brute elegant physical power, this is the opposite of Sebastian’s subdued power. She was left at a boarding school and grew up there; the school is closed by the government and she runs away. Same age as Sebastian, maybe a few months younger.
(Played by: Andrea Spencer)
KINGSTON: the Resistance’s candidate for Presidency. Kingston is quiet but physically strong. Think of a combination of Maille’s physical strength and Sebastian’s silence, with a twist of Kingsley from HP. He’s not much of leader, but agreed to run for the presidency because he would allow Sebastian to take the unofficial behind the scenes wheel, but believes strongly in their cause and is very trusted by both Maille and Sebastian.
(Played by: Alexander Setzko)
VICTOR: the candidate running for traditional views - opposing candidate, the Resistance’s enemy. Very much a dictator, the country has had some awful Presidents in the past - he has the air of promising to be the worst in history. He’s very dictator-like in the way he rules, and is really the height of the Resistance’s resistance. He has killed opposing candidates for offices he has run for in the past, though he can’t be directly linked to them much like most of his predecessors. He’s vicious, cruel and unforgiving.
(Played by: Josh Sessler)
THANOS: Victor’s behind the scene hitman - Sebastian and Maille’s evil counterpoints. Thanos means Death in Greek, and essentially that is his job to Victor: he is the killing machine. Similar to Maille, he is the fighter, though Maille tries not to kill while Thanos goes into the fight with the intention to torture and destroy. His weakness lies in that he often doesn’t think out his moves when confronted - therefore making him easily defeated if taken by surprise.
(Played by: Evan Johnson - Moore)
SALAZAR: the Sebastian to Thanos’ Maille. Salazar is the dark shadow in the corner of the room. He doesn’t play by the rules and would like nothing more than to Sebastian killed - he has a personal vendetta against him, because he believes he seduced his sister (Maille) over to the other side, by making her believe he had fallen in love with her and then keeping her over to the other side.
(Played by: Evan Taylor)

Update!!

DYLAN BUOTTE IS DAMIEN WILES!!! :) This is a great new development because the fact that I HADN'T casted Damien more or less stopped the writing of the play at the second to last scene. I didn't know if I would be changing the plot to make it a girl, (because they're easier to find) or what. But Dylan has agreed to play the part :) We are excited.

As for further future rehearsals, I have placed a notice to all cast members asking for their schedule. I hope to start practicing after school in February. I will be doing a lot of work in the beginning with Viola Spolin's Theatre Games to develop the actors abilities to improvise! Plus, it's just fun and will help people become more comfortable on stage and in their characters and around their friends.

Until later!
- C

LUCY TAMAH BENEDICT: Angela Newton; Director's Notes

LUCY TAMAH BENEDICT.

LUCY: English for light
TAMAH: Hebrew for Innocent
BENEDICT: See Neil Morpheus Benedict.

Age: Seven years old
Description: Long wispy hair, big eyes, bigger imagination. Tiny for her age and easily wiggles into small spaces.

Some History: Lucy has a history of ear infections and dizzy spells, even at seven. She was born 4 months early, and while it may have made life difficult for her from the start, she's a very strong and worldly individual. Her parents are very career orientated and people pleasers. When she is not deathly ill, Lucy doesn't see much of them because they are on business trips or going to galas as on the night the play takes place. Lucy doesn't mind this though, because she is very easily entertained, especially by herself, and just adores her older brother.