I got cast in Gerry Hansen's "McBeth" and I couldn't be happier! For those of you who don't know, it is a Commedia del Arte version of the Shakespearean tragedy. Look up Commedia... it will blow your mind. Just got back from our first rehearsal which included a read-through, character work, and lots of exploration. I'm sworn to secrecy on all aspects of the production, but the end product is certain to be something I will be so proud of! The rest of my troupe are fantastic, every one of them. Such a physical form of theater is an exhausting challenge, but the results are truly magical. It's sweaty work... not even. It's sweaty play that will soon turn into art. Hell, it is art right now. You all need to come and see it!
Our show is an hour long, and we have three weeks from Saturday... The other three One Acts are all about 15-20 minutes long and they are the first bill (we perform after intermission). Apparently, even though their shows are a quarter as long as ours, and the largest show has half the amount of characters as we do (multiply our 10 characters times about 3 or 4 as far as costumes go), they feel that they have a tight schedule, and so our original opening night is an "invited dress". Nice, y'all. We'll be ready... they apparently won't be. It's a bit embarrassing, really. So our initial Friday night performance is an invited dress. How quaint.
Performances are in the Studio Theater on April 24-25 at 2PM, and April 24 at 8PM. We will also have Shakespeare in the Park performances April 30-May 1 at 7PM in Anis'oyo Park in Isla Vista.
Make sure to check us out!
In other news, we are working on Chekov this quarter in acting. I'm working on a scene from The Cherry Orchard as Trofimov with Garrett Ward, and it's going to be very fun and challenging. Irwin is teaching us for these first 5 weeks and it's been very interesting and honestly very helpful so far.
In voice, we are working on Shakespeare. We will perfect the way we speak his words, sonnets and all. We even get to write our own sonnets and do Poetry Jam Circles in class!
Movement is Acro Yoga... so challenging but AMAZING. Yesterday... I flew. I fucking flew. And I became a whale for a short amount of time. Life is Magical in Jeff Mills's class.
I'm having a ball this quarter, even though it is exhausting. The exhaustion is exhilarating.
-Big D.