#fred gehrig

[my-burnt-city]

having an extremely productive afternoon, comparing the headshots of the thirteen punchdrunk performers who were all in the drowned man, sleep no more (shanghai), and the burnt city, for a sort of ultimate 'how it started, how it's going' vibe

my main takeaways are

whoever was wielding the camera in shanghai was best at actually capturing everyone's beauty

we are so extremely blessed to have such experience of such incredible performers

at least three of these people, if not more, are clearly immortal vampires

[drinkthehalo]

Sleep No More Shanghai cast in Elle: Andrea Carrucciu, Conor Doyle,  Fred Gehrig, Omagbitse Omagbemi, Tang Tingting, & Emily Terndrup.

I can’t get over how odd this is. Thank you @dunwannawakeup for getting me a copy. :)

[my-burnt-city]

OH LOOK, more pictures from the Elle China Sleep No More Shanghai photoshoot!

[my-burnt-city]

So I am still fairly blue about Fred's departure, mostly because he was one of my absolute faves and I have treasured every single moment I have spent following his three characters like a little duckling (and contriving to catch sight of them while technically following entirely separate characters), but also because he was to date the only Laocoön who did a 1:1, and I'm sad to think that this scene might be lost forever

(I had this 1:1 more than once, and the contents and order did vary somewhat, but this is how it went for me at this one performance in late July)

It took place in Laocoön's tent. He quietly surveyed the few audience members who had followed him in there, then gently escorted out every audience member except me. He lowered the tarpaulin flap then closed and bolted the gate. After this, he took my mask off and carefully looked over my face, telling me that my eyes reminded him of his child's eyes. He sat me down on the stool and took my hand, and gently stroked my wrist as he told me a story about his two children (you may have seen the little photo of them on the desk) and how they were taken by a sea serpent. SPOILER WARNING it turns out there is a secret basin built into the desk! At an appropriately dramatic moment, he slipped his hand under the nature magazines on the desk, removed the cover, and plunged my hand into the hidden water! Submerged at the bottom of the basin were two of his little clay figures, which he got me to bring out into the light. He then dried my hand with a towel and asked me if I'd ever seen a particular sort of bird, and seemed quite startled but pleased when I nodded. The scene now over, he replaced my mask and his little clay children, and we headed back out into the show.

Fun addition: at the end of the Mycenae finale, although it had been a full loop since we'd last seen each other, I was surprised but delighted to see it was Laocoön who had collapsed at my feet! He led me out to the White Cypress, removed my mask, gave me a big smile of recognition and once again said the name of the bird he'd mentioned earlier. It was a beautiful call-back moment and this is still, to date, one of my most very favourite walk-outs.

(I'm being coy about the bird in question; having compared notes with people, it turned out that if you got the bird side-detail, then Fred would tailor his choice of bird specifically to you. This show already felt special to me, so learning that this one performance genuinely was unique to me was just incredible. So I keep that one little detail to myself, because it was a gift to me and me alone, and that's how I am going to keep it. But I will mention that I just received my new RSPB membership card for the year, and the picture on it they have blessed me with is a close-up photograph of THAT ONE BIRD, so that was a lovely unexpected but perfectly timed reminder of one of my all-time best afternoons in Woolwich. 🥰)

[my-burnt-city]

at this point it's impossible to tell if i'm more excited about the return of THE RAIN or about the return of FRED AFTER APPARENTLY THE LONGEST TWO WEEKS OF MY LIFE

[chiora]

...rediscovered this gem.

[drinkthehalo]

I found this interview with Fred Gehrig (Claude & Doctor) to be quite fascinating. Go read the whole thing, but these insights stood out:

There are so many layers to the set and one can find many clues about the multitude of connections between the 35 characters ofTDM. One never ceases to discover more, even the company members who have been there from the beginning. Plots seem to keep evolving just as they do in real life. So, when you inhabit a character you feel challenged to become part of such a complex story, and there is a constant underlying adrenaline rush, which you as an actor tend not to expect. The sound and costumes are all very defined. All of these elements are narrated from the moment the audience enters the building. These theatricalities coming together offer the performers a lot of ground to work with, but regardless you need to hit the right level of performance and lead the audience appropriately. One gesture or just even one gaze can shift the audience’s perception drastically. I think this is because the rules from both film and theatre apply.

[...]

When I make, I want it! When I learn, when I want to know, I want to live it, I want to be it! Maxine (Doyle, who co-directed TDM) is great; she gave me a list of references to look up when I first joined the team and even gave me one of the books the play is based on, The Day of the Locust. It’s the luxury of working in the arts; you can learn more, you read more, and become more. I’ve worked in different settings however, like on the movie that came out last year, World War Z, where they didn’t care less if you had read the original novel or not. I find that very weird. They almost prefer if you don’t know, because they can handle you better that way and you don’t ask any questions. For the directors, it seemed completely irrelevant, how your mental headspace is linked with the work.  For me, that’s just strange. The more everyone knows, the more you can be on the same wavelength and bounce ideas off one another in the rehearsal room or when you’re onstage. That’s another thing I like about Punchdrunk, you are constantly able to exchange ideas and suggestions with the other actors.