@kyle-dill and I are always on a quest to create the perfect rehearsal report. Here’s what we created for our upcoming summerstock gig at Shenandoah Summer Music Theatre.
Kyle will be the PSM and will stage manage “Newsies” and “Mamma Mia.” I’m the SM for “West Side Story” and ASM 1 for the other two shows. We, of course, are going to keep our paperwork universal for the entire summer season.
So excited for this season! But, first, I’ll have to finish tech for and open “Fly By Night” and then it’s off to western MD to do “Gypsy” for five weeks!
i don’t understand how today’s rehearsal was so stress free - for me anyway - i’ve gone past the point where i care who hates me because ultimately everyone does & that’s sad, but it’s also life. i’ll get over it.
After the blow out on the group chat over the weekend I spoke to Zoe and we agreed it would be a good idea to get to the room 30 minutes earlier than everyone else. That way the room would be open, set up & ready for when everyone else came. I mean people were still slowly piling in at 11 but y'know who's watching the clock 😒🕓
Hildy is a complex character in terms of her family life, background and political sensibilities. How important is research for you as an actor, in order to understand the character’s world and experiences?
Incredibly important. I do extensive research for every part I play. It is one of the joys of being an actor - to find out about other people, different eras and cultures.
This is a modern play so we have all lived through the times, but I did a lot of research to help me personally prepare to play Hildy. Hildy is an activist, she runs a campaigning organisation called ‘Small Change’ so an important element of my research was to find out about similar organisations, how they work and what they do. I watched footage of protests and marches online. I looked at websites and materials they distribute. I also read all the books and materials that I could find which Hildy would have read. For instance, Karl Marx’s ‘The Communist Manifesto’; that really helped me understand her perspective.
How does Max’s rehearsal method help you?
Actioning is such a useful method for actors because it doesn’t let you get away with anything, it forces you to make specific choices about everything you say. It encourages you to consider your characterisation in depth. Even if your perspective of your character changes, as mine did (I thought Hildy was much more vulnerable than she has now become by this late stage of rehearsals, in which she is bolder and more confident), the actions still give you a starting point and show your journey through each scene. Interestingly, even though my characterisation has changed and developed quite considerably, my original actions still work throughout. I found that surprising. But actioning isn’t the only interesting element of Max’s process, we do lots of exercises and improvisations throughout to inform our choices.
Are the any specific exercises which have influenced your character development?
Two aspects of our process really, firstly improvisation, and secondly interviewing I found the early improvisations really useful for establishing my relationship with other characters. We did an improvisation of Hildy’s first success at debating society, which informed her ability and passion as a public speaker. We also did an improvisation in which the family met to discuss putting Jack into care, which made us all realise what a difficult scenario this is, and how it puts the pressure on everyone’s relationships.
We also interviewed several people who gave us relevant insight about Hildy’s roles and responsibilities. We interviewed a lady with experience of social work, which made me realise just how harrowing and draining Hildy’s ten years as a social worker must have been. We also interviewed someone who was an activist involved in the Justice for Cleaners campaign. His passion and strength of belief were infectious. It helped us to understand the dynamics of the first cleaners scene, in which Hildy persuades Annie and Bea to march. He told us about his parallel experiences and described the emotions involved. It is fascinating to have these insightful experiences.
The play looks at a range of political and social themes, from large-scale issues like the financial crisis and questions of social justice, to personal issues like family, responsibility and aging. What for you is the crux of the play?
Responsibility is the key issue. Responsibility for yourself and the importance, and the question of to what extent you should take responsibility for others. As the play goes on you realise how Hildy expends all her energy trying to cope with everyone - her cheating husband, her ill father, her alcoholic mother, her drug addict son; she never puts herself first and this becomes a downwards spiral as far as her health is concerned. The play raises key questions about the level to which you should take responsibility for yourself versus those around you. Alongside this is the theme of family; it really is a family drama, about how people have to cope with changing circumstances, coming together against adversity, the importance of love and loyalty and the difficulties of being a ‘good’ mother, father or child.
Jamie accuses Hildy of caring so much about her community that she has no time for her own son: ‘Single mothers, druggie teens, homeless pensioners, disabled single mothers abused by druggie pensioners - you accept anybody, everybody but your own son.’ Is this justifiable?
I think in a sense he is right, she probably didn’t give him as much attention as she could have done, but when you consider the external pressures on her it is hardly surprising. She talks in depth about all the things she did for him, she took him to cello lessons, javelin, football, piano, she organised a teddy bears picnic for him, she was certainly an active mother. However, what we realised when speaking to the social worker, was that, if you were confronted by harrowing scenes every day- children who had been abused, homeless people, violent crimes, then you come home to your ‘normal’ family, your ‘normal’ son, then his little problems, like a graize on his knee or a problem with his homework might pale into insignificance in comparison. As a result we started to realise that Hildy, whilst she never purposefully was a bad mother, was probably preoccupied by the dramas of her social work role, and Jamie might have suffered as a result.
Hildy and Shirley argue about who is the more successful woman, who is the true feminist: Who do you think is a more successful female?
Hildy, definitely. She might not have had the fame and glamour that Shirley had, but that’s not the point. She puts all her passion into leading a movement which she believes in wholeheartedly, she is making active changes in the community, she is campaigning on behalf of others to make a difference. She is infinitely a better role model that Shirley.
I recently got cast as Titania in Shakes' "A Midsummer Night's Dream"!!! I was thinking on doing a post on my line process for Shakespeare? And then also keep y'all updated on my rehearsal process? Please comment if y'all have opinions!
Eighteen Ways To Make Your Directing Experience Less Stressful, Part One
Eighteen Ways To Make Your Directing Experience Less Stressful, Part One
As I am sure you are aware, I have directed countless plays and musicals. Honestly, I quit counting when I was around two hundred. No matter how many times I direct, however, there are certain occuramces that I experience each time. Now listen folks, I can save you TIME if you’ll apply my lessons to your directing experience. (I probably sound your mom, don’t I? Sorry.) 1. The play or musical…
