Auditions. I’ve been on both sides of the table. I’ve auditioned, and I’ve watched others audition. Neither role is easy. Directors have countless questions to answer and an overwhelming number of possibilities to consider. How do you know which actor belongs in which role? So far, I’d say it’s a lot like gardening.
Read MoreNew play readings are a standard part of new script development; they’re a proof of concept, a proposal, or an experiment. They aim to bridge the gap between a completed script draft and a fully-staged production. I’m a big fan of new plays, and I love a reading: the potential, the discussion, the explicit invitation to interrogate what works and doesn’t work. What about the characters stuck with you? What images will you still be thinking about next week? Because it’s presenting an openly unfinished work, a reading explicitly asks the audience to engage critically with the piece’s strengths and weaknesses. And there’s something special about being consciously in the process, engaging with the growth and evolution right in front of us. It’s a sneak peek, an exclusive event. We’re being trusted with this new, vulnerable thing, and we get to witness it!
Read MoreThe origin of the script “Forget About Me (The Breakfast Club Play)” was an imagined conversation between a Gen X parent and their Gen Z child, about “The Breakfast Club.” In the wake of #MeToo, the actor Molly Ringwald wrote a wonderful essay for The New Yorker about watching it with her adolescent daughter. She knew it was problematic, but didn’t realize how much, and decided it was better for her child to see it first with her rather than, say, at a sleepover with all of her daughter’s friends.
Read MoreAfter 3 years as an ensemble member with Seat of the Pants, I have decided to take a year away from the company to pause, take stock, and continue to build roots in my new-ish home of Buffalo, NY. I am so grateful for these years of growth, play, and community. Here are some highlights from my time with Seat of the Pants:
Read More“You work in costumes?! That must be so much fun!!” I never tire of hearing this from the people I meet. It keeps the job refreshing to see my job from others’ perspective. It is not all frolicking through the woods with yardages of fabric billowing behind you in pursuit of costume inspiration destined for Project Runway. (I wish though. But there definitely is a lot of, “Make it work, people!!”)
Read MoreNeedless to say, I hadn’t expected to be so challenged by this piece. On the surface, it is a lighthearted, comical piece about a book club. Underneath, it challenged me as a designer and as a person. Leave it to the theatre to always force me to grow. Time to get curious.
Read MoreCast member of THE BOOK CLUB PLAY, Natalie Green, takes us on a fictional conjecture ride in today’s Seat of the Pants blog, providing a bit of backstory on how Ana Smith’s Book Club came to participate in a documentary film being made by legendary filmmaker, Lars Knudsen. Enjoy!
Read MorePicking music for a show is probably my favorite part of being a sound designer. I mean, who doesn’t like to listen to lots of music anyway? But this is a real opportunity to explore genres and artists I might not have paid attention to otherwise, so there are numerous rabbit holes to explore and enjoy.
Read MoreRecently, our director, Chris Bohan, gave us an exercise called “Primary Event.” The idea is simple, but kind of profound: create an inciting incident for your character that happens before the play even begins.
So the question becomes “how do you build a past for someone who doesn’t technically exist?” Sure, the playwright gives us clues. But a lot of it is on us as actors to fill in the blanks - to imagine a full, lived-in human based on what’s on the page.
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