“It is our unfinished task to restore the basic bargain that built this country – the idea that if you work hard and meet your responsibilities, you can get ahead..."
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/obama-state-of-the-union-democrat-classic-87560.html#ixzz2Kl2hMuL9
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Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Quote of the Night, Process Notebook 2.12.13
"Y'all don't have night vision. Pick up a carrot."
Kieran aka Greta to Maude & Ben Franklin as they were pointing out the difficulties of coming through the stage blacks.
Kieran aka Greta to Maude & Ben Franklin as they were pointing out the difficulties of coming through the stage blacks.
Holding Up Thoughts and Making changes, Process Notebook 2.11.13
2nd to last Rehearsal, we went from Krissy holding up Jenn's new idea about the show so that she wouldn't forget them while we discussed a few changes. We are now keeping David onstage through 'constitutional convention' so that we can strengthen the conflict between David and Benjamin Franklin. Thus building an emotional connection for the audience when the fight occurs.
We also decided to strengthen the narrative of the American Dream in the story. So now when David re-enters as the American Dream after Ben in France he will be dressed in David's contemporary clothes from the beginning of the play. We are literally saying that the American Dream is a coked up mortgage bundler and that is who Benjamin Franklin challenges to a duel.
We also decided to strengthen the narrative of the American Dream in the story. So now when David re-enters as the American Dream after Ben in France he will be dressed in David's contemporary clothes from the beginning of the play. We are literally saying that the American Dream is a coked up mortgage bundler and that is who Benjamin Franklin challenges to a duel.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Honest Sam Upham Gets the Last Word, Process Notebook 2.6.13
"Fuck you Freddy, it's My Scene." (Alex, the actor playing Sam and Freddy.)
We discovered today that the moments when Freddy is the most successful are when Freddy and Sam are on two different tracks. It's key that Sam reacts to what Freddy is saying, which is no easy feat when your an actor playing Sam and Freddy.
Aaron also gave us the final line for Scene 4, which is Sam's "Yes we shall Freddy, yes we shall." Effectively closing the scene with Honest Sam Upham getting the last word.
We discovered today that the moments when Freddy is the most successful are when Freddy and Sam are on two different tracks. It's key that Sam reacts to what Freddy is saying, which is no easy feat when your an actor playing Sam and Freddy.
Aaron also gave us the final line for Scene 4, which is Sam's "Yes we shall Freddy, yes we shall." Effectively closing the scene with Honest Sam Upham getting the last word.
What's behind the End of the Play? Directors talk Inspirations.
After tonight's run through, I had a quick chat with Krissy about her inspirations for the post-fight end of the play sequence. Although there are various inspirations for the exercise Krissy and Jenn engage the actors and audience in at the end of the play. The two main inspirations are:
1. The Wooster Group, check out their amazing blog with lots of video here: THE WOOSTER GROUP
2. The Rude Mechancials, check out their website here: The Rude Mechanicals
The audience's Journey at the end of the play, Process Notebook 2.5.13
In the script Aaron describes the end of the play as follows:
Ben knocks out the American Dream. He’s down. And on his fall, everything else stops,
the song, the striptease, everything. The work lights come on and the
costumes come off, the wigs, the makeup, everything. The vaudeville
show is over. The characters are gone, now it’s just the actors playing
them as each becomes the other, Sam and G and C and Maude and Ben
Franklin, all but David, they’re all one, they’re all each other, they’re all of
us together. And as the American Dream slowly, so so so very slowly rises
up from the floor, the others repeat the whole show, a whirlwind, acts
from before overlapping, multiplying, reversing, everything wrapped up,
torn apart, coming together, again and back over, the never ending story
of us.
And yet as it all falls apart, these layers of reality collapsing onto and into
themselves, one thing remains – or perhaps becomes – startlingly clear:
the present moment of us, here, together, pretending. Here we are, a
bunch of people, in this room. We feel it in our bones, all the way down to
our unearthly cores, blinding us and binding us.
And then as the actress playing Maude comes back to the third verse of
“Only Money,” we see the American Dream has risen almost all the way
back to his feet. The other actors stop to watch.
Jenn and Krissy have chosen to explore this moment by having each actor re-act their character tract in the show. With importance paid to location and dropping characterization. Which creates a super interesting experience as an audience member. We tracked the audience member's journey as: Confusion, Delight, Confused, Absurdity ie "are they really going to redo the whole play?", to a meditative state, then you come out of it and the actors are still redoing their characters and then everything stops when Annie/ Maude begins to sing. And the pay off in that moment is really internalized, making a very personalized audience experience out of chaos and spectacle.
Ben knocks out the American Dream. He’s down. And on his fall, everything else stops,
the song, the striptease, everything. The work lights come on and the
costumes come off, the wigs, the makeup, everything. The vaudeville
show is over. The characters are gone, now it’s just the actors playing
them as each becomes the other, Sam and G and C and Maude and Ben
Franklin, all but David, they’re all one, they’re all each other, they’re all of
us together. And as the American Dream slowly, so so so very slowly rises
up from the floor, the others repeat the whole show, a whirlwind, acts
from before overlapping, multiplying, reversing, everything wrapped up,
torn apart, coming together, again and back over, the never ending story
of us.
And yet as it all falls apart, these layers of reality collapsing onto and into
themselves, one thing remains – or perhaps becomes – startlingly clear:
the present moment of us, here, together, pretending. Here we are, a
bunch of people, in this room. We feel it in our bones, all the way down to
our unearthly cores, blinding us and binding us.
And then as the actress playing Maude comes back to the third verse of
“Only Money,” we see the American Dream has risen almost all the way
back to his feet. The other actors stop to watch.
Jenn and Krissy have chosen to explore this moment by having each actor re-act their character tract in the show. With importance paid to location and dropping characterization. Which creates a super interesting experience as an audience member. We tracked the audience member's journey as: Confusion, Delight, Confused, Absurdity ie "are they really going to redo the whole play?", to a meditative state, then you come out of it and the actors are still redoing their characters and then everything stops when Annie/ Maude begins to sing. And the pay off in that moment is really internalized, making a very personalized audience experience out of chaos and spectacle.
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