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Michaeltw721
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| Joined: | Wed Mar 5th, 2008 |
| Location: | NYC, New York USA |
| Posts: | 37 |
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Posted: Tue Aug 19th, 2008 11:04 am |
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I was just exposed to 'House and Garden' the two stage opus that includes the show being performed simultaneously on two different venues, a fountain to wade in... just some incredibly large but creative demands from Mr. Aykbourn.
I know many people are split on writing for sheer joy and that the director/company will find a way to stage it vs. creating a more simplistic aesthetic and making it more production feasible off the bat.
Im curious what inclusions you've used or seen that have gone beyond the ordinary - either in setting, properties, locales, etc.
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solarcirclegirl
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| Joined: | Wed Oct 17th, 2007 |
| Location: | Conway, Arkansas USA |
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Posted: Wed Aug 20th, 2008 01:05 am |
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that production sounds fascinating!
when i was in college, we did a production of 'far away' by caryl churchill and it was done using all three of the stages in our theatre. it started in one, then we moved to the next, to the next. There were soldiers and prisoners used, and there was even a motorcycle led parade during the second act. it was one of the most exciting, beautiful things i had ever seen.
i think it would have been much more effective if the director didn't come out and announce that we were moving from one theatre to the next. i know that they felt they needed to do that for the safety of the audience, but from the perspective of impact of the work, it would have been more effective if they had had the soldiers who led the parade in the second act force us up and to the next theatre. like, the end of the act was sounded by an alarm or something, and then we were all told to get up and move.
i wish i could say i've seen many plays done like that, but i haven't. it's too bad, really. i understand that a lot of it has to do with money and space restrictions, but i think there's more than one way to skin a cat, so to speak. more in the audience playing to the audience would be fun as well. it's something i think about in my own work, and i hope that i get to do more creative things like that in the future. that production of 'far away' definitely left a mark on me.
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Michaeltw721
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| Joined: | Wed Mar 5th, 2008 |
| Location: | NYC, New York USA |
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Posted: Wed Aug 20th, 2008 03:03 am |
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That sounds like quite the production as well. I'm curious and will have to research the piece.
Its a tricky situation when you do have to keep the audience in mind vs. integrity of the piece. A recent example was of 'Cabaret' the musical I attended, in which the director planted nazis in the audience, unbeknownst to all but the cast. When the nazi anthem 'tomorrow belongs to me' kept building and hit it's chorus they would stand, salute and sing. Apparently it was incredibly unnerving (exactly what director was going for), but obviously came at a price of alienating some.
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Shanahan
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Posted: Wed Aug 20th, 2008 02:43 pm |
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Several years back I was in St. Louis on business and I watched a very cool production of Albee's "Zoo Story." It looked like the premise was pretty simple--the play would be done twice, with the actors switching roles.
So we walk into this warehouse space, and we have to go down to the far end of it, where the "stage" is a curtained-off area facing a small riser of chairs. The actors go through the play. At the end, one guy (Jerry) runs off and Peter, the one who gets stabbed, staggers off through the curtain. Applause. The audience is then asked to leave the space and please take all personal belongings with them.
Out we go. We come back after the 15-minute intermission. And now, the stage is just inside the door we come through. (Remember, we had to cross the space before.) Right there is an area of fake grass with a park bench on it. Around the perimeter of the "grass" are exactly as many chairs as there are audience members.
The actors go through the play. Jerry stabs Peter. Peter falls to the grass. Jerry runs through the doors and out of the space. Applause.
Peter's laying there.
Applause continues.
Peter's laying there.
Applause starts to sort of....fade....
Peter's laying there.
The audience filters out into the lobby.
Peter's laying there.
And what I found very interesting is that neither of the actors made an "appearance" in the lobby gathering afterwards. Total commitment to the world of the play as we left it.
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RLN
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Posted: Sun Nov 23rd, 2008 08:21 pm |
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In two of my plays, a corpse/cadaver played by an actor is vivisected onstage.
One has a burnt bicycle, a potato stamp, and a table full of archaic science equipment, including a Galilean barometer. I think these are fun (floating weights in glass, very balletic) and had long wanted to write one into a play before I did. Now I want someone who produces this play to give me the barometer as a present when they're done.
One has an "iron mask." A Chicago metal-sculptor built it out of an engraved tea tray. The company that produced the second production then rented this object from the company that produced the premiere.
That play also has a sword cane.
The most recent one (and my favourite!), APOCALYPSE EVE, has: (a) a "clockjack" (google "southwold clock jack" to find out what this is; (b) jerry-rigged skateboard; (c) seventeenth-century useless contraceptive device (c) puppets based on the robot from METROPOLIS; (d) "Patented Mechanical Apocalypse Wings."
I can't believe APOCALYPSE EVE is actually being produced, but it seems it is.
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