inspiration is crisis

the twenty-four hour theatre project alluded by my previous post has grown into a many-toothed monster, a hydra with four heads that hungers for artistic expression from multiple media.

we've changed the name to the 'twenty-four hour project,' and begun the hard work of putting together the festival. the signups have been trickling in, and we have representation from uwec's theatre, dance, music, and art & design programs. the idea is to provide creative and performing artists with an incredibly stressful environment in which they are forced to produce (produce! produce!) in an extremely limited time frame. we are designing it to be stressful. inspiration in crisis? no. inspiration is crisis.

more on this l8r.

work on my novel continues. as does work on a full length play. my direction of 'the vise' is well under way, and the time outside of rehearsal that my actors put in to memorize their lines and build their characters warms my little heart. with two weeks until one-act tech, and the twenty-four hour project next week, not to mention rehearsal for 'the shadow box' on the main stage, I am hoping at least to find some inspiration of my own among the tears and moans of my schedule. also I am still a full time student.

woe, woe.

twenty four hours

billy wilder

“A director must be a policeman, a midwife, a psychoanalyst, a sycophant and a bastard.” -Billy Wilder

blocking and music

after a very exciting read-through with my actors on monday, I was filled with emotions and excitement for the project, which is turning out to be not very much like a noose around my neck at all, but rather some kind of caffeine or cocaine related drug, pumping me up with a chemical like adrenaline and setting my creative fire alight with such force that it keeps me from sleeping, and forces me into ridiculous bouts of theatrical action.

I spent a lot of time on my feet today in riverside theatre, moving through planned actions and thinking of dynamic and potentious blocking that will help to heighten the theatricality and conflict within the script.

the ground plan I developed looks like this. keep in mind that the window rests on a risen proscenium at top, and that the audience sits on four sides of the space. the exits are the vomitoria at stage left and right.


 

 
what I am currently struggling with is the dead space that rests stage center, but I'm hoping that I will be able to motivate movement through and within that space, either as part of the through line between the vomitoria, or as passage from the major set elements, most likely between the table and the bar. chair two and four, wait, what happened to chair three. amazing, my first mistake. anyway, I added those two chairs today, upon the suggestion of my professor who thought that the chairs flanking the bar might help to motivate movement down stage right for purposes other than refilling a scotch or wine glass. I think he was smart to do that. (I probably would have figured it out eventually anyway, being young and incredibly gifted and modest myself, but thank you dick nimke.) I've got antonio sitting in chair four for a good page or two, which gives him ample time to down drinks in his quest for diminished lucidity in his knowledge of his culpability in the affair.

 

 

I don't normally do blocking in photoshop, as I like to be on my feet in development, but you guys deserve an effing illustration.

 

I am not sure what the conventional blocking notation  is, but I've got a handwritten version of the image at left next to every page of script in my prompt book. it allows me to quickly and simply see a visual representation of the blocking I have created. the numbers next to each movement are doubled on the script itself, so that I can see which movement is intended for which part of the play. this is the blocking for page one of 'the vise.'

movements 1-6 happen in silence. 1: anna lights the gas lamps on the table and exits. 2: giulia wanders to the window. 3: she sees antonio outside and sets her knitting on the table. 4: she checks to see if the bedroom door is closed. 5: she prepares for his entrance by moving to the doorway, but stops as 6: antonio enters and hangs in the doorway. 7: she moves to him. 8: he moves away and pour himself a scotch. 9: he sets his drink down on the table at c1 and lights a cigarette.

I then do this for every page afterwards. blocking is mutable, and frequently changes in rehearsal. we have our first blocking rehearsal, for the first fifteen pages, tomorrow.

 

next on my list of things to do is to pick music for my production. I am pretty confident that I will have no sound at the start of my show, and definitely confident that there will be no underscoring during the play. something that I have been clear on since the beginning of the process, however, is that I am looking for a cinematic smash-cut to black immediately on andrea's "murderer!" I think this jarring slam to black will put a nice cap on what has become an avalanche of action and language up until the end. I picture andrea building the shout up in himself and spitting it at antonio, with the blackout happening before we can even gauge the younger man's reaction.

I am leaning towards one of two options for the music to play in that black, over curtain call, and into the transition to dominique's play. I've looked into the work  of the italian tenor enrico caruso, specifically the following two (public-domain) recordings.

'mi par d'udir ancora' from georges bizet's lyric opera 'i pescatori de perle.'
[audio=http://www.cjkrueger.com/media/05%20Mi%20Par%20D%60udir%20Ancora%20(I%20Pescatori%20Di%20Perle).mp3]

and 'una furtiva lagrima' from gaetano donizetti's 'l'elisir d'amore.'

[audio=http://www.cjkrueger.com/media/09%20Una%20Furtiva%20Lagrima%20(L'elisir%20D'amore).mp3]

both recordings are from the very early 1900's, and remain in period with my piece. they were also featured in woody allen's 'match point,' which I love. maybe right now I am leaning more towards 'una furtiva lagrima' for it's irony, 'oh, heavens! yes, I could, I could die! I ask for nothing more, nothing. yes, I could die! yes, I could die of love.' any thoughts? suggestions?

I will continue to keep ya'll updated on the ongoing process of putting together this production, hopefully with photographs from tomorrow's blocking rehearsal as soon as they're uploaded.

Friedrich Hebbel - 1838

"Form is the expression of necessity," I say in a critical piece.

Best definition: Content presents the task; form, the solution. - Friedrich Hebbel on playwriting, 1838.

casting

last week was a busy one. as evidenced by the picture at left, (my bedside table,) the amount of preparation and outright work I've done on my audition as an actor for 'the shadow box,' uwec's final mainstage show of the 2008-2009 season, as well as for my audition as a director for my production of 'the vise,' has left me little room for anything more than a base, slovenly existence.

after a stressful audition, (I did an aids-related death monologue from 'as is,') and a callback during which I saw my fellow theatre students produce some of the best work, off of a cold read no less, than I've ever seen from them before, I could rest. it was impressive and humbling, to be in the company of such talented actors.

I snagged the part of 'brian,' a writer (like me!) an english professor who is dying of cancer. the play is a very tender, heartbreaking, and often tender exploration of the birth of hospice care, set in three cabins on the grounds of a california hospital. my cabin, the best cabin, is cabin two, in which my young lover, mark, is at odds with my visiting ex-wife, beverly, who forces him to face the fact that I will die, and soon. brian is a gentle character; beverly says 'he's always falling in love with the wrong people.' it should be an exciting challenge.

at right is a picture of riverside theatre, the 200-odd seat thrust space in which my production of 'the vise' will perform. I was told upon my first tour of uwec's theatre spaces that it was modeled on the famed guthrie theatre in minneapolis, and whether or not this rumor is true or just some bullshit claim to fame, the space does indeed resemble the original guthrie stage. 

thrust staging is difficult in an exciting way for a director. I was trained to think of directing as a series of pictures, (as I assume most are,) and to think that way with an audience on three sides will force me to make stronger, more defined choices in my creation of pictures. I am thinking of using specific goya and velasquez paintings in my research for strong lines and dynamic, emotional moments. say that with a straight face.

we had an unexpectedly low turnout for our one act auditions. they are usually the foremost outlet for new freshmen to gain experience and exposure within the department, but I guess nobody told the freshmen that. at left, brittany gusho, dominique sicard and I are seen bartering for bodies as we fill fourteen roles with twelve actors.

impressed with performances and work from callbacks, my casting was relatively easy. giulia and andrea are highly intensive emotional roles for actors, so I knew I would have to make those choices first. I was graced with the benefit of having equally talented people open up for use in the two smaller roles, antonio and anna, and am excited with how well rounded the cast ended up being.

other exciting developments this weekend included a trip to the art student association photo party, where I snapped a respectable 250 photos in the span of two hours. at right I am seen posing with a set of very large wings sticking directly out of my head. I am spending an inordinate amount of my life in dirty basements.

there was a scenester kid dance party at the brat-cabin saturday night, to send off a friend to the peace corps. 

I will probably never again see so many flanneled bodies shotgunning cans of mgd to lady gaga singles. 

probably.

the process

when I start writing a play, I do so by creating a step outline. in 'the biz' we use this system to plot out major points before we do the brunt of the writing. solidifying the plot and important elements and themes helps to make sure all of that is indeed intact when you finally start writing.

here is a step outline for a play that is forthcoming, don't read it if you want to be 'surprised' when I post the finished product sometime next week.

Act I

Scene One: A Restaurant

1. Booker and Upshaw, two shady men of unknown capacity, consider taking an upcoming job. Throughout the scene the conversation returns to them, and as they describe the gruesome things they have been contracted to do, in stark contrast to the light hearted conversation going on around them. Their dealings have something to do with a woman named Poppy Weisz, who is spoken about in hushed, reverent tones, as if it is a name we must already know.

2. David and Paul, two friends out for lunch, talk about David’s new girlfriend, and how Paul does not like her at all. The two men notice Elizabeth and Amelia and begin to talk about the women in terms of future love opportunities.

3. Elizabeth and Amelia, co-workers at a corporate bookstore, eat and talk about their jobs. There is a discussion, the two lament that life cannot be as adventurous as life is in the movies.

Scene Two: David and Paul’s Apartment, One Month Later

Paul gives Elizabeth the tour of the apartment. The two discuss how David and Amelia are out on a date, and wonder at the strong connection the two seemed to have at their very first meeting. The talk turns to other things, about the news and weather. They talk briefly about Poppy Weisz, who’s work in Africa is causing quite a stir in congress. They talk about their sex lives, and things start to heat up. Elizabeth takes control, and the two exit to the bedroom.

Scene Three: The Park, The Same

David and Amelia sit on a park bench, resting. David is romantic and does all he can to woo Amelia, who he has already won. Amelia talks of many other suitors who want to sleep with her, because of her father. David learns that Amelia’s father is the President’s chief of staff. They joke about assassinations and how risky it would be for David to date her, but he is unfazed. He vows to do anything to win her affection. Amelia makes an offhand comment about “stealing her someone famous.” David vows to do it. Amelia finally accepts him, and agrees to a second date. David asks, but Amelia is vague about cutting off her other suitors. The two leave for dinner.

Scene Four: Amelia’s Apartment, Two Weeks Later

Amelia and Elizabeth discuss their romances. Elizabeth is head over heels in love, but Amelia is hesitant. She does not want to get involved with the overly ambitious David, who she feels might be too conservative for her. Elizabeth tries to help by talking up David’s strongpoints, but really only ends up building Paul’s character, with whom she is infatuated. On cue, Elizabeth gets a call on her cellphone from Paul, who invites the girls to dinner to celebrate David’s promotion. He has risen to the level of Manager at his P.R. firm, which will allow him to move up in the world. Without consulting Amelia, Elizabeth assents. This new raise does not help to ease Amelia’s fears. Amelia wonders if she could love someone for their money alone. Elizabeth says no, she could never. Amelia still wonders.

Scene Five: David and Paul’s Apartment, Later That Night

Amelia, Paul and Elizabeth are talking about David’s promotion. They are waiting for him to arrive so that they can leave for the restaurant to celebrate. Paul stops and turns up the volume on the television. The news is reporting that the famous actress, social activist and politician’s daughter Poppy Weisz has gone missing. David enters and hears the news. Everyone dismisses it as celebrity gossip, except for Elizabeth, who seems very wounded by the news.

Scene Six: A Restaurant

Booker and Upshaw sit at a table, toasting to some victory. They talk about how beautiful it is when things go perfectly to plan. They discuss how they have a guest back at their house, and how they must treat her respectfully. Upshaw seems more than infatuated with her and her physical features. They talk about how much easier life will be when their money arrives. Amelia, David, Elizabeth and Paul enter and take their seats. Together they toast David’s corporate victories and talk about how beautiful it is when things fall into place. David talks about how much easier life will be when he starts to receive his pay-raise. Lights out as all on stage toast a final time, to their various victories.

Act II

Scene One: A Restaurant, Two Weeks Later

David and Amelia sit, toasting. They are both dressed to the nines. David begins a long speech about responsibility and growing up. He talks about his past and how things are going to be different now that he has money. He concludes by getting down on one knee and proposing to Amelia. After careful thought, as they have known each other only a short time, Amelia consents and the two discuss in businesslike tones what their engagement will do to their lives. David says life will be easier for both of them on his salary. David asks her if she loves him. Amelia assents.

Scene Two: The Subway, One Week Later

Elizabeth sits alone on a seat. Booker and Upshaw sit a few seats away, a few large duffel bags between them. Neither party recognizes the other. Booker and Upshaw hold a conversation that is unheard by Elizabeth, talking about the job and how sometimes things don’t work out how you want them to. They gloomily discuss how backup plans must be made. Both are bemused by Fate. Paul and David enter, having called Elizabeth and discovered that she was riding the subway, and meet up with her. They talk about shopping for gifts, and Paul’s planning of the bachelor party. It becomes clear that Amelia has not told Elizabeth the news. Elizabeth acts unhurt, citing a lot of reasons why Amelia may not have told her. Elizabeth pretends to act very concerned about the Poppy Weisz situation. Booker laughs and lights a cigarette. Upshaw pats the duffel bags. At the next stop, Booker and Upshaw pick up their very heavy duffel bags and start to leave. Always a gentleman, David asks the men if they need help getting the bags off the train. Booker and Upshaw laugh and refuse, calling him a gentleman and acting grateful, but saying what’s in these bags might be too much to handle. David does not press the issue, but is stuck with a bad feeling as they ride to their destination.

Scene Three: David and Paul’s Apartment, One Week Later

David and Paul talk about the engagement, about how happy David is and how it’s going to change his life. David breaks the news to Paul that he has found a beautiful brownstone apartment that he can afford, for himself and Amelia, that he will be moving into. Rather than being wounded, Paul is very happy for David, though he is concerned that this will mean a major shift will take place in their friendship, as they will no longer be able to take the subway together to work. David wrongfully makes a speech about how it is time for them to begin thinking about growing up and making a life for themselves, and cites Paul’s lack of steady work as a major hindrance to his success in life. Paul is now deeply offended and threatens to call to cancel the bachelor party, on account of Amelia’s shady appointments at all hours of the day. Paul begins to talk about how dysfunctional he thinks David and Amelia’s relationship is, but their fight is interrupted by a call from Elizabeth, who has seen on the news that they’ve fished the dismembered body of Poppy Weisz from the river, and needs immediate consoling. David makes some mean remarks about how weak Elizabeth is, that she is so affected by whatever happens with that “Poppy woman.” Paul leaves, still on his cell phone, and after the door closes David makes a call to Paul, leaving him a very apologetic voicemail before exiting to work.

Scene Four: The Park, One Week Later

Paul sits on a park bench with a camera. Amelia walks up, disheveled. Paul asks her about her day, about what she’s been doing. Amelia is frazzled, dodges questions and picks at her clothing. She keeps making excuses to leave, but Paul pins her there with conversation. It comes out that Paul has seen Amelia come to the park with a strange man, and followed them with his camera that he had been using to do freelance photography work. He followed her to a secluded area and watched her have sex with this strange man, and took pictures to he can prove her infidelity to David. Paul asks why she did it, and Amelia refuses to answer. Paul asks again, and Amelia launches into a speech about how it’s only sex, how it doesn’t matter who you love in this day and age as long as their wallets are stuffed. She rants and raves like a crazy woman, before finally leaving in a tirade of insults. Paul gets out his cell phone and calls David.

Scene Five: Amelia’s Apartment, Later That Day

Amelia is drunk and drinking, searching her pockets and purse for cigarettes. Elizabeth is attempting to extract from her what exactly has happened, but Amelia is reluctant to say. When she cannot find anything to smoke, Amelia begins to talk, trancelike, about Poppy Weisz’s death, about how it must have felt to have been kidnapped and murdered and dumped in a river. This is upsetting to Elizabeth, who is still very affected by the whole situation. Elizabeth begs her to stop, but she does not. She relates how Poppy must feel to her own life, how she is cracking and coming apart at the seams. In a moment of lucidity, Amelia expresses to Elizabeth no regret for cheating on her fiancee, how it has been happening for weeks, how she never promised to give up any of the men in her life for him. Elizabeth is horrified, and wants to run to Paul for advice, but when she tries to do so, Amelia restrains her and calls her weak. Elizabeth begins to cry, and Amelia is disgusted, finally throwing money at Elizabeth as she lies on the floor, and telling her to come back with cigarettes. She turns over a table on her way to her room and slams the door. Elizabeth sits, crying.

Scene Six: David and Paul’s Apartment, One Month Later

David, Paul and Elizabeth talk about the news, how two men have come forward and confessed to killing Poppy Weisz. They wonder how anyone could do such a thing, how gruesome it must have been for her. They talk about what good is done in the world by people with influence, and how admirable such change is. Delicately, Elizabeth mentions that Amelia has moved out of the city and gone back to New Jersey, where her parents live. David accepts the news gracefully and thanks her for the information. David makes a joke about how happy Paul and Elizabeth look, and how it gives him hope. The group dances around the issue of trying to pick out a place to eat. Elizabeth wants to eat at their favorite restaurant, but Paul fears that it may be too soon for David to return to the place where he proposed to Amelia. David asserts that returning there will be fine, that he is willing to whatever he can to confront his memories of her so that she might be out of his life forever. He wants to move on. David confides in Paul that he has given up his lease to the brownstone, that he will continue to live with Paul. Paul is visibly excited, but covers up his feelings with some emasculating jokes. The three prepare to leave, and David goes to catch an elevator. There is a short dialogue between Paul and Elizabeth, wondering if David is going to be okay. Elizabeth is sure that he will be.

Scene Seven: A Restaurant, That Night

David, Paul and Elizabeth sit at a table and joke about Poppy Weisz. They have seen tasteless jokes about her on late night talk shows and wonder about humor as catharsis. David talks about how he is likely to be promoted again, so that he may start working as P.R. for some big name celebrities. Paul considers this a sign of good fortune for his living situation, as when David’s financial situation improves, so does Paul’s. David asks a few sad questions to Elizabeth about Amelia. Elizabeth discloses that Amelia sold the engagement ring and destroyed everything that David had left in her apartment. Elizabeth does not know her address in New Jersey. David tries to seem unhurt, but can only marvel at the loss of the ring, as it was very expensive. Elizabeth talks about Poppy Weisz, about how there are people in the world who are the movers and shakers, who can affect global opinion by a simple action. On cue, Booker and Upshaw enter and sit at a table nearby. Elizabeth continues, saying how thankful she is for those people, the newsmakers, as her life would be utterly boring without them. David and Paul discuss this, and decide that it is better for them to remain as they are, as the pressure of being so instrumental in creating headlines would be more than they could handle. They are happy for their anonymity and small social stature. Paul wonders if Poppy Weisz was somehow happy to be murdered, as it meant she would make an impact on the world and her social activism would be brought to new light. Booker and Upshaw overhear as Elizabeth appeals to the world that Poppy must have been happy, that it gave her life some validation. She thinks that had Poppy died in a car accident, or some other death without the social implications of such a gruesome murder, her work would have gone largely unnoticed. David thinks that such horrible things happening in the world make his own life seem that much more normal. As the three get up to leave, they pass by Booker and Upshaw, who sit with wine glasses in their hands. Booker gives a nod of his head to David as the three exit. David lingers behind for a short moment, deeply disturbed for some reason he cannot put to word. After they leave, Booker and Upshaw laugh. Booker lights up and cigarette and passes it to Upshaw. Booker raises his glass and proposes a toast, “To the newsmakers.” The end.

I get wordy and obsessive. on some level, this is embarrassing. as I try to be 'mysterious' and 'deep' in my writing, the step outline is the one point at which I am allowed to go free-form in my consciousness of what the events of the play will mean in the overarching superplot, as well as how elements within individual scenes will help to drive that plot forward. I also do this for novels. here is the step outline for the first few chapters of almost-finished novel, 'the 44 days.'

1 - David is a bourgeoisie white American who is at the pray and mercy of his addiction to pharmaceuticals. In him is a force of anxiety and insanity that he calls “the sea inside.” After kicked out of college on a drug possession charge, he rejects his middle class comfortable upbringing in a largely metaphorical way by forsaking his home continent on a whim. He dumps his stock of pills and heads to the airport, where he engages in a random sexual encounter with an American woman named Alexandra. He trades in his ticket to Minneapolis, the home of his parents, for a ticket to Madrid. He falls asleep on the plane exhilarated and contented.

2 - David avoid initial withdrawal symptoms by replacing his physical addiction with wanderlust.

3 - Irritable on the cusp of withdrawal, he meets and American woman named Leto, (skinny, white blonde, with a tattoo that says: “The greatest sin is,”) in a queue at a money exchange bank. Leto is a political analyst for NBC. Her paychecks are in American dollars. Leto is only a few years older than David. David is looking for someone to cling to, more than he knows. Leto invites David to her apartment, where they discuss David’s history. David first shares the idea of “the sea inside,” that unstable part of himself that often drives him to drugs and rash behavior. Leto understands and shares her tattoo’s story. Leto has a journal in which she only writes entries of statements that begin with “I feel.” Back at his room, David tries to write some “I feel” statements, but can’t do more than two or three. David falls asleep troubled.

as I read it now, it seems more like a sparknotes reader's notes than anything else. maybe someone can use this to help them out of a few hours work once this novel is undoubtably taught in public schools.

I am, in conjunction with the other two directors in my advanced directing class, holding auditions for my production of 'the vise' tomorrow at four and six-thirty. this is terrifying to me. the gravest errors are made in casting, and that's a hell of a lot of responsibility to hold.

please please will kaleb durocher be my personal designer? for free.